Apple – The Daily Opinion

Apple iPad Mini Event – Do We Really Need That?

On the 23rd of October, Apple held an event as usual telling the world that they’ve got “a little more” to show you. Now Apple is never very subtle regarding these things and from the rumors before, it was beyond all reasonable doubt that the Cupertino giant was going to release a smaller iPad.

The event started in usual Apple fashion with a whole bunch of statistics pertaining to why their company is the greatest. Three million iPod sales, 200 million devices running iOS 6 (not mine) and over three billion iMessages sent. Awesome.

A more significant statistic was the fact that Apple has sold over 100 million iPads in two-and-a-half years. Apple revealed that Apple sold more in the June quarter (Q3) more iPads than any PC maker has actually sold units.

So up came Phil Schiller, and the moment everyone was waiting for: the iPad Mini. The device has a screen measuring 7.9 inches and has a resolution of 1024×768. No retina here. However, having the same resolution as the iPad 1 and 2 means that most apps will work fine. The iPad Mini also has virtually the same specifications as the iPad 2 with the same A5 CPU, same GPU, same RAM and storage options. In fact it would probably be easier to highlight the things that aren’t the same such as the cameras, whereas the iPad 2 has VGA front facing and 720p rear facing, the iPad Mini has 720p front facing and 5 megapixel rear with 1080p video, which I suspect is the same hardware found in the 4S. Another feature the Mini has over the iPad 2 is 4G LTE.

The great question is, why would you buy a iPad Mini? If your iPhone 4S/5 is too small and your iPad is too big then you have problems. The way I see it, most people buying this will be the iSheep who will buy an iPoo without question because it was made by Apple. The other customers will probably include those who want to have an eReader sized tablet that has a bit more functionality than your everyday Kindle. I have serious suspicions over the lack of retina level resolution and I think that Apple may be gearing up themselves for a refresh that brings the higher resolution display. Hey, what can I say apart from ‘mo’ money’. The evolution of Apple mobile products is humourously demonstrated in this photo:

From that track record, these devices much mean in the middle so I predict a Apple iPod Touch Note (Samsung reference totally intentional) measuring in with a 5.5 inch display.

The event was not just about the Mini but also about Apple’s other products. The regular iPad got a minor spec bump to the 4th generation. The newer New iPad has a quicker A6X chip with an updated front facing camera, LTE improved WiFi and 10 hours of battery life whilst maintaining the same price as the original New iPad that it replaces. Now you can buy either the iPad 2 or the better specced iPad Mini for less or the 4th gen iPad. That’s the amazing kind of logic that sees the 6th iPhone named as the iPhone 5.

After the 15 inch MacBook Pro with Retina display, it was only a matter of time before we saw the same design and features to grace the smaller versions. In the same event, Apple unveiled the 13 inch MacBook Pro with Retina Display. This new iteration has the same slimmer body structure as it is void of any disc drive and with a very high resolution display of 2560 x 1600. The same amount of pixels as was in the once popular Apple 30″ Cinema Display. Apple’s decision of maintaining the same 16:10 aspect ratio will always be constant topic of debate. This will always be confusing for many new customers as the 11″ MacBook Air is 16:9, any of the 13″ or 15″ MacBook Air/Pros are 16:10 and the iMacs are 16:9. Totally logical, I know.

Finally, the Apple iMac was given a much awaited refresh. The 21.5 and 27 inch models have received a complete redesign. The back of these All-In-One’s have a surface that tapers so much that it gives the illusion that the iMac is much thinner than it actually is. The very sides of the new iMacs are a mere 5mm thick but much thicker in the middle. The new iMacs also introduce new graphics cards from nVidia with the top end one being the GTX 680MX, effectively a slightly downclocked desktop GTX 680 which is decent to say the least. However that particular GPU is still a mobile GPU and I expect modern gaming laptops will start shipping with those soon. The new iMacs also introduce some new storage technology called Fusion Drive that seeks to use SSDs and HDDs in tandem to increase performance while maintaining drive size…wait isn’t that what Seagate had as their Hybrid Drive? I seem to remember that Fusion io had something similar, oh and what about Intel Caching technology? Hmm…

And to finish, a closing word – sucks if anyone bought an iPad 3. Actually, sucks for anyone to have bought an Apple product this year at all. With slowing innovation in their mobile line and general overpricing of their other products (some of which I personally think are good in terms of hardware specs), I might genuinely have to think about moving my music library from iTunes to another provider…

How the iPhone Changed the Mobile Industry

Today, the iPhone, taken as a collective for each generation rather than an individual version, is the most popular gadget in the world. When it launched in 2007, few people would have predicted that success, not least because Apple had never made a phone before, and was far from the behemoth it is today. Back then, Apple had found success with its iPod, but its Mac line of computers were far from a threat to Windows in terms of marketshare, and the presiding thought was that Nokia was just too big to have any competition, let alone from a company that had never made a phone. Microsoft’s Steve Ballmer laughed at the iPhone for lacking a physical keyboard thus not appealing to business users, and bragged about how Microsoft was selling “millions and millions” of phones. Unfortunately those phones were Windows Mobile, and I’ll be surprised if anyone on the planet has a good word to say about them.

There’s no denying it, the iPhone changed the industry. But why? It didn’t invent anything, touch screens were already around, although had not been adopted by the public at large; phones were already doing email, video playback, video calls. In fact, the first iPhone was lacking some serious features: Bluetooth file transfer, USB file transfer, multimedia messaging, multitasking, video calling, navigation, a camera that could take good pictures, it didn’t even have 3G connectivity. Despite this, it caught on and transformed the marketplace to such an extent that touch screens are now the overwhelming dominant style, and Samsung has built a lot of success copying that design. So what was it about the iPhone that made it so popular?

Simplicity. Unlike other touch devices before it, the iPhone was thin and sleek. It had consumer appeal. The operating system was easy to use, streamlined, and fast. While it lacked many features, what it did include were of a high standard – reading emails was now easier than ever, and accelerometer-based games grabbed everyone’s attention. There was no clunky interface, no trying to navigate a screen using a button to tell an invisible cursor where to go. Your finger touched glass, not plastic, and everything was only a click or so away. Then there were the apps – perhaps the main selling point for the iPhone, thanks to Apple’s “There’s an app for that” campaign. Again, Apple didn’t invent it, but it did perfect it. An easy to use App Store meant searching for and finding apps was a breeze, and developers saw the potential before them. There was a whole ecosystem to take advantage of here – downloading iTunes albums and shows straight to your device and then having the famous iPod interface before you was a breath of fresh air.

True to its tacit mantra, Apple has avoided copying much from other phone companies and instead followed its own path. While it did relent and include media messaging functionality, it still has refused to include Bluetooth file transfer, mass storage, or even adopt the universal micro-USB charging port. Instead, Apple looks at the last iPhone and decides on incremental updates to make that particular experience better. And it’s been incredibly cocky in doing so – the famous “You’re holding it wrong” from antennagate on the iPhone 4 and the “It’s normal” from scuffgate of the iPhone 5 may have left a sour taste in the mouth of some users, but it hasn’t slowed down sales. Apple isn’t lying when it says the iPhone 5 is the best iPhone yet – while there can be disputes over its technology not matching the innovation in other devices, it’s a step-up from each previous iPhone. With a larger screen, a faster processor, better graphics and large storage for all your media, there’s plenty for users to be pleased with. It’s the thinnest phone in the world, and impossibly light. Looking back to 2007 and the original iPhone, it’s come a long way and the ecosystem has never been better – there’s Apple TV, iCloud, iMessage, FaceTime, a very good camera with 1080p video recording, one of the best screens in the world and now turn-by-turn navigation to try to match the competition. And unlike the launch of the first iPhone, with its exclusivity to O2, it’s now available on every network with an array of new iphone deals.

iPhone 5 “Scuffgate” & Lumia 900 Durability

Since the release of the iPhone 5, Twitter has had a new trend: Scuffgate. It’s not been the best week for Apple, with the company being criticised for its maps, and the camera suffering from a purple hue for many users. Scuffgate, however, refers to many users noticing how easily the new iPhone scratches and scuffs, to the point that some are even taking damaged iPhones out of the box.

The reason the iPhone 5 scratches easily is because it uses anodised aluminium, and Apple Senior Vice President of Marking Phil Schiller has described this as normal, saying in response to a user email that “Any aluminum product may scratch or chip with use, exposing its natural silver color. That is normal.”

It’s not actually as normal as Schiller would like consumers to believe. Apple uses anodised aluminium for its Macbooks and iMacs, and they do not suffer the same problem. Nokia also uses it on its products E7 and N8, both of which are known for their ruggedness and durability. Aluminium itself may be a soft metal, but it is not “normal” for a phone to arrive scratched – if it were, Apple should have rethought the idea to use it. The real issue is that coating is very thin on the iPhone 5, making it particularly susceptible to scratches and scuffs.

For comparison, here’s a video of the N8 being deliberately scratched:

And while we’re on the subject of phone durability (and Apple’s lack of it), the Lumia 900 gets put through its paces to see how much damage it can take:

Frozen for 2 hours.

Cooked for an hour at 200F

Used as a hammer

Thrown from a moving car twice

Dunked in a pool

Results here:

Think the iPhone 5 Has the “World’s Most Advanced Display”? You’re Wrong.

Mobility Digest has a post exploring the screen of the iPhone 5, described by Apple CEO Tim Cook as the “world’s most advanced display” at the launch event, and comparing it to the screen on the recently announced Lumia 920 (and the 900). The result? Cook is either ignorant of his competition, or he lied. If he is emulating Steve Jobs, then we’ll place money on the latter, but who knows?

To give a quick rundown, the iPhone 5 has a resolution of 1136 x 640, compared to 1280 x 768 on the Lumia 900. The iPhone 5 also has 326 pixels per inch (PPI) vs the Lumia’s 332.

The Lumia 900 has 600 nits for brightness, the iPhone 5 has 569. These Lumia specs are from its existing model, and the 920 has progressed even further. “The next generation of Clear Back Display [Nokia’s outstanding screen technology] technology found in Lumia 920 adds a high-luminescence mode that works automatically improving contrast and brightness outdoors performing even than the old CBD in 900.”

Bear in mind that 900 won awards, against the iPhone and others, for its visibility outdoors. The 920 automatically adjusts itself depending on glare and brightness outside.

The screen refresh rate on the 920 is 50% faster than the iPhone 5, producing “a clean transition from frame to frame allowing the display to deliver a steady 60 FPS without any blurring” (head over to the Mobility Digest article to see the comparison of this).

Apple is boasting about the iPhone 5’s sensitivity – the 920 works with almost anything, including thick gloves.

The end result? Compared to the Lumia 920, the iPhone 5 results are:

Screen PPI: -2%

Screen Resolution: -25%

Screen Sensitivity: it would be embarrassing to find a percentage.

Screen Refresh Rate: -50%

Screen Brightness: -5%

Screen Reflectance: -40%

Screen Outdoor Legibility: -15%

Apple Maps: The Disaster (And How the Competition Fares)

For iOS6, Apple realised the importance of mapping software as part of an ecosystem and decided to ditch Google Maps in favour of its own offering. This is fine in theory, but the problem is Apple has not got the maps to a particularly useful standard before pulling the plug on Google’s. This has led to a backlash from users, and even led to TomTom, the supplier, speaking out in defence of its service so it doesn’t get caught up in the criticism.

So what’s wrong with Apple’s maps exactly? A whole new Tumblr page has been created especially to show the problems, and some images can be seen below:

iOS6 maps (2) — A bumpy landing lays ahead

iOS6 maps (3) — Oulu is the biggest city in Northern Finland, but iOS doesn’t know where to find it

iOS6 maps (4) — This is Bogota, Colombia. Apparently.

Mashable also has another collection of iOS6 map photos

iOS 6 maps (8) — This is Apple’s idea of walking navigation. The red pin marks where the blue line should be going

iOS 6 maps (9) — Mumbai does actually exist.

iOS 6 maps (10) — Looks like the Brooklyn Bridge needs some structural attention.

Not missing a beat in recent months, Nokia has used this opportunity to explain how its own mapping services are the industry leaders. The new aggressive marketing from Nokia is a moment to revel in for its consumers, given the company’s reluctance in the past to hype its own innovations. In the arena of maps, Google is considered the one to beat. That may be true for mindshare, but when it comes to the most superior product, Nokia stands without peers.

Somehow, Apple is still employing its ‘reality distortion’ field and telling people that “it’s the best mapping program on any mobile platform“. The world begs to differ Apple…

Samsung Takes a Swipe at Apple (& Users)

Samsung isn’t known for being the most respectable company, or one that oozes integrity, so it comes as no surprise to see the following video came from Samsung rather than another smartphone vendor. Opinions on whether it’s right or wrong though, it has to be handed to the Korean company – it has found a nail and hit it on the head. Samsung isn’t much of an innovator in the mobile space, preferring to load its devices with unnecessary specs (anything to make Android lag less though, right?) and market them on that. However, each year Apple comes out and announces a device that ignores the industry standards, shuns compliancy with existing technologies, and lacks features. From day one the iPhone lacked something as simple as 3G connectivity; the 4S launch brought remarks of “the iPhone 5 will have the big features next year” and the iPhone 5 came out with a slightly bigger screen, sub-par maps, and panoramic picture shooting. No NFC, no improvements to the screen’s visibility outdoors, no microUSB, and so on. Once again, iPhone users are left waiting another year in the hope of getting a genuinely new, innovative feature.