Apple again highlights Siri with new 'Road Trip,' 'Rock God' iPhone 4S ads
Apple on Thursday posted two new video ads showcasing how the Siri virtual assistant on the iPhone 4S can help people achieve dreams like cross-country road trips and playing in a rock band.
The promotional spots went up on Apple's website and its YouTube channel on Thursday as part of a series of ads for the iPhone 4S. Though the iPhone maker has also published commercials highlighting iCloud and the upgraded camera on the device, the bulk of its advertising efforts for its latest handset have been spent on showing off what Siri can do.
The "Road Trip" commercial shows a man asking directions from the east coast of the U.S. to the west coast. He and a companion are then depicted as going on a road trip and using Siri to search for restaurants, activities, directions and other information. The commercial ends with a shot of the couple standing at the Pacific Ocean.
"Remind me to do this again," the woman tells Siri. "Okay, I'll remind you," she replies.
"Rock God" begins with a young man telling Siri that he's "gotta get a guitar." The voice recognition software then helps him learn to play the instrument, make a list of band names and send a message to his friends that his band is playing in a garage.
"Call me a Rock God," he whispers to Siri after finishing a song. She responds with: "From now on, I'll call you 'Rock God'. OK?"
Apple focused on Siri with its first television ad last October. A couple months later, Apple's holiday-themed ad featuring Santa using Siri and the iPhone 4S was voted the most effective ad of the 2011 season.
The company has some work to do in convincing some skeptical customers that Siri, which is still in beta, is more than just a gimmick. Though initial reviewers touted Siri as a worthwhile reason to upgrade from the iPhone 4, a number of pundits have voiced disappointment in it.
Apple's cause isn't helped by the fact that the feature is only available in a few languages and has limited functionality in some regions outside of the U.S. The company has promised support for additional languages later this year, with one rumor suggesting that Siri will speak Mandarin, Japanese and Russian in March.
Siri's limitations notwithstanding, Apple has enjoyed phenomenal sales of the iPhone 4S thus far. The handset was the top-selling smartphone in the U.S. last quarter, followed by its predecessors, the iPhone 4 and iPhone 3GS. Apple sold a record 37 million iPhones in the December quarter, up 128 percent year over year.
[ View article on AppleInsider ]
Comments
Apple on Thursday posted two new video ads
It would be nice if I could view them, but Safari 5.1.2 is now refusing to play most videos, and keeps auto-reloading the whole web page.
Compare that to these kinds of Android commercials, which are only about the specs.
http://youtu.be/9cU7MX1q9lI
Some people complain that Apple products are all shine and no substance. I'd say Android commercials give off that image more, if you just look at the marketing.
It would be nice if I could view them, but Safari 5.1.2 is now refusing to play most videos, and keeps auto-reloading the whole web page.
Works here, both on Apple and on Youtube. I'm on Safari 5.1.2. and Snow Leopard still.
It would be nice if I could view them, but Safari 5.1.2 is now refusing to play most videos, and keeps auto-reloading the whole web page.
You have a problem with your system.
I like how Apple's Siri commercials show what you can do with the new phone.
Compare that to these kinds of Android commercials, which are only about the specs.
http://youtu.be/9cU7MX1q9lI
Some people complain that Apple products are all shine and no substance. I'd say Android commercials give off that image more, if you just look at the marketing.
The ad for the Galaxy Nexus isn't bad. It's about 80/20 with trying to evoke an emotion and throwing some features at you. The features at the end are all OS features, I think, so it doesn't come across as childish like in Droid ads. All in all it's a good ad. It's certainly not humorous like the Samsung ads but it also doesn't alienate the consumer like in the Samsung ads, thus making it the best Android-based phone ad I've seen. It's still not going to get me to buy a Nexus but I got to give credit where it's due.
It seems like they are constantly improving it. These queries are more advanced than in the original ads, requiring more context to understand.
The beauty of server-side processing.
Though initial reviewers touted Siri as a worthwhile reason to upgrade from the iPhone 4, a number of pundits have voiced disappointment in it.
Yeah, isn't it why they're pundits? To take a huge dump on other people's achievements, not that they could ever aspire to achieve anything comparable? Pundit is just a vanity title for "paid bloggers."
Yeah, isn't it why they're pundits? Which is vanity title for "paid bloggers"?
I always seem to confuse the words pundits and dipshits.
However, I DO use the new voice dictation that is now available in all apps.
It would be nice if I could view them, but Safari 5.1.2 is now refusing to play most videos, and keeps auto-reloading the whole web page.
If you are running Lion (10.7.3), try upgrading to 5.1.3.
Just a thought.
Also, have a look at the Activity Monitor in Utilities and see how much free memory you have. Safari can suck up all that is available over time and then Flash really plays up. Just quitting and re-starting Safari will free up a lot of memory. (Apple is working on this problem and I think that the latest update addressed this specific issue. Safari now for me, doesn't claim free memory the way that it did before the latest update and Flash is now reliable.)
All the best.
we can all imagine major advancements. how about voice recognition for security and telling different users from each other? how about alternative Siri personalities, like Hal? and once it's running in multiple languages, can't it be a universal translator too? i'm sure everyone here could add many more incredible ideas ...
if Apple keeps pushing the envelope, Siri could rule the world. (is this the birth of Skynet?).
anyway, i gotta teach it to call me Big Daddy right now.
... is how fast Apple will advance Siri and its abilities.
we can all imagine major advancements. how about voice recognition for security and telling different users from each other? how about alternative Siri personalities, like Hal? and once it's running in multiple languages, can't it be a universal translator too? i'm sure everyone here could add many more incredible ideas ...
if Apple keeps pushing the envelope, Siri could rule the world. (is this the birth of Skynet?).
anyway, i gotta teach it to call me Big Daddy right now.
Someone get on with a universal translator! I travel a lot for work and it would be funny to have a conversation with our phones as middlemen.
Someone get on with a universal translator! I travel a lot for work and it would be funny to have a conversation with our phones as middlemen.
Surely this is a very bright light at the end on a now not nearly so scary, dark tunnel. The real question is... will you let a new acquaintance join your personal hotspot? Answer me that!
(Perhaps if he, she or it thinks that you are hot!)
Apple couldn't show these ads in the UK as Siri can hardly do any of this here. No maps, no business look ups - in fact pretty hopeless. In fairness Apple did put in tiny writing somewhere on their website that these services would only be available sometime in 2012 and yes I know its in Beta but really surprised as to whats holding them back. Its not like the information isn't available.
I can find out what Orion looks like, the size of the Grand Canyon and set a reminder to "do this again" all the other questions only provoke an apology that sounds more like "sorry you're not in the United States perhaps you should move there."
Come on Apple isn't time us UK 4s users had the same service as the US. It's only rocket science.
I like how Apple's Siri commercials show what you can do with the new phone.
Compare that to these kinds of Android commercials, which are only about the specs.
http://youtu.be/9cU7MX1q9lI
Some people complain that Apple products are all shine and no substance. I'd say Android commercials give off that image more, if you just look at the marketing.
Agreed. I think more importantly, Apple has a clear vision on how to advertise it's products aids the end users on a daily basis. If you look at Droid commercials, it aims to be cool and hi-tech but completely out of touch with end users.
I can find out what Orion looks like, the size of the Grand Canyon and set a reminder to "do this again" all the other questions only provoke an apology that sounds more like "sorry you're not in the United States perhaps you should move there."
Come on Apple isn't time us UK 4s users had the same service as the US. It's only rocket science.
Pfft, dont look at it that way...we are beta testers for rest of the world
The most obvious thing that I'd like Siri to do is read things for me on the go.
Like, whatever is on the screen, web, Pages, notes, mail, iBooks etc.
It would be nice if I could view them, but Safari 5.1.2 is now refusing to play most videos, and keeps auto-reloading the whole web page.
it's a sandbox feature -