nospam

In article <1k94mp6.13a8cmtvo2h2nN%dempson@actrix.gen.nz>, David Empson
<dempson@actrix.gen.nz> wrote:

> > > No. Siri is only a feature of the iPhone 4S so far.
> > >
> > > I haven't seen anything which clearly explains why it is limited to the
> > > 4S. Marketing is a likely explanation: it gives a compelling new feature
> > > to encourage people to upgrade to the iPhone 4S.
> >
> > apple says it's 'beta' so presumably when it's final it will appear on
> > other hardware.
>
> That's a rather big assumption. In the keynote, Phil Schiller said "by
> beta we mean that we will add more languages over time and more services
> over time as well".

that's vague enough that it can mean pretty much anything.

they won't preannounce ipad support until it's done, if that's what
they are going to do. they may just want to have it in beta test on one
device for now. nobody outside of apple knows for certain.

> > an ipad 2 has the same cpu and memory as the iphone 4s (and a little
> > faster too), so it should be able to run on it.
>
> Agreed as far as CPU performance is concerned, but Siri may have other
> special hardware requirements which means even the iPad 2 may not be
> technically able to run Siri in the form Apple has released for the
> iPhone 4S.

maybe but what other hardware could it be? there's not much space for
anything in there.

> Accounting rules might also prevent Apple from adding a major new
> system-wide feature like Siri to existing products, unless it is sold as
> an add-on feature (which doesn't fit with the iOS distribution model to
> date).

i don't think that issue applies anymore, plus ios 5 is free and adds a
slew of stuff even without siri. they no longer charge for it on any
device.

Todd Allcock

At 13 Oct 2011 12:44:02 -0700 nospam wrote:
> In article <j77dv1$cqk$1@dont-email.me>, Todd Allcock
> <elecconnec@AnoOspamL.com> wrote:
> > But less capable (probably) due to limitations on what 3rd-party apps
can
> > accomplish vs. 1st-party, rather than any major changes in the
"engine"
> > of the app.
>
> limitations with cpu speed and memory, particularly on the 3gs. it's
> also beta.

If the bulk of Siri is in the cloud, speed and memory are almost
immaterial. I've running MS' "Tell Me", which does texting by voice
(doing the recognition in the cloud) on five year-old devices on 2G (EDGE)
connections.


> it may ultimately come to other devices when it's final, ipad 2 being
> the obvious one since it's basically the same hardware as a 4s, but
> maybe iphone 4 too. then again, it is a nice upsell.

Agreed.


> > While I agree the backlash, if any, will be minor, taking away a
> > perfectly functioning app and directing users to purchase a new
device to
> > continue using it will put a bad taste in some peoples' mouths.
>
> only those who actually had the app *and* who used it regularly will
> care. the rest won't. most people probably don't even know it existed
> and many who did may not care either.

True, but there's little percentage in pissing off anyone unless there
was a good reason.


> > Particularly since they could've used the old Siri app as a "lite"
demo
> > of what the new 4S version can do. ("Siri, create a meeting
appointment
> > with the boss at 3PM today..." "I'm sorry, Dave, that functionality
> > requires an iPhone 4S. Would you like a map of the closest Apple and
> > AT&T stores?")
>
> that's a possibility, but if it didn't work that well it might have the
> opposite effect.

The two people I know who use it are quite pleased. They were also
slightly annoyed at the prospect of losing it because it's now an iPhone
4S "exclusive."


> > Presumably Siri mostly lives in the cloud, and should need no more
> > computational power than Shazam does- limiting it to the 4S is a
> > marketing limitation, not a hardware limitation.
>
> from what i've read, it does speech recognition on the device and sends
> the result to the cloud for interpreting what you said.


That's possible, but I seriously doubt it. There's little reason to
brute force the recognition on (comparitively) anemic hardware then send
the textual result to the cloud, since the cloud can do the same
processing faster and better, and the cloud is required for the AI
portion anyway. (It would make sense to do the work on the device if
that eliminated the need for the cloud entirely, since that would solve
the "no connection" scenario.)

I suspect if any processing is done on the device, it's handled like MS'
Voice Command and Tell Me on old WinMo devices: a small number of simple
commands were parsed on the device using "Voice Command"- stuff like the
iPhone does natively now: "Play Artist/Album" or "Call so-and-so" but
anything complex ("Text 'Sounds good, see you at 7:00' to David Jones")
required Tell Me, which uploaded the actual audio to the cloud for
processing, and the resultant command(s) sent down to the app for
execution.

> > One could, however, make the argument that it's specifically an
> > "expectation management" limitation (which still falls under the
> > "marketing" umbrella) rather than a transparent ploy to encourage
upgrades.
> > The 4S is probably the only iOS device that is virtually assured of
> > having the ubiquitous connectivity Siri requires.
> >
> > Since the 4S is new, virtually every one will be sold with a data
plan as
> > a function of whatever subsidy carriers sell it with. Older iPhones,
> > even including, perhaps, a good number of original non-"S" fours, are
> > falling off contract and/or being replaced/upgraded, and are being
> > repurposed as iPods, put on data-less prepaid plans, etc.
>
> you can buy a contract-free iphone 4s and use it without a data plan.
> there are also bandwidth limits with most plans.


True, but both of those are "edge cases". Few phones are sold unlocked,
and the few KB of data Siri will toss back and forth hardly matter even
on a capped plan. For all intents and purposes, "every" 4S will have
ubiquitous data access- something that can't be said of iPads and iPod
Touches.