jon 2051056c
Several years ago, Jon Briggs took a voiceover job for a company called Scansoft. Scansoft later merged with Nuance, which makes the voices that Apple used for Siri.

Briggs tells the UK Telegraph:

“I did a set of recordings with Scansoft five or six years ago, for text-to-speech services,” says Briggs. “Five thousand sentences over three weeks, spoken in a very particular way and only reading flat and even. Then they go away and take all the phonics apart, because I have to be able to read anything you want, even if I’ve never actually recorded all those words.”

The result, Briggs says is “as close to human speech as anything that’s out there. It gets everything right, more or less, apart from the inflection.”

His voice, which is very familiar to United Kingdom iPhone 4S owners, is also used as the voice of GPS for Garmin, TomTom, Jaguar, Land Rover, Audi and Porsche.

For its part, Apple isn't pleased with Briggs' newfound fame. A representative called him after his interview with the Telegraph the iPhone 4S was released and asked him not to talk publicly about Siri, saying the company isn't "about one person." Briggs pointed out that he wasn't an Apple employee and he recorded the voices six years ago for a separate company. He hasn't heard from Apple since.

Top Rated Comments

jsalda Avatar
157 months ago
"Mr Briggs, please do not speak to strangers so that they do not confuse what you are saying with what their phone tells them."
Score: 13 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Luman Avatar
157 months ago
After berating him, the Apple rep should've asked what the weather in London would be like tomorrow or where the closest coffee shop was.. Seems like the perfect opportunity to kill two birds with one stone.. just sayin'..
Score: 12 Votes (Like | Disagree)
charlituna Avatar
157 months ago
Why would they want to silence him? Isn't that free promo?
His comments can be misquoted and mistaken to be that he was hired by Apple to record specifically for Siri when he was not. THAT is probably why Apple (if they did actually call him) don't want him talking about this.

Not to mention simply that his original contract might not give him the right to claim credit for the use of his voice in clients work. It's not uncommon when you do voice bank work such as what he did.
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
nerdo Avatar
157 months ago
Yeah, exactly, you understood it perfectly!

And if not, you can always ask Siri to explain this: "they go away and take all the phonics apart, because I have to be able to read anything you want, even if I've never actually recorded all those words"




So since the voice was recorded 6 years ago, there is no chance words they didn't record back then will be added in?
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Rodimus Prime Avatar
157 months ago
I love how arrogant Apple is thinking they could tell him not to do it.

I like how he told them to basically go pound sand.
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
seamer Avatar
157 months ago
A representative called him after his interview with the Telegraph and asked him not to talk publicly about Siri, saying the company isn't "about one person."

Haven't they ever heard of Steve Jobs?
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)

Popular Stories

Apple Logo

Apple Discontinued These 5 Products This Year

Monday November 27, 2023 7:03 am PST by
As the end of 2023 nears, now is a good opportunity to look back at some of the devices and accessories that Apple discontinued throughout the year. Apple products discontinued in 2023 include the iPhone 13 mini, 13-inch MacBook Pro, MagSafe Battery Pack, MagSafe Duo Charger, and leather accessories. Also check out our lists of Apple products discontinued in 2022 and 2021. iPhone Mini ...
ios 17 namedrop

Police Departments and News Sites Spreading Misinformation About How iOS 17 NameDrop Feature Works

Monday November 27, 2023 5:11 pm PST by
Apple with iOS 17.1 and watchOS 10.1 introduced a new NameDrop feature that is designed to allow users to place Apple devices near one another to quickly exchange contact information. Sharing contact information is done with explicit user permission, but some news organizations and police departments have been spreading misinformation about how functions. As noted by The Washington Post,...
iOS 17

iOS 17.1.2 Update for iPhone Likely to Be Released This Week

Monday November 27, 2023 8:24 am PST by
Apple will likely release iOS 17.1.2 this week, based on mounting evidence of the software in our website's analytics logs in recent days. As a minor update, iOS 17.1.2 should be focused on bug fixes, but it's unclear exactly which issues might be addressed. Some users have continued to experience Wi-Fi issues on iOS 17.1.1, so perhaps iOS 17.1.2 will include the same fix for Wi-Fi...
Cyber Monday Deals Feature 2022

40+ Apple Cyber Week Deals for AirPods, iPad, Apple Watch, and More

Sunday November 26, 2023 9:47 am PST by
Cyber Week has taken the place of Black Friday, and you'll find some of the same deals still around for the next few days, although many from Black Friday have now expired. This includes dozens of record low prices on Apple products like AirPods, iPad, Apple Watch, MacBook, iPhone, and more. Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with some of these vendors. When you click a link and make a...
General Black Friday Deals 2022 Green

40+ Apple Black Friday Deals Still Available for AirPods, iPhone, iPad and More

Friday November 24, 2023 5:01 am PST by
Black Friday 2023 has officially ended, but we're still tracking some of the best deals of the year on Apple products like AirPods, iPad, iPhone, MacBook, and many more. Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with some of these vendors. When you click a link and make a purchase, we may receive a small payment, which helps us keep the site running. Specifically, in this article we're...