Talking to Siri: Learning the Language of Apple's Intelligent Assistant [Paperback]

Erica Sadun (Author), Steve Sande (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 25, 2012 | ISBN-10: 0789749734 | ISBN-13: 978-0789749734 | Edition: 1

Sweet-talk Siri^TM into doing practically anything!

 

Apple’s Siri voice technology is even more amazing when you really know how
to talk to it. Now, two top Apple tech experts show how to talk Siri into doing
more than ever before! Just look up what you want to do, and you’ll find tested
step-by-step instructions for getting exactly the results you want. From start to
finish, this book is packed with quick and easy ways to make Siri even more
reliable and useful—and way more fun!

 

•     Get more accurate recognition every time you use Siri

•     Ask questions that avoid “misunderstandings” and lead to precise,
accurate answers

•     Check weather forecasts, stock prices, and lots more

•     Help Siri recognize and connect with your spouse, children, and parents

•     Use Siri to stay in touch with friends, colleagues, and customers

•     Transform Siri into your personal media DJ

•     Find the nearest store that’s selling whatever you’re looking for

•     Let Siri calculate restaurant tips and “splitting the tab”

•     Use Siri to organize your life—and never miss another commitment

•     Answer math and science problems with Siri and Wolfram Alpha

•     Dictate memos, text and Twitter messages, and even blog posts

•     Make sure Siri responds only to you, not to an impostor

 

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Erica Sadun writes lots of books and she blogs at TUAW. When not writing, she’s a full-time parent of geeks who are brushing up on their world-domination skills. According to her academic dosimeter, she has acquired more education than any self-respecting person might consider wise. She enjoys deep-diving into technology.

 

Steve Sande also writes way too much. He’s the hardware editor at TUAW, and recently logged more than one million words written for the blog in just over 3 years. He’s written a number of books for Take Control Books and Apress, is married to a rocket scientist, and spends his days being bossed by a cat.

Product Details

• Paperback: 168 pages
• Publisher: Que Publishing; 1 edition (March 25, 2012)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0789749734
• ISBN-13: 978-0789749734
• Product Dimensions: 5.2 x 0.3 x 7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (49 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #65,387 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #6 in Books > Computers & Technology > Software > Natural Language Processing
  • #7 in Books > Computers & Technology > Software > Business > Speech Processing
  • #7 in Books > Computers & Technology > Software > Voice Recognition

More About the Author

Erica Sadun is the bestselling author, coauthor, and contributor to three dozen books on programming, digital media, Web design, and other topics- Sadun holds a Ph.D. in Computer Science from Georgia Tech's renowned Graphics, Visualization, and Usability Center.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Useful, the manual Siri should have had April 10, 2012

By Dr. Philip J. Kinsler VINE™ VOICE

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

This little book makes using Siri much easier. It is the manual Siri should have had. It goes over simple uses--creating reminders, for example, and more complex uses. These include using Siri to send text messages, to compose e-mails, to search for an item close to you, to maintain a grocery list and remind you when you get to the store what to get. It goes over using Siri to enter things in your calendar, and as a shopping aid. It has a chapter on the kind of humorous prompts that will get Siri to wisecrack back. And it introduces a function I had no idea Siri had, integration with Wolfram Alpha, which you can ask everything from solutions to math equations to currency conversions to conversions of recipe ingredients and on and on. I haven't mastered all that this little book can teach me, but I plan to keep it around and master one sort of task after another and see which ones are useful in my life. For example, who knew that Siri can be a countdown barbecue stopwatch? I think I might use that! Cool!

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Making the Most out of Siri April 11, 2012

By Dr. Bojan Tunguz HALL OF FAMETOP 50 REVIEWERVINE™ VOICE

Format:Paperback

Siri is one of the coolest smartphone features to come around since, well, the advent of smartphones. It takes the personalization of your daily tasks to a whole new level. Siri's also incredibly fun to use, and as many websites dedicated to it can attest, it has a very quirky dry sense of humor.

Most of the things that I've used Siri for I've picked up from the original Apple presentation of iPhone 4S plus a few additional adds and online tutorials. I've used Siri mostly to place phone calls, send text messages, add items to my calendar, and lookup information online or figure it out using Wolfram Alpha. However, there are many more only slightly more complex and ingenious tasks that Siri can be coopted into doing. Unfortunately, like with most other Apple products, Siri didn't come with a detailed user manual. "Talking to Siri" more or less fills in that need. It's a very short little book, but it will definitely increase your ability to get the most out of Siri. For me some of the most useful tidbits of information were the workarounds around Siri's inability to use Twitter, Blogger, or many other such outside messaging/posting services. It is very likely that in the future there will be an "official" way of contacting these services directly, but in a meanwhile it's possible to tweet using Siri by sending text messages to a particular Twitter-affiliated number. You'll find many such little nuggets in this book, and if you want to become a Siri power user, then you should definitely check it out.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Second chance for Siri August 16, 2012

By Wendy Greer VINE™ VOICE

Format:Paperback|Amazon Vine™ Review (What's this?)

I have to admit, I really hated Siri. It actually got me upset to try and communicate with her... childish, I know. I just stopped using the program, was better then (practically) arguing with a phone. Then, I saw this book and thought I would give it a try. The book was like couples therapy. It really put Siri into perspective for me and turned me in the right direction to be able to get out of the program what it was able to give.