Siri

The number one question I get asked about the iPhone 4S is... "How's Siri?" I never have a good answer, since I hate to deter people from buying the iPhone 4S because she can't comprehend my mumbling. Siri is great when she understands me, but due to my slight lisp and inability to talk clearly, we have a love-hate relationship. I can forget about asking Siri to "skip songs." Too many "ssss" sounds. I can handle asking Siri about the "weather" because it only requires one word. Too bad that I rarely care about the weather. I'm also embarrassed to talk to my iPhone like it's a person in public, especially when I normally have to ask two or three times.

Siri seems great for people who can talk clearly and want to use their iPhone while driving. If you have already pre-programmed their address into your contacts, asking for directions to your friend's house must be a cinch. Even if it's not that easy, at least you're in the comfort of your own car. Asking Siri for directions while walking down a crowded NYC or Philly sidewalk is awkward and never seems to work for me. Trying to keep up with the fast moving traffic of busy people while yelling "directions to so-and-so's house" at my phone seems hazardous to my health. And now, to make things even worse, Apple has made my Siri disability even more embarrassing by releasing two commercials starring Samuel L. Jackson and Zooey Deschanel.

The popular third-party browser Dolphin has been updated with a new voice-control feature. Dolphin Sonar allows users to search the web and navigate websites by using simple voice commands. Downloading version 4.0 adds a familiar looking microphone icon to the bottom left of the browser. Users can can easily access the Dolphin Sonar by tapping the icon or shaking their iPhone. The new voice control system eliminates the need for typing while searching Google or messing around on Facebook. Just tell Dolphin Sonar where you want it to go and it will lead you there.

The Dolphin Browser also features a magazine reader Webzine, one-click sharing for Twitter and Facebook, and Gesture, which allows you to create a personal symbol to access the websites you like the most. Dolphin Browser is compatible with the iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad. It requires iOS 4.0 or later.

Is Apple misleading customers by advertising a beta product on TV? Two different iPhone 4S owners think so. Frank Fazio filed the first California class action suit against Apple for "false and misleading" advertising, and now a second person has also filed a claim.

According to the Los Angeles Times, David Jones filed a new suit in a U.S. District Court alleging "Apple disseminates false and deceptive representations regarding the functionality of the Siri feature."

If you're not a fan of official sports apps like me, then the new AssistantExtensions addon called SiriSports might be what you're looking for. The jailbreak tweak enables Siri to deliver sports scores and schedules for the NBA, NHL and MLB.

SiriSports is located for free in the BigBoss repo. Once installed and enabled in Settings, you can ask Siri things like: "What's the score of the Knicks game" or "Did the 76ers win last night?" Siri will then give you the latest or final scores of the game you're looking for, instead of suggesting a web search.

Siri9000 is a useless but fun jailbreak tweak that transforms Siri into HAL 9000 from the film 2001: A Space Odyssey. The Hal icon is easily installed by downloading the tweak from the Big Boss repo, and activating it from WinterBoard. Getting the Hal 9000 sound effects to work takes a little bit more effort.

I should warn you that the tweak does not convert Siri's voice into Hal's. It only changes the Siri start up sound to a few Hal quotes from the movie ("Good evening Dave", "I'm sorry Dave, I'm afraid I can't do that"). To activate the Hal 9000 sounds you will have to know how to transfer files on your iPhone with SSH and have OpenSSH installed.