One of the key selling points Apple have used to drive the newly announced iPhone 4S is its voice recognition software, Siri. The software itself goes beyond pre-designated voice commands and uses speech pattern recognition along with articificial intelligence applications to allow users to search the net, write messages, set alarms, check the weather and generally access the plethora of features available on their iPhone, all by voice.
The company in charge of Siri were until recently, independant of Apple, with their iOS app being one of the first major products out of the company. Following Apple's procurement Siri from SRI International in late April last year, any possibility of these advanced voice-recognition features coming to Android or Blackberry were scrapped, a shame considering there was serious talk of the service extending in those directions prior to the takeover.
But now we have the Siri we got a brief taste of in Cupertino just the other week. The software has been assimilated into the iPhone infrastructure and is ready to show off just what it can really do.
Of course seeing it running in an edited, professional commercial, the service looks great, but what about in real-life testing? Well, the team from Stuff.tv managed to get a pretty lengthy demo at what appears to be the Covent Garden Apple Store in London, take a look.
Not only did it have no trouble working with either a British or American accent, but it could reply in them too. The technology behind Siri really does appear to work and honestly we can't wait to put it to the test ourselves.
Despite the advancement in personal voice recognition that we're seeing on the 4S, just how likely do you think you are to use this feature in day to day use? Checking the weather by talking at your phone on a busy train carriage and it then talking back to you might come across as a little odd to say the least, but who are we to judge.
Let us know what you think, is Siri a feature you're glad to have, or are Apple using it to side-step any shortcomings fans might have felt there were following the announcement of the iPhone 4S? Post your thoughts in the comments.
