Video: Santa can’t do his job without Siri, at least according to the latest iPhone 4S commercial

America’s insistence on being politically correct has gutted the once joyous holiday spirit. The new rules say that shouting “Merry Christmas” might offend people of other religions. Instead of acknowledging that America is the beautiful result of what happens when more than two centuries worth of immigration takes place, we’re forced to surrender any sort of individual identity and stick with the generic phrase “Happy Holidays”. But not Apple. No sir, their latest iPhone 4S ad is all about Christmas. In it they depict Santa doing his job, that is delivering presents to all the world’s children, and he’s getting help from his iPhone 4S. Siri, the “intelligent agent” that responds to queries and commands, shows Santa how to find a little boy’s house, reads a message from his wife telling him to cut back on the cookies, and reminds him that he still has half the world’s population to go in terms of delivering gifts.

It’s a great ad that not only shows what the iPhone 4S is capable of, but that Apple knows how to touch people’s hearts. It may not be as funny as the ads that Samsung recently showcased making fun of people who buy the iPhone 4S, but who really cares? If you’re the kind of person who buys a smartphone based solely on how well a company’s marketing division is able to execute, then you’re not really a critical thinker.

While we’re on the topic of ads, the sad reality is that you can’t move hardware unless you’re flooding people’s screens, magazines, and newspapers with commercials. Which is why we’re extremely curious to see what Microsoft and Nokia do in America during 2012. They need to go from essentially 0% market share to becoming a competent platform that you can genuinely say is in third place. Think they’ll be able to pull it off?

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Tags: Apple, Christmas, iPhone 4S, Siri, Video

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Don’t want to shell out the cash for an iPhone 4S? Lease one on O2

If you can lease a vehicle, why not a smartphone? That’s O2′s line of thinking, anyways, as the UK carrier has begun piloting a rental scheme — called O2 Lease — with the iPhone 4S in the driver’s seat. For a 12-month lease period and £55 per month, you’ll be able to rent the 16GB version and get 750 minutes, unlimited messaging, 500MB of data and insurance. Want a 32GB model? That’ll be an extra £10 per month. Since it’s a rental, you’ll be required to give the phone back after your year is up, but at that point you’re free to grab a new device — a great idea for anyone embarrassed to still be holding onto a primitive year-old phone. As O2 puts it: “this is the first tariff model available to all O2 customers that reflects the lifestyle of the smartphone industry.” If the pilot’s successful, the company will consider expanding its selection to more devices; since not everyone wishing to lease a smartphone wants an iPhone, we’d say the more handsets the merrier.

Article: RSS via Engadget Mobile

Tags: Apple, iPhone, iPhone 4S, O2, O2 Lease, Smartphones, UK

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SiriProxy enables voice control of third-party apps (video)

If you’ll rewind your mind in time to earlier this week, you might remember a clever proxy server from @plamoni that enabled Siri’s control of a thermostat through spoken commands. Now, the same bit of engineering has been exploited to enable voice control of third-party applications. In this example,FastPdfKit Reader is manipulated by various commands with SiriProxy acting in the middle. A plugin is used to add new commands to the ones recognized by Siri, and finally, the proxy then sends the final commands to the app. Those hoping to get hacking will find a complete list of instructions from the source link below. For everyone else, you’ll find the true magic after the break.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oS73P73WMNE

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Tags: Apple, Apps, Hacks, iOS, iPhone, Siri, SiriProxy, Video, Voice Control

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Samsung Lampoons Apple Mania in Galaxy S II Ad

Samsung attempts to undermine Apple’s mystique and its hold on consumers with a Galaxy S II ad that presents hard core Apple fans as lemmings who are so blinded by marketing that they can’t acknowledge a superior phone.

The ad, which was set to premiere on Facebook Tuesday evening and then hit TV on Thanksgiving, doesn’t mention Apple or the iPhone 4S by name, however. Instead, fans are shown lining up outside an Apple Store-like location nine hours before it opens. “Someone just left,” says one woman. “Why would they be leaving when we’re only nine hours away?” asks her male companion. “Uh oh,” says another guy in line, reading off his phone. “The blogs are saying the battery looks sketchy.”

Just then, a cool group of young men and women come into the line’s view sporting a Samsung Galaxy S II. The crowd is drawn to the phone, although one guy haughtily dismisses it. “I could never get a Samsung,” he says. “I’m creative.” “Dude, you’re a barista,” his friend replies. The ad also makes much of the S II’s 4G compatibility (iPhones are still on 3G), which leads to the kicker: “The next big thing is already here.”

Although the ad takes a new approach, Samsung is hardly the first brand to challenge Apple’s cult-like following. SanDisk bashed “iPuppets” and “iSheep” in 2006 when it took on the iPod’s dominance in the portable MP3 player category. More recently, Motorola attempted to one-up one of Apple’s proudest moment — its legendary “1984″ Macintosh ad — with a Super Bowl ad for the Xoom tablet that, like this latest Samsung commercial, presents Apple followers as clueless automatons.

What do you think? Will Samsung’s approach be successful? Do you give them points for trying? Sound off in the comments.

Article: RSS via Mashable

Tags: 4G, Android, Apple, Galaxy S II, iPhone, Samsung, Smartphones, Video

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Developer creates proxy server for Siri, controls thermostat with his voice (video)

Now that Siri’s protocol has been freshly dissected and laid bare for the world to behold, hackers have been busy finding ways to move Apple’s personal assistant beyond the realm of the iPhone 4S. That task may be getting easier, however, now that a developer has created his very own third-party proxy server, designed specifically for Siri. The dev, known by his Twitter handle @plamoni, demonstrated his brainchild in a recent video clip, using a plug-in to control a WiFi thermostat with only voice commands. As @plamoni explains, the hack won’t require users to jailbreak their iPhone 4S, but it won’t let them port Siri over to earlier iPhones or iPod Touch models, either — not yet, at least. The idea, according to the developer, is to make it easier for other hackers to experiment with and build upon Siri’s functionality. Head past the break to see the demo video for yourself, or if you’re up for it, grab the source code and instructions on how to create your own server, at the source link below.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AN6wy0keQqo

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Tags: Apple, Developers, Hacks, iOS, iPhone, iPhone 4S, Siri, Smartphones, Video

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Demand for the iPad slows down, causes worry for investors

There have been many claims of iPad killers by tablet manufacturers in the past, but it appears that Amazon’s latest offering of the 7” Kindle Fire might actually do it. It seems that investors are worried about Apple’s iPad, claiming that demands for the highly popular tablet are starting to slow down.

These concerns were voiced out by Goldman Sach’s analyst, Bill Shope, who claims that the iPad is currently facing some near-term demand challenges. These challenges include the pricing of the iPad, which while was never an issue before, but with announcement of Amazon’s Kindle Fire, which costs $199 and is a good few hundred dollars cheaper than the iPad 2, the disparity in price could be what is driving potential iPad customers over to the Kindle Fire.

Bill Shope also stated that in order for the iPad to start regaining its demand, it would need to lower its price which Apple could be doing, assuming that the rumors of a cheaper and smaller iPad mini are to be believed. Will Apple’s iPad continue to reign supreme, or will Amazon’s Kindle Fire offerings finally take the number one spot? We guess only time will tell.

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Tags: Apple, iOS, iPad, Tablet PC's

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Samsung sells Galaxy Tab 10.1N in Germany as workaround to Apple’s design ban

Samsung has begun selling a tweaked version of the Galaxy Tab 10.1 in Germany, where the tablet has been banned following Apple’s legal victory to block the slate for design patent copy-catting issues. The new tablet is called the Galaxy Tab 10.1N and features a modified exterior that is designed around what Apple can seek to block.

A significant part of Apple’s design patent in Europe is the use of edge-to-edge glass for the iPad screen. It appears that Samsung is working around this by adding a slightly thicker frame that wraps around the left and right sides of the Galaxy Tab 10.1N. Other than that tweak and a bump up to Bluetooth 3.0, the hardware should remain relatively unchanged from the previous version of the tablet.

It’s not clear whether this revised hardware design will be able to bypass Apple’s design patent claims, but Samsung is certainly testing the waters to find out. However, Apple also has software design claims against Samsung, such as in the US and Australia that may not be as easily bypassed with this design tweak. Below is an image of the original Galaxy Tab 10.1.

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Tags: Android, Apple, Galaxy Tab, Galaxy Tab 10.1N, Germany, Samsung, Tablet PC's

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iPad Mini: why a slimmed down Apple slate is inevitable

Today’s gossip surrounding Apple’s plans for a new iPad Miniwith a 7.35-inch screen would have been greeted with cries of derision 12 months ago. In October last year, Steve Jobs used an Apple conference call to issue a lengthy diatribe on why rivals’ 7-inch devices weren’t up to scratch, saying, “We believe 10-inch screen is minimum.” Leaving aside the fact that the iPad’s screen is actually 9.7-inches, what Jobs was saying is that a tablet needs to be sizeable enough to work as intended.

Fast forward a year though, and the landscape is all set to change. Yes, the 7-inch BlackBerry PlayBook has been a disaster, but the imminent arrival of the 7-inch Amazon Kindle Fire changes things hugely. Jobs may have said 7-inch slates were “dead on arrival”, but my feeling is that an Apple iPad Mini with a display of that size is inevitable.

Until now, Apple’s competition has been largely from manufacturers offering decent Android Honeycomb slates, but without the same breezy content access and app support which makes the iPad so successful. The dawn of the Kindle Fire, though, changes that. Not only does Amazon’s new tablet offer access to MP3s, movies, TV shows and app content on a beautifully designed platform, it also comes in cheap, thanks in no small part to its size.

Apple is obviously going to feel the heat. 2012 will be the year that competitors, especially the Kindle Fire, finally start to make head way into Apple’s huge lead in the tablet space. It can of course cut prices, but that’s never been the Apple way. What it needs is an entry level product, something to entice those unsure of the tablet space, but definitely sure that they love the Apple brand.

Step forward, then, the iPad Mini. The LG executive who said that his company was working on screens for this device has clearly overstepped the mark. The original story, which appeared in The Korea Times, has been pulled. Is Apple behind such a move? I wouldn’t be surprised. This says everything you need to know about the sensitivity of this device and the likelihood of its existence.

So, what has Apple got to gain by introducing a device which Jobs was so clearly against in the last year of his life? More users inside its ecosystem for one. It’ll also give it the chance to market the iPad to a wider audience, following the same path as the iPod Mini and the iPod nano. Obviously, those were much easier devices to slim down and sell, as they weren’t so reliant on vast swathes of different kinds of content. But hooking new users into iTunes, iCloud and the App Store is just what Apple wants. It can’t face losing out in the tablet space in the same way it did in the PC space in the 80s.

Apple will doubtless want to get the iPad Mini right and will find a way of trying to square Jobs’ previous comments with a new device. But make no mistake, this pared down slate is coming, and means Amazon and countless others will have to redouble their efforts to take down Apple’s slate.

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Tags: Apple, iOS, iPad, iPad Mini, Steve Jobs, Tablet PC's

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Siri reverse-engineered and its inner workings exposed

The engineers at mobile development company Applidium spent some time tearing apart Siri and discovered what makes her tick. Besides understanding the ins and out of how Siri works, the team figured out a way to hack Siri and let it potentially run on other devices.

While using a proxy server, the team discovered that Apple uses a secure HTTPS connection to talk to a server identified as guzzoni.apple.com. The server required a valid security certificate, but, much to their surprise, a self-signed certificate would work in place of the official Apple one. Once they were able to communicate with Apple’s server,  they were able to figure out what information is sent to Apple and what info is sent back to the phone.

Siri, as the developers uncovered, compresses the audio input and sends the audio stream to the server. The server then uses a variety of identifiers, including the iPhone’s UDID, to recognize a trusted device. Apple in return will send back the processed text to the handset. Piggy-backed on top of this text is extra information like confidence scores and timestamps for each word.

To help others understand Siri, the developers released the tools they used to dissect Siri’s protocol. Now that these tools are in the wild, other developers can use them to do their own study of Siri and hack it to support third-party apps. They could also build a malicious app that would take advantage of the SSL flaw discovered by Applidium.

Of course, this all relies on Apple not shutting down the security hole or blocking access to the UDID. As we have seen in the past, Apple is proactive when it comes to these threats and is quick to shut them down. I assume Apple would respond swiftly to this discovery as well.

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Tags: Apple, Hacks, iOS, iPhone, Siri, Voice Control

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iTunes 10.5.1 beta 3 released with more fixes for iTunes Match

Apple has released a third beta of iTunes 10.5.1 to members of its developer program. According to Apple, “iTunes 10.5.1 beta 3 includes a number of important stability and performance improvements for iTunes Match, and is a required update for all subscribers to iTunes Match beta.”

This beta update comes just after developers’ iTunes Match libraries were wiped ”as we prepare for the launch of iTunes Match,” Apple said in an email to developers. This latest beta comes less than two weeks after the release of iTunes 10.5.1 beta 2, while 24 days passed between the release of the initial iTunes 10.5.1 beta and its successor.

Accelerating beta releases from Apple are usually indicative of an imminent public launch, but it remains to be seen whether 10.5.1 beta 3 has shaken out enough of the bugs to warrant more widespread release.

Once the service goes live to the public, users who pay US$24.99 per year will have access to virtually all of their music, anywhere, and anytime.

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Tags: Apple, Beta, iTunes, iTunes Match, Music, Software

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