Time and weather queries better handled

Apple's support for time and weather queries via Siri in Canada has been quietly improved, allowing users to get the correct response to a question like "what time is it" without having to mention location, which was previously required, reports iPhoneinCanada. The improved location ability also helps Siri answer questions about the weather in a more natural way, such as asking "what is the wind chill right now?"

Users should ensure that Siri Location Services is turned on, but the improvement in performance has only been rolled out over the last day or so. Siri now understands where a user is, even if they are outside the larger cities in Canada, so questions like "is it going to snow today?" can be answered without having to clarify location. Siri will automatically provide the answer in Celsius, the default system used outside the US.

The improvements work on iPhone 4S handsets running either iOS 5.0.1 or 5.1, proving that the change has come from Apple. The improvement in geo-location gives hope that Canadian users will also soon see map integration and directions come to Siri in the near future. Currently, Siri cannot pull up a map in Canada when asked to locate things, such as the nearest movie theatre or GPS directions. [via iPhoneinCanada]

by MacNN Staff