Summary: Apple can learn a lot from Samsung's latest
hotness. Design matters and Apple needs to stop recycling the same tired
iPhone form factor. Three years is simply too long. Although it has its
flaws, the Samsung Galaxy SIII is the Android phone to have. Until the
next one comes out.
The Samsung Galaxy SIII is a great smartphone and, in a lot of ways, it's better than the iPhone 4S.
In the Fall of 2011 Apple released the evolutionary iPhone 4S instead
of coming out with a revolutionary iPhone 5. Yawn. Sure, it comes with a
faster chip and Siri, but it uses the same form factor and screen size
as the iPhone 4 which came out a year earlier.
Apple rested on its laurels and Samsung caught the iPhone
flat-footed. (Let's set aside for a moment the current Apple Samsung
litigation and focus on the hardware).
While many people were surprised when the iPhone 5 didn't come out in
the Fall of 2011, Apple was repeating history. In the 2008 it released
the iPhone 3 then a year later in 2009 it released the iPhone 3GS in the
same form-factor. Some refer to this as the the "tick-tock" release
cycle. Apple's current rhythm is to release a new form-factor one year
(tick), then release a new iteration of the same form factor with
upgraded internals 12 months later (tock).
While Apple sat on the sidelines for a whole year (a lifetime in
techbology) with the same, tired iPhone design other phone makers took
chances and came out with new designs. Apple used to be the one taking
the chances, but since it became the market leader the innovation seems
to be slowing.
I've been testing a Samsung GS3 (a.k.a. SCH-1535) on Verizon Wireless ($199
w/2 year contract) and it's an incredibly nice device. It dwarfs the
iPhone 4S in physical size, but the GS3's design aesthetic makes the
iPhone look like Johhny Ive took an extended holiday.
The aging iPhone 4 is an industrial-looking block of metal and glass. When the first pictures of the iPhone 4 leaked, I was certain
it was an unfinished prototype or engineering mule that lacked an outer
bezel. The GS3 by comparison is smooth and curvy and feels great in the
hand. The iPhone feels kind of like an ice scraper or something you
might use to remove wallpaper with (and it doesn't age well, the
aluminum bezel looks like junk after a while).
PROS
The GX3 has great form factor, a large 4.8-inch display, blazing-fast LTE speed, an NFC chip, and Android can do things that iOS still can't (widgets, Swype, Hooha, CyanogenMod 10, etc.). I've become completely enamored with Verizon Wireless' wicked-fast 4G/LTE network since they lit up a new LTE tower about 10 miles from my house (your mileage may vary).
CONS
It's biggest problem is that the GX3 doesn't run Android 4.1 (Jelly Bean). Our own James Kendrick nailed it,
the GS3 should have shipped with Jellybean, not the outdated Android
4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich). Rumors persist that Jelly Bean will come to
the GX3 as soon as tomorrow (this video shows it in action) but I'll believe it when I get the push notification. Another big detraction on the GX3 is the Samsung TouchWiz
skin which runs atop Android 4.0. OEMs need to immediately stop
skinning Android or, at a mimimum, provide a setting to "revert to stock
Android." Enough already, I hate all Android skins.
Granted, square versus curvy is a subjective opinion but it's more
than that. The iPhone 4/4S' physical design hasn't changed in two years and it's really starting to show its age. What's really
scary is from the hardware leaks it looks like the iPhone 5 will arrive
in essentially the same iPhone 4/4S "ice scraper" form factor, only
taller. Sheesh.
I know that the iPhone is the market leader and that Apple is the
world's most valuable company and everything, but it needs to stop with
the "year off" nonsense. Apple needs to update the iPhone hardware
design every year to keep it current and fresh. More than that,
Apple needs to pay closer attention to what users want and -- more
importantly --what the competition is doing.
9:22:00 AM
valgeo
0 σχόλια:
Post a Comment