Last Friday saw the release of the iPhone 4S in stores across the UK. I happened to be in town and spotted that the Vodafone shop on the High Street had the new handset in stock and so, I treated myself to a little impromptu upgrade!

What's impressed me most, so far, is the speed of the processor and how smoothly it runs the exciting iOS5. Having taken part in Apple's betas, running iOS5 on an old 3GS for the past few months, I'd gotten used to a rather disappointingly sluggish interface. But with the new handset comes a new lease of life, my iPhone is like a spring chicken.

And so, to Siri

If you aren't familiar with the new Siri concept that Apple have introduced to the the iPhone 4S, then check out the videos on the Apple website. The general concept is not new. Many companies have tried and ultimately failed to implement a voice controlled interface over the past few years.

Having played a little with Siri and having gauged opinion on the internet, it seems that Siri, in it's present format, is fun. A novelty. But not particularly useful...yet. Knowing Apple, Siri will not be left to rot. History has shown that Apple will release a product in it's basic form to generate hype and then over the coming months, a number of tweaks and additions will be made in order to maintain that level of excitement and chatter.

For UK users, many of Siri's more useful functions such as finding a business, calling up directions etc are met with a dull "I'm sorry Matt, this service is only available in the USA." As disappointing as this is, I'm sure that it'll be opened up to UK users shortly.

API hooks for third-party apps? 

What I'd like to believe is that Apple will provide API hooks to use developers so that we can hook Siri into our own apps. Its level of voice to text accuracy is impressive and I cannot imagine that it'd be massively difficult to open the service up to third-parties for use. I'll be keeping my eyes open for more news and keeping my fingers crossed that we might be able to operate the likes of UK Solar Survey and Invoice Agent by voice in the very near future!