"I don't want your money. If you offer me $5 billion, I won't want it. I've got plenty of money. I want you to stop using our ideas in Android, that's all I want."

/oblig

I use TellMe a lot just to hear it say some "blah blah anal"
/I used it today to get the number to Family dollar

It being called Majel is awesome.

Elvis_Bogart: Dumb or not...the thing is a success.


No....apple is a success (for reasons that have been covered 1,000 times before)...Siri is a software featured added to an Apple product....to distract the apple people from the fact thay apple still doesn't have a 4G phone....and it's working.

What's amazing is that people aren't refusing to buy iphones until they come up with a 4g phone. Apple people will buy and love whatever they are told to.

Will it find an abortion clinic?

mrtoadswildride: Elvis_Bogart: Dumb or not...the thing is a success.


No....apple is a success (for reasons that have been covered 1,000 times before)...Siri is a software featured added to an Apple product....to distract the apple people from the fact thay apple still doesn't have a 4G phone....and it's working.

What's amazing is that people aren't refusing to buy iphones until they come up with a 4g phone. Apple people will buy and love whatever they are told to.

4G isn't real 4G anyway. You believing that it is shows that you buy the marketing of the Android phones. Most of the time I'm on WiFi anyway and to be honest, I don't care if it takes an extra 20 seconds to show me where the nearest Caribou is.

mrtoadswildride: ..to distract the apple people from the fact thay apple still doesn't have a 4G phone....and it's working.

That's largely because "4G", at this time, is a marketing ploy invented by the carriers. They've rebranded existing 3G networks as 4G with the promise that the next revision of these technologies will actually be 4G.

LTE advanced isn't scheduled to be approved until 2012. 802.16m is still in development. HSPA+ r11 isn't deployed yet. Plain old LTE is the closest thing to 4G with a peak data rate of 100mb/s- but the assumption is that for 4G 100mb/s is your standard (not peak) downstream rate.

Let's see... everyone's been working like mad over the past decade to copy the iPod, the iPhone, the iPad, iOS, etc.
Siri is just the latest thing that Apple managed to refine (not necessarily initially create) that has gotten solid approval from the markets.

Elvis_Bogart: Dumb or not...the thing is a success.

If someone made an iPhone accessory that randomly squirted armadillo piss in your mouth and it was a hit, Google (and everybody else) would copy it.

This has got nothing to do with siri. Siri was around for ages before apple bought the company and there have been symilar versions on the android platform for over 2 years.

All apple did was advertise it.

Steve jobs was a marketing genius.

t3knomanser: mrtoadswildride: ..to distract the apple people from the fact thay apple still doesn't have a 4G phone....and it's working.

That's largely because "4G", at this time, is a marketing ploy invented by the carriers. They've rebranded existing 3G networks as 4G with the promise that the next revision of these technologies will actually be 4G.

LTE advanced isn't scheduled to be approved until 2012. 802.16m is still in development. HSPA+ r11 isn't deployed yet. Plain old LTE is the closest thing to 4G with a peak data rate of 100mb/s- but the assumption is that for 4G 100mb/s is your standard (not peak) downstream rate.

I'll give Apple credit on this one: LTE is murder on the battery of any device that uses it now. It was wise of Apple (and Microsoft) to stay away from it in this generation. (Not to mention there's bugs on Verizon's LTE network, like LTE to EVDO handoffs)

But regardless of whether or not 4G is really 4G, it took Apple (and Microsoft with WP7) far too long to roll out 14.4 Mbit/s HSPA support. I am using a new Focus Flash with HSPA 14 Mbit/s and it feels pretty fast on cellular.

Xai: Siri was around for ages before apple bought the company and there have been symilar versions on the android platform for over 2 years.

It's not so much about the advertising as the integration. Siri used to be an app. It was cute but mostly useless. Apple integrated that with OS functionality to create something that had actual use cases. Android (and everything else) has had voice recognition for ages- but voice recognition is not Siri's primary feature. NLP is. iOS4 had VR that worked pretty well (I can't stand voice recognition stuff, myself, I find it useless).

Regardless, because Siri doesn't live as an application, but as a system service, Siri can perform any action on your phone that its NLP engine can comprehend.

Whatever. Watson would eat both of their lunches, and still have time to mosquito-click Ken Jennings into a pile of shame. Shame and defeat.

Xai: This has got nothing to do with siri. Siri was around for ages before apple bought the company and there have been symilar versions on the android platform for over 2 years.

All apple did was advertise it.

Yep. That and the integration. The integration is something that Siri (as an app) would not have been allowed to do by Apple's own rules.

I was debating between an Android phone and an iphone and went with Android. Just 3 days into it, I can tell it was a rushed POS system that has no rhyme or reason to the file structure or anything. I can only imagine just how great Google's voice recognition will be if this is the benchmark they set with their OS.

Elvis_Bogart: Dumb or not...the thing is a success.

If someone made an iPhone accessory that randomly squirted armadillo piss in your mouth and it was a hit, Google (and everybody else) would copy it.

Over in one.

All Apple haters and companies competing with Apple just can't believe the designs and stuff Apple comes out with...

then phones copied them, tablets copied them, software has copied them.

/not a fan-boy, I just pay attention

MS PC Guy on Nintendo Wii: What a gimmick! No one will be playing a Wii in a few months and everyone will play xbox.

MS PC Guy when Kinect come out: OMG this is the most awesomest thing ever and I love it.

MS PC Guy on iPad: No one will ever use this! this is stupid! why would anyone give up their lap top for some piece of crap like this!

MS PC Guy when competing product comes out: OMG this is the most awesomest thing ever and I love it.


They do this every time.

To be renamed "BHA[ctress]" in 3...2...1...

Cinaed: Let's see... everyone's been working like mad over the past decade to copy the iPod, the iPhone, the iPad, iOS, etc.
Siri is just the latest thing that Apple managed to refine (not necessarily initially create) that has gotten solid approval from the markets.

Yes and the same people said they were stupid and would be failures and then made copies of them and then declared them to the best thing since slice bread.

Some people in the wold think "innovation" is still adding faster cpus and can't see anything beyond specs. They get it wrong again and again and when shown wrong they then copy the things that they declared a "gimmick" and pretend they are innovators.

Cinaed: Siri is just the latest thing that Apple managed to refine (not necessarily initially create) that has gotten solid approval from the markets.

i almost think its the other way around. Siri only has approval from the market because it is made by Apple. Otherwise it wouldn't be popular.

BalugaJoe: Will it find an abortion clinic?

Came here to say this. Shouldn't take Google long to create an app which says "I cannot find any abortion clinics nearby".

Xai: Elvis_Bogart: Dumb or not...the thing is a success.

If someone made an iPhone accessory that randomly squirted armadillo piss in your mouth and it was a hit, Google (and everybody else) would copy it.

This has got nothing to do with siri. Siri was around for ages before apple bought the company and there have been symilar versions on the android platform for over 2 years.

All apple did was advertise it.

Steve jobs was a marketing genius.

This

Xai: Elvis_Bogart: Dumb or not...the thing is a success.

If someone made an iPhone accessory that randomly squirted armadillo piss in your mouth and it was a hit, Google (and everybody else) would copy it.

This has got nothing to do with siri. Siri was around for ages before apple bought the company and there have been symilar versions on the android platform for over 2 years.

All apple did was advertise it.

Steve jobs was a marketing genius.

wrong the siri on the iphone 4s is much different then the version of siri you are talking about. You should actually read an article about it. it's not the same.

Except when someone from Google called Siri a "direct competitor to Google"
http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5jeOYrtVGGeWQsCwbt XJ e8LUZR8RA (new window)

I think it's funny everyone says how great the iPhone 4 looks, yet everyone I know that has one, has this gigantic OtterBox case on it, usually some crazy neon colors... Steve Jobs has to be rolling in his grave as we speak. I don't have one of the military grade phones, but I also don't have a phone so fragile I have to make it double it's normal size just to feel like I'm not going to break it. Then again, in a week I'll have had my phone for 2 years so I don't really care about it any more, but it was only in a gel case the first 6 months or so.

tlchwi02: Cinaed: Siri is just the latest thing that Apple managed to refine (not necessarily initially create) that has gotten solid approval from the markets.

i almost think its the other way around. Siri only has approval from the market because it is made by Apple. Otherwise it wouldn't be popular.

So then why is it google feels it has to make make a copy?? Is it because they realize that the people who use android follow apple marketing just as much as those on the iphone?

So they are sheep too just of a different color?

ericbo84: but I also don't have a phone so fragile I have to make it double it's normal size just to feel like I'm not going to break it.

what planet do you live on? what phone does that? cause that's not the iphone. biggest cases I see are about a millimeter in thickness I see.

ericbo84: Except when someone from Google called Siri a "direct competitor to Google"
http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5jeOYrtVGGeWQsCwbt XJ e8LUZR8RA (new window)

I think it's funny everyone says how great the iPhone 4 looks, yet everyone I know that has one, has this gigantic OtterBox case on it, usually some crazy neon colors... Steve Jobs has to be rolling in his grave as we speak. I don't have one of the military grade phones, but I also don't have a phone so fragile I have to make it double it's normal size just to feel like I'm not going to break it. Then again, in a week I'll have had my phone for 2 years so I don't really care about it any more, but it was only in a gel case the first 6 months or so.

I don't know of anyone who puts their iPhone in an expensive protective case because the phone is fragile. Maybe it's because it would cost $600 to replace?

powtard: I was debating between an Android phone and an iphone and went with Android. Just 3 days into it, I can tell it was a rushed POS system that has no rhyme or reason to the file structure or anything. I can only imagine just how great Google's voice recognition will be if this is the benchmark they set with their OS.

For what it's worth, all my friends have Android phones, so my direct exposure to iphones has been pretty limited. Well, the one who was actually using Blackberry "upgraded" to a 4s a few weeks ago, and just will not stop crowing about how awesome it is. Well, we were messing around with it for about 30 minutes this weekend, and I had to hand it back to him with the sad verdict, "Sorry man, your new phone sucks." It does NOTHING above and beyond my nearly 2 year old HTC Incredible. We also used Siri extensively trying to trip it up and get it to make mistakes. The lulz were on us though, it didn't actually get anything right at all.

tl;dr: recent experience reinforces my stereotype that iphones are shiatty, overpriced, underfeatured toys.

/csb

extroverted_suicide: powtard: I was debating between an Android phone and an iphone and went with Android. Just 3 days into it, I can tell it was a rushed POS system that has no rhyme or reason to the file structure or anything. I can only imagine just how great Google's voice recognition will be if this is the benchmark they set with their OS.

For what it's worth, all my friends have Android phones, so my direct exposure to iphones has been pretty limited. Well, the one who was actually using Blackberry "upgraded" to a 4s a few weeks ago, and just will not stop crowing about how awesome it is. Well, we were messing around with it for about 30 minutes this weekend, and I had to hand it back to him with the sad verdict, "Sorry man, your new phone sucks." It does NOTHING above and beyond my nearly 2 year old HTC Incredible. We also used Siri extensively trying to trip it up and get it to make mistakes. The lulz were on us though, it didn't actually get anything right at all.

tl;dr: recent experience reinforces my stereotype that iphones are shiatty, overpriced, underfeatured toys.

/csb

Siri gave you wrong directions is about the only real criticism you made. Other than it "sucks".

What didn't you like about it? Because in my experience Android phones are crash prone, have buggy and shiatty apps, and need to be restarted way more than my iPhone.

Beluga Heights: I don't know of anyone who puts their iPhone in an expensive protective case because the phone is fragile. Maybe it's because it would cost $600 to replace?

I put it in the bumper case for awhile because I kept dropping it. The case was less for protection and more for grip. The case eventually wore out (how? no idea- it's not like it was under much strain) and I haven't bothered with a new one.

Corvus: So then why is it google feels it has to make make a copy??

Oh ffs. Have you seen Google's supposed copy? Do you know what it looks like?? How can you say it's a copy if all you have to go on are a bunch of rumors???

Not to mention that I've had driver issues now on 2 different computers and can't get the thing to sync worth shiat. I got the Rezound and love the capabilities of the thing, but I shouldn't have to spend hours googling to find the answers for how to copy images, videos or other files b/c the thing has horrible useability. I heard that android was like sticking with Windows, but that's ridiculous -- Windows is a field day compared to droid. I want to spend my time using the device, not googling to figure out how to use the device.

mrtoadswildride: What's amazing is that people aren't refusing to buy iphones until they come up with a 4g phone. Apple people will buy and love whatever they are told to.

This is the single greatest accomplishment of Steve Jobs - he's been able to cultivate a client base .. a customer group ... a market of people who will buy en masse almost anything that is produced, making the amount of risk taken almost zero. Think about it this way: If you could be guaranteed that anything novel you made was going to be paid for, wouldn't you be more creative?

Apple doesn't have early adopters and word of mouth. They have a Magazine and people lining up around the block to buy their first pressing of anything. That Radically changes what you can afford to fund. They are more akin to The Beatles or the Stones than a software or hardware company.

rubi_con_man: a market of people who will buy en masse almost anything that is produced, making the amount of risk taken almost zero

That's why there's an AppleTV in every home, right?

Corvus: So then why is it google feels it has to make make a copy?? Is it because they realize that the people who use android follow apple marketing just as much as those on the iphone?

well, we don't know from this if they are making a carbon copy, but even so- siri is not a good long term product. Talking to your phone out loud and having it talk back to you is an amusing gimick. But as we saw from the whole "push to talk" thing, speaking loudly to your phone and then getting a loud verbal response is ultimately not very popular- it pisses off everyone around you, its hard to figure out whats being said and its not even that useful.

We wouldn't see this much excitement about the product if android had put it out first, but because apple has a built in, rabid base of fans, its getting a lot more buzz than it would from a competitor.

copying this is a waste. it will be more or less ignored or forgotten in a few years.

powtard: Not to mention that I've had driver issues now on 2 different computers and can't get the thing to sync worth shiat. I got the Rezound and love the capabilities of the thing, but I shouldn't have to spend hours googling to find the answers for how to copy images, videos or other files b/c the thing has horrible useability. I heard that android was like sticking with Windows, but that's ridiculous -- Windows is a field day compared to droid. I want to spend my time using the device, not googling to figure out how to use the device.

What the shiat are you talking about, plug the phone in, press the "USB Drive" button that appears and that's it. Transfer your Media. As far as sync, it's an Android, everything cloud syncs through gmail.

I feel so sorry for you poor saps that went out and bought yet another overpriced, technically inferior phone, just so you can have some artificial voice google crap for you. The voice search on my android does the same exact thing.

amundb: The voice search on my android does the same exact thing.

No it doesn't. And that same voice search is also on the iPhone inside of Google's app.

t3knomanser: amundb: The voice search on my android does the same exact thing.

No it doesn't. And that same voice search is also on the iPhone inside of Google's app.

LOL. Keep telling yourself that.

Sick and Tired of Being Sick and Tired: It being called Majel is awesome.

Using her voice would be awesome squared

powtard: Not to mention that I've had driver issues now on 2 different computers and can't get the thing to sync worth shiat.

Interesting. I had the same problem with 3 (!!!) different iPods. That's why I went Android when I dumped AT&T (screw you and your "job creating" merger with T-Mobile. I'm going where the unlimited data is).

Day 1: fully synced and nary a problem since.

// though *crash*
// the whole "having to restart once a *crash*
// day" starts to *crash*
// get annoying
_{// PS - anyone know where I can find a soft-root for a Samsung Epic 4g running Gingerbread?}

extroverted_suicide: For what it's worth, all my friends have Android phones, so my direct exposure to iphones has been pretty limited. Well, the one who was actually using Blackberry "upgraded" to a 4s a few weeks ago, and just will not stop crowing about how awesome it is. Well, we were messing around with it for about 30 minutes this weekend, and I had to hand it back to him with the sad verdict, "Sorry man, your new phone sucks." It does NOTHING above and beyond my nearly 2 year old HTC Incredible. We also used Siri extensively trying to trip it up and get it to make mistakes. The lulz were on us though, it didn't actually get anything right at all.

I develop for iPhone and Android. What features did you find lacking in the 4s?

I'm actually thinking about buying a smart phone and was wondering if any of you have opinions of the Samsung Galaxy Nexus?

tlchwi02: well, we don't know from this if they are making a carbon copy, but even so- siri is not a good long term product. Talking to your phone out loud and having it talk back to you is an amusing gimick. But as we saw from the whole "push to talk" thing, speaking loudly to your phone and then getting a loud verbal response is ultimately not very popular- it pisses off everyone around you, its hard to figure out whats being said and its not even that useful.

Similar things was said about the Wii motion control and the iPad when those items came out.

No one is saying that it will be "push to talk only" but from research I have seen, people are looking for other inputs then typing long input in a keyboard. I agree it's not for every environment or application but I haven't heard one person making the suggestion it is.

amundb: LOL. Keep telling yourself that.

Are you claiming that Siri is nothing more than a gateway to Google, or are you claiming that the voice search Google deploys on Android is substantially different than the voice search they deploy on iOS?

//Don't have a 4S, don't particularly think Siri is useful.

tlchwi02: copying this is a waste. it will be more or less ignored or forgotten in a few years.

I remember when the same thing was said about the iPad.