Really enjoying Siri...but...

Question

Really enjoying Siri...but...

I'm wondering if Siri is something that will continue to grow and become even more useful. For instance, I'd like to be able to launch apps from Siri. Right now she seems one-dimensional in what she can do for me...mostly involving searching the web, calling people, sending messages, setting reminders, etc....but why not have the ability to launch and control more apps than just the "communication/informational" ones? Sure, dictation is nice- but I want to be able to say "Siri, please start my Sirius|XM app".

Posted on Oct 20, 2011 10:02 AM

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Answer 1

Oct 20, 2011 11:11 AM in response to Robert Grandmaison

The software is beta. That implies that development is ongoing.

Submit your feedback to Apple:

http://www.apple.com/feedback

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Answer 2

Oct 23, 2011 8:24 AM in response to IdrisSeabright

Thank you Meg, I did just that. 🙂

Wow, you have a lot of points so I trust you're in the know!

How long does an Apple product that's released officially as "beta" remain in "beta"? Is there some possibility that it will remain in such a state forever???

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Answer 3

Oct 23, 2011 8:32 AM in response to Robert Grandmaison

This is the first product I recall Apple released as a Beta or officially indicated as such, and there is no way to know when Siri will no longer be classified as a Beta. I doubt it will remain a Beta forever.

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Answer 4

Oct 23, 2011 8:53 AM in response to Allan Sampson

Allan,

(Level 10, 100K points?!? There's a lot of knowledgeable people in this place aren't there????)

I hope it continues in development and power- so long as she doesn't become self-aware and start that whole skynet thing.

So, if it's forever in development...does that suggest maybe she will forever be beta??? It is interesting that you suggest this is the first product Apple has released as Beta...

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Answer 5

Oct 23, 2011 9:03 AM in response to Robert Grandmaison

Well, I hope they don't go the way of Google, some of whose products never left Beta! Even gmail was in beta for something like 5 years.

What isn't obvious is that Siri is on the cutting edge of speech recognition and Natural Language Processing (NLP), which are branches of Artificial Intelligence (AI) research, a field I work in. It was bold of Apple to go into this technology, because it is very cutting edge and risky; if it doesn't work as well as people expect Apple will lose face over it. Fortunately, from what I have seen so far it is pretty impressive; they've gotten it right, at least for the typical questions the average user will ask. I look forward to testing its limits.

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Answer 6

Oct 23, 2011 9:14 AM in response to Robert Grandmaison

So, if it's forever in development...does that suggest maybe she will forever be beta???

I don't believe so. OS X and Windows is forever in development so based on that OS X and Windows are Betas and will forever be Betas, and the same for most software.

It is interesting that you suggest this is the first product Apple has released as Beta...

Siri is the first product I recall Apple releasing as a Beta - with a Beta banner included with the product info on Apple's webstite. If you have info regarding any other Apple products released officially as a Beta, I'm interested in learning new things or in this case refreshing my memory.

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