Apple (re)introduces Siri as iPhone voice control assistant for iPhone 4S
Apple picked up mobile assistant app Siri quite a while ago, but only at today's event did we finally see why. The company is relaunching the app as official, though it will keep the name Siri. To access it, all you'll have to do is hold down the home button, and then a little purple mic will pop up, listening in to whatever question you ask. From your question, Siri will then find any and all pertinent information, including data about the weather, stock and clock information, and even searches for local restaurants and businesses. You can ask for directions and get them right away, or even get messages read off to you via Bluetooth, and create calendar appointments and replies right inside the Siri system.
The whole thing is very impressive, and if it works as well as Siri did, Apple's phone has yet another killer feature on it. Unfortunately, Apple said that Siri is "the coolest feature of the new iPhone 4S," so presumably you'll need the new handset to make use of the feature. We'll double-check on that going forward, but all indications are that Siri will be 4S-only.
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Source: http://www.apple.com/iphone/
Apple picked up mobile assistant app Siri quite a while ago, but only at today's event did we finally see why. The company is...
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Please update when you are able to confirm Siri working on iPhone 4S only or not. Thanks.
October 06 2011 at 11:23 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down ReplyAre there any words on whether or not Siri will be available outside U.S. and if so, is it localized?
October 05 2011 at 1:09 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down ReplyThe main thing I want to know is why they picked that old voice for all the promos and stuff and if you can change it.
They just added new voices to Lion, so why use the old ones that sound like they're from OS9?
http://www.tuaw.com/2011/07/24/os-x-lion-introduces-new-multilingual-high-quality-text-to-spe/
Hopefully you can change the voice to one of the updated ones.
Take a free app (Siri) from the market that was made to run well on the 3gs and require a new phone to use it. Thanks, Apple.
October 04 2011 at 5:26 PM Report abuse Permalink +1 rate up rate down ReplyTake a free app off the market that was built to run well on the 3gs and require a new phone to use it. Thanks Apple.
October 04 2011 at 5:24 PM Report abuse Permalink +1 rate up rate down ReplyJust another way for apple to make a quick buck.
Why else would you upgrade from a 4 to a 4s. Apple has to reward you with something after all you are spending your hard earned money on it.
I guess that is one more feature apple has picked up from microsoft.
I am shocked to hear that Apple is trying to make money off of their products.
October 04 2011 at 3:35 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down ReplyMaybe they don't expect iPhone 4 users to upgrade to the iPhone 4S. Most people are on a 2 year contract to get a new subsidized phone, so an upgrade to this from the 3GS to the 4S would be pretty significant actually. Not that you would care because you're a troll.
October 04 2011 at 3:37 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Replywhy would it require the new iphone when the old one runs siri assitant app?
October 04 2011 at 2:58 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply
aShLeY lYnN
because they took the siri app off the app store
October 04 2011 at 4:00 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply4S only? What about the iPad 2? It has the A5 as well! I want to use voice control on my ipad damnit.
October 04 2011 at 2:54 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down ReplyExisting Siri app works on iPhone 4. Not including it in the iOS update would be a slap in the face. Not a surprising slap though. We'll have to wait and see I guess.
October 04 2011 at 2:52 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down ReplyBut the existing app is the best they can make it using the A4 processor, whereas presumably the new version is taking advantage of the twice-as-fast A5 in the iPhone 4S.
I think the old Siri app was probably removed from the store so that people didn't buy that version then wonder why it didn't do all the same stuff they'd just heard about.
The old Siri app has always been free. The only thing it processed on the phone was voice recognition; the text was sent to Siri's servers for interpretation and results. The chip on the phone wouldn't make any difference.
Apple is discontinuing Siri on non-4S phones to encourage people to upgrade, which they have every right to do. This is America, and they bought Siri with their hard-earned money. It's theirs to do what they want with.
Right....so is this a reintroduction? Can the Siri app do everything Siri will do naively on the iPhone 4S? I have heard very mixed reviews of Siri in it's current app state. Can I really expect it to be better when it is running naively?
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TUAW (or The Unofficial Apple Weblog) is a website devoted to tips, reviews, news, analysis and opinion on everything Apple.
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