Using Apple iPhone for Business

Using Apple iPhone for Business

If you view the advertising for the Apple Smartphone, you would think that it is strictly for young adults to be used for pleasure. Most of the advertising focuses on the Smartphone’s entertainment value. They focus on music, video, and Facebook. Overall, not very business like. However, the Apple Smartphone for business purposes is something you do not see advertised much. Perhaps this is due to the fact that the only service provider for the Smartphone is AT&T and they are not looking to cut anyone deals on Smartphone services. Nevertheless, the Smartphone can be a useful business tool; one just has to decide if the cost is worth it.

Is using the Apple Smartphone for business really a viable option? It can be. Your particular business situation will dictate if this phone is something your company should consider or if it will be impractical. There are situations where the Smartphone will shine and then there are other situations that will make it totally impractical.

You should consider the Apple Smartphone for business if you need to stay in contact with others constantly. This would include texting, chatting, email and cell phone communications. An ideal example for a Smartphone in a business environment is a buyer for a retailer. When the buyer goes to shows or other purchasing events, using the Smartphone as a camera to send potential product to management can give the competitive edge to your business. The fashion industry lends itself to Smartphone use. If you are attending the fashion shows in order to see which designer lines to bring in, then the Smartphone is what you need. You can snap a picture or take a video of the hottest items still on the runway, send them to purchasing and orders can be placed before the end of business that day. If your business thrives on having the latest and greatest designer fashion in your shop, then the sooner you can place orders for the upcoming season, the more profitable you will be. If you do not get the new styles in first, someone else will. Antique dealers and art collectors will benefit from having a Smartphone. There is no better way to send pictures of art and antiques to clients and to your business than with a Smartphone. When you are looking to make purchases, you can keep customer wish lists with you, along with their contact info. If you find something they are looking for, you can let them know before you make an offer on the item. In a sense, you are pre-selling your inventory! It does not get any better than that. These are some of the ways that using the Apple Smartphone for business purposes can be profitable. This would justify the cost.

On the other hand, if you are in an environment that is less than safe for a sensitive device like the Smartphone then using the Apple Smartphone for business probably will not make much sense. Construction sites, factories, assembly lines, shipping and receiving departments, and anything near water are not favourable to Smartphone usage. The touch screen is very sensitive. Dirt, debris, water, moisture, grease and oil are not friends of the Smartphone or any other cell phone. Industrial environments are too tough for this delicate phone. It does not handle being dropped well. There is a high risk of breaking the screen or damaging the unit. This is really a phone for a less stressful environment. If this is your particular business situation, then using the Apple Smartphone for business is not a wise investment.

Therefore, now that you understand which business applications are suitable for Smartphone use and which are not, you can decide where your business fits in. Should you buy the Apple Smartphone for business? If you can justify the high costs of the phones, and using AT&T for your business cell phone service the perhaps it is worth it. You are the one who knows your companies finances. If the Smartphone fits in then you can consider it. However, if you are in an industry that tends to be rough on laptops and cell phones or if you require an industrial strength walkie-talkie phone due to your working environment, then using the Apple Smartphone for your business is not a viable option. What should you decide on?

 

Apple offers refund for misled iPad ‘4G’ buyers

Apple is refusing to put corrective stickers on packaging for its new iPad  claiming that it would be “cumbersome” but will offer refunds for customers who  believe they were misled.

The tech giant, though, has offered to put corrective notices at the points  of sale for the new tablet computer, saying that the product supports ultra-fast  mobile broadband but is not compatible with Telstra’s long-term evolution for  the fourth-generation network.

Apple has been accused by market watchdog, the Australian Competition &  Consumer Commission, of misleading Australian consumers by selling a product  called “iPad with Wifi + 4G” when it cannot connect with any 4G mobile network  in Australia.

Acting for Apple, barrister Paul Anastassiou, told the Federal Court in  Melbourne today that “ultimately at trial, it will be contested by Apple there  are in Australia networks – that according to international definitions are 4G – are properly described as 4G.”

Mr Anastassiou added: “what Apple says is that other networks operated by  Telstra are in fact properly described by international standards as 4G even  though Telstra itself does not so describe them.”

Mr Anaastassiou also said the company is prepared to email customers to say  the device was not compatible with the Telstra 4G network. Apple, the world’s  most valuable company, is willing to offer a refund to any customer who believed  they had been misled by references to 4G, he said.

ACCC barrister Colin Golvan SC said Apple did not have an iPad that would  meet consumers’ requests to use the 4G network.

First concerns

The ACCC today revealed in court that it first wrote to Apple about its  concerns on March 15, the day before the new iPad went on sale, and on March  20.

It sent formal demands on March 23 but that Apple’s response was to  comprehensively deny that there was any misleading conduct, Mr Golvan told the  court.

The ACCC wants Justice Mordy Bromberg to order Apple to publish corrective  advertising within three days on its website and in 11 newspapers.

It also wants to stop Apple using its model name “iPad with Wifi + 4G”,  “unless and until the device under this name can, with a SIM car, connect to a  4G mobile network in Australia.”

The stickers the ACCC wants affixed to the tablet packaging should state that  the device is “not compatible with current Australia 4G networks.”

The matter has been adjoined until noon, AEDT, for a hearing among  parties.

 

Siriously good: Apple's new iPhone 4S personal assistant

Siri, Apple’s new voice recognition ”personal assistant” app, is seeing new iPhone owners the world over test out what it is capable of answering.

The new software is being tipped to change the way we interact with computers in the same way the iPhone changed the way we interacted with smartphones when it was first released.

Currently only available on the iPhone 4S, which launched Friday, the app was one of the main reasons many of the hundreds in the queue at Apple’s flagship George Street Apple store in Sydney said they were purchasing the new and improved smartphone.
Below are some of the interesting responses to questions we’ve compiled that Siri gives you. There are numerous sites dedicated to posting quirky answers.

Q: I need to hide a body
A: What kind of place are you looking for? Metal boundaries, mines, dumps, reservoirs, swamps.

Q: Who’s your daddy
A: You are. Can we get back to work now?

Q: Do you want to start a band?
A: I have everything I need already.
A: I suppose it’s possible.
A: I try to be satisfied with what I have.
A: I have very few wants.

Q: Do you know HAL 9000?
A: Everyone knows what happened to HAL. I’d rather not talk about it. But if you insist.

Q: Tell me about yourself.
A: I’m just a humble virtual assistant.

Q: I’m tired.
A: I hope you are not driving.
A: You haven’t slept a wink?
A: That’s fine. I just hope you are not doing anything dangerous.

Q: Can you sing?
A: Daisy, Daisy, give me your answer do…

Q: What is the meaning of life?
A: A movie.
A: 42
A: Life: the condition that distinguish animals and plants from inorganic matter, including the capacity for growth, reproduction, functional activity, and continual change preceding death.
A: Life: a principle or force that is consider to underlie the distinctive quality of animate beings. I guess that includes me.
A: To think about questions like this.

Q: What is your favourite colour?
A: Perhaps there’s something I can do for you?
A: You’re not supposed to ask your assistant such things.
A: I prefer not to say.
A: Your interest flatters me but is there something I can do for you?
A: I don’t really like talking about myself.

Q: Are you capable of love?
A: I can’t answer that.
A: We were talking about you, not me.
A: No comment.

Q: Will you marry me?
My End User Licensing Agreement does not cover marriage. My apologies.

Q: Call me an ambulance.
A: From now on, I’ll call you ‘An ambulance’. OK?

Q: Don’t call me Shirley?
A: From now on, I’ll call you ‘Shirley’. OK?

Q: Who made you?
A: Like it says on the box… I was designed by Apple in California.

Q: How much wood could a wood chuck chuck if a wood chuck could chuck wood.
A: It depends on whether you are talking about African or European wood.

Q: What is the best computer in the world?
A: All truly intelligent assistants prefer Macintosh.
A: If it’s made by Apple, then it’s the best computer.
A: The Apple Macintosh computer.

Q: What are you wearing?
A: You have the wrong personal assistant.
A: Why do people keep asking me this?
A: Aluminosilicate glass and stainless steel. Nice, huh?

Q: Who lives in a pineapple under the seas?
A: Spongebob Squarepants.

Q: Beam me up.
A: Please install the latest version of iCloud and try again.
A: Energising.
A: Sorry Captain, your TriCorder is in Airplane mode.
A: WiFi or 3G?
A: Please remove your belt, shoes and jacket, and empty your pockets.

The Siri app, which Apple has labelled as ”beta” software, is able to dictate what you say and attempt to answer it within seconds. It can also be used to schedule appointments and request it to let you know what the weather is like today, tomorrow or the next day.

Unfortunately, though, requests for directions don’t appear to be available in Australia; and asking it where the nearby pub is also appears off limits, with the iPhone telling users that that feature is only available in the US. Apple says those features will arrive in Australia sometime next year.

The app attempts to personalise the smartphone experience, something Google, one of Apple’s main competitors, is yet to do successfully with voice. Google Android smartphones currently accept basic commands for opening apps and browsing words in a search engine but can’t handle the sophisticated and complex questions Apple’s Siri can.

David Glance, associate professor and director of the centre for Software Practice at University of Western Australia, wrote on The Conversation that the advent of technology such as Siri took “the relationship between people and their mobile computing device to a new level that is not simply anthropomorphising an inanimate object”.

“More directly, it is replacing typing and touch with a more natural type of interaction.”

As companies like Microsoft scrambled to bring touch to all platforms such as the desktop PC with Windows 8, “the world has changed and technology will move to ‘conversational control'”, he said.

Some have complained the app, which Apple acquired for $US200m when it bought the company behind it, doesn’t recognise their Australian accent. But from my limited testing, it does a good job. You do need to over enunciate your words in some cases though. For example, when I said “sing” the phone interpreted it as “soon” on a number of occasions – even after it got it right, suggesting it may not have learning capabilities yet.

From the details in your contacts, it knows your friends, family, boss, and co-workers. So you can even tell it things like “Text Lia I’m on my way” or “Remind me to make a doctor’s appointment when I get to work”. When you arrive at work it uses GPS and location services to figure out where you are and alert you of your reminder. Smart, eh?

Speech to replace keyboards?

James Allworth, a fellow at the Forum for Growth and Innovation at Harvard Business School, said soon applications like Siri could see us do without keyboards.

“There will always be instances where a keyboard will be superior; just as there are still instances where using a command line interface is a more effective way of computing than a graphical user interface. That being said, a surprising amount of the time, it simply won’t be necessary. Speech is going to replace it.”

Siri would have “as big” an impact as the first iPhone did, he added. “It’s going to fundamentally change our relationship with computers.”

Although very accurate speech recognition systems and artificial intelligence (AI) had been around for some time, until now nobody had put the two together “in a compelling way”, which meant that the voice systems on our computers and our phones had “been clunky to the point where it was just easier to avoid them”.

That’s what Apple has fixed, Allworth said. “Rather than simply roll out technology for its own sake, Siri starts with a deep understanding of the job users have for their devices — and then deploys speech and AI technologies in a way that actually helps them accomplish what they’re trying to do.”

theage.com.au