Tag: iPhone

Another suit has been filed against Apple over Siri, the voice-activated personal assistant software that was one of the key selling points of the iPhone 4S. The suit accuses Apple of falsely advertising Siri’s capabilities and functionality.

The class action suit was filed in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles by David Jones, according to the L.A. Times. The complaint alleges that Apple’s marketing of Siri is “deceptive.” Apple’s commercials show Siri responding quickly and flawlessly to a wide variety of user requests. Jones, however, found that Siri often took too long to return inaccurate responses, and often didn’t respond at all. Jones is asking for unspecified “relief and damages.” The suit seeks class-action status, which means that other disgruntled iPhone 4S users could try for a piece of the pie as well.

This is the second lawsuit concerning Siri to be filed this month. Two weeks ago another annoyed iPhone user filed suit against Apple in U.S. District Court in New York. Like Jones’s suit, that suit sought class-action status and accuses Apple of misrepresenting Siri’s actual performance and capabilities in its advertising.

For reference, here are a couple of the commercials:

Though not perfect, Siri is actually pretty popular with users. A recent study found that most iPhone users like Siri, though they use it for a fairly limited number of things.

The problem with suits like this, though, is that Siri isn’t meant to be perfect, at least not yet. Apple has clearly stated on a number of occasions – including on their website – that Siri is still in beta. Yes, Apple’s commercials show Siri working without the flaws that some users have experienced, but the truth is that when Siri works, it works pretty much how Apple says it will, which isn’t bad for a feature that’s still in beta.

What do you think? Should Apple have to pay people who are upset about Siri? Is Apple’s advertising “deceptive”? What do you think of Siri? Does it work like you think it should, or do you have problems (or both)? Let us know in the comments.

When Tim Cook announced the new iPhone last fall, one of the phone’s biggest new features was Siri, a voice-activated personal assistant. While most iPhone users like Siri, it turns out that Steve Jobs wasn’t actually a fan of the software’s name, he just couldn’t think of anything better.

That’s according to Dag Kittlaus, who co-founded Siri. During a keynote yesterday at Technori Pitch, a conference for Chicago-based tech startups, Kittlaus revealed that he had had several conversations with Jobs about Siri’s name. While Jobs was not terribly fond of it, Kittlaus kept insisting that it was a good name. A Norwegian name, Kittlaus says it means “beautiful woman who leads you to victory.” It’s also easy to say and to spell. Jobs was ultimately persuaded to keep the name for the iPhone 4S, partly for the simple reason that he couldn’t top it.

Siri was founded in 2007 by Kittlaus, Adam Cheyer, and Tom Gruber. Kittlaus told the audience in Chicago that he had originally hit upon the name Siri when he worked with a woman by the same name in his native Norway. He decided to give the name to his daughter (though he doesn’t have a daughter yet), and when it came time to name his new company the name was available.

Siri Assistant first hit the App Store as an iPhone app in early 2010. It integrated with a variety of services including Google Maps, OpenTable, and more to allow users to get directions, make restaurant reservations, get movie showtimes and buy tickets, and more. Shortly after Siri went live in the App Store, Kittlaus says Steve Jobs contacted him and invited him to his house. They spent three hours at Jobs’s house talking about the future of Apple and about Siri. In October of that 2010, Apple bought Siri for $200 million. The iPhone 4S debuted in October of 2011, and the original Siri Assitant app went dark just days later.

After Siri’s acquisition by Apple, Kittlaus stayed with the company as CEO of Siri until shortly after the iPhone 4S launched. He left the company on “amicable” terms, moving from Cupertino to Chicago.

What do you think of Siri’s name? Was Jobs right to want to change it, or is it fine as it is? Sound off in the comments.

When Tim Cook took to the stage in October 2011 to unveil the iPhone 4S, there was one feature that got most of the attention: Siri. While the iPhone 4S sports several improvements over its predecessor – upgrades to the camera and processor chief among them – Siri is the iPhone 4S’s flagship feature. Heck, it’s probably what the S stands for.

Siri has sparked all kinds of reactions. Some are scared of it, others think it doesn’t work the way Apple says it should (some have even sued over it). Many of those who don’t have it on their phones have tried to get it, or something like it, on their Android or Windows phones, or even their older (jailbroken) iPhones. Of course, Siri isn’t without problems. Though she recently learned Japanese, she appears to be struggling with it, and she’s notoriously bad with accents.

One thing we haven’t seen much of, however, is attempts to quantify just how happy iPhone 4S users are with Siri. Well, a new study from Parks Associates aims to do just that. They surveyed 482 iPhone 4S owners, and found that just over 50% of them were “very satisfied” with Siri, and another 21% were “satisfied.” Less than a quarter of respondents said they were not satisfied with Siri, and most of those said they were “neutral.” It looks like the number of iPhone 4S users who dislike Siri is actually pretty small, only around 9%.

Interestingly, Siri use tends to fall into a fairly narrow set of categories. The Wall Street Journal managed to get their hands on the full report, and found that people aren’t quite using Siri to her fullest potential. While 87% of respondents said that they use Siri at least once a month, they appear to use it for texting and making phone calls and not a lot else. About one third of users use Siri for phone calls, texting, and search daily. Just over a quarter use Siri to send email daily or almost daily, while 30% say they’ve never done so. Other features like playing music, scheduling meetings, setting alarms, and the like saw little use even among Siri’s heaviest users.

Do you love Siri, or hate it? How do you use? Do you make phone calls and text? Do you play music or schedule alarms? What other uses do you have for Siri? Let us know in the comments.