Look Who's Talking: Siri To Get More 'Natural Sounding' Voices In iOS 7.1
Siri has gone through a couple of changes in iOS 7.1 beta, and one of the most recent alterations to Apple’s virtual assistant is something Brits, Australians, and the Japanese will definitely appreciate. Because as of iOS 7.1 beta 5, these international iterations of Siri now utilize more “natural-sounding” voices, meaning the on-board service now sounds less like a strained robot and more like a real, actual person.
As one who uses British Siri often, the assistant’s voice is definitely one clear downside to the service – it’s monotonous, every word sounds the same, and there’s no room for intonation. But in iOS 7.1 beta 5, this has changed for the better: folks in Britain, Australia, and Japan should find that as of Apple’s next public update, Siri really has become more lifelike.
Hours ago, AppleInsider provided a recording of the new international Siri, and as you can hear, the service is definitely much-improved. You can listen to the recording yourself, too, over at SoundCloud: intonation, natural-sounding pauses, and – more generally – different voices altogether mean Siri is a feature I could see myself using a lot more once iOS 7.1 is released publicly.
Besides revamping Siri for international iOS device users, iOS 7.1 beta 5 also makes a number of more minor changes to Apple’s mobile OS. It fixes important jailbreak exploits, too, and as such jailbreakers are advised to avoid the incoming update – for now, at least.
Apple is expected to launch iOS 7.1 to the general public in March, following a delay purportedly caused by iOS in the Car – one major feature set to appear in the new version of the operating system. We’ll keep you updated with further information on iOS 7.1 as we receive it.
In the meantime, see: Gameloft To Soon Deploy Official Game Of ‘Captain America: The Winter Soldier’, U2’s ‘Invisible’ Free iTunes Download Offer Raises Over $3 Million From Bank Of America, and Apple Breaks With Tradition And Restarts Production Of iPhone 4 For 3 Markets.