Since its launch, Siri has met with some hefty criticism — not least from us. But recent rumours about future Apple products suggest it may just be start of something very, very big.
The Wall Street Journal report that Apple executives have been busy over the past few weeks discussing their ideas for the future of TV with media executives at several large companies. But in their report, there’s a tantalising paragraph that suggests that Siri could become ubiquitous around the home:
In at least one meeting, Apple described future television technology that would respond to users’ voices and movements, one of the people said. Such technology, which Apple indicated may take longer than some of its other ideas, might allow users to use their voices to search for a show or change channels.
While it’s unsurprising that Apple would be keen to roll Siri into more of its products, this could explain why the beta software isn’t quite right yet. It’s a test-bed, a proof-of-concept for plans that go far beyond your iPhone.
At present, Apple is collecting millions of queries, testing its technology on thousands of accents and dealing with all manner of crazy requests. Take all that data, and it puts Apple in a perfect position from which to develop a voice recognition system to beat them all.
And when it has that, what better place to use that around the home? The Wall Street Journal are talking TV, and that makes most sense as the first application where Siri could really kick ass. Combine Siri with Apple’s take on PVR using iCloud, that the Wall Street Journal also reports, and an Airplay system that actually works, and you have a pretty killer home entertainment system.
But it seems likely that all Apple devices could soon be controlled by Siri — and why stop there? If Siri soon works like it should, there’s pretty much no limit to what it can be used for. I wanna see a house controlled by Siri; I want my car to respond accurately to my command; I don’t want to touch a keyboard ever, ever again. Siri, run my life for me? [Wall Street Journal]