New Apple TV’s Limited Siri Support is Due to Pronunciation Training

Siri’s initially limited availability in just eight countries on the new Apple TV, is said to be due to pronunciation training, according to a new report by MacPrime (via MacRumors). While Siri is available in over 15 different languages and over 30 countries in iOS, it is currently only available in Australia, Canada, Great Britain, United States, Germany, France, Spain, and Japan on the new Apple TV.

The source believes that the importance of film and television content, including altering the phonetic pronunciation of movie titles and actor names, is the main reason behind this initially small Siri support.

The explanation: Siri on Apple TV is different in large parts of Siri on iOS. The voice control of the set-top box Apple had to put a special focus on television and film content. These include in particular film titles and names of actors, directors, producers and the like. Apart from the various translations of movie titles, the pronunciation of titles or name differs depending on the country or region.

Specifically, examples for film titles like “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” and the actor Matthew McConaughey were given as the most different from the way Americans tend to say them.

Even though Apple has not yet given any specific date or details for the expanded regions that will gain Siri functionality on the Apple TV, the source claims that support for more countries and languages is “coming soon”.