5 Siri-like apps for your Apple iPhone 4, iPod, and iPad (power user tips for iPhone 4S users)

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One of the biggest puzzlers surrounding the release of iOS 5 is the iPhone 4S’s exclusive ability to use Siri, the voice-controlled virtual assistant. At first we had assumed that Siri requires special hardware — the A5 processor and oodles of RAM, perhaps — but it turns out that the iPhone 4S and iPad 2 are virtually identical. Then there’s the fact that Siri, the standalone app that Apple acquired earlier this year, worked just fine on every iOS device, including the iPhone 3GS and 4, and iPod touch. Still, Apple undoubtedly has its reasons, and who are we to question a higher power?
Fortunately, thanks to a thing called the App Store, there are a few Siri alternatives that you can install. By virtue of being apps, rather baked into the OS like Siri, these alternatives won’t be quite as smooth or fast as Apple’s new wunderkind — but they should be more than capable of sending an email or text while driving, or looking up directions while on the move.

Vlingo (Free)

By far the closest comparison to Siri is Vlingo, an app that has its own voice-recognition engine, a powerful cloud-based back end, and almost all of Siri’s functionality, including booking restaurants. The two caveats are that it can’t set reminders (though a new release might fix that), and unlike its Android brother there doesn’t seem to be a voice-activated mode for hands-free in-car mode.
As an added bonus, there’s also a Vlingo app for just about every platform under the sun, including BlackBerry and Nokia phones, and even Windows; but not Mac, unfortunately.

Google Search (Free)

You probably already have it installed, but the Google Search app for iOS includes the same Voice Search feature found on Android devices. As the name suggests, the app only lets you search using your voice, and there’s absolutely no integration with any other services — but it’s a nice stopgap until Safari innately supports voice searching. Just like mobile website, the Google Search app uses your location data to make sure that the results it returns are contextual, too.

Dragon Go! (Free)

Here’s a fun one: Siri herself doesn’t actually manage voice recognition — a module provided by Nuance does that, and then hands your utterances along to Siri once it’s worked out what you’re trying to say. Dragon Go is made by Nuance, and thus it is just as accurate as Siri… but it’s no where near as polished or full-featured.
Dragon Go is basically a voice interface to a bunch of web services, including Wolfram Alpha, Google, Yelp, Google Maps, and so on. It also interfaces with Pandora, Spotify, and Netflix if they’re installed. There’s also Dragon Diction, which is all about dictating messages or longer notes. You can then send your voice-recognized musing via email, Twitter, Facebook, or SMS.

Built-in Voice Control (Free)

If you want to make (almost) hands-free calls in the car, iOS’s built-in Voice Control is your best bet: press and hold the Home button (or the equivalent on your headset), you’ll hear a beep, and then speak your command. If you want to call someone, say “call” or “dial” followed by their name or number, or you can even initiate a FaceTime connection by saying “FaceTime” and then a name and location (iPhone, home, and so on).
Built-in Voice Control can manipulate your music playback, too (but only the iPod app). Use “play” followed by the name of a song, album, playlist or artist — and you can also “what” and “who” to find out what song/artist is currently playing, or “genius” to have your iDevice pick a new, similar song for you.

Voice Camera Pro ($1.99)

Finally we have the only non-free app on the list: Voice Camera Pro, which does exactly what you think, plus a little bit more. First, you can say “camera” to turn the camera on and “shoot” to take a photo, but you can also say “double,” “triple,” and “quad” to take a series of sequential photos.
You can’t avoid the fact that you have to launch the app before you can use it, though — this isn’t going to let you whip your phone out and magically take photos from the lock screen by shouting “TAKE A PHOTO!” Also, it doesn’t seem to have the ability to shoot video, which seems a little weak for an app that costsmoney.

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Apple iPhone, iOS 5: Hidden gems and features (iPhone 4 repair, drmobiles.co.nz)

Apple has just released iOS 5. If you have an iPhone 3GS, 4 (or 4S), iPod touch 3rd or 4th generation, or an iPad, simply plug it into your computer, make sure iTunes is updated to version 10.5 (iTunes > Check for Updates), then just select your device on the left hand side and click “Check for Update.”
By this stage, if you regularly frequent technology websites like ExtremeTech, you will already be intimately familiar with the key features that adorn iOS 5: Siri voice-controlled assistant, Notification Center, iMessage, Reminders, deep Twitter integration, access to the camera from the lock screen, and perhaps most importantly PC-free activation; you no longer have to plug an iOS 5 device into iTunes to set it up, and you can also sync via WiFi, too. You will also know all of the ways in which Android 4.0 beats iOS 5, and vice-versa.
All told, though, iOS 5 includes more than 200 new features, many of which you would never notice unless you knew where to look. Fortunately, we moles here in the ExtremeTech bunker have been playing around with beta builds of iOS 5 for months, and we’re more than happy to point out the few hidden gems that we’ve discovered.

Text macros and improved formatting

In Settings > General > Keyboard you can now specify Shortcuts. Shortcuts are simply text macros: you enter a short phrase (btw, omg, etc.) and the iOS 5 input editor (SMSes, emails) will automatically expand those short phrases into full sentences. Whether this will prevent kids from typing in txtspk is another question entirely.
When composing an email, you can select a word or phrase and apply bold, italic, or underline formatting from the pop-up menu.

Safari is faster, tabbed, and more secure

Except for the Notifications Center, the most noticeable change in iOS 5 is a significantly-improved Mobile Safari. You’ve probably heard about Reader and Reading List — own-brand versions of Instapaper — but Safari is faster (rendering- and JavaScript-wise), has a new Private Browsing toggle that works as you’d expect, and on the iPad you can now use tabs!
There’s also an interesting option that forces links to open in the background, which is handy if you’re reading through an article and want to check out the pages it links to later, once you’re finished.
Finally, Mobile Safari is now by far the most HTML5-compatible smartphone browser — though we’d be surprised if the Ice Cream Sandwich stock browser doesn’t at least match it.

More finger-crippling gestures on the iPad

Actually, they’re no where near as bad as the five-finger-pinch-and-flick that OS X Lion uses: with iOS 5 and iPad, a four- or five-finger flick up reveals the multitasking bar. Pinch returns you to the home screen. Swiping left and right switches between apps (at last!)

Improved security

No doubt as a reaction to the odd and iffy security record that smartphones have had over the last year, iOS 5 includes more granular control over which apps can access Location Services (Settings > Location Services), and the General > Restrictions area now lets you set a password for in-app purchases.

Custom alerts and improved accessibility

Also joining the “at long last!” club is custom alerts: you can now pick a different ring, bleep, or tune for new mail, sent mail, tweets, calendar alerts, and more.
In General > Accessibility you can now make the camera’s (rather bright) LED flash when you receive a message, call, or alert — and there’s also a neat feature called Assistive Touch, which lets you create a custom gesture on the screen, and then bond that gesture to an action, such as turning off the screen.

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sponsored by Dr Mobiles Limited (Location Map)
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> Free 30 minute off-street parking
> 45 mins to fix iPhone 4 scree
> 30 mins to unlock 3G and 3GS
> 25 mins to replace 3G/3GS screen
> 10 mins to unlock iPhone 4

Apple iPhone 5 Begins Production as Hardware Details Leaked!

25 October, 2011--China Times reports that the iPhone 5 has entered a trial production phase and will feature a larger screen. Purported iPhone 5 parts have already leaked that seem to match the claim of a four-inch screen. The iPhone 5 itself is expected to have a similar form factor as the current model, with the display reaching all the way to the edge of the device.

The rendering above by Piotrek Photos shows how a larger iPhone 5 screen might compare to the current iPhone 4 display. This news comes as the New York Times has confirmed Apple is working on near-field communication (NFC) technology so that future iPhones can easily make wireless mobile payments at specially equipped cash registers. The NFC hardware would be integrated with the iPhone processor and linked directly to the owner's iTunes account.

Although Apple is working on NFC technology it's not clear whether or not the feature will make its way onto the iPhone 5. The company could be saving this functionality for a future model iPhone, as there are many different versions of the e-wallet concept currently entering the market. Competing Android phones are already getting into the act, with the Samsung Nexus S already equipped with NFC.

Other highlights of the iPhone 5 design include the switch to a metal back, much like the original iPhone. Apple could completely redesign the iPhone 5 with a curved aluminum back, to bring it more in line with the iPad 2 and recent iPod touch designs. More recent information points to a next generation device much more similar to the iPhone 4, except replacing the back glass panel with metal. A redesigned antenna would be integrated into the smartphone to help prevent the reception issues that were cited by Consumer Reports when they refused to recommend the iPhone 4.

According to China Times, the iPhone 5 is on track for a summer 2011 release. This contradicts some reports that the iPhone 5 could be delayed until September. Apple typically updates the iPhone every year in late June to early July. Plenty of time left for more rumors, leaks and speculation before an official Apple announcement.
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This post is uploaded via Apple iPhone 4,

sponsored by Dr Mobiles Limited (Location Map)
1 Huron Street, Takapuna, North Shore 0622
Tel: (09) 551-5344, Mob: (021) 117-2222

Web - FaceBook - Localist - Posterous - Twitter - Blogger - Flickr - Email 

Why Dr Mobiles Limited?
> Repair while you wait
> Free insurance calims report
> Free inspection on faulty phones|
> Free 30 minute off-street parking
> 45 mins to fix iPhone 4 scree
> 30 mins to unlock 3G and 3GS
> 25 mins to replace 3G/3GS screen
> 10 mins to unlock iPhone 4