Siri iphone 4s exclusive, but why?

[Oyeve]

Yes, I know this is another ip4s thread but I dont care about ios vs android vs zomg! no ip5.


My discussion is about Siri. Looks good on paper and in the presentation but why an ip4s exclusive? Is it to sell more ip4s phones because it is basically an ip4 but different innards? Why cant this work on an ip4? Surely the og ip4 should be able to handle siri to some extent. Maybe not all the bells and whistles surely but basic functionality. Is the dual core chip and the dual core gpu the only way siri can be run? I would kinda make sense as I am somewhat sure its a sophisticated program.

 

[runawayprisoner]

Well, no. Originally, Siri ran on the 3GS and 4, so there is no reason whatsoever it requires a dual-core processor.

My guess is that Siri is in beta phase now. Apple is testing it against the water to see people's reaction. When it gets sufficiently popular and mature, they will then bring it to other devices en mass.

If dual-core processor was a requirement, then obviously the iPad 2 should have it as well, but that's not the case

 

[Kenmitch]

My guess would be an artificial limit to get those with iphone 4 to upgrade to the 4s. After all iOS is so smooth you don't need a dual core chip....Well at least that was the defense before the 4s was released anyways.

For the recored I currently have a iphone 4 that replace my 3gs that replaced my 3g that replaced my original iphone!

 

[Oyeve]

Well, no. Originally, Siri ran on the 3GS and 4, so there is no reason whatsoever it requires a dual-core processor.

My guess is that Siri is in beta phase now. Apple is testing it against the water to see people's reaction. When it gets sufficiently popular and mature, they will then bring it to other devices en mass.

If dual-core processor was a requirement, then obviously the iPad 2 should have it as well, but that's not the case

Thats what I mean. On apples website it says siri is a 4s exclusive:

"Siri is available in Beta only on iPhone 4S and requires Internet access. Siri may not be available in all languages or in all areas, and features may vary by area. Cellular data charges may apply."

So, I am leaning towards it as a way to sell ip4s's. Which sucks as it looks to be a nice feature for any phone, not just ip4s.

 

[zoiks]

Fragmentation?

 

[Capt Caveman]

Up til the announcement, you could buy/download Siri thru the AppStore.

 

[runawayprisoner]

Thats what I mean. On apples website it says siri is a 4s exclusive:

"Siri is available in Beta only on iPhone 4S and requires Internet access. Siri may not be available in all languages or in all areas, and features may vary by area. Cellular data charges may apply."

So, I am leaning towards it as a way to sell ip4s's. Which sucks as it looks to be a nice feature for any phone, not just ip4s.

Well, I personally don't have much hope for Siri. Why?

Because what wasn't said during the presentation might not... be recognized at all. For instance, things like...

"Make a new note"
"Start recording (my voice)"
"Read this book"
"Turn off WIFI"
"Turn off Bluetooth"
"Clear my schedule for Sunday afternoon"

...weren't mentioned. Which means... there are still a lot of limitations to what it can do. I tend to think of it more as a glorified version of the current Voice Control feature, plus some character recognition.

It may eventually recognize those complex commands, though... since I can use voice recognition, on my Mac, offline, Siri feels... redundant as it's cloud-based and there is so much limitation.

 

[ChAoTiCpInOy]

My guess is that Apple believes that the extra time the iPhone 4 and 3GS would take to process the speech would not make it as seamless as they would want it to be.

 

[runawayprisoner]

My guess is that Apple believes that the extra time the iPhone 4 and 3GS would take to process the speech would not make it as seamless as they would want it to be.

You still have to wait for the 4S to upload the speech data to Apple's servers, and then wait for it to download.

In poor reception areas, or areas where only EDGE is available, the wait would pretty much be the same whether you're on 3GS, 4, or 4S. It's more network-dependent than hardware-dependent, or at least until we can sustain more than 1Mbps up and down all the time everywhere.

 

[Ns1]

Because what wasn't said during the presentation might not... be recognized at all. For instance, things like...

"Clear my schedule for Sunday afternoon"

...weren't mentioned. Which means... there are still a lot of limitations to what it can do. I tend to think of it more as a glorified version of the current Voice Control feature, plus some character recognition.

Even more impressive is its ability to work out your calendar events. I asked the phone to schedule a meeting at 3:30 PM, only to be told that I already had a meeting at 4. And would I like to change my other meeting time? Yes Siri, I would.

http://thisismynext.com/2011/10/04/iphone-4s-hands-on-impressions/

The most impressive part was the demo of Siri, the new assistant that lets you do just about anything you can do on your phone -- but with your voice. We tried to psych it out with a bunch of random requests, including the history of Chester, Vermont (a lovely town) and the best Ramen places in San Francisco. Siri never faltered, never missed a beat. It worked as well as Scott's demo up on the stage. There's nothing better to say than that. We even sent ourselves a few text messages, which Siri transcribed to a T. Of course, the lady on the other end still sounds eerily robotic, but we're hoping for smoother responses from the alien within in a future update.

http://www.engadget.com/2011/10/04/iphone-4s-hands-on/

 

[theeedude]

Simple product differentiation. Pay more, get more. In this case, you get Siri. Has nothing to do with ability of device to run it. Even if 4S was identical hardware to 4, Apple could charge more for 4S by limiting Siri to only 4S devices.

 

[MrX8503]

Well, no. Originally, Siri ran on the 3GS and 4, so there is no reason whatsoever it requires a dual-core processor.

The Original Siri is not the same as the New Siri. This was not a cut/paste development process.

How much horsepower the new Siri needs is really unknown. According to Apple, supposedly, it'll only run well on the iP4S, or at least at the speed that Apple is satisfied with. If you think about it, Siri is probably an intensive app. It has to geolocate, gather data, display data, speak, and take an action on that data if it requires it to.

Maybe Siri being 4S exclusive isn't a big deal, I'd rather wait and see its effectiveness.

 

[Aikouka]

My guess is that Apple believes that the extra time the iPhone 4 and 3GS would take to process the speech would not make it as seamless as they would want it to be.

I think it's related to this but not in the same way. Given that Siri used to be a separate app, that meant it ran essentially by itself. That's fine as it will work on any of the phones just like similar apps (such as Shazaam). The Siri implementation in iOS 5 will be built into the OS, which means it's usable while any app is running or inside of an app.

Because of that, the application that is currently running still needs to be able to run. Chances are, this would not work well on a single-core system where you have two tasks vying for processing power at the same time.

EDIT:

To give you a more real world example. Do you remember when you upgraded to your first dual-core processor? I sure do. I went from an Athlon 64 to an Athlon 64 X2. Prior to that, if I was playing a game and a virus scan decided to start up, I'd be screwed by the computing required to perform heuristics. Once I got my dual-core processor, it still hampered me a little bit, but my processing issues were fairly alleviated.

 

[sygyzy]

The Original Siri is not the same as the New Siri. This was not a cut/paste development process.

How much horsepower the new Siri needs is really unknown. According to Apple, supposedly, it'll only run well on the iP4S, or at least at the speed that Apple is satisfied with. If you think about it, Siri is probably an intensive app. It has to geolocate, gather data, display data, speak, and take an action on that data if it requires it to.

Maybe Siri being 4S exclusive isn't a big deal, I'd rather wait and see its effectiveness.

I suspect/believe all of Siri's processing is done in the cloud.

 

[Ns1]

I think it's related to this but not in the same way. Given that Siri used to be a separate app, that meant it ran essentially by itself. That's fine as it will work on any of the phones just like similar apps (such as Shazaam). The Siri implementation in iOS 5 will be built into the OS, which means it's usable while any app is running or inside of an app.

Because of that, the application that is currently running still needs to be able to run. Chances are, this would not work well on a single-core system where you have two tasks vying for processing power at the same time.

makes sense

 

[NaOH]

Yeah, it seems like a really useful tool if it actually works as well as they advertise. Ugh, damn you Apple.

 

[poofyhairguy]

If they didn't lock it to the 4S, what reason would those with regular 4s have to upgrade? A better camera?

Apple didn't become the most valuable tech company by chance....

 

[Aikouka]

If they didn't lock it to the 4S, what reason would those with regular 4s have to upgrade? A better camera?

Apple didn't become the most valuable tech company by chance....

Sheesh, poofy. Even the lowest of the newbies knows that you can't get real-time koi fish on an iPhone 4!

:sneaky:

 

[WelshBloke]

Welshbloke runs into starbucks.

"SIRI, FACTORY RESET. CONFIRM "

Welshbloke strolls out.

 

[AstroManLuca]

Welshbloke runs into starbucks.

"SIRI, FACTORY RESET. CONFIRM "

Welshbloke strolls out.

LOL, I remember someone making a similar joke about the Kinect voice recognition. Like shouting "XBOX OFF" into your mic and hoping someone on the other end has voices set to play through their speakers.

 

[Kenmitch]

I thought the following news article on msn.com was kinda funny!

http://money.msn.com/ways-to-invest/article.aspx?post=997fbbc3-2075-431b-8c24-6246f96aefa7&gt1=33044

Quote from article

" To the Japanese, the name Siri sounds almost identical to 尻, pronounced shiri. Shiri is a colloquialism for -- in the politest possible sense -- buttocks. Its proper usage, however, is crude. As Yoree Koh of The Wall Street Journalput it, the comparable term in English rhymes with "crass." Compliments for Apple's major new technology, likely to be the focus of marketing campaigns across the world, will make the speaker sound like a cat-calling construction worker in Japan. "

 

[boomhower]

I say it's to sell new phones and nothing to do with how well the i4 can actually run it.

 

[gorcorps]

They pulled something similar when they released the 3GS. They said voice commands couldn't work with the 3G (what I had). Funny... because with a jailbroken app we could use voice commands just fine.

IMO it's marketing BS to sell new ones and nothing more.

 

[pm]

Like I said in another thread today, I remember when they said that MMS wouldn't work on an original iPhone. And about a week later, the jailbreakers packaged up the MMS app from the iPhone 3G firmware and released it on the original iPhone and it worked fine.

I have no doubt that within a month or so, Siri will be available on the iPhone 4. As far as questions about how well it will work... I guess we'll see, but I suspect it will run fine.

 

[gsaldivar]

Is it to sell more ip4s phones

I think you answered your own question...