Siri And The iPhone’s Physical Keyboard

Siri has had a bit of an image problem this past week. Just like all technology propelled by the tailwinds of hype, it hit the inevitable wall of tech punditry. This magically turned the stream of largely positive stories into a river of negative stories under the guise of things like: “the voice of reason” or the “wake up call”. It’s the oldest trick in the book and it never fails to generate massive pageview energy. It happens 100 percent of the time. But it’s important not to lose sight of the bigger picture.

First of all, the downtime issue is a total red herring. Yes, Siri has been wonky on and off for the past few days. God forbid that a service explicitly labeled as “beta” behave like a service still in beta. I understand that this is a bit of a tough concept to understand since companies like Google leave software in beta for the better part of a decade, thus castrating the term. But look no further than how rarely Apple actually labels something as “beta”. They basically never do it. They only do it when they expect a service to be less than spectacular 100 percent of the time.

That’s why stories demanding an explanation for Siri’s downtime are comical. Siri is behaving exactly as Apple has said that it would. Perhaps their only mistake was using the “beta” tag, which again, apparently means nothing anymore. And running a commercial touting the beta feature may not have been the best play right now either.

The more interesting angle of the backlash goes after what Siri is and what Siri is not. A few days ago, Jordan wrote a post entitled “Siri, Why Are You So Underwhelming?” In it, she brings up a few key points that I think are reflective of some frustrations many are having in this post-hype phase. While the broader notion is a bit silly: No, Siri cannot be a full replacement for a human assistant — nor do you have to pay Siri tens of thousands of dollars a year, provide it with health insurance, etc. Some of the smaller points definitely ring true. Siri can’t add contacts. Siri can’t open apps. Siri can’t play TV shows. Etc. But there’s a keyword missing in each of these:

Yet.

Again, see: beta. All of that is coming, I have no doubt.

The key is when Jordan also complains that she can often type faster than Siri can think. That’s undoubtedly true. But the thinking here has to extend beyond the present and your own self. It reminds me a bit of the people who used to say that they needed a physical keyboard on their phone. And that Apple would eventually have to add one to the iPhone. It was a certainty. BlackBerry FTW.

Now all of those people seem to happily be using iPhones (or Android phones) without physical keyboards without problems. BlackBerry? Yeah…

What Siri represents is an extension of computing by utilizing something that (most) everyone has: voice. It’s the same thing with the touchscreens on the iPhone and iPad. They also utilize something that (most) everyone has: fingers. “If you see a stylus, they blew it,” Steve Jobs once famously said. And he was right. Why create something to distance yourself from the machine? In the past, these crutches were needed. We’re getting to the point where they aren’t anymore. Forget the mouse and keyboards, it’s touch and voice.

Everyone is amazed now when they see children interact with the iPad in such a natural way. And they’re even more amazed when they see a child with a physical magazine and it’s extremely foreign to them. The same thing will one day be true with Siri (or any comparable voice technology). What’s easier, teaching a child to type on a keyboard or letting them speak to a computer? There’s a reason why basically every science fiction author in the last century envisioned a future in which we speak to our computers. And there’s a reason why every major technology company has been working on speech technology for the past few decades. It’s a natural thing to do. And it makes sense that eventually it becomes a computing norm. Again, just like touch.

But we’re not there yet. And that’s why we’re seeing some of this backlash. Is Siri perfect? Of course not. It’s probably 1 percent of where it should be if we’re to use it as a regular computing input. But I’m always amazed when people seem to completely discount the fact that the technology will get better over time — and quickly.

But maybe it’s hard to blame them. Again, these are the people who wanted iPhones with physical keyboards. We want what we know. We don’t know voice as a primary method of computing. It’s awkward. It’s foreign. But it won’t be forever. And it especially won’t be for children who grow up learning to speak to computers. Our hesitance to speak to our machines will seem awkward to them.

Does that mean speech replaces text input entirely? Of course not. There are some times where typing is better — when you’re in a noisy room, for example. Or in a place you need to be quiet. Or if you’re saying something private. But there’s also a reason why humans don’t stand with one another and quietly pass notes back and forth.

My point is simply that you should take the Siri backlash with a grain of salt. We’ve seen such backlashes before, we’ll see it again. Everything is “stupid” and “useless” until it’s everywhere.

Palm Pre is impressive: Too little too late for Palm

The Palm Pre unveiling stands in my memory as one of the most refreshing moments in modern history. Palm had done it—they had created a great phone Nokia would kill for. But today, that's just not enough. As Palm teeters on the brink of either ruin or acquisition, let's take stock of what they did right:
• They abandoned an entrenched but aging platform for something new an innovative, and they didn't half-ass it: Palm OS was dead, WebOS was here.
• WebOS was actually good. If you discounted the lack of apps at launch, it was arguably more capable than anything else on the market.
• The Pre was totally buyable. It's one of the few smartphones I'd consider buying, and would also recommend to the rest of my family. And the hardware didn't suck.
• They got huge buzz, and they earned it.
Sure, their app ecosystem was slow to develop, and their TV ads were underwhelming at their best, and creepy at their worst. But that's not what really matters, right? Palm accomplished something with the Pre, and we could all see that. The Pre's spell was such that it made everything else feel old. Palm made something different—and it was something we would have paid obscene amounts of money for just a year prior. More than anything, Palm succeeded wildly at reinventing its products, its company and its image, by its own standards and by ours.
The problem is, it's not 2006 anymore. Those standards don't apply. There was a time when it was enough for a company like Palm to release a fantastic phone, and for years, that's exactly what they focused on. But today, to fight in the smartphone wars is to fight against multi-platform giants. And the rules of engagement have changed: It's no longer phone vs. phone, or mobile OS vs mobile OS. Today there are apps, and even if a phone maker nails that ecosystem, they have to integrate it into the company's other stuff: desktops, tablets, the living room, the workplace, the bathroom, the car—not to mention all the music, movies, TV and other media consumption any given human expects to be able to tap into on a new device.
The era of the standalone smartphone company is over. To say it plainly: If you want to make the best smartphone these days, it's just not enough to make the best handset, or even the best OS. Pour one out for the indie phone makers—I, for one, am sorry to see them go.

Microsoft soon to release Zune Phone

To anyone who has looked at Microsoft's highly rated Zune HD portable media player and wished it were a phone, your prayers have been answered. Yesterday, at Microsoft's press event for MWC 2010, the long-rumored "Zune phone" was finally thrust into the spotlight and treated to approving nods by many in attendance.

To be fair, the Windows Phone 7 Series is more than just a Zune HD with a phone slapped in. We're finally looking at a portable device that melds some of Microsoft's most successful products, including Windows Mobile, Zune, Xbox, and Microsoft Office. But make no mistake, there's a whole lot of Zune in the Windows Phone mobile OS. Everything from the touch-screen keyboard to the "twist"-style user interface looks and behaves just like Microsoft's latest Zune HD portable media player.

As a longtime fan of the Zune player, software, and services, I have mixed feelings about the Zune's evolution into Microsoft's flagship smartphone OS (I felt the same sting when the iPod gave way to the iPhone). The standalone Zune media player is no longer the center of the Zune story, but rather, the prologue.

Mostly though, I'm relieved. I've always felt that one of the biggest stumbling blocks Microsoft has faced trying to market a portable media player geared around sharing and social music features was the fact that there weren't a whole lot of other Zune users out there to share with. If nothing else, the inclusion of Zune services on Microsoft's latest smartphone software will mean an explosion in the population of registered Zune users. The Social may finally become, well, socialized.

In fact, lost in the shuffle of all the Windows Phone 7 Series announcements is the fact that the Zune's music and video services will suddenly be available internationally once the supported phones are available around the 2010 winter holidays. Currently, aside from some limited international exposure of the Zune Video Marketplace for the Xbox 360, Microsoft's Zune software and music services are strictly confined to the United States. Microsoft's Cassey McGee wouldn't disclose exactly which countries will receive Zune services, but definitely indicated that the Zune music and video service will be available outside the U.S. "...in all countries where Windows 7 Phones will ship."

It still remains to be seen whether the international availability of Zune software and services will translate into Microsoft selling its Zune HD portable media player overseas. Unlike the parallel tracks Apple has established with the iPhone and the ever-popular iPod, Microsoft could choose to pull up its stake in portable media players, acknowledging that the future of portable entertainment is entirely in phones.

If Microsoft decides to continue selling and developing the Zune HD hardware, it will be interesting to see how it answers the inevitable pleas from Zune HD users to update the product with Windows Phone 7 Series features, such as Xbox Live integration and broader mobile app support.

Apple may replace Google With Bing on the iPhone

According to two people familiar with the matter, Apple could make Bing the default search engine on the iPhone, BusinessWeek reports.

Microsoft and Apple have been in talks for weeks about replacing Google with Bing.

It's all part of the new rivalry between Apple and Google. Says a BusinessWeek source: "Microsoft is now a pawn in that battle."

Google wouldn't be wiped off the iPhone altogether. Instead users would have to adjust settings to make Google search a default for Safari.

As Microsoft becomes more willing to pay for search, and Google stomps deeper into Apple's turf, a Bing-iPhone partnership is more likely than ever. As long as Bing delivers a good user experience, and it's willing to pay extra, we don't see why Apple wouldn't at least consider it.

However, even if Bing becomes the default engine, sources tell BusinessWeek Apple has a "skunk works" looking at its own search engine for mobile, because "Apple isn't going to outsource the future."



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Google phone coming

Apple iPhone will have a big competition on their hands as Google is set to launch its much discussed smart phone next week.

The new smart phone, Nexus One, may be unveiled Jan 5 when the internet search engine giant holds a media briefing about its smart phone business at its Mountainview headquarters in California.

The Google-branded device will use its latest Android operating system called Anrdoid 2.1.

Android is already being used in more than a dozen smart phones by many vendors, including Motorola and Samsung.

The Google smart phone will compete directly with Apple's popular iPhones in Internet browsing as well as playing video games.

Though the world's second biggest company, valued at more than $196 billion, has mentioned the upcoming briefing as "an Android press gathering," it has not confirmed whether the rumoured smart phone will actually be unveiled that day.

The Nexus One is likely to have a 3.7-inch AMOLED (active matrix organic light emitting diode) touch screen. AMOLED, which is a bright display technology, needs no backlighting for the device to function. Since there is no backlight, touch screen looks brighter.

The Google GSM smart phone will also have a 5-megapixel camera and Wi-Fi connectivity. According to mobile industry bloggers, Google may sell the smart phone unlocked, thus not locking buyers in long-term contracts with carriers.

The Google briefing is being held just two days ahead of the Consumer Electronic Show in Las Vegas where global giants like Sony and Microsoft unveil their products for the next year.