SMALL PRINT:OVER THE past while, if you've been paying attention to the launch of the iPhone 4S, you've probably been hearing the word "Siri" a lot.

For those who are hoping it’s a new app concerned with Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes’ daughter, I’m afraid you’re about to be disappointed. So what is Siri and why do we keep hearing about it? Siri is Apple’s voice recognition software, or as they call it, an “intelligent personal assistant”. Unlike ye olde voice recognition software, which tended to be frustrating due to not understanding commands, Siri recognises your voice better, apparently.

At its most basic level, it can act as a memo-taker for reminders.

So you could hold down the home button of your iPhone and say “remind me to call my sister”, to which Siri would ask at what time you want to call her, and then remind you when the time comes. It can read text messages back to you (so no more risky looking at your phone while driving).

It can offer you weather forecasts if you ask it whether it looks like it’s going to rain tomorrow. It also works with Google maps, so you can ask directions to specific locations, and if you want to dictate some notes while you’re driving or just can’t be bothered typing, it’ll do that too.

But before you get too excited, it’s unclear when Irish iPhone 4S users will actually be able to avail of Siri’s abilities. Siri will be available for American, Australian and UK users, but there’s no definitive date for Ireland. So for the time being, you’re just going to have to remember to call your sister without it.