Digital Media Concepts/iPhone 4s (Siri)

Background

The iPhone 4s was the fifth generation of the iPhone announced on October 4, 2011 by Apple, a multinational technology company. It was released alongside iOS 5, the newest software at the time, and debuted the new Siri technology, which was a way of interacting with the iPhone interface only through voice commands. The new phone immediately sold millions within the first week of release, and was acclaimed to be revolutionary by several critics for its innovative and new look on technology. This product also holds a special place in several people's hearts because it was one of the last things worked on by apples founder Steve Jobs before his passing, so the name 4s can also be interpreted as "For Steve".

History

The idea behind Apple's Siri dates back to the 1980's when the CEO of Apple, John Sculley, requesting a concept video to be made of something he called a "Knowledge Navigator" which in his mind acted like a personal assistant that could fulfill any demand you had instantly. Then in 2003, the US military Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) began production of an AI software that could assist with military needs.

Development

After nearly a decade of research and no feasible solution for the military, A startup SRI international decided to make a user friendly version for an individual's everyday needs and ended up naming the product "Siri" (a way to say the company name at the time) In early 2010, they released their product onto the app store for the general public to use and connected it to several web based functions. Apple then reportedly acquired the technology from SRI international for around $200 million and immediately began researching how to incorporate it into their phone technology. Lots of tweaking was necessary to make the technology up to Apples usual standard such as allowing for a more user friendly experience, allowing several languages, and giving enough accessibility through the iPhone.

Features (Software & Hardware)

The iPhone 4s was released with iOS 5 and Siri being the main selling points, but it had several new features internally and externally over its predecessor the iPhone 4. The primary difference was the storage it came with; Apple now allowed people to buy iPhones with 64 gb unlike the 32 maximum of the iPhone 4, while still offering lower storage for the consumers it better suited. It also came with a better battery life of 8 hours of talk time (improved from the iPhone 4's 6 hours). The 4s also came with better network connectivity and a better dual core processor allowing it to run new operating systems. The hardware stayed mostly consistent with the last model following the same aluminum base but was a bit sleeker and bigger in general. The iPhone 4s came with 2 colors on release a black and white model.

Release and Sales

The iPhone 4s was released on October 14, 2011 and broke 4 million dollars in the first weekend raising apples stock and bringing in massive revenue for the company. It was launched in 22 countries including US, Canada, Germany, and France; it was also released with 3 major service providers being AT&T, Sprint, and Verizon.

Evolution of Voice Recognition

The voice recognition technology originally used to develop Siri has developed in many other streams as well as gained competitors in its own field. The two main competitors are Amazon Echo and Google Home, which have integrated voice recognition into the home to do several information functions such as something Siri is capable of, but also with additions of nests and other home devices control the environment one lives in all through voice command. It can also be found being used in several niche markets as well such as automated phone systems, car bluetooth, and the google voice assistant present in the browser.

References

<ref>"Put Alexa and Siri to Work" accessed March 9, 2020, https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/22/technology/personaltech/how-to-alexa-siri-assistant.html