THE PHILIPPINES, DECEMBER 26, 2011: Even with twice the storage, better camera, and faster connectivity options, perhaps the most bankable feature of the freshly released iPhone 4S is its personal assistant named Siri.
While not entirely new (Siri has been in the iTunes App Store for a little over a year before Apple bought the company and made Siri part of iOS5), iPhone 4S’s virtual assistant is still a cut above the usual dictation machines or voice recognition software in that the user doesn’t have to say things in specific or exact order for Siri to “understand” commands. And, best of all, Siri packs her personality and a rather odd sense of humor.
However, Siri has yet to be configured for the Philippines and seems to have a difficulty understanding unaccented English, making it difficult for some Filipinos to actually use the virtual assistant.
To the rescue comes Vangie, Siri’s Filipino counterpart, who seems to have no trouble at all in understanding crooked English or Tagalog. Developed (or spoofed) by !Gung Ho Films Manila through Macapuno Systems, Vangie has already two videos circulating in the Web, both of which have already been picked up by bloggers and social media users. The Pinoy Virtual Assistant also has accounts in Facebook and Twitter, where Vangie actively interacts with fans. See for yourself in the video below.
Slapstick and sarcastic, Vangie’s bottom line seems to be “Ayusin mo buhay mo (Fix your life)”, giving comedic advice and performing instructions to the letter, with plenty of (embarrassing) side comments.
Will we be hearing from Vangie again? Maybe we can ask Vangie herself.
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