Hackers connect Siri to a proxy server to control a thermostat, change the TV channel, post a tweet, and more.

Siri is one of our favorite new pieces of technology, but sometimes we just wished we could use it for something outside of its Apple widget shell (weather, mail, and the calendar) and Web searching. A group of intrepid hackers are doing just that, starting with setting the thermostat.

In the video (below), Pete (@Plamoni on Twitter) shows off how he can use Siri to set his Wi-Fi thermostat using a proxy server. Using the Siri connected proxy hack, Pete is able use voice commands to pull up information about the current temperature and set a new program for the thermostat.

Home programming is nothing new, but a computer with voice recognition and commands are things that really have not existed outside of DARPA research or a certain IBM super computer. Siri, however, is an extremely affordable AI system that can understand most of what you are saying, and is able to translate it into simple prompts that the proxy server can understand.

The coolest thing about Pete's proxy is that its framework allows other plugins to extend Siri's functionality. Pete has put up the code for his Siri Proxy on GitHub, and plugins from other developers are already streaming in. Siri could do anything in the future with hacks like Dominick D'Aniello's Tweet posting plugin and Ninja0091's TV remote plugin.