Siri; your virtual personal assistant

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November 15, 2011

Siri is Apple’s digital personal assistant that is voice-command controlled. The intelligent personal assistant can send messages, dial phone numbers and schedule meetings through voice control. Siri understands the natural speaking voice and will ask questions for clarification if necessary. The new technology takes advantage of the dual-core A5 chip present in the iPhone 4S. WiFi and 3G networks are used to communicate with Apple’s data centers to provide a quick reponse to the user.

So, how Does Siri Work?

To access Siri, simply depress the Home button on the iPhone 4S until you hear two quick beeps. The personal digital assistant will respond and ask, “What can I help you with?” The microphone will light up so the user will know that Siri is ready for your verbal response. When Siri responds with and answer, users may tap the microphone icon to respond back to Siri.

Users may use headphones and Bluetooth headsets in conjunction with Siri for convenience. With Bluetooth headsets, simply press and hold the call button to bring up Siri. When using headphones with a remote and microphone, users should hold the center button to respond to Siri.

Set Reminders through Siri: a typical dialogue with Siri may include the following exchange: “Remind me to call the office.” Siri, the personal assistant will reply, “What time would you like for me to remind you?” The user will then respond, “12 PM.” Siri will make note of the request and schedule a reminder. To get the weather forecast, simply ask Siri, “What does the weather look like tomorrow?” or “Will I need an umbrella tomorrow?”

Siri is an Adaptive Learning Tool: Siri is an adaptive learning tool, which means that over time the device will better understand your responses and respond quickly. The device accounts for different accents and other characteristics of a person’s voice through voice recognition algorithms. Over time, the recognition of dialects and accents will improve.

Sir Recognizes Locations and Key Relationships: Siri uses information gathered in the My Info section to help the personal assistant answer questions such as “How do I get home?” and “Where are some good restaurants located near home?” Siri can also learn key relationships from the contacts list in the phone. For instance, Siri will learn to identify relationships such as “mom,” “husband” and “grandma.”

Location-Based Reminders: Siri can set reminders based upon location. For instance, users may tell Siri to remind the user to call their wife when they arrive at the office. Based upon the GPS and the office address, Siri will remind the user to call his wife when the phone physically arrives at the address saved in the application.

Siri does not always have to know your location. Through the Location Services menu, the location may be switched to Off. The information for your location is never stored outside of the phone.

Siri Supports Dictation. Siri works in conjunction and supports dictation with any application that has a keyboard. When the user speaks, they words will be entered as text. Dictation for multiple languages is supported on the keyboard.

Blind and Visually Impaired Users Can Use Siri. The VoiceOver application will speak any responses from Siri. Each response may be verbally read including the days of a weather forecast, stock quotes or the body of an email.

Siri Works with Numerous Applications. Siri operates in conjunction with FaceTime, Mail, Messages, Notes, Contacts, Web Searches and Stock Quotes. Users may take advantage of the convenience of this application in the office or home.

Conclusion
Siri is a convenient application that is akin to having a physical personal assistant by your side at all times. This unique application is getting great reviews from the public and has a high usability rating. Experts expect more people to incorporate Siri into their daily routines.

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