Paul Stenhouse: Apple's smarter Siri to be powered by Google, IKEA's splash at the Consumer Electronics Show

Apple's smarter Siri will now be powered by Google   Apple has signed a multi-year deal worth billions for Google Gemini technology to bring the enhanced Siri to life.    It will be a custom model made for Apple and will run locally on Apple devices when it can, and when it needs the power of the cloud will run in Apple's private data centres.   Google and Apple have had a long relationship in which Google paid Apple billions to be the default search engine, and now they're returning the favour.   Apple hyped Apple Intelligence last year, but it never really launched with any real enhancements or intelligence, and the company was forced to pull back from their aggressive marketing pitch.      IKEA made a splash at the Consumer Electronics Show   They turned some of their most popular lamps 'smart', have an impressive array of smart bulbs, and have a range of accessories like buttons, switches, and plugs.   Later this year they'll be rolling out even more items, such as outdoor smart switches, premium speakers (they're circular and can be mounted on stand or attached to the wall), and a seriously cheap Bluetooth speaker (which will retail for $10 in the US).    They're using the 'Matter' framework for the smart home connectivity so it will play nice with devices from a range of vendors.    LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.