Apple sued over iPhone 4S 'assistant' Siri

The only thing I am interested in with the current version of Siri is if I'm in the middle of a city I don't know and want to find a nice restaurant to eat

You could use google's "voice search" feature (available for iphone etc.). Asking for "nice restaurants in (any Japanese city)" works very well. Of course, if you apply such a question to a big Japanese city, there is too much information so I guess Siri must make a random choice from thousands of possibilities. The advantage with google is that you get specific information about each restaurant mentioned plus maps and directions etc.

@smithinjapan

She can't tell you how to part the waves quite yet, no, my friend, but Siri's far more than you give credit to, and clearly far more than you know what to use it for.

Okay I admit maybe I am being a bit too critical. I'm sure many people find asking it the weather, or using it as a calculator, or asking it a trivia question about countries, or asking it to send a message or mail to a friend etc. as useful tools. Personally, I have no real need for them.

What would really make me impressed with Siri is if it was truly bilingual. An example is I have my Japanese friends names in Japanese on my phone, but if I say "Send a message to たろう" Siri has no idea what I am talking about. I'm not going to change all my friends names to English just for Siri.

The only thing I am interested in with the current version of Siri is if I'm in the middle of a city I don't know and want to find a nice restaurant to eat - one of the supposedly major features of Siri - but the one thing it can't do in Japan - or any country outside the US I believe. That is the point of my original, and subsequent posts. Granted, Apple Japan doesn't claim it can do these things on its website, so I'm not accusing them of false advertising like this Brooklyn guy.

He won't win, Apple advertised it was Beta. I know it works wonderfully in USA. But people shouldn't forget that Siri was created for American military use and Apple bought it and adapted it for civil use. There must be some sort of restriction related to satellites, that's why it can understand Japanese but can't point places.

papasmurfinjapan: "You overestimate Siri's abilities."

Actually, bud, it's the people complaining who have expected too much instead of bothering to get to know what's offered. I know Siri's abilities and as such they meet my expectations. What did you want -- you think she would direct you on how to date her? It is VERY useful if you know how to use it, but it still basically just in beta and therefore limited, yes. She can't tell you how to part the waves quite yet, no, my friend, but Siri's far more than you give credit to, and clearly far more than you know what to use it for.

Bananacase: "Plus the Japanese Siri sounds old and tired. English wins."

Agree with you there. The German sounds okay as well (haven't listened to the French). I'd say the Japanese sounded more robotic than tired, but maybe that's what they were aiming for with the public here?

Does anyone know if you can get siri on an ipod touch 4g running iOS5.1?

His Brooklyn accent couldn't be understood by Siri, haha! What a greedy jerk!

I would not be surprised if his "lawyers" are actually "good buddies".

I live in Japan and the English Siri does most of what you see in the American commercials. He's living in the USA and Siri works well so I think he'll lose his case. Maybe he has a lisp. Anyway, Here's what I've found. Siri can't find an Italian restaurant in Nagoya. She can find me one in Chicago. Siri can't tell me how to get from Osaka to Tokyo. She can tell me how to get from Dallas to Detroit. In the Japanese or English version... She sets my alarm. She schedules appointments. She sends text messages for me. She shows me local weather forecasts. The following is only available in the English version. She gives me the population of Nagoya, tells me what the highest mountain in Japan is, tells me what the capital city of Canada is, tells me what pi times 3.76589 plus 2358808092 divided by 899308.0480932809 is and much more.... (I guess the Japanese Siri can't access wolframAlpha so if offers to do a web search instead) Plus the Japanese Siri sounds old and tired. English wins.

@ smithinjapan

I have downloaded the new OS, thank you very much.

Even in Japan you can dictate emails in English, German, and French without the update;

Clearly you are mistaking Siri for the dictation function, which has nothing to do with Siri. You can find it on the new iPad that does not have Siri.

look up information on anything and everything

You overestimate Siri's abilities. Its database is extremely limited. If you want to look up anything other than simple facts about countries or the weather, it just directs you to a web search instead.

Siri still doesn't search for locations in Japan even with the new update, so it is still just a pretty useless gimmick is it not? Isn't the ability to easily search for things supposed to be one of the main features of Siri?

papasmurfinjapan: " It won't search for anything here in Japan, so is really only good as someone to talk to when feeling lonely."

Clearly not only do you not know how to use Siri, you haven't updated to the recent OS, which enables Japanese voice instructions and can operate in Japanese. Even in Japan you can dictate emails in English, German, and French without the update; look up information on anything and everything (in English or said languages), etc.

People who are disappointed with Siri before and/or after the recent update simply do not know how to use it and are the type of people that need to be told how to do everything.

A few months ago Siri's functions for whatever reason went offline for a few days and there was genuine outrage and heaps of complaints -- a testament to how people use, love, and sadly how some even DEPEND on it already.

Haha, I love how everything goes to court. It's supposed to be entertainment right? "Neta" for TV shows.

Oops, I'm too busy preparing to sue docomo because my mobile doesn't turn into Ken Watanabe!

Well you have to admit Siri is pretty pointless outside the US. It won't search for anything here in Japan, so is really only good as someone to talk to when feeling lonely.

Me: "I love you"

Siri: "You are the wind beneath my wings" lol

This guy is clearly just looking for a quick buck, and while he claims to be 'representing 4S buyers' my guess is if asked to share any rewards he gets from the lawsuit he would say, "I don't understand what you are asking".

Spot on! It is SO annoying that people rely on courts EVERY time they have a disappointment - Jeez, I mean how much money could this disappointment really be worth? Can't you return the item within a few weeks and get your money back? Is the problem that there are too many lawyers willing to work on a commission only basis, that justice becomes easy if you can get a good number of plaintiffs together?

Have to give apple some credit, they are out their pushing the boundaries, breaking new ground....if apple advertised the fact then they abseloutly believed siri to be a new innovative and usable technology. The saying, you can please some of the people some of the time, but not all of the people all of the time comes to mind. Sounds like this guy is jumping on the bandwagon to make a quick buck!

Are you Siri-ous?!

I guess Apple is conducting secret meetings with Siri to come up with a plan to beat this guy. Or, Maybe they should just fire her. In these times, if you can't perform your job, you should be let go.

This guy is clearly just looking for a quick buck, and while he claims to be 'representing 4S buyers' my guess is if asked to share any rewards he gets from the lawsuit he would say, "I don't understand what you are asking".

The siri tech is brand new and is in beta, its going to take some time before the program functions as planned