Siri can perform a variety of tasks from searching for information to sending an email to scheduling meetings by voice. However, new research finds that few consumers make full use Apple’s virtual assistant. Indeed, while 87% of people who own Apple’s iPhone 4S use at least one Siri feature a month, most usage is across a relatively limited set of functions, reports The New York Times’ Digits blog, citing data from Parks Associates. For its research, the consulting group surveyed 482 owners of the iPhone 4S, the only device that currently carries the complete Siri service. “Users aren’t proving adventurous …

Google is reportedly about to launch a new commenting system that will tie into the search giant’s Google+ platform, Web services and Web search. “The Google comment system, which will almost certainly rival that of Facebook, will have deep links to Google’s network of services and websites, indexing comments in Google Search, and most significantly, the system will be available for use on third party sites,” reports The New Web. Tech-WD blogger Saud Al-Hawawi reported yesterday that several new Google features that have yet to be announced were discussed at the Google event G-Saudi Arabia, including the new commenting platform. If …

Because Google and Facebook refuse to share information with each other, neither can claim to offer anywhere near a complete database of people. That’s good news for Ark.com -- a people search engine that just entered private beta, and plans to become the best place on the Web to find, and gather information on, anyone. If successful, “Ark could pull searches away from Google and Facebook, disrupt dedicated sites like Classmates.com, and give us a better way to find people than broadcasting ‘Who do I know here that does this?’” TechCrunch reports. The service boasts an array of layer-able filters so users …

The more people with smartphones, the bigger the mobile economy can get. It’s big news, then, that AT&T plans to sell Nokia's Lumia 900 smartphones for $99.99 -- with a two-year contract. “It is one of the most affordable flagship products AT&T has ever sold,” CNet reports. Not only that, but -- unlike other reasonably priced smartphones available to U.S. consumers -- the Lumia 900 comes packed with some serious hardware. Indeed, the phone will have a 4.3-inch ClearBlack Amoled display, an 8-megapixel Carl Zeiss camera lens, and a higher capacity 1830 mAh battery, CNet reports. How can Nokia offer …

Over the next three years, Microsoft and Nokia have agreed to invest $12 million each in AppCampus -- a new development program in Finland’s Aalto University. The goal is to hatch new mobile apps for Microsoft’s Windows Phone platform -- the operating system that powers Nokia’s newest smartphones -- as well as Symbian and Series 40 platforms. Microsoft’s app marketplace now includes about 70,000 apps, but, as The Next Web reports, is still some way behind both Apple’s iOS and Google’s Play app stores, which account for over a million apps between them. “Recent reports have bemoaned the lack of premium …

Without having been put to use, Google reportedly patented a technology that analyzes background noise during a phone call, ands serves ads based on perceived “environmental conditions.” Yep, “that’s creepy,” TheNextWeb confirms. Filed back in 2008, the technology doesn’t technically allow Google to “listen” in on consumers’ calls, “meaning there isn’t someone on the other line listening to your conversation.” Yet, “the fact that the company could unleash technology that monitors our calls in real-time is weird,” TNW insists. Per the patent, “Information about an environmental condition of a remote device is received, the environmental condition being determined based …

Representing a not-insignificant setback for Microsoft and its mobile ambitions, the latest edition of “Angry Birds” will not be available on the Windows Phone platform. “We’re the No. 1 app in the Windows Phone app store, but it’s a big undertaking to support it, and you have to completely rewrite the application,” Peter Vesterbacka, chief marketing officer at Angry Birds-maker Rovio said in an interview with Bloomberg Television. Given the immense popularity of the Angry Birds franchise as well as Rovio’s influence in the mobile industry, analysts see the news as a major blow to Microsoft.“This is a worrying development …

For the first time in four years, Google has beat out Facebook as the more desirable employer, according to Glassdoor, a jobs and career community where employees can anonymously rate companies and CEOs. The search giant scored a 3.9 overall by their employees, while Facebook scored a 3.7. “Although Facebook employees earn about $3,000 more on average than Google employees and although the interview process is harder at Google than Facebook, Googlers in 2012 are more happy with their company than Facebook,” writes Search Engine Land’s Barry Schwartz, citing Glassdoor’s research. More than most industries, the findings are particular salient for tech …

The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, which oversees the Internet address system, recently approved the creation of a large number of new “top-level” domains. Not wasting any time, New York City is preparing to apply for a new Internet domain with a .nyc suffix, reports The New York Times’ City Room blog. “Businesses have long jockeyed for an address on Fifth Avenue -- and the city is now hoping it can create a similar phenomenon online,” it writes. To land the suffix, the big apple is reportedly seeking a contract with a Virginia-based company, which is going to …

Social marketing platform Wildfire has come a long way since it was founded in 2008. The company, which helps brands market through Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn, now has 13,000 paying customers -- more than any company in the space, according TechCrunch. Since the start of 2010, meanwhile, the startup has grown from seven to 300 employees. Still a private company, TechCrunch also estimates the it did between $35 million and $45 million in 2011. “While 13,000 customers sounds impressive, many of those are low-paying monthly campaign clients, not big SaaS deals like other platforms close,” TechCrunch notes. To build out …