Siri
Apple's defenders count the errors in Microsoft's anti-iPad ads
May 24, 2013: 11:43 AM ETDid Microsoft stretch the truth in spots promoting a tablet that runs Windows?
FORTUNE -- You'd think Microsoft (MSFT) would get some credit for running a couple light-hearted TV ads that -- unlike those awful 2008 Jerry Seinfeld spots -- aren't cringeworthy.
But in the Windows tablet ads that debuted this week, Microsoft used Siri to badmouth the iPad, and some Apple (AAPL) aficionados were not amused.
AppleInsider's headline set the tone: Microsoft caught lying about tablet size in comparison to Apple's iPad.
Among the complaints we've seen:
- Microsoft has played tricks with the scale, drawing the 10.1-inch-diagonal screen of the ASUS VivoTab Smart as if it were 36% larger than the iPad's 9.7-inch screen, when in fact the ASUS screen area is 3.55% smaller (Spotted by Elliot Temple of Curi.us.)
- The error was repeated in Microsoft's Web ad, which described the ASUS tablet has having a "bigger touchscreen." That language has since been removed.
- PC World found one of the TV ads "hilarious," but felt obliged to point that although Siri says she can't do PowerPoint, she can open PowerPoint presentations and she does do Keynote, which is in many ways superior. Besides, it's up to Microsoft when the iPad finally gets its Office apps.
- PC World also points out that the money shot -- $699 for 64GB iPad vs. $449 for a 64GB VivoTab -- doesn't mention that the 32GB iPad starts at $499. (The VivoTab's list price is also $499; Microsoft must be getting a $50 discount.)
- And as The Verge notes, the ads "casually ignore any strengths of the iPad," like better resolution, longer battery life and a lot more apps to choose from.
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In Piper Jaffray re-test, Siri raises her grade from a D to a C
In a quiet room, the latest version understood 91% of questions, correctly answered 77%
FORTUNE -- Siri is a little like the weather. Everybody complains about it, but only Piper Jaffray's Gene Munster seems to do anything.
In June he put the iOS 5 version of Apple's (AAPL) voice-activated personal assistant to the test -- asking her 1,600 questions, 800 in the streets of Minneapolis and 800 in a quiet room.
The results MORE
Philip Elmer-DeWitt - Dec 20, 2012 9:05 AM ET -
Kontra on Siri vs. Google: 'Apple's game to lose'
A deep dive into the Apple vs. Google search wars by a writer who knows his stuff
FORTUNE -- "Siri could change Apple's fortunes like iTunes and App Store … or end up being like the useful-but-inessential FaceTime or the essential-but-difficult Maps or the desirable-but-dead Ping."
So begins a piece titled Is Siri really Apple's future? by Kontra, the anonymous author of an increasingly influential blog called Counternotions.
Nobody seems to know who Kontra is -- MORE
Philip Elmer-DeWitt - Nov 15, 2012 8:34 AM ET -
A birthday song for Siri
The song-a-day man celebrates her anniversary nine days early
FORTUNE -- Jonathan Mann has been writing an original song and posting it on YouTube every day since Jan. 1, 2009. On Tuesday he sang his second duet with Siri, Apple's (AAPL) artificially intelligent personal assistant. (His first was posted two weeks after the release of iOS 5). Siri will be one year old on Oct. 4, and she still has a MORE
Philip Elmer-DeWitt - Sep 26, 2012 6:10 AM ET -
Today in Tech: Could IBM's Watson become Siri for businesses?
Samsung plans to fight court injunction of its products; the Winklevoss twins splurge on $18 million L.A. mansion.
IBM envisions Watson as supercharged Siri for businesses [BLOOMBERG]
Bernie Meyerson, IBM's vice president of innovation, envisions a voice-activated Watson that answers questions, like a supercharged version of Apple Inc. Siri personal assistant. A farmer could stand in a field and ask his phone, "When should I plant my corn?" He would get a reply in seconds, MORE
JP Mangalindan, Writer - Aug 28, 2012 12:22 PM ET -
Today in Tech: Yahoo has a new CEO, and she's pregnant
Also: The fireworks fly between Peter Thiel and Eric Schmidt at this year's Brainstorm Tech conference.
New Yahoo CEO Mayer is pregnant [FORTUNE]
Marissa Mayer, the Google executive who today was named Yahoo's new chief executive, is pregnant. Mayer told Fortune exclusively that her first child is due October 7. It's a boy! "He's super-active," Mayer told me in a phone call tonight, three hours after Yahoo announced her appointment. "He moves around a lot. My MORE
JP Mangalindan, Writer - Jul 17, 2012 6:00 AM ET -
Minneapolis street test: Google gets a B+, Apple's Siri gets a D
1,600 questions -- 800 in a quiet room, 800 in a noisy street
FORTUNE -- Piper Jaffray's Gene Munster is nothing if not methodical. When customers queue up for a new Apple (AAPL) product, he's the analyst who goes to the line and counts heads. When programmers gather at an Apple developers conference, he'll stop three or four dozen to ask if they are writing apps for Mac, iPhone or Android MORE
Philip Elmer-DeWitt - Jun 29, 2012 6:42 AM ET -
Apple's WWDC 2012: The analysts weigh in (updated)
More than a dozen thumbs up. Two thumbs down. Egg on a couple of faces.
FORTUNE -- The Street's reactions to Monday's keynote are flooding in. The verdicts were mostly positive, but Apple (AAPL) analysts whose predictions outpaced reality had a little backtracking to do.
RBC's Amit Daryanani: Increasing Ecosystem Stickiness. "We attended Apple's World Wide Developers Conference in San Francisco and came away impressed with the new MacBook Pro Retina Display laptop, MacBook refresh, additional Siri capabilities, MORE
Philip Elmer-DeWitt - Jun 12, 2012 11:00 AM ET -
Apple WWDC preview: What the analysts are saying
Is Wall Street expecting AAPL to get a post-conference bounce? You be the judge.
FORTUNE -- Apple's (AAPL) World Wide Developers Conference -- its only remaining public event not explicitly linked to a product announcement -- is set to open in San Francisco Monday, and several analysts issued notes Friday telling their clients what to expect.
Merrill Lynch's Scott Craig: Clockwork-like software innovation is often overlooked. WWDC mainly serves to showcase the latest MORE
Philip Elmer-DeWitt - Jun 8, 2012 10:44 AM ET -
Today in Tech: Why the TV business may be on the verge of collapse
The social network is testing out ways to give children safe and legal access; why the TV business may be on the verge of collapse.
Facebook explores giving kids access [THE WALL STREET JOURNAL]
Facebook is developing technology that would allow children younger than 13 years old to use the social-networking site under parental supervision, a step that could help the company tap a new pool of users for revenue but also inflame MORE
JP Mangalindan, Writer - Jun 4, 2012 1:04 PM ET
