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wowman (82)iPhone 4S’s Siri Is a Search Engine, Will Compete With Google Search
Posted by Michael Nace on Wednesday Oct 26, 2011 Under Apple Rumors, iPhone 4S News, iPhone 4S OpinionApple’s new Siri voice assistant uses LSI and AI technologies, making it more like Google Search and less like a simple app.
If you’ve already invested in the new iPhone 4S, chances are you’re most excited about its top gadget: Siri. To be sure, Apple has touted Siri above all of the other new features on the iPhone 4S, including a much-enhanced camera array, as well as a bevy of improved hardware features that Apple has chosen to downplay into order to highlight the software side of its latest iPhone iteration. There’s no doubt that those early images of the guy jogging with his iPhone and having Siri shuffle his appointments is something right out of depictions of the future.
Of course, there is plenty that Siri cannot do, and it hasn’t taken long for the wise guys of the tech media to point them out. Fortunately for Siri, it cannot have its feelings hurt or intelligence insulted.
Yet.
In spite of its limitations, Siri is proving to be much more than simple voice recognition software. It does exhibit an intelligence; a flexibility to understand connotation and meaning that up until this point has been non-existent in the consumer end of voice recognition (who knows what the military may have). And the way that Apple is achieving this is not via a simple app, but rather through similar technologies used by Google’s own search algorithms.
As a result, I think that, with Siri, Apple just got into the search business and will be looking to go head to head against Google Search in the decades to come.
Tom’s Hardware has a comprehensive article on all of the new hardware upgrades for the iPhone 4S (thanks to Core2 for sending it to me). You’ll be surprised to see how much hardware is actually improved, from the battery to the screen, camera, video and beyond. But what I found most interesting was their in-depth look into how Siri works. I was shocked at how similar it is to Google Search.
Writer Andrew Ku explains: “. . . we should clarify that Siri isn’t just an app. Provided you’re asking questions and not giving commands, Siri is a service that interfaces with Apple’s servers to find a response. As such, the ‘intelligence’ behind Siri may change over time as the company optimizes its code.” In other words, just as Google regularly tweaks its algorithm — this year, they have rolled out several “Panda” updates in order to provide better search results to users — so too will Apple update its own search algorithms to make Siri more intuitive when you ask it something.
Ku goes on to explain that, like Google, Siri is all about processing keywords and keyword phrases: “Whenever you ask a question, Siri checks to see if it contains a keyword. This list of keywords only takes precedence over general syntax rules when Siri doesn’t recognize the string of words as a question. A given keyword sets off a function like looking up the weather. So far, we’ve worked out that this list includes: clothing, weather, food, restaurants, hospital, and clinic.” Granted, that is still a limited list, but in fact, those six categories are key search terms for mobile users, and will provide Apple with a basis for greatly expanding its search results capabilities in the very near future.
Where Siri still lags behind Google is in extrapolating sentence syntax and structure. Whereas Google Search has the ability to adjust to various syntax typed into the search box, Siri is still somewhat rigid in how you have to talk to it in order to get sensible results. Ku explains: “Syntax matters a lot. I’ve spent the better part of a day experimenting, and Siri definitely prefers the English standard of subject/verb/object, as opposed to object/subject/verb or object/verb/subject. Basically, don’t talk like Yoda. Questions, commands, or statements that contain extra or unessential words confuse Siri.”
But this shouldn’t be seen as an oversight or clumsy limitation overlooked by the Apple developers. In fact, it is a result of a much more sophisticated process that Apple is using to fetch search results with Siri: whereas Google Search benefits from you inputting the search keywords and criteria, Siri appears to be more of a two-step process, where the front end processes whether or not the voice request is a command or request, and then routes that request either to a proprietary response mechanism or to a search algorithm.
Where Is Apple Getting Its Search Results From?
I have no doubt that Apple intends Siri to become a search standard for the tech mobile community. They will be sure to keep it proprietary and heavily patented, and go after Google as soon as they try to improve their own voice recognition to mirror what Siri is already doing. As a result, I think that Apple has just gotten into the search business without actually saying that they’ve gotten into it. While many people would have expected Apple to develop an internet-based search engine like Google or Yahoo, instead, they have essentially hidden their search engine behind Siri.
Or, maybe we can simply assume that Siri is a search engine.
But I will end this article with a question: where is Siri getting its search results from? Apple has not to my knowledge admitted to building a Google, Yahoo, or Bing-like search engine, and yet Siri behaves like a search engine when it provides keyword-based results. We know that they are not tapping directly into google, since google would have already let us know about that if it were the case. The only assumption left is that Apple has its own search engine behind the scenes.
So, Apple: when we will hear a bit more about it?
By Michael Nace
October 26th, 2011 at 5:25 pm
Isnt wolfram alpha a search engine?
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October 26th, 2011 at 6:48 pm
Jim: yes — good comparison! wolfram alpha is more like what Siri is doing — but instead of typing, Siri is actually reading voices. It’s like voice-activated wolfram alpha! :-0
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October 26th, 2011 at 9:36 pm
I think it’s great to have Siri. And I say if Siri doesn’t help, you’re a few taps away from Safari and then Google anyways. Siri is a beautiful feature and will only get better.
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October 26th, 2011 at 10:58 pm
Apple search would be great! Siri is great! I asked her if she would marry me and she said: My user end license agreement does not cover marriage. I laughed so much!
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October 27th, 2011 at 12:14 am
Guess who just ordered their 4S.
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October 27th, 2011 at 1:06 am
LOL @Cristian’s comment! That is too funny! @Wowman, congrats! I hope that you enjoy your new phone.
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October 27th, 2011 at 7:17 am
In a fit of apple fever pre-ordered. Like the phone but not love. Certainly not ready to propose to siri. Batting avg is well under 500 for attempted uses. Need to learn the code words because she is not intuitive to my speech so far. She cannot even handle my pronunciations of my contact list. I must be doing something wrong. Also took my first video yest. And it was upside down. First thing i thought of when watching on comp. was a comment of such on this blog a few days back. So overall rating B- compared to 3gs prior.
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October 27th, 2011 at 8:40 am
Re:Still working Siri relationship
Question on that upside down video. Were you using the + volume button up on the phone or at least had the volume buttons facing up?
I have an Apple case open for photos\videos upside down when pulled off via USB. Photos are also upside down when Emailed.
First they thought it was a software issue, now they think it’s a hardware issue. Sigh…
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October 27th, 2011 at 11:21 am
Too quick you were. Wait for 5 you must.
I looked at the recently launched Samsung Galaxy Prime as I wanted to keep all my options open before getting new phones. BIG LET DOWN!
There is really not much in it between the GS2, Prime and IP4s as all have good and bad points but there is certainly no clear leader in the bunch. This has just bolstered my intent to wait for the IP5 (or whatever Apple calls the next redesigned phone) as by then Apple will have surely? sent out a new winner.
Go to bed earlier I must.
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October 27th, 2011 at 12:36 pm
I was under the impression that Siri was USING Wolfram Alpha for search results to derive calculational knowledge questions. Things like how many ounces in a balthazar of wine, or how far it is to the moon.
Or are we talking more about if you ask Siri to find you some new pants?
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October 27th, 2011 at 9:19 pm
I’m asking Siri for everything. When she doesn’t know the answer she asks Google. She still does most of the work for me and I’m dictating this to her right now . All you naysayers will really enjoy Siri if you ever get your hands on her. I couldn’t be happier with the speed of the 4S or Siris’ abilities.
I Thoroughly enjoyed this article and I am looking forward to the future. Thank you Michael, and thank you for keeping it up.
By the way, this was done while walking the dog in the dark again.
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October 27th, 2011 at 11:23 pm
Ron7624 It’s like I say: Once you go iPhone you never go back to Android, Windows Phone or Blackberry. I’ve seen it many, many times. BTW Try asking Siri what she’s wearing. That’ll give you a chuckle.
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October 28th, 2011 at 9:43 am
I’ve been using Siri a lot more lately. The other day my new 4s alerted me I needed to make a doctors appointment, so I asked Siri to call my doctor and once I got the appointment, I asked Siri to make the appointment on my calendar…..all while driving! I absolutely love it! I’m using it more and more, I’m not having any battery issues either. This phone is so cool!!!
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October 28th, 2011 at 9:54 am
Sounds like Siri might appear as a voice control for new Apple televisions around 2013. SJ wanted to make inroads into this market by launching a simple, easy to use TV with no remote control.
Bad news if you lose your voice and have to watch the same channel for days.
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October 28th, 2011 at 5:51 pm
the first thing i am going to ask Siri: where can i bury dead bodies.
Really! it gives an answer
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October 29th, 2011 at 12:52 am
I’ve only had my new iPhone 4S for a few days, and my initial impression is that while Siri works well most of the time, it does have some “limitations” especially for those of us living outside of the U.S.
I’ve tried a few simple requests such as “where is the nearest Italian restaurant / movie theatre / Starbucks / Best Western Hotel” and each time Siri responds with “Sorry, I can’t look for xxxx in Canada” (with xxxx representing what I asked about).
This would seem to be an obvious deficiency with the whole concept, as there are millions of iPhone users that don’t live in the U.S. Given the fact that search engines are capable of looking for things in any part of the world, I’m not sure why Siri (and the Apple search engine) would have a problem with this?
Google certainly doesn’t have a problem with searches outside of the U.S., so I can’t really understand why Siri is not able to use the location data that’s configured in the phone to access local information.
I realize that Siri is still in the “Beta” stage, and perhaps this shortcoming will be addressed with a software update at some point in the future. I don’t understand why Apple wouldn’t want to provide a more “workable” version of Siri for their millions of customers outside of the U.S.
At this point, the limitations of Siri are not a “deal breaker” for me, but it sure would have been nice to have the same capabilities as provided to those in the U.S. (especially considering that I paid considerably more than in the U.S., and got less functionality).
As the 4S is my first Smartphone, I’m still somewhat in the “learning curve”, but perhaps I’ll have more comments to offer once I become comfortable with it.
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November 4th, 2011 at 1:15 pm
Other than Siri not understanding some contacts in my list (She seems to not be able to understand some business names, especially if it has an apostrophe in it like our favority take-out place Bel Gusto’s), I have recently started experiencing an interesting problem. It’s in the dictation piece. Sometimes it will take my dictation, think about what I have submitted, and then not type anything when it’s done. I restarted my iPhone and it worked, but still.
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November 9th, 2011 at 3:12 pm
Siri can never compete with Google search for the simple fact it will only work with 1 platform .. the iPhone and Apple’s share of the mobile market is very small compared to Android.
Its like Facetime whereby unless you have an iPhone 4 / 4S you cannot use it and you can’t talk to anybody who doesn’t use an iPhone 4 so its a pretty useless gimik unless all your friends have iPhones.
Like Facetime Siri is not something that we are going to suddenly all find we can’t do without if Apple decided to ditch it, its a gimik which is not going to change our life.
I love my iPhone 4 & Macbook Air but Apple haven’t really come up with any game changing technology since the iPad 1, everything else since then has been either gimiks like Siri or simple hardware upgrades and gimiky features like Thunderbolt on the MACS.
Even the new OS have been hyped up, iOS5 is not as good as we were all led to believe it was going to be and OSX Lion offers nothing new other than this Launchpad feature.
As much as I like Apple products I do think they have not been very inovative recently.
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November 15th, 2011 at 10:14 pm
Tremendous issues here. I’m very happy to look your post. Thank you a lot and I am taking a look forward to touch you. Will you please drop me a e-mail?
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November 20th, 2011 at 4:46 pm
You know thus considerably relating to this subject, produced me for my part consider it from so many varied angles. Its like women and men aren’t interested unless it is something to do with Girl gaga! Your personal stuffs excellent. At all times deal with it up!
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March 2nd, 2012 at 5:03 pm
well the question about apples search engine and where it is can easily be answered. Remember the announcement of the ” Data Centre” for iCloud? Well there’s your database for the search engine right there. And apple are looking to build more of these data centres right? Well Siri could become the true “Artificial Intelligence” with that kind of data server.
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March 15th, 2012 at 6:31 pm
[...] iPhone 5 News Blog has long argued that Siri is a search engine — a new kind of search engine that is particularly well-optimized for mobile users who often use [...]
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