Siri to speak Japanese and support iPad 3
by Steven Mostyn - Feb 16 2012, 10:34
Image: Apple/Siri.
Siri, the innovative personal assistant utilized aboard the iPhone 4S is about to learn a new language and make the gadget-based leap to the iPad 3—if current Apple-flavored rumors are to be believed.
Siri’s vocal functions currently only cover English, French and German, but when 9to5mac quizzed the virtual assistant directly regarding her language skills, she added Japanese to that list, even though it is not an available option in the app’s list of settings.
Apple has said Siri’s abilities are expected to expand to include Japanese, Chinese, Spanish, Korean and Italian before the close of 2012, but the sudden appearance of Japanese certainly suggests at least one of those languages will be arriving sooner than the rest.
Meanwhile, the folks over at SlashGear have unearthed a new ‘SetActiviationToken’ added to Siri by Apple that points to the inclusion of the acclaimed assistant in the upcoming third-generation iPad tablet.
Although said token is meant to prevent Siri from running on platforms other than the iPhone 4S smartphone, SlashGear writer Chris Burns believes it may also be a preparatory addition that will enable iPad 3 compatibility.
“To use Siri outside the iPhone 4S, you’ve got to jailbreak your Apple device and port Siri in one way or another using a series of hacks,” notes Burns. “Once you’ve got Siri, you’re still using the Apple-held set of servers that is the brain of Siri accessed via the Web.”
“Why Apple would circumvent this convoluted process with an easy-to-bypass token such as the one we’re seeing here is clear,” he added. “It’s a token to allow in the iPad 3, not to block you out. Just because it does one thing now doesn’t mean it’s not a part of a bigger set of components in the near future.”
Apple is expected to formally launch the iPad 3 in March.
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