Apple's OS X Mountain Lion operating system already packs a bevy of iOS-inspired touches -- I'm looking at you, Messages, Notes and Notification Center -- but if one new rumor holds water, the upcoming OS X 10.9 could bring even more iPhone-esque features to the table with the arrival of Siri and the controversial Apple Maps.
Early developmental builds of OS X 10.9 sport Siri functionality, sources tell 9to5Mac. Mountain Lion already includes voice dictation; integrating Siri seems like a logical next step. More users means more data for Siri, which should only improve her core functionality as Apple strives to fight off the ascendant Google Voice Search service.
The same holds true for Apple's new in-house Maps feature. As maligned as Maps has been, expanding its reach to MacBook users would help Apple gather more data and get a leg up on its sometime lackluster service that much faster. Maps need a lot of input to be effective. 9to5Mac reports that Apple plans to integrate its MapKit framework in OS X 10.9, which would allow developers to integrate Apple Maps into individual Mac apps. The sources didn't know if the stand-alone Maps app itself would be coming to Apple's desktop OS.
Of course, all of this information comes from anonymous sources talking about the early build of a next-generation operating system, so don't expect to start shouting at Siri to get directions to IHOP on your Mac anytime soon. Even if the rumor is accurate, Apple could yank the functionality from the operating system for the final release -- though we do expect Siri and Maps to show up on the increasingly iOS-like OS X sometime in the future.
Get a daily look at what’s developing in science and technology throughout the world.