iPhone 4S Siri review: It wants to be your assistant, but nothing more

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The iPhone 4S goes on sale today, in fact serious Apple fans will have already got their hands on one along with a high five and a clap from some VERY enthusiastic Apple employees earlier this morning.

Shiny Shiny and Tech Digest went along to Apple’s flagship Regent Street store to see what all the fuss was about.

There are many subtle differences between the iPhone 4 and the iPhone 4S, but really we were most interested in Siri, we wanted to see if it lives up to the hype, could be our personal assistant 24/7 and most importantly whether it’ll understand our regional accents.

The verdict?

After a quick hands-on with Siri we were pretty impressed, it understood our voices (mostly), gave us some tips and enabled us to open up emails, messages and reminders all with our voices.

However, according to Cnet, Siri here in the UK is yet to be able to give us local information other than bits and pieces about the weather. Apparently this is due to the fact Apple hasn’t committed to any deals with local UK providers, whereas over in the US Yell is powering all of that kind of information. So, it was a shame to not be able to trial whether Siri could tell us good restaurants or cinema information nearby, but from what we can tell that kind of knowledge won’t be too far off. We hope.

When it comes to the nuances of voice recognition there’ll obviously be a few teething problems to start with, it kept thinking “email” was “ring Mary” but I’m happy to write that off as an issue with my accent for now.

The only piece of advice we’d give is, don’t start trying to sweet talk Siri. It knows it’s special but clearly just wants to be your personal assistant and nothing more.

Becca Caddy

9 comments

  • The information written in the article is descriptive and well written.It is also simple to read and understand.Good Read.

  • I love the application Siri develop by Apple, It is really good to use and gives us enjoyment.

  • As great as some of the features are on this phone, I can’t seem to find justification for breaking my current contract just for a better camera and processor. My current iPhone 4 is still functioning perfectly, and now that I have iOS5 on it, it doesn’t seem as out of date as it is. Apple did a great job on the iPhone 4, and an even better job on the iPhone 4S, but I think I will just wait for the 5 to come out. I love streaming movies, and the thing I will be looking forward to on the next iPhone is some sort of LTE so that streaming will come smoother. Right now, the app that use for streaming is the DISH Remote Access app. I love this app because it lets me stream recorded shows and live TV from my 922 SlingLoaded receiver to my phone anywhere I want, and whenever I want! As a customer and employee of DISH Network, I have been using the app on my phone for a long time, and I know that once the next iPhone is ready, it will work great on it!

  • Nice images.Great content and it is very informative and useful for me.Please update it.

  • Got my upgrade this morning, And the best thing I can see about the iPhone 4S is Siri… It is so kool.

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