Though the iPhone 4S release was initially disappointing to most people who had been eager for the latest Apple mobile phone, it is still now being applauded as an incredible new device for many reasons, especially in its revolutionary Siri.
Siri – a form of Apple digital assistant – is not only significantly different from other forms of interface between users and devices, but it also creates the potential for a wide range of changes in consumer computing and mobile commerce as a whole. Its impact on the way that device users can interact with their phones has been compared to the difference that the computer mouse made when there had previously been only a keyboard.
For retailers, Siri is now the first sign of a significant change in the way that consumers will be using their smartphones and tablets to shop online.
Though is still in its Beta availability and only on the iPhone 4S, this app is being taken very seriously and many mobile commerce proponents feel that it will make the difference that the channel needs to truly take off.
Siri is basically a two-way app for voice recognition. It allows a device user to say a command and then hear an audio response from that device. By itself, it’s not tremendously impressive, as voice recognition is already being applied to a wide range of other types of products and platforms.
However, what makes Siri special is that unlike what is already out there in voice recognition, Siri can also interact with other sources of information and applications. By using a certain amount of information specific to the user, Siri can potentially accomplish a great deal on behalf of the user. For mobile commerce, this can mean the world.
