LITTLE ROCK — Siri gets ‘D’ for accuracy in report
A new report about Apple Inc.’s voice-recognition software Siri concludes what many users have been saying for a while: It doesn’t work all that well.
Of 1,600 common searches, the speech technology accurately resolved the request 62 percent of the time on a loud street and 68 percent in a quieter setting, according to a report released last week by Piper Jaffray Cos., the Minneapolis-based investment bank. The report graded the technology “D” for accuracy, while predicting it will improve as more features are added.
“You’re playing the lottery when you’re using Siri,” said Gene Munster, the Piper Jaffray analyst who conducted the study. “They have a plan to be more competitive, but it’s going to take a couple of years.”
Apple has made Siri the defining characteristic of its iPhone 4S, spending heavily on advertisements featuring actors such as Samuel L. Jackson and Zooey Deschanel.
The ads have contrasted with the experience of many users, who have taken to customer forums and websites to complain that Siri doesn’t work as well as it’s being marketed.
One group of customers even filed a lawsuit against Apple for false advertising. Apple has denied any wrongdoing.
Apple continues to build features for Siri. Last month, the company said its new iOS 6 mobile operating system will support sports statistics and movie listings.
HP holding off on ARM-based tablet
Hewlett-Packard Co. said it will hold off selling tablets based on ARM Holdings Plc technology when the next version of Microsoft Corp.’s Windows operating system debuts later this year.
Hewlett-Packard instead will focus on so-called x86 chips, such as those made by Intel Corp., Marlene Somsak, a spokesman for Palo Alto, Calif.-based Hewlett-Packard, said last week.
The decision marks a setback for ARM, which from the outset won’t have its technology in Windows tablets sold by the world’s largest maker of personal computers. It’s also a boon for Intel and Advanced Micro Devices Inc., the top makers of x86 chips.
“The decision to go with x86 was influenced by input from our customers,” Somsak wrote in an e-mail. “The robust and established ecosystem of x86 applications provides the best customer experience at this time and in the immediate future.”
Computer makers will use ARM-based chips in devices that run a version of Microsoft’s operating system called Windows RT. Tablets using x86 chips will run Windows 8.
The decision cuts an already small number of Windows RT tablets planned for this year’s debut, the first time Microsoft has produced a version of its personal-computer operating system for use on chips with technology from ARM, in a bid to quell the dominance of Apple Inc.’s iPad.
IPhones, iPads add Chrome browser
SAN FRANCISCO - Google’s Chrome browser can now be used to surf the Web on the iPhone and iPad.
The Chrome application released Thursday is the latest volley in the escalating rivalry between Google Inc. and Apple Inc., which makes those two popular mobile devices.
If Chrome turns out to be a hit on Apple’s mobile devices, it could help boost Google’s profits, even though it’s free, because Google now shares some advertising revenue with Apple in exchange for Apple building the Google search engine into the mobile version of Safari.
Google won’t have to pay commissions on revenue generated from searches done through Chrome.
Macquarie Capital analyst Ben Schachter estimates that Google relinquishes up to 60 percent of the advertising revenue flowing from mobile searches on Safari.
The arrival of Chrome on Apple’s mobile operating system comes a month after Yahoo Inc. released a browser called Axis for the iPhone and iPad.
Unlike Axis, however, Chrome already is one of the most popular alternatives to Microsoft Corp.’s Internet Explorer on traditional computers. Google said Thursday that Chrome now has 310 million active users, up from 160 million a year ago.
Apple said to plan overhaul of iTunes
Apple Inc. plans an overhaul of iTunes that would mark one of the largest changes to the world’s biggest music store since its 2003 debut, according to people with direct knowledge of the matter.
Apple will unveil the changes by year’s end, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the plans aren’t public. The company will more closely integrate its iCloud file-storage service with iTunes so users can more seamlessly access and manage their music, videos and downloaded software apps across different Apple gadgets, the people said. Apple also plans new features for sharing music, the people said.
ITunes has been critical to Apple’s success throughout the past nine years, generating revenue of almost $1.9 billion last quarter alone.
Business, Pages 22 on 07/02/2012