I don’t know exactly what’s the hype about voice control app. I have Siri on my iPhone and the only time I used it is when I’m bored. But if you are into voice control app, check out this Google Voice Action vs Siri video. This is one of the fairest comparison I’ve seen so far. Credits to Motorola.
Then again, with all the background noise, I doubt any of the voice control app can work properly.
When Apple announced Siri, we know that its a matter of time before people hack Siri to do other stuff. Well, someone managed to create a Siri proxy server to set handlers for different actions. With that, you can do a lot of stuff. Like controlling a thermostat.
Here’s the codes if you are interested.
The biggest difference between the iPhone 4 and the iPhone 4S in terms of software is Siri. Some were saying that Siri requires a lot of processing power which only the iPhone 4S A5 processor can provide. But someone managed to hack Siri into iPhone 4 and it runs perfectly.
In order to hack Siri into iPhone 4, you will need to Jailbreak it first. Personally, I’m not a fan of Jailbreaking. Still prefer the official route.
Not sure what is Apple’s plans for Siri on iPhone 4 (and iPad 2). It seems like the hardware is able to run Siri without any problems. Maybe Apple wants to make Siri exclusive to iPhone 4S so that more people will buy it. Or maybe because Apple don’t want to overload their server by opening up to existing iPhone 4 and iPad 2 users now. Afterall, Siri is still in beta.
We shall wait and see. There’s rumors that Apple is testing Siri on iPhone 4. But then, like all Apple rumors, take it with a pinch of salt.
If you think damn you auto correct is funny, wait till more people get the new iPhone 4S with Siri. No, I’m not referring to cases where Siri mis-recognize what you said. I’m referring to the funny thing that Siri say.
In fact, This is my next already has an article on some funny Siri replies. Here’s my favorite.
It’s scary and fascinating that Siri has an answer to this kind of question. But we all know that Siri has a sense of humor sometimes. I think we will see more Siri jokes in the next few months. In fact, someone should totally start a website for all the Siri jokes.
Oh, on a totally unrelated note, here’s a funny parody on the Siri introduction video. Portal fans will love it.
I wonder if it is possible for Jailbreakers to make different voice pack for Siri. Darth Vader voice on Siri will be damn cool.
Apple CEO Tim Cook announced the next generation iPhone, the iPhone 4S. As the name suggest, it’s not a huge leap from the current iPhone 4 (subjective).
Actually, there’s no surprise in the announcement. Most of the things have been leaked previously. The iPhone 4S will have a A5 processor chip which is 2 times faster than the current iPhone 4. And dual core graphics which are said to be 7 times faster. This is good news for game developers.
iPhone 4S will come with improved antennas which allows it to intelligently switch between the 2 antennas between transmit and receive. I guess this is to address the antennagate issue. The new iPhone 4S will now support data download speed of up to 14.4Mbps (up from the 7.2 Mbps from iPhone 4).
The camera on the iPhone 4S is awesome. It’s a 8 megapixel (3264 x 2448) camera with back illuminated CMOS which allows 73% more light. There’s a IR filter for better colour accuracy. The camera has a f/2.4 aperture. And it’s 33% quicker to snap a photo. Starting up the camera is pretty fast too. It takes 1.1 seconds to take the first photo and 1/2 second for the second photo.
Apple is really focusing a lot on the camera. There’s a new image signal processor designed by Apple which enable face detection and 26% better white balance.
Video recording on the iPhone 4S is impressive too. You get 1080p HD video recording with video image stabilization and temporal noise reduction.
Another interesting feature on the iPhone 4S is Siri. Siri is a intelligent voice recognition assistant. You can ask him things like “What is the weather like today?” using speech and it will give you the correct answer. Alternatively, you can also ask “Do I need a raincoat today?” and Siri will respond accordingly based on the weather. Impressive. You can also get Siri to do more complicated stuff like finding a restaurant nearby, setting an alarm clock or ask for directions. Siri can also read your SMS messages for you. Siri gets better as you use it more often.
Not sure how well Siri will work with Singapore accent and local addresses. We will find out soon.
Personally, I think the best part of the announcement is that iPhone 4S will have the same form factor as the iPhone 4. This means that all the 3rd party accessories for iPhone 4 can be used on the new iPhone 4S. Existing iPhone 4 users will still get new 3rd party accessories which are suitable for their phone for at least a year.
The iPhone 4S will be launched in US on 14 Oct 2011.
And here comes the most important part. When will Singapore be getting the new iPhone 4S. Surprisingly, the date was announced during the keynote. Singapore is the 2nd batch of countries that is getting the new iPhone (as usual). iPhone 4S will be launched in Singapore on 28 Oct 2011. It is interesting to note that we are the 2nd Asian country to get the iPhone 4S. (Japan is getting the iPhone 4S on 14 Oct)
Oh, by the way, iPhone 4S comes in 16GB, 32GB and 64GB version and will be available in Black and White.
