Joshua Schnell, September 19, 2012
Siri first entered our lives with the release of the iPhone 4S and iOS 5. We all loved trying to come up with questions to stump Siri or to elicit the most hilarious response, and if I had a penny for every Siri spoof that was made, I’d be a rich man. But Siri also received its fair share of criticisms, and not unfairly. It was plagued by service outages and trouble interpreting some accents and phrasings. If you lived anywhere outside of the US, you got a hobbled version.
Now, one year later, iOS 6 is here, and with it Siri is that much better. The software has been improved so that it can handle an even more diverse set of queries. Sports scores, statistics and schedules and movie timetables and reviews are likely to be among the most popular new requests for Siri. To further improve on Siri’s functionality, Apple has integrated several new services with Siri. Through Yelp Inc., Siri can now provide you with prices and reviews when you ask about restaurants, and by working with the OpenTable app, Siri can also help you set up reservations. Rotten Tomatoes has also been integrated in Siri so that you get its ratings when asking about a movie.
Two features that have been highly demanded have finally been added in Siri: the ability to launch apps and post to Twitter and Facebook. Also welcome is the introduction of Siri on the iPad.
Siri is also available in more languages, including:
- regional dialects of English and French for Canada
- Spanish specific for Spain, Mexico and the US
- Italian, French and German for Switzerland
- Korean
- Mandarin for Taiwan
- Cantonese for Hong Kong
- Mandarin and Cantonese for mainland China
There’s a ton new in Siri in this iOS 6 release, but honestly, half the fun is playing with her (or him) yourself. Ask her questions, get her to open applications, and be sure to let us know on Twitter if you find anything fun.
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