Cute Santa spot touting Siri's ability to assist.

In this interview, I discuss why consumers look to network speed when they get a new mobile device, plus the employment opportunities in mobile, and how the industry's rules and regulations are taking shape so we don't follow the mistakes made in the early days of the Internet.

My first hours with my new personal assistant had me wondering if I should do more interviews to fill the job.

Siri, through my new iPhone 4S, was spotty -- and I'm being generous. Frequently, she said she couldn't find the network. Requests in a loud envionment were a waste of time.

But synching helped the network problem and things have gotten somewhat better.

She's no All-Star. I'm still shaking my head over how she delivered Washington DC results when I specifically asked for a gym near Seattle.

But adding an appointment to my calendar couldn't be easier and sending a text to someone in my contact list is a breeze.

I'll get to know her better and report back. 

We all need an assistant. The more intelligent, the better.

In addition to the announcement and news around the soon-to-be-introduced in iPhone 4S, this week’s conference gave us a deeper view into how Siri – the technology Apple quietly (and cleverly) acquired last year — plays in a bigger ambition to deliver us suggestions, recommendations and assistance on our mobile devices. Apple’s Siri is marketed as the smart helper that gets things done. All we have to do is ask.

Think of Siri as an electronic concierge and virtual assistant at our call 24/7. No job interviews, hourly wages or background checks before we take Siri into our employ. Siri is trusted and smart — equipped to manage our lives as if she came right out of Harvard or Oxford. Or so we’re told.

According to Apple, Siri understands context and natural language. No need to tailor how you talk to match a machine. Imagine you ask Siri: “Will I need an umbrella this weekend?” Siri understands you are really looking for a weather forecast.

Apple also tells us that Siri — like any capable and qualified assistant — is knowledgeable about using the personal information we allow it to access. For example, if you tell Siri: “Remind me to call Mom when I get home,” it can find “Mom” in your address book and carry out the task. Ask Siri “What’s the traffic like around here?” and it can figure out where “here” is based on your current location, data communicated by the GPS capability in the device.

And the list goes on. Siri supposedly helps you make calls, send text messages or email, schedule meetings and reminders, make notes, search the Internet, find local businesses, and get directions. You can also get answers, find facts and even perform complex calculations — all this just by asking Siri.

There are obvious benefits to having an electronic concierge to help us manage our lives and work – if the technology works, of course. However, voice recognition is not entirely suited to how we live our lives. There are times when you can’t speak out loud (in class or during a play to name two).  And let’s not forget that voice recognition has been inexact for years, especially in loud places where the technology often can’t distinguish one voice or noise from another.

But, for the sake of argument, let’s imagine that Siri does exactly what Apple says it can. There are huge implications for brands when our personal devices are equipped with personal digital assistants. Are companies going to continue to pay for an ad in a Google query if a mobile subscriber can bypass traditional keyword search altogether by just asking their new and knowledgeable pal, Siri? Will advertisers still sponsor the traffic alerts if Siri can tell their customers all they need to know?

On the positive side, the concierge concept could deliver marketers deeper demographics and more insights into what people want, prefer and demand based on what they ask Siri to do in the first place. Siri may be the next big thing, but we won’t know for sure until the devices are on sale and the service stands up to consumer road tests in the wild. The big question is: how much will people trust and rely on Siri for assistance. It’s one marketers will have to wait out. One thing is certain: marketers won’t get the answer just by asking Siri. This is where first-hand experience, knowledge and interacting with customers will give us the ability to gauge their real interest and actual participation.

(first appeared here http://www.mobilegroove.com/remebering-steve-jobs-why-siri-wont-provide-mobile-marketers-all-the-answers/)

Siri, please don’t let us follow the same foolish path again.

Nearly a year and a half ago, the pundits told us that Apple was irreparably damaged during “Antennagate”, when the most revered brand in the world was slow to admit, then fix issues with the antenna on its then new iPhone 4.

Now many of the same pundits are at it again, expressing contempt for Apple for “disappointing” us with incremental improvements to the iPhone 4 rather than introducing an iPhone 5 that, many hoped, would wash dirty socks and run marathons for us.

Siri, just who did Apple disappoint?

Not consumers who made the iPhone 4 the best selling smartphone despite being a little long in the tooth in technology years.

With the 4S, we get Siri, positioned as the intelligent assistant you need that is now a voice command away. We get over 200 new features including Notification Center, an way to easily view and manage notifications in one place without interruption and iMessage™, a new messaging service that lets you easily send text messages, photos and videos between all iOS 5 users.

We also get a new camera with the most advanced optics of any phone. The 8 megapixel sensor has 60 percent more pixels to deliver high quality photos. On top of that, Apple delivered the ability to capture video in full 1080p HD resolution and with new video image stabilization.

Then Apple lowered the price of the iPhone 4 to $99 and put the 3GS on sale for free with a two-year contract.

Siri would be the first to tell you that consumers care about features and benefits, not model numbers.  Outside of the pundits, there likely wouldn’t have been one person storming Apple’s Cupertino campus if the company named the soon-to-be-released product iPhone 5.

Maybe Apple’s marketing team blundered by sticking to the iPhone 4 model line.

Did it irrevocably damage the Apple brand? It’s laughable to even suggest that.

(Article first published as http://technorati.com/business/article/taking-a-bite-out-of-the/ on Technorati)

Before there were smartphones, there were smart mobile people like Steve Elfman.

Steve and I worked together at InfoSpace. A tech guy more than a marketer, he had spent years understanding, even defining, the marketplace from his early days at AT&T Wireless.

Not one to be all over the press, Steve surprisingly has twice landed in the Seattle Times in the last week. 

From his spot near the top at Sprint, where he serves as President, Network Operations and Wholesale, he told reporter Brier Dudley that we’re a bit away from realizing the potential of mobile devices and network speed.

"I think that 2012 is going to be a very big year for good consumer experiences," he told the newspaper. "Maybe 2013. ... I think that '12 you'll see some, '13 I think it will be something that the customer says, 'This is a good experience.'”

Now 56, Steve says he is too old to change out his device at the industry average of 19 months.

"You can't innovate fast enough for them," he said of younger people. "Guys my age, they say, 'I don't want another thing for two years.'”

As for my take on consumer experiences, I’ve long been on record as saying my iPhone delivers the real web and turned mobile promise into reality. I’ve also written and tweeted often about the failings of my BlackBerry Bold http://jeffhasen.com/an-open-love-letter-to-blackberry, which does email exceedingly well and provides little to no other value.