A5 Mystery Solved (Why Siri Won't Run On iPhone 4)

Hugh Pickens writes "Anna Leach reports that Siri support has been a contentious issue for owners of earlier iPhones, but a recent filing from Audience shows that Siri won't run on the iPhone 4 because the phone's chip can't handle it. Linley Gwennap of the Linley Group cracked one of the secrets of the new iPhone's A5 chip after working out that it packs some serious audio cleaning power not available on the iPhone 4's A4 chip. Audience has developed technology that removes most or all of the background noise when someone places a cell-phone call from a restaurant, airport, or other noisy location. The iPhone 4S integrates Audience's 'EarSmart' technology directly into the A5 processor, improving its technology to handle 'far-field speech,' which means holding the device at arm's length rather than directly in front of the mouth. Apple has also licensed the Audience technology for a 'new generation of processor IP,' which may mean that the forthcoming A6 processor will appear in the iPad 3 and iPhone 5. 'Why Apple has not simply purchased Audience is unclear. An acquisition would prevent Audience's other major customer, Samsung, from using the technology to compete with Apple,' says Gwennap. 'The company may be hedging its bets, as it could switch to Qualcomm's Fluence noise-reduction technology in the future.'"

Re:Interesting but wrong

[BLKMGK]

Prior to Siri being released it was an APP in the App store, folks I knew used the silly thing and no it wasn't called Siri. Apple had purchased the technology\application and about a week before Siri was released on the 4s the app stopped working as the back end servers were shutdown. I never loaded the app but wish I had because while Siri is interesting it certainly wasn't so interesting as to be a compelling upgrade from an iPhone 4. Siri, like the app before it, is a work in progress for sure! If I can recall the app name or get hold of the friend that was using it I'll post the app name - obviously it's no longer available in the app store and hasn't been for some time now.

Re:Interesting but wrong

[larry bagina]

Yesterday (after reading the article), I did some Siri tests with a 4S and my girlfriend's jailbroken 4. For all the tests, the phones were next to each other and I only spoke once for both of them. With no/minimal background noise, they had the same results. With the tele on in the background, the 4S was much more reliable.

Re:Interesting but wrong

[DavidinAla]

Actually, it WAS called Siri before Apple bought it. I still have a copy of the app on my iPhone, although it's useless now since it won't communicate with the server. The original version wasn't exactly what shipping with the iPhone 4S. Yes, it's the same basic technology, but that's it. For whatever reason, it seems as though Apple didn't think the technology was good enough without the add-ons that come with the 4S.

Re:Interesting but wrong

[zonker]

[Citation Required]

Took all of a 5 seconds to find the article on C|net's own site to find this which shows Siri on a 3GS and 4:
http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-19512_7-57320077-233/developer-ports-siri-to-iphone-3gs/ [cnet.com]

But I'm sure you've heard of Google too. Derp.

Mine works fine

[anethema]

I am using Spire to enable Siri on my i4 and it seems to work fine. I can use it fine while it is sitting in the dock in my truck about 4 feet from my mouth with tire, engine, and heater noise going. Not sure if it works better on a 4S but there are quite a few people using Siri on jailbroken i4's without problems.

Re:No, Siri won't run on the iPhone 4 because...

[Kenja]

But the iPhone 4 use to run Siri. Apple removed it from the App Store, broke everyones existing copy by blocking it from the servers and then made it a 4S exclusive.

Re:No, Siri won't run on the iPhone 4 because...

[Darkness404]

The Android update model:

1) Flash the latest CyanogenMod

2) Update it when the update comes out

Not too hard (at least on the newer phones, some older ones need exploits)

Re:Interesting but wrong

[timeOday]

Interestingly, the link you posted seems to be consistent with this new explanation: "Petrich tells 9to5Mac that the port really only works when no ambient noise is present." In the cnet article they chalk this up to microphone quality, but you would see something similar if it is indeed due to noise removal instead.

Of course, noise remval is still software algorithms, so should be possible without hardware support. Then again, the same can be said for 3d gaming, and it sucks pretty bad without hardware acceleration.

iPhone 4 has an Audience chip too

[WarpedCore]

http://www.ifixit.com/blog/2011/05/17/unveiled-audience-powers-iphone-4s-impressive-noise-cancellation/ [ifixit.com]

There's been an Audience chip included in the iPhone 4 since June 2010. When iFixit tore down the iPhone 4S and noticed the chip wasn't there, it was assumed that the chip was either integrated into the A5 design or that Apple opted to do noise-cancellation without the need of an Audience chip.

It's true that the A4 chip doesn't have an Audience subprocessor in it but it doesn't mean that the iPhone 4 doesn't have the chip included somewhere else on its motherboard. The conclusion that the iPhone 4 can't do Siri is absolute garbage. The conclusion that the iPhone 4 can't do Siri technically because of this kind audio subprocessor is not being included in the iPhone 4's design needs to have their head examined and start doing some research. This entire thing is hogwash.

Re:Interesting but wrong

[DJRumpy]

I'm guessing you've never used it given your response. Texting works very well, assuming you don't have some odd accent it's not programmed to handle. General queries also work well. I find the word recognition to be good enough for day to day. Comparing any voice recognition app to something from 2000 is a stretch in the extreme, and a flat out lie at best. If this was easy, it would be on every platform out there. Take a look at the recent Android attempts to duplicate it.

As to functionality, I find it works relative well for day to day tasks, general texting, and simple management. Then again, I'm not expecting Star Trek in a phone, but rather a phone that does a few things well.

Re:Interesting but wrong

[bolthole]

To support the parent post, please note this:
http://www.vlingo.com/apps/iphone [vlingo.com]

It's free. It does voice recognition. It does web searches, map searches, texts, emails, and facebook/twitter updates.

And it somehow manages to run okay on the iphone 4...

AND EVEN THE 3GS.

The only thing it lacks is the fancy-schmancy siri AI back-end. Which is no no way dependant on the cpu front end you hold in your hand.