There's no technical limitation here: Siri works with rooted phones. iirc it was also in the App Store for older devices before Apple bought the company.
As the article says, it's all about model differentiation. The 4S is a fine upgrade, but it would be far less interesting to current iPhone 4 owners if Siri wasn't a 4S exclusive.
Apple can plaster a lot of environment-blah blah on their website, but they (but also most Android vendors) are the anti-thesis of sustainability. Encouraging people to upgrade frequently, and quickly deprecating old models. E.g. my girlfriend's 3G is in a fine state hardware-wise, will probably function well for a few more years, but there are no more security updates.
The only technical limitation I can think of is the one which exists server-side. Siri has been having troubles from time-to-time with just iPhone 4S owners polling it. Imagine if all iPhone 4 (and even 3GS) owners were trying to use it too.
Certainly. There is also nothing wrong with only bringing new features to new devices. I really honestly don’t understand why this is the slightest bit controversial.
It was available for older devices in the past. I had it for awhile, but since it was really was only good for searches like "where is the nearest...?" and lacked iOS integration, I don't recall using it much after the novelty factor wore off.
First, I agree with a point that others have raised regarding Siri "working" on rooted phones. Sure, it will run, but does it run well? Does it slow the phone down signficantly when in heavy use? Until we know for sure, I'm not going to get worked up about it.
Second, it is very possible that the technical limitation is server-side. Apple has a pretty spotty history with web services and limiting Siri to the iPhone 4S may just be a way to slowly scale the backend.
Third, I think it's pretty absurd to call out Apple's lack of support for old devices. The level of support still available for the 2.5-year-old iPhone 3GS is outstanding compared to other smart phones. Most people who _really_ care about having the newest tech are probably upgrading their phones every two years anyway. And, really, who can blame Apple for wanting to differentiate their products? I don't mind if that is the reason, but I would prefer an honest answer if that is the only reason.
On the iPhone 3GS, it works better than Voice Controls ever did and does not noticeably affect battery or memory use. When running, it's speex encoder uses very little CPU.
Recognition on the iPhone 3GS is not as accurate due to the lack of a noise-cancelling secondary mic, but that's a component the iPhone 4 shares with the iPhone 4S.
While I tend to agree with everything - we should expect Apple to support the 3GS currently - they're still selling it! How much support will it get 6 months after it's not currently sold anymore?
Apple sells hardware and software for their hardware.
Microsoft sells software and hardware (XBOX, keyboards, mice, etc).
Google sells services.
Facebook sells private lives.
I do think Apple will stick to this, but on the other hand an engineer's comment on a bug report is not much to go on--they may not know Apple's real plans, and Apple could go back on its stated plans anyway.
Snark aside, I'd say that Siri doesn't seem to work at least 50% of the time.
First, it tends not to be able to connect to the network. Whether with full 3G or even over wifi a large percentage of the time you'll end up with "I'm having trouble connecting to the network" after asking your question. There shouldn't be any excuses here - paid for the phone which the service was a feature, one should be able to use it whenever they need.
Second, the speech to text is severely lacking. Sure it does a fairly good job of sentence translation but anything outside of phonetic names is just garbage. You'll get 'Red Robin' but not 'QDoba'. You'll get the last name of 'Anderson' or 'Jones' but any ethnic name (I'm of German descent - no match, I can't imagine being Indian, Korean, Hispanic, etc.) isn't going to match unless you say it phonetically.
Third, it just tends to be a glorified search widget. Other than reminders or asking about the weather you'll most likely just be prompted to search for what you are asking. And at that point you are back to the phonetic requirements to get what you are searching for.
I'm not saying Siri is bad, it has it's place, but this isn't the revolution it's hyped up to be.
[+] [-] nodata|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] microtonal|14 years ago|reply
Apple can plaster a lot of environment-blah blah on their website, but they (but also most Android vendors) are the anti-thesis of sustainability. Encouraging people to upgrade frequently, and quickly deprecating old models. E.g. my girlfriend's 3G is in a fine state hardware-wise, will probably function well for a few more years, but there are no more security updates.
(A mostly happy iPhone 4 user.)
[+] [-] tmgrhm|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] naner|14 years ago|reply
Works just as well? I wonder if there are subtle hardware differences (e.g. in the microphone) that make a difference.
[+] [-] ugh|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] jamesbkel|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] prestia|14 years ago|reply
First, I agree with a point that others have raised regarding Siri "working" on rooted phones. Sure, it will run, but does it run well? Does it slow the phone down signficantly when in heavy use? Until we know for sure, I'm not going to get worked up about it.
Second, it is very possible that the technical limitation is server-side. Apple has a pretty spotty history with web services and limiting Siri to the iPhone 4S may just be a way to slowly scale the backend.
Third, I think it's pretty absurd to call out Apple's lack of support for old devices. The level of support still available for the 2.5-year-old iPhone 3GS is outstanding compared to other smart phones. Most people who _really_ care about having the newest tech are probably upgrading their phones every two years anyway. And, really, who can blame Apple for wanting to differentiate their products? I don't mind if that is the reason, but I would prefer an honest answer if that is the only reason.
[+] [-] ryanpetrich|14 years ago|reply
Recognition on the iPhone 3GS is not as accurate due to the lack of a noise-cancelling secondary mic, but that's a component the iPhone 4 shares with the iPhone 4S.
I agree on your second two points.
[+] [-] JimDabell|14 years ago|reply
They are selling the 3GS brand new today. I don't think they deserve kudos for supporting a current product. It should go without saying.
[+] [-] hospadam|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] eavc|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] CurtHagenlocher|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] mambodog|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] brunnsbe|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] incandenza|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] nate|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] Zimahl|14 years ago|reply
First, it tends not to be able to connect to the network. Whether with full 3G or even over wifi a large percentage of the time you'll end up with "I'm having trouble connecting to the network" after asking your question. There shouldn't be any excuses here - paid for the phone which the service was a feature, one should be able to use it whenever they need.
Second, the speech to text is severely lacking. Sure it does a fairly good job of sentence translation but anything outside of phonetic names is just garbage. You'll get 'Red Robin' but not 'QDoba'. You'll get the last name of 'Anderson' or 'Jones' but any ethnic name (I'm of German descent - no match, I can't imagine being Indian, Korean, Hispanic, etc.) isn't going to match unless you say it phonetically.
Third, it just tends to be a glorified search widget. Other than reminders or asking about the weather you'll most likely just be prompted to search for what you are asking. And at that point you are back to the phonetic requirements to get what you are searching for.
I'm not saying Siri is bad, it has it's place, but this isn't the revolution it's hyped up to be.
[+] [-] Kylekramer|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] insanecanadian|14 years ago|reply