iPhone's Siri to speak Japanese

Japanese has been added to the languages spoken by the iPhone's Siri voice assistance app with a refresh of the phone's iOS 5.1 operating system, Apple says. Apple Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook, at a press event introducing the company's new iPad and other offerings, said the 5.1 update would be available Wednesday with Siri support rolling out in Japan over the next few weeks, PCWorld.com reported. Previously, the voice-activated assistance feature recognized English, British English, Australian English, French and German. Support for Japanese didn't come as much of a surprise, since iPhone 4S users who asked Siri over the last month to tell them what languages it supported reportedly heard Japanese included in Siri's reply. Cook didn't indicate any other features added in iOS 5.1.