Siri

It's a busy job being president of CBS Interactive, but Jim Lanzone takes an hour to sit down with CNET's The 404 Podcast to talk shop, so we're minding our Ps and Qs, our Fs....Ss....Bs....and Ds.

Jim kicks off the conversation and tells us about his experience in the start-up world with eTour, Clicker, and Ask.com, then we explore his ideas about the future of television and how Web programming will compete with DVRs.

We'll also chat about GameSpot and EA teaming up for The Controller, a competition reality show where the best pro-gamers from around the country battle in a high-stakes competition without ever touching the controller.

Finally, we're taking questions from the live chat room and talking with Jim about today's tech news headlines, like the new Lytro camera that captures light in every direction in every point in space (whoa), the most annoying tech words in Web 2.0, and a reminder to turn off Siri access in your iPhone 4S's lock screen!… Read more

You and your smartphone may be inseparable, but that doesn't mean you ought to be best friends.

That's the essential message from Andy Rubin, Google's Android chief, who spoke at the AsiaD conference this week. Not so coincidentally, he said this just days after the launch of the iPhone 4S, a chief feature of which is Siri, a voice-activated feature that Apple is billing as a "personal assistant."

"I don't believe that your phone should be an assistant," Rubin said in an interview, as reported by AllThingsD.

Rather, he said, a telephonic … Read more

Just like us old-fashioned human beings, Apple's Siri is bright enough to know how to find information when it can't answer a question on its own.

When you ask Siri a question that it can't answer or if you tell it specifically to search the Web, the voice-based assistant uses Google as its default source. But Siri is also capable of tapping into the smarts of Bing and Yahoo, according to an article in Search Engine Land.

Noted yesterday by search engine guru Danny Sullivan, iPhone 4S users can tell Siri to use a specific search engine … Read more

You love a phone design or you viscerally hate it; you can't stand this wallpaper, so you add that one. Your phone's design or color is a statement of your identity. Like all products it says something about you: you're hip and edgy, you're a top-notch professional, you're more subtle and value utility. If you invest in custom cases or stickers, is it only for protection, or also an act of self-expression?

Then there's the wallpaper you choose, the ringtones and alarms you set, the apps you download, that all create an environment uniquely shaped by and descriptive of you.

All this is a good thing, at least if you make or sell smartphones, and it's a tacit principle that the mobile industry thrives on. People don't just like their phones, we need them. And if you lose or leave behind your phone, you mourn every minute it's outside of your possession. Have you ever thought: my life is on my phone?

Yep, it's not for nothing that cell phones are called the most personal of consumer electronics.… Read more

While you were busy asking Siri for her hand in marriage, CNET discovered that Apple's new voice command service in the iPhone 4S is sporting a serious security issue. Even if your phone is passcode-locked, a perpetrator can activate Siri and use the service to access your personal data.

Apple enables access in the lock screen for convenience so that if you're driving or jogging, for instance, you can quickly complete tasks using Siri without having to enter a passcode.

In testing, we were able to access contact information, addresses, calendar appointments. We could even send text messages … Read more

Siri is the hottest date in town right now. A guy on YouTube has already proposed to her in song (she turned him down).

When you're in love, you tend to confess a lot of personal details like what guilty-pleasure pop music you listen to and what your secret pet names are.

Siri won't shun you for downloading Justin Bieber's latest album. She'll even call you any nickname you want. Like "Bieber Lover," for example.

That's all fine and dandy until every person you share your contact information with also finds out that your nickname is "Bieber Lover."… Read more

The voice-activated feature on the new iPhone 4S will let anyone use the phone to send e-mails and text messages and make calls even if it is passcode locked, Macworld has reported.

Try it. Grab a friend's locked iPhone 4S, press the button and ask Siri to do something. I was able to send a text message, make a call and send an e-mail, all without knowing my friend's passcode. Another colleague confirmed that she could get an address and a phone number out of the phone and even see the calendar.

There is an easy fix for this situation, which was reported on by Macworld on Friday, followed by security firm Sophos today. In the Passcode Lock settings, switch Siri to "Off" (see below). This lets you continue to use the feature once your iPhone is unlocked, but keeps users from accessing these features when security is enabled. … Read more

In our four-minute conversation, she explained the meaning of life, told me that the Macintosh is her favorite computer, and got a bit indignant when I asked her about her favorite cell phone. It took her awhile to answer my question about the "meaning of life." … Read more

Everyone's talking to the iPhone 4S' personal assistant Siri and posting their favorite exchanges. From witty banter to borderline insults, Siri has us fascinated.

Musician Jonathan Mann, for example, managed to sing a hilarious duet with Siri, which is posted below. Mann uses some of the most popular questions people have been asking Siri, like "will you marry me?" and "what is the meaning of life?"

You'll have to watch the video to see Siri's snarky answers. … Read more