How Apple Might Bring Siri to the Masses

When Apple unveiled the third-generation iPad before this month, there was a notable omission than many were expecting: Siri. The Mac maker's virtual assistant is pretty anyway you look at it a big initiative by Cupertino to embrace voice-recognition innovation as a viable input medium, so Siri's absence was a bit of a surprise.

In hindsight, the reasons for leaving it out became clear. Siri relies on a network connection, which isn't always available on all iPads as things now stand on the iPhone 4S. There has as well been some evidence that Siri has been getting less intelligent over the months, possibly because of reduced bandwidth afterwards soaring demand. But, the lack of constant connection is the clearest and most explanatory reason.

The main downside to that approach is that the user is limited to the processing power of the device. This is why many players in the industry are opting to use server-based approaches now. Nuance Communications is the leading provider of the speech-recognition engine that resides on servers, during the application software layer -- Siri, in such a case -- as a rule sits on the device.

Now you're not being held back by the relatively limited processing power in your local gadget nevertheless can or rather call down the raw computing power of the cloud to do the heavy lifting with its server farms. The only potential disadvantage is the reliance on network connectivity, which is becoming less of a concern as people are increasingly connected.

Back to the Mac AppleInsider recently uncovered a patent application that details how Cupertino could address this conundrum and bring Siri's functionalities to other devices like Macs. The patent application was in fact originally filed by Apple in September 2010 however was just now released openly. It would involve a way to pair two devices at the same time, and you'd be able to control the second device through voice interactions with the first.

This way, the first device could provide the needed connection lifeline and relay data to the paired second device. The possibilities here are endless. Apple includes laptop and desktop computers as possible pairing candidates, to boot to cameras or music players, among other things.

Remember when I envisioned a Siri-powered iPhone remote for the mythical Apple TV set that's probably in the pipeline as we speak? This patent application lays the foundation for that dream to become a reality.

The pairing process

Apple could potentially use Bluetooth for the pairing process, since the research is already featured on just about all Apple products for short-range pairing and communication. Cupertino has just now started moving its devices to the more power-efficient Bluetooth 4.0. Or it could use Wi-Fi as it does with AirPlay.

There have been rumors that Apple will add Bluetooth support for AirPlay, so the company might be trending toward that research in general at any rate.

It's worth noting that Apple files for tons of patents that never make their way to market, however this one seems in other words promising.

There are already hints that Siri is bound to get expanded functionalities, just as serving up sports scores. If Apple were to open up Siri's application programming interfaces, to third-party developers, the only limit would be the imagination of Apple's army of iOS developers, which numbers in the hundreds of thousands.

Matter of fact doesn't even have a choice anymore

Cupertino as a matter of fact doesn't even have a choice anymore, either, because if it doesn't do this, at the time Google will. The company is rumored to be working spontaneously voice-recognition software for its Android operating systems. One thing's for sure -- expect the competition to heat up. Apple will in the near future have some competition in this space.

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