(Image source: CNET )

BY DANIELLE CARTER

Apple’s Siri sure has become popular. From websites which parody her missteps, to an episode on CBS’ Big Bang Theory, the voice recognition service has gotten lots of attention.


Now, Apple is giving Siri new juice with a slew of new options.  The Huffington Post has the big news.

“Apple announced Monday that Siri, the personal digital assistant preferred by Samuel L. Jackson and Zooey Deschanel, is finally coming to the iPad.”

And it’s not just iPad. Siri is also grabbing a seat inside your car. Gizmodo has the logistics.

“This will involve putting a button on the steering wheel (or dash) that’ll allow you to immediately connect with Siri and ask questions if, we assume, you’re bringing your iPhone with you. It’ll allow you to go ‘Eyes Free’ with regards to infotainment - we hope. It would be sort of terrible to go ‘Eyes Free’ on the road when you’re actually driving.”

Siri is also making some new friends, partnering up with one of the biggest social networking apps ever.   Fox News has the scoop.

“The next version of Apple software also includes a Facebook upgrade. Users will soon be able to update their status by talking to their phones.”

With all these new platforms comes new software improvements. Siri’s more user-friendly voice commands – allowing the user to search for things like restaurant reservations and movie show-times.

 

The New York Times says Apple is using Siri to avoid driving traffic to a competitor.

“While Siri initially worked with a limited set of Internet services...it will now let them use voice commands to search for sports statistics, make restaurant reservations using OpenTable and and look up showtimes for movies. In some ways, Apple is using Siri to sidestep Google by reducing the need to consult Google’s search engine.”

For all of its new platforms and features, not everyone is thrilled to see Siri in more places.  A columnist with the Oroville-Mercury Register isn’t the least bit impressed ..and hasn’t been for a while.

 

“But for now, Siri is a very limited assistant and probably will remain underdeveloped for the foreseeable future. Even with the updates there will still be much Siri can’t do.”