News

Apple opens its new Siri AI to everyone with the iOS 27 public beta

Published

2 months ago

July 14, 2026

Preport

Apple is opening up its biggest-ever Siri overhaul to a broader audience with the release of the iOS 27 public beta, giving everyday users the chance to try out the new AI assistant ahead of its broader launch later this fall.

The public beta marks the first time Apple has made its AI-powered Siri widely available beyond developers. With some 2.5 billion active devices worldwide, even if only a fraction of users install the public beta, it will still represent the largest test of Apple’s redesigned AI assistant and its answer to ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude, and others.

The Siri AI update, which was officially announced at Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference in June, turns Apple’s aging voice assistant into a more capable, AI-powered tool that can access information on a user’s device, including emails, photos, and messages, as well as respond to what’s on the screen and ground its answers in world knowledge, similar to any modern-day AI chatbot.

It’s also more deeply integrated across the operating system. It can be accessed by saying “Hey Siri” or by pressing the side button, as before, as well as by swiping down from the Dynamic Island (the black bar at the top of the screen). Plus, it’s integrated into the iPhone’s built-in search engine tool, Spotlight, making it more powerful than before because it can search for answers to almost any question.

Apple's Siri AI use cases at WWDC 2026 — **Image Credits:**Apple

For the first time, Siri has also been given its own standalone app, a user experience that people already comfortable with chatbots like ChatGPT or Gemini may prefer. However, because Siri is so deeply integrated throughout the iPhone, accessing it via an app seems somewhat unnecessary.

In addition to iOS 27 on iPhone, the upgraded Siri is available across all other Apple products, including iPad, Mac, Apple Watch, CarPlay, AirPods, Apple TV, and Vision Pro.

Under the hood, Siri AI leverages Apple Intelligence, including Apple’s new Foundation Models that run on the device and use its Private Cloud Compute. Apple built its Foundation Models in collaboration with Google and its Gemini model, but these models are not just some rebranded version of Gemini. Instead, Apple’s models were built specifically for its Apple Silicon using proprietary data, and distilled Google’s Gemini — a process that uses Gemini to create smaller, highly efficient models built into iOS and other Apple software. Meanwhile, Private Cloud Compute ensures that users’ personal data isn’t stored or accessible to Apple.

In early tests of the developer version of Siri AI, the assistant was able to better handle basic tasks on the phone, like finding certain photos in your Photo Library, summarizing group texts, adding an appointment sent via text to your calendar, looking up nutritional information about what’s in your camera view. It was also better at responding to questions you would normally have to search the web to answer, such as when an upcoming local event is happening, or what’s happening in the news.

In the developer beta, Siri sometimes threw error messages or got confused. (For instance, I once asked Siri for the latest news about Iran, and it searched my contacts for someone with that name.)

However, it’s easy to see Siri becoming a bigger part of your everyday digital life, especially because it doesn’t require you to open an app to use it.

Overall, the developer betas this year have been fairly stable, which makes the public beta much easier to recommend this time around. Of course, installing a beta should always be approached with caution; if your device must run perfectly smoothly and never experience errors, then you may want to hold off until the public launch of iOS 27, which is expected in September.

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Related Topics:Apple beta iOS opens public Siri

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Gunmen kill two vigilantes, injure one in Plateau

Published

5 hours ago

September 16, 2026

Preport

Gunmen on Tuesday attacked vigilantes on duty in Tudun-Mazat village, Barkin Ladi Local Government Area of Plateau State, killing two and injuring another.

Kefas Mallai, a youth leader and the chairman of the Community Peace Observers in Bokkos told Peoples Gazette on Wednesday that the gunmen attacked the security men at about 10:00 p.m.

“At about 10:00 p.m. yesterday, some terrorists attacked the local vigilante on duty at Tudun-Mazat village also known as NTV of Barkin Ladi LGA, Plateau State leading to the death of two local vigilantes and one injured”, he told The Gazette.

According to him, the attacked village is along Bokkos road in the state.

Alfred Alabo, the state police spokesperson, was not available for comment. Text and WhatsApp messages sent to him remained unanswered as of press time.

On August 18, The Gazette reported that gunmen invaded Bin-Per community in Kombum district of Mangu council and killed 23 persons including women and children.

Similarly on June 16, diver miners were killed at a mining site in Gero village, Gyel district of Jos South local council of the state.

Business

PenCom Extends Pension Verification Deadline for Civil Servants to December 2026

Published

5 hours ago

September 16, 2026

Preport

The National Pension Commission (PenCom) has extended the deadline for the ongoing mandatory One-Time Online Verification and Enrolment Exercise for employees of treasury-funded Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) who are entitled to accrued pension rights.

The exercise, which started in February 2026 and was initially scheduled to end on 31 July 2026, has now been extended to 31 December 2026. The extension follows several requests from MDAs seeking additional time for employees to participate in the online enrolment process.

The extension provides all eligible employees with another opportunity to complete the exercise and ensure that their accrued pension rights are accurately determined ahead of retirement.

Deadline Extension Due to Low Participation

Low participation in the exercise has necessitated the timeline extension. As at July 2026, MDAs had uploaded 62,320 records of active employees and retirees, while only 31,099 employees had successfully completed the enrolment process.These figures fall short of an estimated 150,000 active Federal Government employees entitled to accrued pension rights.

PenCom is therefore urging all eligible employees who are yet to enrol, as well as those who have started but not completed the process, to use the additional time provided by the extension to complete their enrolment.

Exercise Addresses Legacy Pension Liabilities

The initiative is part of the Federal Government’s efforts to settle pension liabilities carried over from the Defined Benefit Scheme (DBS), which existed before the introduction of the Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS) in 2004.

Under Section 15(1) of the Pension Reform Act 2014 (PRA 2014), employees who transited to the CPS are entitled to accrued pension rights, beingbenefits earned under the DBS.

These accrued rights comprise pension and gratuity benefits earned by eligible employees from their date of first appointment up to 30 June 2004. Their determination is based on an actuarial valuation process.

In a circular issued on 27 April 2026, the Head of Civil Service of the Federation had directed all treasury-funded MDAs to support the exercise and ensure that eligible employees complete the One-time Enrolment as required by PenCom. This is essential for determining the Federal Government’s outstanding pension liabilities and making adequate budgetary provisions for their settlement.

Digital Transformation Drives New Approach

The One-Time enrolment exercise is fully digital and is conducted through PenCom’s Contributions and Bond Redemption Application (COBRA).

COBRA is a secure platform designed to facilitate data capture, validation and processing.

Benefits of Early Enrolment

Early completion facilitates the determination of accrued pension rights and enables the necessary funding to be secured from the Federal Government. Subsequently, the amounts would be credited to the employees’ Retirement Savings Accounts (RSAs) well ahead of retirement, thereby earning investment returns and boosting retirement benefits.

MDAs, Pension Desk Officers and PFAs Have Key Roles

MDAs are required to upload details of eligible employees on the COBRA platform, after which affected employees are expected to visit their respective Pension Fund Administrators (PFAs) with the required documents to complete the enrolment process.

Pension Desk Officers (PDOs), who have been trained by PenCom, coordinate the exercise within their organisations and guide employees through the process.

PenCom continues to collaborate with MDAs, PFAs and other stakeholders to improve awareness, facilitate participation and ensure that eligible employees are properly captured.

PenCom Urges Eligible Employees to Act

While the extension to 31 December 2026 provides additional time, PenCom has urged eligible employees and their respective MDAs not to delay completion of the process. All active employees of Federal Government Treasury-funded MDAs who were in service as at 30 June 2004 are covered by the accrued pension rights provisions.

PenCom therefore calls on all eligible employees and Treasury-funded MDAs to take full advantage of the extension and complete the enrolment exercise before the new deadline.

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