When Siri was first shown off at the IPhone 4S announcement earlier this year, it got a lot of people talking. Apple wasn’t the first to initiate voice controls, in fact, both Nuance and even Android have been using voice commands for a while. What made Siri different was how naturally you could speak to it (think “is it cold outside?” rather than “tell me the weather”) and its splash of personality. Since the IPhone 4S’s release, there have been a number of blogposts and even full websites dedicated to the funny things Siri says and the mishaps people have encountered while using Siri in different situations. What has received less attention is the modding community, which have taken the tool box Siri provides and have achieved some really impressive things. After the break are three examples of Siri hacks you’ll almost definitely want to pick check out:
Siri As A Remote Control:
First up, is an interesting hack from over at unionbridge.org. As the video link above shows, this hack allows users to change the channel, find out what’s playing and even toggle the power on and off all using Siri. Pretty impressive stuff, and while this incarnation of siri is a bit rude (warning to those who are sensitive to rude language) it is probably one of the more functional Siri hacks you can find. The hack functions using the SiriProxy (a common thread in almost all Siri hacks) and an Arduino IR Box. With all the rumor of an Apple TV, maybe it wont be long before we see this kind of functionality directly from Cupertino.
Next up, is video evidence of what to some might look like magic. A man initiates Siri and has it start playing a tune on the piano. Without so much as touching a single key, this hack allows users to play and pause music on a real piano just by asking Siri. Truth be told this is a little bit smoke and mirrors. Whats actually happening is that the IPhone 4S (and by extension Siri) is sending commands to the Yamaha piano over Wifi via Airplay. While this one isn’t exactly a hack per-say, but its still an impressive work around that is sure to impress some friends at a party.
Last but certainly not least, is a siri hack using the SiriProxy that a man uses to remotely start and stop his car. As you can see in the video above, the man uses Siri with his viper control system and when he asks, Siri starts his Acura TL right up. Truth be told, this one isn’t all the functional either, since you’ll need the Viper controller in hand, and be within range of the car. Still, its hard not to feel like your IPhone is a gadget out of Star Trek, when your car starts up with just a request. All of these hacks are pretty impressive, but they also open you up to some security issues so you may not want to be in a rush to try them yourself. What do you guys think of these hacks? Would you like to see Apple integrate them in future versions os IOS? Do you have your own cool Siri hacks to share? Let us know below.
The Siri hack for the starting and shutting down of the car is honestly a wonderful feature. However, after Apple launched the Siri feature, Google has started working on its own, which is said to be better than the other competing softwares!
…a gadget out of Star Treck?!?
You have obviously never really watched Star TREK
Fixed the obvious mistake, thanks for pointing that out. I was thinking about the scene in the latest film with the young Kirk stealing the car when I wrote that, not the original series. Though I am currently going back and watching next generation and am loving every minute of it. Thanks for reading!