Your New Best Friend

The new operating system for Apple mobile devices was released about a month ago and to date some 70% of all who regularly use an iPhone or iPad have downloaded the upgraded OS7 software.  I waited a while as I have found that even with the most diligent testing and pre-evaluation, whenever a new version of software comes out there are always bugs.  This was true with the release of OS7.0.0 but after the release of OS7.0.2 most, if not all the bugs, have been addressed.

There are several improvements that OS7 provides even to older models of the iPhone and iPad.  For example, I am still using an iPhone 4S and have noticed significant improvements in speed and accessibility.  Perhaps the most visible, or should I say audible, improvements are in Siri, the personal assistant app that uses voice recognition.  The number and complexity of the tasks that Siri can now perform has been greatly expanded.

For those who do not use voice recognition applications like Siri, you are missing out on some very cool and helpful features of your phone or tablet.  It should be noted that many of the features of Siri, an application only available on Apple products, are available on other platforms as well.  For example, Google also has very good voice recognition applications and those can be used on both Apple and non-Apple devices.

The new Siri is very reminiscent of scenes from the bridge of the Enterprise in the iconic Star Trek TV series.  Captain Kirk was always in some dialog with the onboard computer.  For example Kirk would command, “Computer, lay in a course for the Orion Nebula.”  The computer would respond accordingly and off the ship would go.  All very cool.  Today, some 40 years later, you can ask Siri to give you directions to Aunt Millie’s house and up will come a map and a GPSapp will lead you there.

The new version of Siri does much more.  You can ask for math problem solutions like the square root of a number.  You can even speak a series of numbers and get a total.  The list of numbers is displayed so you can check to make sure all were included in the total.

If you use a calendar on your smart phone or iPad and forget when you set an appointment in the future, you can ask Siri to find it.  “Siri, when am I meeting with John Smith?”  The response will provide all the meetings you have scheduled on your calendar with John Smith.  Of course, you can ask Siri to schedule a meeting with John Smith at a specific date and time.  If Siri finds you already have a meeting at that time Siri will indicate the conflict.

You can dictate and send emails, instant messages and ask Siri to remind you of a meeting or appointment.  When turning in for the night you can ask Siri to wake you in the morning.  Many don’t use Siri because they forget it is available.  You might want to give it a try.

Now, if Siri can wake me up in the morning, is a fresh cup of coffee out of the question?

Your New Best Friend

The new operating system for Apple mobile devices was released about a month ago and to date some 70% of all who regularly use an iPhone or iPad have downloaded the upgraded OS7 software.  I waited a while as I have found that even with the most diligent testing and pre-evaluation, whenever a new version of software comes out there are always bugs.  This was true with the release of OS7.0.0 but after the release of OS7.0.2 most, if not all the bugs, have been addressed.

There are several improvements that OS7 provides even to older models of the iPhone and iPad.  For example, I am still using an iPhone 4S and have noticed significant improvements in speed and accessibility.  Perhaps the most visible, or should I say audible, improvements are in Siri, the personal assistant app that uses voice recognition.  The number and complexity of the tasks that Siri can now perform has been greatly expanded.

For those who do not use voice recognition applications like Siri, you are missing out on some very cool and helpful features of your phone or tablet.  It should be noted that many of the features of Siri, an application only available on Apple products, are available on other platforms as well.  For example, Google also has very good voice recognition applications and those can be used on both Apple and non-Apple devices.

The new Siri is very reminiscent of scenes from the bridge of the Enterprise in the iconic Star Trek TV series.  Captain Kirk was always in some dialog with the onboard computer.  For example Kirk would command, “Computer, lay in a course for the Orion Nebula.”  The computer would respond accordingly and off the ship would go.  All very cool.  Today, some 40 years later, you can ask Siri to give you directions to Aunt Millie’s house and up will come a map and a GPS app will lead you there.

The new version of Siri does much more.  You can ask for math problem solutions like the square root of a number.  You can even speak a series of numbers and get a total.  The list of numbers is displayed so you can check to make sure all were included in the total.

If you use a calendar on your smart phone or iPad and forget when you set an appointment in the future, you can ask Siri to find it.  “Siri, when am I meeting with John Smith?”  The response will provide all the meetings you have scheduled on your calendar with John Smith.  Of course, you can ask Siri to schedule a meeting with John Smith at a specific date and time.  If Siri finds you already have a meeting at that time Siri will indicate the conflict.

You can dictate and send emails, instant messages and ask Siri to remind you of a meeting or appointment.  When turning in for the night you can ask Siri to wake you in the morning.  Many don’t use Siri because they forget it is available.  You might want to give it a try.

Now, if Siri can wake me up in the morning, is a fresh cup of coffee out of the question?

Accessorize Your Spring Outfit

In just a short time it will be spring and with the change in season often comes a change in our wardrobe. Gone are the scarves, sweatshirts and heavy coats as we pull out the shorts, tee shirts and flip flops.  For some digerati their spring clothing may come with some new accessories.

Our friends at Google are offering to a select group of consumers a device that incorporates their new technology called “Google Glass.”   The first iteration will be a pair of eye glasses with video display built into the lens.  Connected wirelessly to your smart phone, the glasses allow you to view anything that would normally be viewed on the phones screen on the actual glass lens.

I have only seen pictures and videos of the glasses.  To me they look like an updated version of the strange head gear featured on The Borg, a group of artificial creatures from the Star Trek series.

The glasses can’t be purchased yet but Google has launched a novel pre-order campaign.  They just finished a contest called "If I Had Glass," where contestants fill out entries explaining all the cool things they would do with Google Glass, if they were someday, maybe, perhaps, allowed to purchase them for $1,500.  Tom Sawyer would be proud.

Not to be outdone, the folks just down the road from Google at Apple may have their own digital accoutrement.  You wear this one on your wrist. While the company has not acknowledged the new product (they seldom do provide advance notice of new offerings), it has been widely reported that they are working on a flexible glass wrist watch-like device that can provide many of the functions as the iPhone.

For some of us older folks we remember Dick Tracy, Inspector Gadget and James Bond  having these devices.  None however had Siri or Angry Birds. 

One of Apple’s partners, Corning Glass, the company that provides the Gorilla Glass for the iPhone, has announced that they have developed a new type of flexible glass.  Industry watchers predict that soon Apple will announce the glass will be used for this wearable new digital “must have.”

These products may not be ready for this year’s Easter Parade, but we may see some cool wearable digital bling on fashion runways sooner than we think.

Accessorize Your Spring Outfit

In just a short time it will be spring and with the change in season often comes a change in our wardrobe. Gone are the scarves, sweatshirts and heavy coats as we pull out the shorts, tee shirts and flip flops.  For some digerati their spring clothing may come with some new accessories.

Our friends at Google are offering to a select group of consumers a device that incorporates their new technology called “Google Glass.”   The first iteration will be a pair of eye glasses with video display built into the lens.  Connected wirelessly to your smart phone, the glasses allow you to view anything that would normally be viewed on the phones screen on the actual glass lens.

I have only seen pictures and videos of the glasses.  To me they look like an updated version of the strange head gear featured on The Borg, a group of artificial creatures from the Star Trek series.

The glasses can’t be purchased yet but Google has launched a novel pre-order campaign.  They just finished a contest called "If I Had Glass," where contestants fill out entries explaining all the cool things they would do with Google Glass, if they were someday, maybe, perhaps, allowed to purchase them for $1,500.  Tom Sawyer would be proud.

Not to be outdone, the folks just down the road from Google at Apple may have their own digital accoutrement.  You wear this one on your wrist. While the company has not acknowledged the new product (they seldom do provide advance notice of new offerings), it has been widely reported that they are working on a flexible glass wrist watch-like device that can provide many of the functions as the iPhone.

For some of us older folks we remember Dick Tracy, Inspector Gadget and James Bond  having these devices.  None however had Siri or Angry Birds. 

One of Apple’s partners, Corning Glass, the company that provides the Gorilla Glass for the iPhone, has announced that they have developed a new type of flexible glass.  Industry watchers predict that soon Apple will announce the glass will be used for this wearable new digital “must have.”

These products may not be ready for this year’s Easter Parade, but we may see some cool wearable digital bling on fashion runways sooner than we think.

Siri, Your New Best friend

I can still remember how mesmerized I was in 1968 watching the haunting exchanges between Dr. David Bowman and the Hal 9000 Computer. This interaction between a machine and a human being was perhaps the first time the promise of operating a machine with voice commands was demonstrated to the general movie going public. Of course, if you remember the movie, all did not go as planned on that voyage through the galaxy.

The recent launch of the Apple iPhone 4s brought back memories of 2001: A Space Odyssey. While the 4s has some modest improvements to its innards over the iPhone 4, the big news is Siri. Siri has been around for a while but this new iteration is the first to allow users to give directions or ask questions to the phone using plain language. So “Open the pod bay doors Hal” or “I’m afraid I can’t do that Dave” are no longer the stuff of science fiction.

I am sure we will look back in a few years and see the current iteration of Siri as somewhat primitive. Siri works best when you ask it to do simple tasks like entering an appointment in you calendar or do a Google search for a specific piece of information. Of course, it can place voice calls and send and retrieve text messages all hands free.

Like most Apple products the interface is simple. You press a button and ask Siri a question. For example, ask Siri what the weather will be and you will get a report of the current weather in your location. What you don’t see or hear is that when you ask that question, in the background with light speed, Siri analyzes your words, checks the internal GPS to ascertain where the phone is now located and then uses that information to search for a weather service on the web that has the local information. Once obtained, Siri will read to you the information. Again all this is done in a few seconds.

Siri is not perfect. A recent exchange between Stephen Colbert and Siri on the Colbert Report demonstrated that. Unlike the Hal 9000 that seemingly could do everything to operate Dr. Bowman’s spacecraft, Siri was not of much help to Steven when he asked for help writing a script for the show. Nevertheless Siri is a big step towards the promise of voice recognition technology and artificial intelligence based personal services.

Now I have to admit that I do not yet have an iPhone 4s, but I do plan to get one when my current smart phone, which seems to be getting less smart all the time, is due for replacement. Perhaps Siri can write the column for me?

Siri, Your New Best friend

I can still remember how mesmerized I was in 1968 watching the haunting exchanges between Dr. David Bowman and the Hal 9000 Computer. This interaction between a machine and a human being was perhaps the first time the promise of operating a machine with voice commands was demonstrated to the general movie going public. Of course, if you remember the movie, all did not go as planned on that voyage through the galaxy.

The recent launch of the Apple iPhone 4s brought back memories of 2001: A Space Odyssey. While the 4s has some modest improvements to its innards over the iPhone 4, the big news is Siri. Siri has been around for a while but this new iteration is the first to allow users to give directions or ask questions to the phone using plain language. So “Open the pod bay doors Hal” or “I’m afraid I can’t do that Dave” are no longer the stuff of science fiction.

I am sure we will look back in a few years and see the current iteration of Siri as somewhat primitive. Siri works best when you ask it to do simple tasks like entering an appointment in you calendar or do a Google search for a specific piece of information. Of course, it can place voice calls and send and retrieve text messages all hands free.

Like most Apple products the interface is simple. You press a button and ask Siri a question. For example, ask Siri what the weather will be and you will get a report of the current weather in your location. What you don’t see or hear is that when you ask that question, in the background with light speed, Siri analyzes your words, checks the internal GPS to ascertain where the phone is now located and then uses that information to search for a weather service on the web that has the local information. Once obtained, Siri will read to you the information. Again all this is done in a few seconds.

Siri is not perfect. A recent exchange between Stephen Colbert and Siri on the Colbert Report demonstrated that. Unlike the Hal 9000 that seemingly could do everything to operate Dr. Bowman’s spacecraft, Siri was not of much help to Steven when he asked for help writing a script for the show. Nevertheless Siri is a big step towards the promise of voice recognition technology and artificial intelligence based personal services.

Now I have to admit that I do not yet have an iPhone 4s, but I do plan to get one when my current smart phone, which seems to be getting less smart all the time, is due for replacement. Perhaps Siri can write the column for me?