A job listing on Apple’s website indicates that Siri, the iPhone and iPad’s voice controlled personal assistant, will be learning new languages.
The job posting on Apple’s website reads, “Join the team responsible for delivering Siri in different parts of the world for an exciting 6 month internship in Cupertino, California.”
The profile requirement was posted on November 14th 2012. Key qualifications for the post include:
Native or fluent in Arabic, Chinese, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, French, Korean, Norwegian, Swedish and fluent in English
Candidate for BS in Computer Science (or equivalent experience)
Strong analytical and problem-solving skills
Knowledgeable in, and sensitive to, multilingual and multicultural issues
Must work well with people, and possess excellent written and verbal communication skills
Siri was not one of the highlights of the iPhone 4S when the device launched in India as the service could not understand the Indian accent especially when it came to names and places.
Hindi may not be a priority on Apple’s list but that doesn’t mean that people haven’t tried to get the voice-controlled personal assistant to speak the native Indian language. We have seen Siri hacked to respond in Hindi. You can read the story of Siri’s Hindi conversation here. There are also rumours circulating the world wide web that Siri may make its debut on the Mac in Apple’s next OSX offering, OSX 10.9. Few details have already begun to emerge about Apple’s next desktop OS. You can read the details about it here.
We’ve spent some time comparing Siri to Aisha, Micromax’s offering of a voice-controlled personal assistant on a budget smartphone. Interested in knowing which is better at understanding the Indian accent? You can do so here.
Sameer Mitha lives for gaming and technology is his muse. When he isn’t busy playing with gadgets or video games he delves into the world of fantasy novels.