Rapid Reactions: Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich and the Galaxy Nexus

The Facts:

• Google and Samsung announced the Galaxy Nexus smartphone, which will be the first device running the new Android 4.0 "Ice Cream Sandwich" OS.
• No pricing or carriers were announced, but LTE and HSPA+ versions were confirmed and it is widely accepted that at least Verizon will carry the device in the US, with global launch coming in November.
• Hardware highlights include a curved 4.7 inch 1280x720 Super AMOLED screen and NFC.
• New software features include facial-recognition device unlocking, improved notifications, improved camera app, better speech-to-text, and Android Beam sharing.

Initial Reaction:

Hardware wise, the specs are not surprising given the current crop of high-end Android phones and the iPhone 4S. This is not some revolutionary quad-core monster; rather, it seems a small but noticeable step up from devices like the Bionic, Galaxy S 2, and Sensation. As such, the main selling point for this phone will be Android 4.0.

Ice Cream Sandwich (ICS) has been presented as the update to reunite the current phone (Gingerbread) and tablet (Honeycomb) "forks" in the Android OS. As if that wasn't enough, ICS needed to bring enough new features to the table to combat Apple's Siri-laced iOS 5. Time will tell if all devices can play nice under the ICS tent from here on out, but I am not sure Google added any single feature that has the "wow" factor Siri seems to have. 

Still, Android took a significant step towards usability and unified vision today, but the iPhone remains the current master in those categories. ICS is by far the largest feature update to Android in a long time, perhaps ever, and that is a good thing. However, Google still needs to step up their game and offer a unified, easy-to-use music purchasing service in the Android Market alongside apps, books, and movies.

In the end, Android remains the best fit for my needs and wants in a smartphone OS. Google has shown a willingness to drastically change how their software works (remember the navigation ball on the Nexus 1?) by making significant updates to the UI and even going so far as to removed the need for any physical buttons other than power and volume from phones. They have shown willingness to throw out the old and start fresh if they had a better idea, and I approve of and support that position.

Apple, meanwhile, apparently remains convinced that the "icons-on-a-screen" UI they came up with four-and-a-half years ago is the best UI for mobile devices. They have had to figure out ways to put new features in without changing the core UI, which hasn't always yielded the best results. For a huge number of people, Apple's approach works just fine, but I am not one of them. If anything, ICS and iOS 5 show that there is still a great future ahead for phone software as hardware seems to be slowly diminishing in importance. 

Questions moving forward:

• Will the GN be available on more carriers than just Verizon in the USA?
• Which current Android phones/tablets will get updated, and when?
• How will manufactures adapt their skins to the new UI, especially HTC and Sense?
• What ever happened to Google's 18-month update plan? We haven't heard anything about it since I/O.
• Will ICS actually help end "fragmentation" moving forward?
• When will we start seeing new devices launching with ICS out of the door? 
• Most importantly: was this enough for Molly Wood?!?

Rapid Reactions: iPhone 4S

Note: Rapid Reactions is a new series of posts I will try to do with a consistent format that presents the basic facts, my initial opinions, and some questions for the future of various tech announcements. Please let me know in the comments how you like the style of the post!

The Facts:

• Apple today announced the new CDMA/GSM iPhone 4S starting at $199, with the old iPhone 4 and 3GS now costing $99 and free (on 2 year contract) respectfully. 
• New hardware features include an A5 processor and improved camera.
• Software improvements are headed by Android-style notifications, Twitter integration, and Siri voice action software.
• Available Oct. 14 on AT&T, Sprint, and Verizon in the US & around the world.
• No significant hardware design changes, contrary to rumors. 

Initial Reaction:

What is Apple thinking? During a time of 4+ inch, LTE-equipped Android phones, Apple seems to be playing catch-up, especially in software. By and large, nearly every new feature in iOS from this and last year's update seems to be features Android has had for years. Unified notifications, desktop folders, custom backgrounds, fast-app switching, voice commands, etc. Even iCloud is merely a collection of services that have been available on other platforms and from other companies for months, and in some cases, years. Sure, no one has put them all under one hood until now, but that is really the only part of the service that Apple can claim to be leaders on.

I really wanted Apple to come out with some insane new hardware and make major changes to their software to move past the "gird of icons on a screen" UI layout to force innovation from their competitors, but it looks like Tim Cook and company had no such plans. The problem for Apple is that if they only want to release a new iPhone once a year, they need to make sure that it will be competitive for an entire year following it's release. And, for the first time, I can't say that the 4S will be competitive in 9 months.

Just look at this comparison chart whipped up by Engadget and you will see a lot more green (indicating "best" in that particular category) under the Droid Bionic than under the iPhone 4S, and anyone who is a fan of iOS should see that as a huge problem. Yes, hardware isn't everything, but there was a time that Apple had unquestionably the best hardware and software in the smartphone industry, and I don't think you could argue that with the same vigor today. 

Yesterday, Samsung, HTC, Motorola, Nokia, and everyone else were playing catch-up to Apple and the iPhone. Today, they may no longer have to.

Questions moving forward:

• Will Apple release an "iPhone 5" early next year or will we wait another year?
• How many Sprint customers will flock to the phone? And will it be enough to "save" the carrier from the much larger AT&T and Verizon?
• What new hardware and software improvements will we see when the Nexus Prime and Ice Cream Sandwich are (likely) announced next week?
• Will WP7 really start being competitive this fall? And what effect would that have on iOS and Android?
• If Apple waits another year to add LTE to the iPhone, how will consumers react in the meantime?
• And most importantly, is today the day we will look back on as the beginning of the decline of the iPhone as the "Jesus phone" brand?

Why I love Android

Look, all these arguments over "open" versus "closed" and "polish" versus "customization" are, quite frankly, all bull shit. The only question you as either a first-time smartphone buyer or someone considering jumping platforms should consider is this one: On which platform will my needs be met and will I be most productive and happy?

For me, the choice is Android. For you, maybe it is iOS, or BlackBerry OS, or even Windows Phone 7. Heck, you might be a-OK with that RAZR you have had since 2005. As long as it suites your needs and makes you happy, don't listen to all this chatter from the fanboys and tech elite trying to convince you that one company or another is "good" or "evil." They have their heads too far up in the clouds to see that not everyone down below agrees with their opinion. Shocking, I know, but some people actually have different likes and interests!

Personally, I like flexibility. I like tinkering. I like making things do stuff that they probably shouldn't be doing. And, probably most of all, I don't like wasting time. I hate going through a million menus to find the button to turn off my WiFi (iOS and to a lesser extent Windows, that's looking at you). I hate being told my desktop or home screen must look a certain way. I cannot stand being told I can't do something on a device I purchased because it might "confuse" other users. Android lets me have complete control over my device and I love it.

With widgets (as shown in my super easy-to-get screen capture from my Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1), I can access the information I used most often - what is the time, what is the weather, and what is my schedule - without opening a single app. In 2 seconds I have all the information I need 80% of the time. Sure, I probably trade some battery life and perhaps get occasional lag, but overall I save a ton of time and I am happier because of it. With my WiFi on/off widget, it is literally ONE CLICK to toggle my WiFi. And you can do that for nearly any system setting - mobile data, Bluetooth, GPS, brightness.

Those are the kinds of things that are important to me as a user. Not having the sleekest transitions or the most mind-blowingly creative UI. But hey, you might disagree. Good thing not one company (*cough*Apple*cough*) dominates the smartphone market anymore so there is real choice for consumer. You don't like widgets, guess what, buy something else. I promise I won't flame you for it.

The best feature of the iPad 2 is the most obvious - price

Apple today reviled the upcoming iPad 2, and it manages to improve in all the areas the average consumer cares about while ignoring the areas they don't. Front and rear cameras are both in, along with a dual-core processor all packed into a device 33% thinner than its predecessor. But the most impressive feature is that they managed all of these while keeping the $499 price point on the low end. Sure, you can drop $800 on a fully tricked out iPad 2 with 3G and tons of memory. but most people are just fine with the 16GB WiFi model. 

While thought by many at the original iPad's launch to be too high, $499 is a price point no competitor has been able to match in the 10-inch tablet space. And the fact that the device will be shipping to stores around the world on March 11th (just over a week away!) again shows that Apple is the best in the business with regards to their supply chain. So, what are their competitors left to do?

What if Apple sold a $399 iPad?

Right now, click this link and check the price of the iPhone 3GS on new contract.... $49. For the past couple iterations, Apple has consistently kept the past versions of the iPhone around as a low-end model when introducing their new iPhone. This allows them to maintain the industry-standard price point of $199 on new two-year contract with their new phone while having a device at the lucrative $99 price point to snag customers who don't need the latest and greatest hardware. There is no reason to suspect they won't continue this practice once the iPhone 5 rolls around this summer and offer the current iPhone 4 at that same $99 price point. 

So here is the million-dollar question: why can't Apple do the same thing with the iPad?

Between the 'walled garden' of iOS and the 'fragmentation' of Android, competitors look for a middle ground

With Symbian all but dead and RIM loosing market share hand over fist, Apple's iOS and Google Android platforms look poised to become the dominate mobile operating systems for the near future. But the two companies have taken radically different approaches to the use of their software. Google has often described their mission as "creating the best version of Android we can and then giving it away" while Apple strictly controls every aspect of iOS. There are advantages and disadvantages to both, and neither solution is "perfect" for everyone. In fact, there is a gap between the strategies of the two companies that several competitors are already fighting to occupy.

Why the iPhone is the Model T of the 21st Century

I have been thinking for a long time about how to exactly describe the iPhone and what it has done for mobile computing. Plus, there arises the question of how to describe its competitors, such as Android, WP7, and webOS. Then it came to me: the iPhone is the Ford Model T built for the 21st Century.

The following is taken directly for the beginning of the Model T's Wikipedia article: 

The Ford Model T ... is an automobile that was produced by Henry Ford's Ford Motor Company from 1908 through 1927. The Model T set 1908 as the historic year that the automobile became popular. It is generally regarded as the first affordable automobile, the car that opened travel to the common middle-class American; some of this was because of Ford's innovations, including assembly line production instead of individual hand crafting.

Does that sound familiar to a certain phone made by a certain fruit company? No? Let me help you out:

The Apple iPhone ... is a mobile device, or smartphone, that was produced by Steve Jobs's Apple, inc. from 2007 through the present day. The iPhone set 2007 as the historic year that the smartphone became popular. It is generally regarded as the first affordable smartphone, the device that opened mobile computing to the common middle-class American; some of this was because of Apple's innovations, including a touch screen-based application-centric mobile operating system.

It is quite scary just how much sense the iPhone makes when put into this context. The iPhone and the iPad put Apple on the leading edge of the two most rapidly growing markets in the tech industry: smartphones and tablets. Along the way, Apple has become the most valuable tech company in the world and the second most valuable company in the world of any kind behind Exxon Mobil.

Apple has achieved this success largely in spite of offering almost no customization choice when buying an iPhone or iPad. Every other computing product Apple sells offers many customization options -- 13, 15, and 17 inch MacBook Pros. 21.5 and 27 inch iMac's. The iPod Shuffle, Nano, Classic, and Touch. The iPhone offers no customization other than increased storage. But hey, you can always buy last-year's model!

The iPhone will likely remain the best-selling smartphone for many years. The iPad is probably in the same category. But that will increasingly become irrelevant as Android continues its incredible rise on the backs of multiple devices from multiple carriers. Apple may sell 5 million iPhones per month, which is an amazing figure and will surely bring them huge profits, but we will soon see Android phones selling 15 million phones per month or more. There are already at least 300,000 Android phones activated every day - that's 9 million per month, folks - and this number will continue to grow into 2011.

So Apple will retain the "best selling smartphone" and "best selling tablet" crowns for the near future. But there  is no denying that Android is the best selling mobile operating system. And in the war for application developers, that is the only number that matters at the end of the day.

Remember, any customer can have any iPhone in any color as long as it is black.

Fanboy time: a list of iOS features Android had first

So, the Verizon iPhone is all kinds of official. And without a doubt it will be a huge success with millions of people buying it and being satisfied while using it. And it is a great phone by any metric. When the iPhone came out in 2007 it was easily the best phone on the market and has only gotten better with time.

That being said, Apple gets a lot of undo credit for innovation these days. Android -- and other mobile operating systems -- has had numerous features that took years in many cases for Apple to get around to adding to their mobile OS. Here is a quick rundown:

• Copy and paste
• Custom wallpapers (seriously, even dumb phones have had this for years)
• Quick global search
• Folders
• Fast app switching
• Multi-tasking
• Front-facing camera for video calling (Evo 4G came out ~20 days before the iPhone 4)
• WiFi hotspot 
• Voice commands (still not implemented to the best of my knowledge)

What Apple does, they do very well. I doubt you would ever find someone that says and Apple product isn't easy to use the first time you lay your hands on it. Well, maybe not for long-time Windows users who can't comprehend the close, minimize, and expand buttons being on the left and not the ride side of a window. That said, Apple products are overall elegantly designed and easy to use. But that is only because Apple picks and chooses exactly what features you will have on your device. Apple does not innovate so much as simplify what others have already done in many cases. They go for ease of use over functionality.

And lets not forget Android still has numerous other software advantages such as widgets, custom launchers, open software development, live wallpapers, and deep integration with gmail and other Google services. Top that off with hardware innovation like 4G radios, larger screens, multiple form factors, microSD card support, and replaceable batteries.

And that's why I'm more than happy to keep using my Droid Incredible and throw down widgets on my 3.7 inch screen to my heart's content. 

Why 2011 will decide the 'winners' and 'losers' in mobile

I'll just come out and say it: 2011 will probably be the most important year in the history of mobile devices (smartphones and tablets). Let's run down the list of why:

• Verizon iPhone : The largest carrier in the US gets the most popular phone in the world. Once this happens, Apple will have few remaining places to expand but will get ~100 million potential new customers. 
• Gingerbread and beyond : Android is closing the gap in UI thanks to Matias Duarte (interview with Engadget from CES). In addition, OEMs continue to push the limit of hardware with larger screens, 4G radios, and dual-core processors. 
• Palm is back : HP and Palm are set to announce a wide array of new devices in early February. People have been clamoring for over a year for new hardware from Palm, and they are finally ready to deliver now that they are flush with HP's cash. 
• Microsoft is alive : Despite a slow start, WP7 mixes the best of Android (many form factors) with the best of iOS (unified UI experience across all devices). Plus, Microsoft has the cash to make WP7 work.
• RIM wakes up : The Playbook is a step in the right direction - towards consumers and away from business. Now, they just need to start pushing phones with the new QNX OS. If they don't act soon, many of their users will jump ship.
• Nokia's last chance : The European giant has been floundering in the high-end market for years. Now is time for them to put out or shut up. Losing means being regulated to the low-end (and low-profitability) market. 
• The tablet is cometh : I was wrong -- I didn't think the iPad would be a big success outside the nerd rings. But with tablets coming from every side (Android, webOS, QNX), expect to see them become the new netbook. 

In addition, the smartphone market as a whole is set to explode in 2011. Android alone is activating 300k devices per day and it is not hard to imagine that number reaching 500k or more by this time next year. Add in Apple, Palm, and all the other manufacturers and it is not unreasonable to imagine north of 1 million smartphones being activated around the world ever day. Toss in tablets and PMPs like the iPod Touch and we could be there sooner than anyone thinks.