Apple could be working on the possibility of bringing its Siri digital assistant to new types of accessories, according to a trademark filing.
While Apple already owns the trademark for Siri, an extension of that trademark has been filed that could open the door to the digital assistant being used in different ways and possibly making the jump to the kitchen and beyond.
It's of course true that Siri has its problems and Apple's own development teams are thought to be at loggerheads over the assistant, but the idea of Siri being locked in a toaster is interesting all the same — and it would instantly become the best HomeKit accessory of all time.
So many possibilities
The new trademark extension was reported by Patently Apple and opens the door to new Siri-powered accessories.
"While Siri works with a wide array of devices, the new trademark covers new entries such as appliances such as cooking ovens, stoves, ranges, and toasters; refrigerators and freezers; dishwashers; laundry washers and dryers and much more," the report notes.
The new filing for a trademark extension means that there will be a long list of accessories that Siri could theoretically work with while still being covered. Those include "apparatus for lighting, heating, cooling, air conditioning, humidifying, dehumidifying, ventilating, cooking, refrigerating, washing, drying, plumbing, water supply, and sanitary purposes; light bulbs, lighting fixtures, and lamps; furnaces, heaters, water heaters, humidifiers, dehumidifiers, air conditioners, electric fans, and fireplaces; cooking ovens, stoves, ranges, and toasters; refrigerators and freezers; dishwashers; laundry washers and dryers; hot tubs, bathtubs, showers, and sinks, and fixtures for the foregoing; electronic room temperature, humidity, and air quality sensors."
What Apple intends to do with this extension isn't clear of course, but we can only hope that Siri gets some much-needed love before we have to rely on using it to turn the laundry on.
