Siri – inThirty.net

inThirty 82 – Et tu, iOS?

Justin has a problem. He is “Android curious”. He is intrigued by all the interesting features Android has to offer, but loves the stability and quality of his iPhone. Sure, he jailbreaks, but still longs for more customization. It doesn’t help that he is entrenched in the Google ecosystem. Can Harry convince him to stay, or will Chaim, the once-and-former iPhone user convince him it’s time to make the leap?

Show Notes

“Why I switched from iPhone to Android” | Macworld
“An iPhone fan’s month with Windows Phone: Week one” | Macworld
“2012, The Year I Basically Stopped Using Apple’s iOS Apps” | AllThingsD
“New Google Voice Search, Siri are closely matched (hands-on)” | CNet
“An iPad Lover’s Take On The Nexus 7” | TechCrunch
“Steve Wozniak Says Apple is Falling Behind, Thanks to Android” | Android Headlines
“Project Amy merges Apple’s Messages app with App.net” | Ars Technica

Rock the Vote 2012

Maybe this should have been episode 666 of inThirty instead of 66 because we don’t know what the devil happened. We start off talking about battery life and its importance (yes, we determine it is important) in the wake of the power outages caused by Hurricane Sandy and veer off into Scott Forstall’s crazy eyes, skeuomorphic (woah, I spelled that right the first time!) design, and whether the Lightning Port is responsible for the iPhone 5’s quick charging. Harry and Justin then proceed to get into a knock down drag out argument about the quality of Siri and Apple Maps while Chaim checks for the nearest open gas station on his Nexus 7. We do not, at anytime during the 30 minutes of this episode, rock the vote.

Episode 66 Hangout: http://youtu.be/xkwrzHjvbsc

Show Notes
“Oh Apple Lightning connector, how do I love thee? | ZDNet
“Episode 41 – Tim Cook Hates Corinthian Leather” | The Impromptu
5000 mAh External Battery Pack and Charger | Monoprice

iOS 6 Expectations

Yes, aside from the occasional poem about Chaim, we primarily talk things out on inThirty. But, leading up to WWDC, inThirty guest, levelheaded but voracious consumer of Apple rumors, friend of Tim Cook’s (sort of), and all-around nice guy Drew Pitchford was good enough to layout his prediction for iOS 6 using the written word. Knowing Drew, he probably typed the list in Pages on his new iPad:

10 tent-pole features (in no particular order)
1) Revamped maps app with content provided by Apple servers
2) Expanded Apple widgets in Notiﬁcation Center
3) Facebook integration
4) Expanded iCloud integration: the music app syncing between iOS devices, video stream, etc.
5) Better inter-app communication
6) Camera app improvements: timer, rapid shots, etc.
7) Mail app improvements: maybe a “delete all” option ﬁnally?
8) Safari improvements: file upload in Safari, omni-bar
9) Retouched UI colors to match the Lion’s
10) 3rd party access to Siri and expansion of its functionality

Thanks Drew!

Checkout our show on product predictions for WWDC 2012 here.

Google Me This

What’s old is new again. On episode 41 of inThirty we cover Google’s addition of The Knowledge Graph to its search results page. Instead of a chart that depicts the top scorers in Jeopardy as the name implies, Google is trying to use its vast artificial intelligence to figure out what people are really looking for when they search and display that info to them right away, without clicking away from Google. We discuss whether it’s fair game for Google to display the snippets it takes from sites across the web right on the search results page at the expense of click throughs to the sites actually hosting the content or whether we should all just give in and do all of our web browsing as Larry and Sergey intend.

Episode 41 Hangout: http://youtu.be/g7w2rXmrmzY

Show Notes
“Introducing the Knowledge Graph: things, not strings” | Google Blog
Duck Duck Go

Eyes on iOS 5

It’s been nearly a week so each of us has had a chance to use each and every one of the 200+ new features, and with the help of the inimitable Kelly Guimont of TUAW and Angry Mac Bastards fame, we get to make sense of them. Siri also gives hosting a try, but she’s no match for Kelly.

Thanks (thank you and thank you) to Kelly Guimont for joining us.