Developer creates proxy server for Siri, controls thermostat with his voice (video)

Now that Siri's protocol has been freshly dissected and laid bare for the world to behold, hackers have been busy finding ways to move Apple's personal assistant beyond the realm of the iPhone 4S. That task may be getting easier, however, now that a developer has created his very own third-party proxy server, designed specifically for Siri. The dev, known by his Twitter handle @plamoni, demonstrated his brainchild in a recent video clip, using a plug-in to control a WiFi thermostat with only voice commands. As @plamoni explains, the hack won't require users to jailbreak their iPhone 4S, but it won't let them port Siri over to earlier iPhones or iPod Touch models, either - not yet, at least. The idea, according to the developer, is to make it easier for other hackers to experiment with and build upon Siri's functionality. Head past the break to see the demo video for yourself, or if you're up for it, grab the source code and instructions on how to create your own server, at the source link below.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AN6wy0keQqo

GM is bringing Apple iPhone’s ‘Siri’ to the car

“Tech-savvy drivers who miss conversing with ‘Siri,’ the chatty electronic assistant built into newer Apple iPhones, are about to get a big assist from General Motors,” Chris Woodyard reports for USA Today.

“Drivers will be able to continue their chats with voice-activated Siri behind the wheel in order to perform the same tasks that they usually do on their smartphone, from checking sports scores to phoning friends,” Woodyard reports. “Only now, they will be able perform those functions while keeping their eyes on the road at all times.”

Woodyard reports, “”Siri in Eyes Free mode’ will be available in the Spark and Sonic well before the luxury brands,’ says Cristi Landy, Chevrolet’s marketing director for small cars, in a statement... Siri is found on Apple 4S and 5 iPhones. But even those still stuck in the dial-phone age are likely to know the Siri function from a blizzard of Apple print and TV ads. On TV commercials, the Siri function is demonstrated in by hip actors like Zooey Deschanel and Samuel L. Jackson who ask it to play particular songs or help with a recipe.”

Read more in the full article here.

Kontra: Is Siri really Apple’s future?

“Siri is a promise. A promise of a new computing environment, enormously empowering to the ordinary user, a new paradigm in our evolving relationship with machines,” Kontra writes for Counternotions. “Siri could change Apple's fortunes like iTunes and App Store...or end up being like the useful-but-inessential FaceTime or the essential-but-difficult Maps or the desirable-but-dead Ping. After spending hundreds of millions on acquiring and improving it, what does Apple expect to gain from Siri, at once the butt of late-night TV jokes but also the wonder of teary-eyed TV commercials?”

“Siri's opportunity here to win the hearts and minds of users is to change the rules of the game from relatively rigid, linear and largely decontextualized CLI search towards a much more humane approach where the user declares his intent but doesn't have to tell Siri how do it every step of the way,” Kontra writes. “The user starts a spoken conversation with Siri, and Siri puts an impressive array of services together in the background.”

Kontra writes, “Google has spent enormous amounts of money on an army of PhDs, algorithm design, servers, data centers and constant refinements to create a global search platform. The ROI on search in terms of advertising revenue has been unparalleled in internet history. Apple's investment in Siri has a much shorter history and far smaller visible footprint. While it'd be suicidal for Apple to attack Google Search in the realm of finding things, can Apple sustainably grow Siri to its fruition nevertheless? Very few projects at Apple that don't manage to at least provide for their own upkeep tend to survive. Given Apple's tenuous relationship with direct advertising, is there another business model for Siri?”

Much more in the full article – very highly recommended – here.