By Kyle Agius
For years, phones have had voice recognition software, which was capable of understanding simple tasks such as calling a friend or searching a term on the web.
Interesting technology, but it’s a feature that is often forgotten about.  Many times people will play with it for the first week, but it is never utilized to its full potential. That is all until Apple released the new iPhone 4s feature Siri; your own personal assistant.
Having heard great things about the new features and my curiosity about it (as well as being up for a new 2-year contract), I ordered my new iPhone 4s.  Although this program is still technically in beta, I am overall impressed with the wide array of tasks it can handle, and it’s much quicker than me navigating the iPhone to get them done.
I find myself using Siri at least 4-5 times a day, asking it for simple tasks from reminding me to get my textbook to asking it to wake me up at 7:00am.  At this point it has me hooked I think I will only use it more as it becomes more intelligent as time goes on.
It may be difficult to realize all the benefits of Siri unless you actually own the iPhone 4s and have ample time to converse with it while you are alone
For example, while I am driving, I am able to tell Siri to type, send, or read messages when they come in, never once taking my eyes off the road.
It even reads my typed message back to me to verify the wording before I confirm the send.  It is also great being able to do so many things hands free.
Living in Buffalo, the weather starts to get cold this time of year, and walking long distances outside between classes can be brutal if you have your hands exposed.  I have found Siri extremely helpful with picking the song I want to listen to just by asking it, as opposed to pulling out my iPhone and manually choosing it.
It’s small things like this that make the technology so useful.  Siri even has quite the sense of humor when it comes to certain questions you can ask it.  Check out some of the things I asked it out of curiosity below.
Now I’m not saying that this technology alone is the reason for you to invest in the iPhone 4s over any other phone. I just think it is a great feature to have and can truly help with your efficiency and remembering small tasks.  And it’s definitely become a feature that will only be improved and built upon as it becomes more developed.