Samsung Faltered With Galaxy S III - Opening For Apple To Add Distance

The latest numbers showed that Apple has gained much since the iPhone went on sale over at Verizon and Sprint and it's lead over Android in the first quarter of 2012 could extend further from what I can see with its biggest competitor:  the Galaxy S III.

Pic from Android Central

So far, the response has not been overwhelming.  It's an evolutionary improvement from the II to the III and Samsung added a Siri-copycat that does do much.  It's as if Apple did not give Samsung enough to copy from with the iPhone 4S and their engineers and designers don't what else to do.

Am I asking for a 10- or 12MP camera?  No.  Bigger screen?  Would be nice but not really.  I definitely want better battery life and if Apple can be so good as to make that wish come true, I'm definitely upgrading from my iPhone 4 and iPhone 4S.  That alone would do it for me.

However, I don't think that would be enough to make everyone else happy.  So, where are a few things that I think Apple can do to increase its mobile lead over competitors and get even those among us who bought the iPhone 4S because of Siri to upgrade.

Okay, the first feature I want here aren't going to get iPhone 4S users to upgrade.  What I want is Apple to finally take Siri out of beta.  Or barring that, because Siri could be in beta for years, give Siri a few more tricks.

• launch apps
• tweet or uprade social networks
• API for app integration - being able to speak and get directions would be nice
• be able to control settings

The above four features for Siri would be enough to make people want to use it even more and entice those who have kinda let Siri fall to the side to come back.

Another feature I like to see is a more social iCloud, call it "iCloud Social".  The Find Friends app is pretty neat but it's very anemic.  I have been using Placeme despite my privacy concerns and I like that it checks me in automatically into places.  By check-in, I don't mean in the way Foursquare allows users to check into Starbucks. Rather, Placeme records places I've been.  But I would like to see more integration with Foursquare or other social apps.  

I use Path and it allows me to sign into Facebook, Tumblr, Twitter, and Foursquare.  I like Apple to make iCloud be the central hub for all my social apps.  And one of the features I like about Path I like to see in this iCloud Social is it allows me to keep some information private.  I can check-in a place without the world or just my friends knowing about it.  

Mobile payment with iTunes integration would wow people big time.  It's like Steve Jobs said, they've got hundreds of millions of credit numbers already.  Apple could make ecommerce or physical purchases much easier.  Right now, it's not at all.

For instance, I've got my Starbucks cards that I use to get rewards and drives from Starbucks.  When I need to refill my app, I have to whip out my credit card to do that.  Tedious.  But if it's integrated with my iTunes account, I can just tell it to send over $20 to my Starbucks app and off I go to caffeine dreamland.

Those are three main features I'd want right away.  I am sure you can think of a couple others.  Maybe Apple TV apps and integration with iOS devices.  What else do you think Apple can do to make life better for us iOS fans and more difficult for its competitors?