The truth is that while 95% or so of people in Hong Kong speak Cantonese as their native language, probably 60% of people in Hong Kong can speak Mandarin with decent fluently as a second language, while only probably about 30% of people can speak English fluently. So Mandarin is far more relevant in this context than English.
Not to mention that probably about 70% of the phones sold at launch are going to the mainland, which is the far greater issue.
And within the 30% of English speakers, 30% are westerners, 20% are Chinese who lives and grew up in a western country, 50% are people who thinks they can speak English.
To be on topic, I agree most if not over 90% of those 4s is going though some sort of resell chain, be it in mong kok or the main land. So yea, I would say we are gona see mandarin Siri coming before a Cantonese version.
Many of these phones were bought to be resold in mainland China.
This.
Quote:
Originally Posted by neiltc13
Surely people in any country in the world are buying because it's the latest iPhone, not because of Siri. I can't imagine anyone who bought the phone uses Siri on a regular basis, or that anyone would think they would.
For Asia, mainly it's to show off the white iPhone 4/4S.
The truth is that while 95% or so of people in Hong Kong speak Cantonese as their native language, probably 60% of people in Hong Kong can speak Mandarin with decent fluently as a second language, while only probably about 30% of people can speak English fluently. So Mandarin is far more relevant in this context than English.
Not to mention that probably about 70% of the phones sold at launch are going to the mainland, which is the far greater issue.
Quote:
Originally Posted by zeasar
And within the 30% of English speakers, 30% are westerners, 20% are Chinese who lives and grew up in a western country, 50% are people who thinks they can speak English.
To be on topic, I agree most if not over 90% of those 4s is going though some sort of resell chain, be it in mong kok or the main land. So yea, I would say we are gona see mandarin Siri coming before a Cantonese version.
Mandarin voice recognition and text-to-speech would be an interesting and significant R&D undertaking for Apple/Siri/etc. I'm not familiar with the Mandarin voice software market but I know across Asia (including South East Asia) Mandarin accents vary by a large degree. The difference would be like between Southern USA and Australian outback.
For me, it's the double data (maximum) speeds, Siri, not necessarily what it can do now, but looking toward the future, the faster processor (not so much an issue), the better camera, and most importantly, the 64GB capacity. I will take advantage of all of these, and I will enjoy Infinity Blade II when it comes out. There are many many reasons to want the 4S as an upgrade for the iPhone 4. It's not just about status. Up until 3 weeks ago, I was using a feature phone.
[Edit]Oh! I forgot full mirroring to my Apple TV!!!! That's going to be one I use all the time.[/Edit]
Of course, Apple TV 2 is inexplicably not available in Hong Kong, so unlike me, that last one will not benefit most users here. FFS, Apple!!!! Apple TV 2 is not just about renting media!!!!
Mandarin was chosen because it's the most wildly spoken language. I think it's about 15:1 over Yue(Cantonese). But I see your point about connecting Mandarian as a primary language of Hong Kong. They really should have worded it to noted that since Mandarian with it's much larger base of users isn't on the iPhone for Siri, so that Cantonese should be expected for awhile, either.
It seems that we have a lot of clueless people posting that have no idea what they are talking about when it comes to Hong Kong. Most of the iPhones sold in Hong Kong end up on the mainland. HK has no sales tax and the mainland puts a 17% tax on all Apple products as a foreign electronics manufacture even though they are assembled in China. Further, as noted in my earlier post, Mandarin is now mandatory in HK primary schools and is important in business so is becoming more prevalent. Combine this with the vast number of mainlanders that visit HK every year. Mandarin is VERY relevant to HK.
Well aren't you the genius! Dead wrong. Mandarin is now mandatory in schools in Hong Kong. And English is not as prevalent as you think.
Well, to be fair, English is also mandatory in all HK schools from grade K-11. And most kids get it from 3 years old in nursery. Unfortunately, without peer support and parental help, and with the poor teaching in Hong Kong, fluency success rate is in the crapper, despite our best intentions. Students have a bit more success with Mandarin. Unlike Singapore, it's considered 'uncool' or bragging by most students' peers for one to be good at English.
Siri is NOT a make or break feature- yet. A gimmick ony at this stage- rarely works.
I apologize for my former words. I'll restate my meaning.
What experience do you have with Siri that allows you to make this determination? And why do you believe what you've said when there really isn't another review out there that corroborates your theory?
Because of Siri. And because of other accessibility features pre-Siri. There was a blind woman in the first Siri demonstration and I remember that in one of the recent television specials on Steve Jobs a blind musician talked about how he uses his iPhone (touchscreen and all), and this was long before Siri's introduction; he used the standard Accessibility panel to have his phone speak to him.
L.A., Sep 2011:
Stevie Wonder: "There is nothing that you can do on the iPhone or iPad that I can?t do."
Comments
The truth is that while 95% or so of people in Hong Kong speak Cantonese as their native language, probably 60% of people in Hong Kong can speak Mandarin with decent fluently as a second language, while only probably about 30% of people can speak English fluently. So Mandarin is far more relevant in this context than English.
Not to mention that probably about 70% of the phones sold at launch are going to the mainland, which is the far greater issue.
And within the 30% of English speakers, 30% are westerners, 20% are Chinese who lives and grew up in a western country, 50% are people who thinks they can speak English.
To be on topic, I agree most if not over 90% of those 4s is going though some sort of resell chain, be it in mong kok or the main land. So yea, I would say we are gona see mandarin Siri coming before a Cantonese version.
"Hong Kongese"
South East Asians call them "Honkys". Honest.
Many of these phones were bought to be resold in mainland China.
This.
Surely people in any country in the world are buying because it's the latest iPhone, not because of Siri. I can't imagine anyone who bought the phone uses Siri on a regular basis, or that anyone would think they would.
For Asia, mainly it's to show off the white iPhone 4/4S.
The truth is that while 95% or so of people in Hong Kong speak Cantonese as their native language, probably 60% of people in Hong Kong can speak Mandarin with decent fluently as a second language, while only probably about 30% of people can speak English fluently. So Mandarin is far more relevant in this context than English.
Not to mention that probably about 70% of the phones sold at launch are going to the mainland, which is the far greater issue.
And within the 30% of English speakers, 30% are westerners, 20% are Chinese who lives and grew up in a western country, 50% are people who thinks they can speak English.
To be on topic, I agree most if not over 90% of those 4s is going though some sort of resell chain, be it in mong kok or the main land. So yea, I would say we are gona see mandarin Siri coming before a Cantonese version.
Mandarin voice recognition and text-to-speech would be an interesting and significant R&D undertaking for Apple/Siri/etc. I'm not familiar with the Mandarin voice software market but I know across Asia (including South East Asia) Mandarin accents vary by a large degree. The difference would be like between Southern USA and Australian outback.
[Edit]Oh! I forgot full mirroring to my Apple TV!!!! That's going to be one I use all the time.[/Edit]
Of course, Apple TV 2 is inexplicably not available in Hong Kong, so unlike me, that last one will not benefit most users here. FFS, Apple!!!! Apple TV 2 is not just about renting media!!!!
Am I drunk? What does Mandarin have to do with Hong Kong specifically? You do realize more Hong Kongese speak English than probably speak Mandarin?
Asia is a big place. They don't all speak Mandarin...
Well aren't you the genius! Dead wrong. Mandarin is now mandatory in schools in Hong Kong. And English is not as prevalent as you think.
Mandarin was chosen because it's the most wildly spoken language. I think it's about 15:1 over Yue(Cantonese). But I see your point about connecting Mandarian as a primary language of Hong Kong. They really should have worded it to noted that since Mandarian with it's much larger base of users isn't on the iPhone for Siri, so that Cantonese should be expected for awhile, either.
It seems that we have a lot of clueless people posting that have no idea what they are talking about when it comes to Hong Kong. Most of the iPhones sold in Hong Kong end up on the mainland. HK has no sales tax and the mainland puts a 17% tax on all Apple products as a foreign electronics manufacture even though they are assembled in China. Further, as noted in my earlier post, Mandarin is now mandatory in HK primary schools and is important in business so is becoming more prevalent. Combine this with the vast number of mainlanders that visit HK every year. Mandarin is VERY relevant to HK.
Well aren't you the genius! Dead wrong. Mandarin is now mandatory in schools in Hong Kong. And English is not as prevalent as you think.
Well, to be fair, English is also mandatory in all HK schools from grade K-11. And most kids get it from 3 years old in nursery. Unfortunately, without peer support and parental help, and with the poor teaching in Hong Kong, fluency success rate is in the crapper, despite our best intentions. Students have a bit more success with Mandarin. Unlike Singapore, it's considered 'uncool' or bragging by most students' peers for one to be good at English.
Siri is NOT a make or break feature- yet. A gimmick ony at this stage- rarely works.
I apologize for my former words. I'll restate my meaning.
What experience do you have with Siri that allows you to make this determination? And why do you believe what you've said when there really isn't another review out there that corroborates your theory?
Because of Siri. And because of other accessibility features pre-Siri. There was a blind woman in the first Siri demonstration and I remember that in one of the recent television specials on Steve Jobs a blind musician talked about how he uses his iPhone (touchscreen and all), and this was long before Siri's introduction; he used the standard Accessibility panel to have his phone speak to him.
L.A., Sep 2011:
Stevie Wonder: "There is nothing that you can do on the iPhone or iPad that I can?t do."