IRIS 9000
IRIS 9000 is ThinkGeek's answer to Apple's Siri for iPhone 4S plus all the "2001: A Space Odyssey" references you can handle. ThinkGeek Web site

Building off the fun you can have with Siri on Apple's iPhone 4S, the folks over at ThinkGeek have taken the Apple easter eggs referencing 2001: Space Odyssey one step further: On April 18, 2011, a device called the Iris 9000 sporting HAL's glowing red eye and disembodied voice will let you control Apple's Siri from across the room, activated by a wireless remote.

The IRIS 9000 is basically a dock for the iPhone 4S, designed especially for those already loving the Siri app's geeky sense of humor to experience science fiction and tech innovation simultaneously. Once you plug the iPhone 4S dock in, you can access Siri using a micro-remote. Pressing down on remote's button, users can then relay instructions to Siri from up to 50 feet away, and get Siri's response from that distance as well.

The biggest sell for the Siri app's new playmate in iPhone 4S, however, is not what the IRIS 9000 does -- let's face it, it's a giant, glorfiied speaker box that only works within a 50 foot radius -- so much as how it does it. The IRIS 9000 lives up to its name, taking Siri's geeky in-references one step further with a model that looks identical to HAL 9000 from 2001: A Space Odyssey.

Over the past few months, posts like 10 Crazy Questions You Can Ask Siri on iPhone 4S have revealed the Apple easter eggs, or engineer-planted inside jokes, that make Siri on an iPhone 4S so entertaining. One of the most popular questions to ask remains a reference to Dave in 2001: A Space Odyssey, where users ordering Siri to open the pod bay doors are met with this chilling reply: I'm afraid I can't do that, [Name].

ThinkGeek's IRIS 9000 takes Siri love to the next level. A modem-like device eerily like HAL 9000's giant Apple iPod look, IRIS 9000 sports a giant, glowing red eye, just like the rogue computer program from the classic Stanley Kubrick film. To amp up the science fiction edge, IRIS 9000 will even blink that big red light to the beat of whatever Siri's telling your iPhone 4S at the time.

The IRIS 9000 means users will no longer have to carry around their iPhone 4S if they want to ask Siri questions, at least as long as they're in the same general area. IRIS 9000s are selling for $59.99 each at ThinkGeek, but the initial batch of HAL 9000 knock-offs has already sold out.

If these new prototypes start singing Daisy or watching you as you sleep, throw it out the airlock. In the meantime, however, enjoy this ThinkGeek promo video for IRIS 9000. Get in line for this new addition to Siri on the iPhone 4S and be grateful Siri/IRIS's voice is (still) as disembodied and creepy as old brother HAL:

Ipod Artificial intelligence Siri Iphone