Apple Watch gets radical performance boost and Siri improvements

Update also fixes several security flaws

Apple has radically improved the performance of the Apple Watch, issuing a software update designed to squash bugs and improve Siri's voice recognition powers.

The 56MB over-the-air update also adds language support for Brazilian, Portuguese, Danish, Dutch, Swedish, Russian, Thai and Turkish.

It also improves third-party app support in a bid to entice more developers to create applications for the Apple Watch, and brings 14 updates for a variety of security flaws.

The Freak fix plugs a cross-platform flaw in SSL/TLS protocols that could be exploited to intercept and decrypt HTTPS connections between vulnerable clients and servers.

"This issue only affected connections to servers which support export-strength RSA cipher suites, and was addressed by removing support for ephemeral RSA keys," reads the Apple threat advisory.

"An attacker with a privileged network position may intercept SSL/TLS connections."

The update also features numerous kernel fixes for bugs that could be exploited for a variety of purposes.

These include "a state inconsistency issue in the handling of TCP out of band data" that could allow a remote attacker to cause a denial of service, and a memory corruption issue that could let a malicious application execute arbitrary code with system privileges.

Other fixes include updates to Apple's FontParser, Foundation, IOHIDFamily and IOAcceleratorFamily.

It is currently unclear whether any of the vulnerabilities have been exploited, although it is unlikely given the relatively short time since the Watch was launched.

Apple does not comment on security matters, saying: "For the protection of our customers, Apple does not disclose, discuss or confirm security issues until a full investigation has occurred and any necessary patches or releases are available."

The Apple Watch went on sale on 24 April in Australia, Canada, China, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Japan, the UK and the US, and is available in numerous configurations and various price points.

These range from the basic £299 Sport version to the £13,000 gold Apple Watch Edition.

For a more thorough look at the Apple Watch check out V3's interactive guide.