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 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.

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.

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?

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.

Apparently Apple didn’t learn its lesson the first time. Reports. are in that an Apple employee has once again lost a prototype for a yet-to-be-released iPhone model. The employee in question left the iPhone 5 prototype at a San Francisco tequila bar. The iPhone 5 isn’t supposed to be officially released until later this year.

Apple used the location software in the missing prototype to track the phone to a home in the Bernal Heights neighborhood of San Francisco. When interviewed by the authorities, the resident of the home denied knowing anything about the missing prototype, but did admit to being at the same tequila bar on the night of the incident. A search of the home yielded no results.

This brings up a major question: Could this really be just an unlucky coincidence? Or is this a ploy by Apple to drum up excitement and buzz for the new iPhone?

Loopt leaves much to be desired

Such was the case with Loopt, the seasoned veteran in the battle for smart phone networking app supremacy.  Introduced in 2005, Loopt relies primarily (if not solely) on the attraction of keeping tabs on your friends’ coordinates at any given time.  Later generations of the application, along with similar competitors, have imported information from Yelp or CitySearch in order to present users with a list of dining or drinking options nearby as well.

Foursquare leads the competition

Other applications have introduced new weapons in response to the primitive GPS-based technology of Loopt.  Most prominently, Foursquare challenges its network to collect points at check-ins and earn badges and mayorships, complete with scoreboards and term limits.  Now available in over 100 metropolitan areas, Foursquare is the leader of the pack in location-based mobile networking, as the application synthesizes information from Yelp and enables friends to meet-up or share tips in absentia.  Furthermore, as the size of the network has grown, so too have the number of offers and coupons up for grabs.  Even some forward-thinking bars offer a free drink to the rightful Foursquare mayor of their location.  The rapid check-in and point scoring system does have its shortcomings as well: as successful as Foursquare is in New York City, don’t hold your breath waiting for its arrival in Branson, Missouri.

New challengers offer innovation to the location-based app

Behind Foursquare stand a few guerilla insurgents aiming to displace the reigning king of location-based networks.  Buzzd is aimed at twenty-somethings, as it seeks to provide its network with the bars and clubs that are trending or popular in real-time.  Gowalla brings a populist approach to the application, allowing for users to design tours through Central Park’s main attractions or Texas BBQ pits, thus encouraging more network members to compete for notoriety and respect, rather than points.

A battle between location-based networks lies ahead, but so too do new competitors and innovations to existing networks.  As this competitor only makes applications better, location-based social networks will continue to innovate and incorporate new strategy—representing the future, portable portal to consumers.

Not just for elementary school playgrounds anymore, Foursquare, a new online social network/gaming platform, is catching on like the common cold in a fifth grade classroom.  And this isn’t their first venture: just a few years ago, this same crew gave us the mobile social network Dodgeball, which was acquired by Google in 2005, and then later canned.  But unlike Dodgeball, FourSquare presents an expansion to the simple notion of broadcasting your location to your friends.  Foursquare tracks your “check-ins” at various locations like bars, restaurants, museums, retail outlets, and even street vendors, and awards you for such notable achievements as “Gym Rat” (for frequent visits to the gym), “Mayor of ___” (for frequent visits to a certain location), and “School Night” (for checking in late on a weeknight).  These achievements are then published on your personal profile and available for viewing for the whole Foursquare community.

Friends can use Foursquare as a means of finding each other when they’re out as well as compete with each other to get the most badges or Mayor statuses.  One can see how addictive the game could get; similar to Facebook, Twitter, and the likes, users can easily become preoccupied with the number of “check-ins” and forget the real reason they even go out.

The team has also partnered with Twitter as another broadcasting channel for their check-ins, a partnership which spurred some chatter about the similarities between the two social networks.  Mashable blogger Pete Cashmore commented on Robert Scoble’s observation: “Go back three years ago. Twitter was being used by the same crowd that is playing with Foursquare today.”

The application also allows for highly targeted marketing initiatives for participating locations, such as drink specials for the “Mayor” of a bar or reduced ticket prices for those who frequent a specific art gallery.  The novelty in this could quickly wear out, though, as many perceive to be the fate of Twitter’s marketing abilities.

With key competitors including Gowalla, Loopt, Brightkite and Google’s Latitude, Foursquare’s path to success won’t be smooth sailing.  But their unique offerings will surely give them a head start against the rest of the pack, and I’m sure we can expect many more great things added to the Foursquare platform in the near future.