Apple has 'no plans' for Siri on iPhone 4

Apple has "no plans" to bring Siri to older devices such as the iPhone 4 and iPhone 3GS, quashing the hopes of those who own its older phones and want to play with Apple's voice-controlled robot butler.

We had heard Apple was testing Siri on the iPhone 4, but in an email obtained by developer Michael Steeber in reply to a bug report filed with Apple, the monolithic mobile-maker made its position clear: "Siri only works on iPhone 4S and we currently have no plans to support older devices."

So there.

That doesn't mean Apple will never bring Siri to older mobiles -- it's not like Apple to reveal its plans, after all. But we would be surprised if Siri came to older devices, because it's one of the features that makes the 4S stand out from the extremely similar iPhone 4.

Apart from a more powerful processor and an 8-megapixel camera, the iPhone 4S is very much the same as its predecessor. It has the same design, and runs the same iOS 5 software.

There doesn't seem to be any hardware reason to keep Siri exclusive to the 4S -- hackers have managed to get it running quite happily on a jailbroken iPhone 4 and other iOS devices.

But to be honest, if you live in the UK we think you'll survive without Siri. That's because Apple is lacking a deal with a company that offers local information over here, so Siri can't find nearby shops, or give you directions.

That means it's only half as useful. And while it's fun to make Siri say weird stuff, or force it to talk to a Furby, we don't think the voice-controlled PA has proved particularly useful so far.

Do you use Siri? Or do you think the idea of talking to your tech is daft, and likely to accelerate the inevitable robot apocalypse? Let us know in the comments below, or on our Facebook wall.