What is Siri and Why You Should Love It.

By Nicole Fletcher

The launch of the iPhone 4s has taken the tech world by storm – in fact, it was such a cloudy (get it?) storm that they’re back ordered for months. While the latest version of everyone’s favorite smart phone certainly doesn’t reinvent the wheel, it does include amazingly awesome applications that are attracting a solid amount of fanfare. Most notable of which is Siri, the most intelligent digi-assistant of our time. Speech recognition is no new concept, in fact it’s been around for nearly a decade. Its many bugs, misunderstandings and speed issues though have hindered its growth …perhaps until now. Siri seems to hit the nail on the head, responding to your any and every query with unparalleled speed, precision and yes, even a dash of humor.

Apple bought Siri last year in 2010 and decided to weave it into the iPhone 4s… and only the 4s. If you had the app on any other version, I’m sorry to report that it won’t work…without some nerd-tastic hacking. Apple says it’s still in beta and understandably so, as it is not a flawless application just yet. It is though usable, functional and even fun to use, especially considering it can hold a conversation with you, no matter your desire, location or prerogative.

In this cute video, a man named Jonathan serenades Siri in a loving duet. Take a look.
Screen shot 2011-10-19 at 10.47.48 AM

Beyond that, you can ask what the weather is like in any city and then find any number of restaurants, ranked by reviews, around a given area. Hands free. Pretty handy if you ask me.

siri-ny-example

Anyway, Siri is a pretty awesome work in progress so touche Apple to taking on this challenge. It’s certainly the greatest success in artificial intelligence we’ve seen to date…imagine what then, the future will bring.