iLounge

iPhone Developer Siri has released Siri Assistant for the iPhone, a novel application that provides iPhone users with a voice-activated personal assistant. Users can request information from Siri Assistant simply by speaking natural language questions such as “Where is the best sushi near here” or “What PG-13 movies are playing this afternoon.” Siri Assistant can presently handle requests for information on restaurants, events, movies, taxis, weather and local points of interest and the developer plans to expand the service to include features such as reminders, flight information and reference questions. Siri Assistant can also personalize each users’ results based on the information that they most commonly request. The present version of Siri Assistant is compatible only with the iPhone 3GS using iPhone OS 3.1 or later and works only in the United States. It is available as a free download on the U.S. App Store.