We all have apps that we downloaded just to try out and hardly ever use but don’t want to get rid of. The new iCloud service offers a search engine for all apps that you have ever installed or purchased on your iOS device. Now available on your iPad, iPhone, or iPod touch, this service allows you to store all your apps without having to delete any of them. It gives your iOS device the ability to clean your screen from all apps that are not consistently used, while being able to later search for them through iCloud.

As a current iPhone or iPad user we might not have the necessary amount of apps to need this specific search mechanism. As we change devices, upgrade, and download more and more entertainment, our apps are increasing and our available storage is decreasing. This is where a search engine for apps is going to come in to clean our home screens and store all of our apps. Right now when using the iCloud app search engine, your results seem to be ranked by time of installation. The description or your use of the app is not used to rank when searching and is a part of this tool that still needs to be enhanced and developed to become more user friendly. Somewhere at Apple HQ this device is being improved, as customers will be soon using this in the near future.

Why this new device in iCloud? Because most of us don’t like to delete every app that has not recently been used. Thinking a specific app will be useful at least once in the future leads us to want to keep it. Our hope is that iCloud search will soon be incorporated with Siri and users will be able to find their apps using natural language. Maybe our iOS device will soon even download the wanted app for us if we don’t already have it and organize our apps on our screens based on usage or rating.

Are we giving ideas to Apple hoping they will listen? In a way yes, but it is also to recognize how there are still so many ideas to be incorporated in our products and devices to be improved!

Apple has announced that the beloved Siri, Apple’s new voice assistant, will not be coming to older iPhones.

Apple responded to a question from web developer Michael Steeber asking if Siri would soon become available for previous iPhones and the iPod Touch, saying that “we currently have no plans to support older devices.”

This news may be heartbreaking to some, but Apple must feel like it needs to reward iPhone 4S users with that little extra feature known as Siri. Will Apple take back their word and make Siri available to older devices? Don’t hold your breath, but don’t completely write it off either.

The newly anticipated biography by Walter Isaacson, on the legendary Steve Jobs, just hit the shelves this week to give us a better insight on the man who made Apple what it is today.

In the biography Jobs was quoted to have said that the Android’s use of Apple’s ideas were what he considered to be “grand theft” and that he was “willing to go thermonuclear war on this.”

There was no secret to the fact that Jobs in fact had a dislike for the Android operation systems, but the extent of this dislike was unknown until this surfaced.  Isaacson tapped into Steve Jobs thoughts on this topic and what resulted was that Jobs felt that Android’s use of Apple’s iPad and iPhone to create their competition was what he considered “grand theft.” He went as far to say that “thermonuclear war” was a feasible resolution and that he would even be willing to lose money in order to destroy the Android: “I will spend every penny of Apple’s $40 billion in the ban to right this wrong.”

His objective, as he told Google Chairman Eric Schmidt (then CEO), that he would not settle for monetary benefits since Jobs felt he had “plenty of money,” but instead was to make Android stop using Apple’s ideas. Although Jobs stated this differently to the writer of his biography: “I’m going to destroy Android because it’s a stolen product.” He believed that by the creation of the Android, they were breaching intellectual property because Android was marginalizing Apple’s iPhone and iPad products. It will be interesting to see how Android responds to these claims.

This biography titled “Steve Jobs” has come only a few weeks after he passed away from pancreatic cancer at the age of 56 on October 5^th.  Although, Apple’s lawsuits against everything Android still continues.

What is Siri?
Siri is Apple’s new voice search assistant that is included with the new IPhone 4s. One of the only advantages to having the Android was being able to do voice commands, but now this feature is available on the IPhone. All you do is press a button, voice a command, and the phone does the rest for you. If you have a question, you can ask your phone and it will speak the answer to you. If you need to send a text message you can simply voice whom you would like to send the message too, what you would like the message to say, and then your phone will do the rest for you.

There were a few key reasons why customers would turn to the Android as opposed to the iPhone.

1.Google Voice Actions

2. GPS Navigation

3. Google Voice

4. 4G Speed.

The IPhone does not include all of these features; it still remains a 3g phone and is yet to add turn-by-turn gps. However the new Siri voice commands puts up a fight for why you should get this new phone.

Google Voice vs. Siri

Google Voice actions allows for the creation of text messages and emails, get navigation directions, call a contact, view a map of a particular area, write a note, play music, and perform a web search. You can also search for and call a business in one step and it can be used to open a web page. However with Google Voice, you have to know the exact command to ask.

With Siri you don’t have to memorize a set of commands, you can use natural language. Siri can understand questions even when they are asked in a variety of ways. This speech engine can work with conversational language, so it is as if you are speaking with an actual person.

Siri and Artificial Intelligence

Siri uses high-level artificial intelligence, which allows it to offer more value in a natural way so that it is extremely user friendly. It can schedule a new event for you, first checking your calendar to make sure that there are no conflicting events, and then creating your appointment. You can tell Siri when to wake you up in the morning, you can ask the local time in a given location, you can set task reminders, or simply say remind me to wash the dishes in 10 minutes. Pretty neat technology! I know those in the office love using it so far. What is your opinion of Siri?

Amazon has entered into Apple’s territory with its new Kindle Fire. This Android- based media tablet delivers digital media from the Amazon server right to its users. The new Kindle Fire is now the top selling electronics item on Amazon. One of the main marketing points of the Kindle Fire is its unbeatable price of 199$. Comparing this to Apple’s $499 iPad, this seems like a great deal. At $199, it is very easy to see why this Android is so desirable. It has a multi- touch display, a faster new web browser called Silk, and easy access to Amazon content such as Instant Videos, MP3 music downloads, and applications.

However, there are many differences between the iPad and the Fire that account for this price variance. There are only 15 percent of the number of apps available for the Fire compared to the iPad and also does not offer a 3G service, only WiFi.  Also, there is not a lot of memory space (only 8 GB) which means you will have to be somewhat selective of what you save on your Fire.

“There are two types of companies: those that work hard to charge customers more, and those that work hard to charge customers less. Both approaches can work. We are firmly in the second camp.” Says Jeff Bezos.

It is important to realize that the Kindle is not meant to necessarily compete with the iPad, but rather Amazon is creating its own market for a new, low cost, high quality tablet. Amazon is doing what it does best and using their known strengths of price, convenience, and content.  The Kindle Fire probably will not affect the sales of the iPad much, but Samsung, Motorola, and others will take a hit. “They don’t have the content and services that Amazon has to recoup what they don’t make on hardware sales. It creates a real dilemma for them”.

The moment we heard the news, the first question we asked, is Steve Jobs dead? A few weeks ago, similar news came out but was a hoax. But this time it is true. He died October 5, 2011. He is well known for being the former CEO, chairman and co-founder of Apple. Aside from being a technical wizard, he had very sharp marketing acumen and was an excellent visionary. The products that came out of Apple was often part of Steve Jobs’ vision.

Remembering Steve Jobs

In the Stanford University commencement exercise of 2005, Steve Jobs has been speaking about his views of life and death. His condition of Pancreatic cancer and his direction he decided to take.

Looking back at where Steve Jobs early beginnings with Steve Wozniak when Apple was formed, was immortalized in the movie Pirates of Silicon Valley.

Pirates of Silicon Valley

In the movie, you get to see a depiction of Steve Jobs and how his vision has brought Apple to where it is today.

For sure he will be missed by everyone within the industries he directly influenced. I have always admired Steve Jobs for the many things he has done. May he rest in peace.

After a much anticipated wait, Apple announced yesterday the innovative new features the iPhone 4S has to offer. From a lightning speed dual-core processor, to over 200 new software features, to a voice activated assistant who learns to understand your exact wants and needs, the iPhone will once again take us into a new world of technological advancement. So what does this mean to marketers? In a nutshell, the iPhone will be more advantageous and more essential than ever before, and the new iOS software will be hard to pass up – resulting in an expansion in market share.

Siri App and Its Ability to Understand Consumers

Some people may be familiar with the Siri App, which has been in the improvement stage for the past 18 months at Apple. Bringing the consumer a natural language processing assistant capable of responding to text messages, finding ideal restaurants proactively, and even helping to set reminders and schedule appointments, without even leaving your pocket (via Bluetooth).

This voice activated assistant not only understands what you say, it knows what you mean. For example, if one was to ask Siri “Where can I find some good breakfast cafes nearby?” Siri would respond, “I found a number of breakfast cafes near you.” It would then proceed to generate a list of possible cafes to choose from.

If your business is in that location, this new application serves as a strong advantage for your company against competitors. Although, it is not yet stated to what degree Apple will give developer’s access to the Siri API, but
if and when this happens, third-party applications will be able to push their company to its target market through this innovative form of mobile marketing.

3 Price Levels Will Expand iOS Market Share

In efforts to remain ahead of the Android market, Apple had to be wary as to how they would introduce the upgraded iPhone 4S. They decided to remain in line with their current pricing level for the 16GB version and 32GB version at $199 and $299, respectively. Apple is also introducing for the first time a whopping 64GB edition, priced at $399. In order to drive up iPhone market share, Apple is offering the 3GS version for free with a two-year contract, in addition to purchasing the current iPhone 4 model at a mere $99 (8GB).

With an increased market share, marketers will find it easier to focus solely on the iOS platform in order to allocate their dollars and mobile marketing efforts adequately. We can then assume those contemplating switching to the Android platform may be deferred, due to the increased attention for the iOS platform.

The Siri app and subsequent market share expansion, are only two of the defining highlights of the new iPhone 4S. We are anxious to see what Apple will come out with next that is sure to help us, as marketers, reach our audience in more innovative ways than ever before.

Many anticipated this event sometime in the future, but Steve Jobs’ resignation came as a shock to the Apple Community today. Jobs’ co-founded Apple in 1976 and has since been the mastermind behind the innovative iPhone, App Store, iPod and most recent iPad devices.

Jobs made a statement to the Apple community today regarding his resignation: “I have always said if there ever came a day when I could no longer meet my duties and expectations as Apple’s CEO, I would be the first to let you know. Unfortunately, that day has come.”

Questions will quickly stir as to the condition of Steve Job’s health and final reasons for resigning from the tech giant. Jobs will stay on as Chairman of the Board and strongly encourages the company to appoint Tim Cook as the new CEO of Apple. There is no doubt that Jobs creativity and insight will remain a driving force in the Apple world.

What do you think is the main reason for Steve Jobs resignation?

Apple released on Monday a new tool that will help mac users restore their data if their machine’s hard drive was to fail completely.  The new tool builds a physical Lion recovery disk on a USB flash drive or external drives.

The Lion Recovery Disk Assistant is available for free online, and its easy process is a safe and practical alternative in case one’s hard drive was to crash. Although this kind of tool already exists through “do-it-yourself” techniques found for more tech-savvy Mac users, this is the first time Apple provides it as its own utility.

Apple’s knowledge base article that announced the release of the new tool shares:

“[Users can] reinstall Lion, repair the disk using Disk Utility, restore from a Time Machine backup, or browse the web with Safari. This drive can be used in the event you cannot start your computer with the built-in Recovery HD, or you have replaced the hard drive with a new one that does not have Mac OS X installed.”

To use the recovery disk, Lion owners must reboot the Mac while holding down the Option key while the flash drive is plugged into a USB port or the external USB drive is connected to the computer. Apple now provides a recovery tool that is easy to use, with clear instructions, which will familiarize new Mac users with how to recover from an always-painful hard drive crash.

The techies and gadget enthusiasts the world over waited with bated breath for Steve Job’s State of the Union address to shareholders last week.  Not because he offered any solutions for the growing deficit, the wars in the Middle East, or health care reform.  But unlike President Obama’s competing speech, Jobs delivered a Holy Grail of sorts in the form of the iPad.

Technically speaking, the iPad is an iTouch that has been drawn and stretched 7Xs larger.  Resembling more a tablet than a hand-held device, the iPad retains the same web-surfing capabilities and the space to store songs, podcasts, and videos of its ancestors.  The expansion of the screen however adds the option of reading texts and e-books loaded onto the device, the very feature that casts Amazon’s Kindle as hell bound, since they’ll soon begin open competition for the same consumers.

So if it is the day of reckoning, who’s headed where?

The introduction of the iPad begs the question of who exactly will Jobs be saving?  Long in need of a savior in the Internet age, newspapers and magazines have been quick to predict massive overhaul of their operating procedures and u-turns in their revenue graphs.  News corporations dream of potential readers – and in light of several major papers beginning to charge for their service, subscribers – landing on their website after seeing a tweet or post on Twitter or Facebook.

But this gets to the heart of the matter – as the iPad stands in between its smart phone and netbook cousins, it undoubtedly will be only positive for social networking sites.  Apple’s newest product couples a larger screen than the iPhone with more portability than laptops.  This will make it easier to read on-screen material  ranging from e-books to  news feeds or tweeted links on Facebook and Twitter.  The fact that the iPad is less cumbersome will encourage owners to check-in on these networks more frequently than on their netbooks.   The result: people will be spending more time, more often on social networking sites.  Beyond pop-up ads and mandatory videos, social media networks promise to be a major player in the future of effective marketing, especially with the advent of the iPad.