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[nomad soul]

Scottish iPhone users are lost in translation: Siri can't understand the accent
By Daily Mail Reporter | Oct. 26, 2011
(Source: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2053684/Scottish-iPhone-users-lost-translation--Siri-understand-accent.html)

Scottish iPhone users have found themselves lost in translation as the gadget's new voice recognition app can't understand their accent. Hundreds of frustrated owners of the latest gizmo from Apple claim to have had issues with Siri, the iPhone 4s's key feature, which was launched earlier this month.

The California-based firm boast the function can send texts, arrange appointments, tell you the weather forecast and browse the internet all via voice control. It even claims the phone can tell users the meaning of life if prompted. However despite receiving rave reviews across the pond in the US, Siri has been left bamboozled by some Scots trying to get to grips with the feature.

The native Scottish tongue has been among the most troublesome accents for the phone, with owners taking to the internet to complain about the app across the globe. Disgruntled messages have littered gadget websites and forums while Scots have also uploaded footage of them using Siri to YouTube, with some videos receiving more than 17,000 hits in just over a week.

In one video, a Scottish voice can be heard asking Siri 'Gonnae no dae that', with the phone replying believing the person to have said 'Going Akila'. 'Can you dance with me?' is interpreted as 'Can you dutch women'. These problems occurred despite a statement on Apple's website claiming the application has been designed to work with UK, US and Australian accents. It reads: 'Siri can be enabled in any country, and you can choose to speak to it in English, French, or German. However, Siri is designed to recognise the specific accents and dialects of the supported countries listed. Since every language has its own accents and dialects, the accuracy rate will be higher for native speakers.'

Mark Chubb, gadget expert for technology site Phones Review, said some users appear to be missing out on the impressive feature. He said: 'We have tested out Siri a number of times with many different accents, such as Scottish, Welsh and Irish. We are not too sure if Apple is looking into this, we have been trying to find out. We will try and find out more, but at the moment it looks like a few will miss out on using this new Siri feature.'

Last year, a Speakin' Scottish app was launched for the iPhone to help tongue-tied tourists with native phrases and words. Software combines slang words from all over Scotland, translating phrases such as 'I am going out for a drink' into 'Am am goin' oot fur a bevvy'. The software follows the iPhone's Learn Scottish app, which teaches pronunciation of common local words like neeps and tatties, loch, kilt and even jobby.

The iPhone 4S was launched earlier this month the day before Apple co-founder Steve Jobs passed away. The gadget is the latest in the iPhone series, and has sold millions of units in its first few weeks on the market.

Last night, Apple refused to comment.

(End of article)

The following YouTube video comically depicts how Siri fails to understand the Scottish accent: http://www.forbes.com/sites/carolpinchefsky/2012/02/01/siri-fails-to-understand-scottish-accent-in-hilarious-video/. (Warning: Video contains explicit language.)

[johnslat]

Dear nomad soul,

My word - this is very Siri us.

Regards,
John

[nomad soul]

Ha! I wonder how Siri handles accents/dialects from the Deep South---some of that Southern 'Merican English.