geekosystem

Sure, the Watson Supercomputer is pretty great at Jeopardy!, but IBM thinks it's time to branch out. They're going to be giving software developers access to Watson with a goal to "launch an ecosystem where Watson is a service and you build applications around it," said CEO Ginni Rometty. Could Watson soon challenge -- and probably dominate -- Siri?

Isn't technology great? At this rate, everything we create in ten years will be able to immediately provide us with feedback in some way, if not audibly. Our gadgets and gizmos giving us clear and concise updates out loud, rather than via some sort of text interface or gauge, is simply the best. Better than all the rest, in fact. It's not like we've been ignoring things from the past, either. Hit the jump to check out our five favorite things that we're totally glad can talk to us now.

Here at Geekosystem, we've pointed out the annoying tendencies of die-hard Apple fans before, but today's video turns down a darker, more disturbing path. So the iPhone 5 has been announced, and the Apple lovers across the globe are collectively trying to avoid peeing themselves while they wait for the phone to go on sale next Friday, September 21st.

There just seems to be no end to the cases of Chinese companies filing suit against Apple for various infringements. This latest comes from Zhi Zhen Internet Technology and for once isn't about a name. Instead, they claim that Apple's digital voice assistant Siri infringes on their talking assistant Xiao i Robot. For her part, Siri remains tight-lipped about the case.

For some, Siri is an invaluable assistant, allowing for easy searching of the web and email dictation. For others, it's a source of constant entertainment as it bumbles its way through human communication. For IBM, Siri is a security risk. So much so, that they have banned the use of Apple's voice assistant at the workplace.

Though it was designed for functionality, Apple's voice assistant Siri has proved most fascinating as a sounding board for mundane questions. The most recent revelation is that, according to Siri, the best smartphone on the market is the Nokia Lumia 900. A phone notable in this context for being the total antithesis of an iPhone in that it is not made by Apple and runs Microsoft's mobile OS.

When the iPhone 4S was unveiled last year, some were disappointed that it wasn't a more radical overhaul of the iPhone 4 design. At the time, it seemed that Apple foresaw this, and really played up the importance of the voice-activated digital assistant Siri that came with the phone. Now, Siri, which is still in Beta, is known for being a bit problematic which has apparently led to two class-action lawsuits against Apple for false advertising but there hasn't been a more cringe-worthy on-screen use of Siri that can top today's appearance on Fox News.

3D printing company Shapeways decided to honor Apple's digital assistant Siri the best way it knew how, and assembled a group of ragtag, rough-and-tumble 3D printing artists to submit their own vision of Siri. The winner of the contest, SaGa Design, churned out the creepy Siri case you see above, dubbed the Omniscient Siri case. The case obviously renders all touch controls useless, and users would be forced to use Siri for all functionality, but luckily her face is pushing out from the phone so one can order her around face-to-face.

Mercedes-Benz has revealed that they are integrating Apple's Siri into its electronics system so drivers will have access to their iPhone apps through the use of voice commands. This program, dubbed Drive Kit Plus, will work with Mercedes' already established Digital DriveStyle App to display the iPhone's screen on the in-car screen, where users will be able to use a variety of iPhone features, such as peruse social networks, send text messages, and listen to music.

Today is a good day for people with iOS devices, specifically people with older iOS devices. Not only did jailbreakers pod2g and the Chronic Dev team release an untethered  jailbreak for A4-processor based iOS 5 devices, but there's also a new jailbreak app called Spire, which brings Siri to all kinds of previously unsupported iDevice models, and to boot, it's entirely legal. Like I said, today is a good day.

There are a lot of things Siri can't do -- understand anything anyone says if it is only slightly noisy in the background, for one. However, Siri not being able to post to Twitter, even if you speak very slowly and loudly and in a room void of noise, isn't something that defines Siri anymore. It's a workaround more than Siri actually being able to just post to Twitter itself, but the workaround is a quick setup and configuration, so those that really can't be bothered to open up their Twitter app and type out a tweet now have a quick and easy way to tell the world what their sandwich is like in 140 characters or less. Instructions after the break.

For the one of you out there who might not get it (no, no, not you) I'm just going to come out and say this is a total joke. But man, is it ever a good one. In light of Siri's inability to find abortion clinics (later revealed to be because most "abortion clinics" don't go by that name) the folks at Happy Place imagined up a gleefully insane world in which Siri is constantly pushing everyone to get an abortion. In Fake Siri's defense though, she makes some pretty good points. Clear, 57 degree days are terrific abortion weather.

Recently, Microscoft exec Craig Mundie made the claim that Apple's Siri voice assistant was old news because his company's product TellMe had been running on phones for over a year. What he neglected to mention was that while TellMe and Siri are both voice assistants, they differ greatly in their functionality and, most importantly, their ability to process human speech. When placed side by side, hilarity predictably ensues. See a video of the head-to-head match, after the break.

A few days ago, footage surfaced from a group calling itself Project Black Mirror. It showed three guys, one with electrodes on his head, and an iPhone 4S wired to an Arduino board. In the video, the group claimed that they had created a method by which to control Apple's voice assistant Siri using their thoughts instead of their voice. The video shows a successful call being placed, much to the group's satisfaction. However, some people have begun to question if everything shown in the video is really as it seems.

From the moment Siri was introduced to the public with iPhone 4S, the comparisons to HAL 9000 from 2001: A Space Odyssey began. With a surprisingly powerful, albeit quirky, voiced-based interface, it's quite understandable. Thankfully, the wonderful people at ThinkGeek have made the rhetorical reality with Iris 9000. Next to the traditional iPhone dock is a spitting image recreation of HAL 9000, complete with pulsating red eye and 1950s IBM design aesthetic. The device also amplifies Siri's voice, and provides a more robust microphone for picking up your voice from farther away. There's even a mini remote to activate Siri from across the room, or even while sitting in your pod locked out of your spaceship. Read on after the break for a video of Siri Hal Iris 9000 in action.