Today, at Apple’s iPhone 4S event, the crowd was very excited aboutSiri, the voice activated assistant feature for the new iPhone.

“For decades technologists have teased us with this dream that we can talk to our technology,” said Apple’s Phil Schiller, “But it’s never come true! It’s such a let-down! What we really want to do is just talk to our device!”

Schiller announced that Siri will have Dictation, a new speech to text feature that will be built into the new iOS5. Dictation processes natural language, contextual and conversational, and works with built-in apps. We first wrote about Dictationin August, when we peeped the microphone next to the space bar in the keyboard.

“Now whenever you see a keyboard, you’ll see a microphone. Talk to Siri, tap done, and in the blink of an eye it comes back with your text. Speak with your natural language,” said Schiller.

The 💜 of EU tech

The latest rumblings from the EU tech scene, a story from our wise ol' founder Boris, and some questionable AI art. It’s free, every week, in your inbox. Sign up now!

As you can see in the screenshot above, once the Dictation feature has been enabled, it will appear next to the global keyboard button, making the Spacebar slightly smaller. The microphone icon can be tapped, allowing you to speak into it. Once you’re done speaking the text appears in the field above.

The announcement was made at Apple’s “Let’s Talk iPhone” event held at the company’s Cupertino headquarters.

And don’t miss this: iPhone 4S, Siri and today’s Apple event –EVERYTHING you need to knowin a handy list.

Featured image:Shutterstock/Frogstar

Story byCourtney Boyd Myers

Courtney Boyd Myers is the founder of audience.io, a transatlantic company designed to help New York and London based technology startups gr(show all)Courtney Boyd Myers is the founder ofaudience.io, a transatlantic company designed to help New York and London based technology startups grow internationally.

Previously, she was the Features Editor and East Coast Editor of TNW covering New York City startups and digital innovation. She loves magnets + reading on a Kindle.

You can follow her onFacebook,Twitter @CBMandGoogle +.

Get the TNW newsletter

Get the most important tech news in your inbox each week.

Also tagged with