Siri is an intelligent personal assistant that is part of Apple Inc.’s operating system. The system responds to the user’s voice questions and can make recommendations as well as carry out the user’s instructions. Individualized results are obtained, and the software can adapt to the user’s language and preferences as it is used. Siri was created by the SRI International Intelligence Center and was later expanded upon by Apple Inc. The speech recognition software was provided by Nuance Communications, and the original voice actors provided voices in American, British, and Australian accents. Siri was released as an app in 2010, and Apple released it for the iPhone 4S in 2011.
Siri can do a variety of things, such as perform phone actions, search the internet for information, manage device settings, navigate, check information, and in the future, perform language translation.
A user can access Siri by using the raise to speak feature or by pressing and holding the home button.
A user can use Siri to post to social media by telling her what to post. At the moment, only Twitter and Facebook are supported.
Siri can conduct social media searches to locate a person or a topic.
After dictating a message to Siri, the user can listen to ensure that no errors occurred. If there are any errors, the user can instruct Siri to change it and redo the message before sending it.
Siri can solve both simple and complex mathematical problems.
Siri can assist a user in calculating the appropriate tip to leave at a restaurant.
Siri can virtually flip a coin and also roll the dice for a user.
Susan Bennett was Siri’s original American-accented voice. She recorded her voice in 2005 with no idea it would be used for Siri.
Jon Briggs was the original Siri with a British accent. He also had no idea how the recording would be used by Siri.
Karen Jacobsen was the first Australian to provide a voice for Siri.
Siri can be used to provide reminders to a user so that they do not forget to make phone calls based on when someone arrives or departs from a location.
Siri can perform conversions for users, such as converting ounces to kilograms.
Instead of telling Siri a full name every time they want to contact someone, they can designate a relationship such as father, mother, or boss.
Siri is great for dates and holidays, and it can even tell you how many days until a certain date.
If the restaurant is open, Siri can be used to book a reservation through OpenTable.
Siri can be used to launch settings or an app.
Siri can be used to display which flights are directly above a user’s head or to check the status of a flight.
Some accents, such as the Scottish accent, are not well received by Siri. Those with accents from Boston and the South of the United States are also not well received.
