Apple again highlights Siri with new 'Road Trip,' 'Rock God' iPhone 4S ads
The promotional spots went up on Apple's website and its YouTube channel on Thursday as part of a series of ads for the iPhone 4S. Though the iPhone maker has also published commercials highlighting iCloud and the upgraded camera on the device, the bulk of its advertising efforts for its latest handset have been spent on showing off what Siri can do.
The "Road Trip" commercial shows a man asking directions from the east coast of the U.S. to the west coast. He and a companion are then depicted as going on a road trip and using Siri to search for restaurants, activities, directions and other information. The commercial ends with a shot of the couple standing at the Pacific Ocean.
"Remind me to do this again," the woman tells Siri. "Okay, I'll remind you," she replies.
"Rock God" begins with a young man telling Siri that he's "gotta get a guitar." The voice recognition software then helps him learn to play the instrument, make a list of band names and send a message to his friends that his band is playing in a garage.
"Call me a Rock God," he whispers to Siri after finishing a song. She responds with: "From now on, I'll call you 'Rock God'. OK?"
Apple focused on Siri with its first television ad last October. A couple months later, Apple's holiday-themed ad featuring Santa using Siri and the iPhone 4S was voted the most effective ad of the 2011 season.
The company has some work to do in convincing some skeptical customers that Siri, which is still in beta, is more than just a gimmick. Though initial reviewers touted Siri as a worthwhile reason to upgrade from the iPhone 4, a number of pundits have voiced disappointment in it.
Apple's cause isn't helped by the fact that the feature is only available in a few languages and has limited functionality in some regions outside of the U.S. The company has promised support for additional languages later this year, with one rumor suggesting that Siri will speak Mandarin, Japanese and Russian in March.
Siri's limitations notwithstanding, Apple has enjoyed phenomenal sales of the iPhone 4S thus far. The handset was the top-selling smartphone in the U.S. last quarter, followed by its predecessors, the iPhone 4 and iPhone 3GS. Apple sold a record 37 million iPhones in the December quarter, up 128 percent year over year.
36 Comments
Apple on Thursday posted two new video ads
It would be nice if I could view them, but Safari 5.1.2 is now refusing to play most videos, and keeps auto-reloading the whole web page.
I like how Apple's Siri commercials show what you can do with the new phone.
Compare that to these kinds of Android commercials, which are only about the specs.
http://youtu.be/9cU7MX1q9lI
Some people complain that Apple products are all shine and no substance. I'd say Android commercials give off that image more, if you just look at the marketing.
It would be nice if I could view them, but Safari 5.1.2 is now refusing to play most videos, and keeps auto-reloading the whole web page.
Works here, both on Apple and on Youtube. I'm on Safari 5.1.2. and Snow Leopard still.
It seems like they are constantly improving it. These queries are more advanced than in the original ads, requiring more context to understand.
These ads are good but I don't think they can be used in the UK since the sequences are shortened.
It would be nice if I could view them, but Safari 5.1.2 is now refusing to play most videos, and keeps auto-reloading the whole web page.
You have a problem with your system.
I like how Apple's Siri commercials show what you can do with the new phone.
Compare that to these kinds of Android commercials, which are only about the specs.
http://youtu.be/9cU7MX1q9lI
Some people complain that Apple products are all shine and no substance. I'd say Android commercials give off that image more, if you just look at the marketing.
The ad for the Galaxy Nexus isn't bad. It's about 80/20 with trying to evoke an emotion and throwing some features at you. The features at the end are all OS features, I think, so it doesn't come across as childish like in Droid ads. All in all it's a good ad. It's certainly not humorous like the Samsung ads but it also doesn't alienate the consumer like in the Samsung ads, thus making it the best Android-based phone ad I've seen. It's still not going to get me to buy a Nexus but I got to give credit where it's due.
It seems like they are constantly improving it. These queries are more advanced than in the original ads, requiring more context to understand.
The beauty of server-side processing.