Posts tagged iOS

Building and dismantling the Windows advantage

Asymco:

Considering the near future, it’s safe to expect a “parity” of iOS+OS X vs. Windows within one or two years. The install base may remain larger for some time longer but the sales rate of alternatives will swamp it in due course.

The consequences are dire for Microsoft. The wiping out of any platform advantage around Windows will render it vulnerable to direct competition. This is not something it had to worry about before. Windows will have to compete not only for users, but for developer talent, investment by enterprises and the implicit goodwill it has had for more than a decade.

This is pretty staggering. And everyone thought Windows had won.

Apple takes on Google in struggle for world domination

Dan Gillmore:

The iPhone 5, likely to be introduced in the third quarter of this year, won’t be significantly better hardware than the best Android devices, if it’s better at all, but it will be sold by a company that doesn’t abandon its customers the minute they spend their money.

Telling observation.

Flipboard is coming to Android

Hot on the heels of Instagram becoming available on Android, Flipboard (another hit iOS app) is now going to be heading to Android. It’ll start out as an exclusive for the Samsung Galaxy S III.

Typing with no hands

Walt Mossberg reviews and compares voice dictation with Android (on a Samsung Galaxy Nexus) and iOS (on an iPhone 4S):

I found that both platforms’ dictation systems worked well enough for me to recommend them. In case after case, both phones got it right, or close enough to require little correcting.

I can only speak for the iPhone 4S and iPad (3rd generation), but I too have been very impressed with voice dictation results when I’ve used it. Though, my results in noisier environments haven’t been as good as Walt’s seemed to be.

The new Microsoft/Nokia Lumia 900 Windows Phone disappoints

Joshua Topolsky:

Don’t misunderstand me, Windows Phone offers some very good experiences in its core apps, and it’s probably the most gorgeous and cohesive piece of software Microsoft has ever released. But after nearly two years on the market, I struggled to find a single thing this platform could do better than Android 4.0 or iOS 5.1.

The sheen has worn off of Windows Phone for me. When I put something in my pocket, it needs to be able to quickly and efficiently get things done. It needs to trump other devices in its class. It needs to be the best — and Windows Phone is far from it at this point.

After a lot of very positive media coverage for what Microsoft has been doing with Windows Phone 7, it seems like the criticisms are starting to mount. And as products hit the market, disappointment is rising. If they want to become a genuine competitor to iOS and Android, it would seem they’re going to have to do more.

Incremental Change Wins Apple Big Gains

Really smart piece on how Apple differentiates from its competitors.

Apple isn’t selling the third-generation iPad to those who bought an iPad 2. Rather, Apple is targeting both new customers and owners of the first-generation iPad. That’s a key differentiation between Apple and most other hardware companies. Apple has managed to maintain high profit margins on all its products and to couple that with recurring revenue from its application and media ecosystems on all those devices.

We Need to Talk About Android

Fraser Spears writes a brilliant post explaining why, in his educational context, he uses iOS rather than Android. Here’s a few clippings from the piece. It’s well worth reading in its entirety though.

The Android platform is currently stuck in second gear because Google, their OEMs and the carriers can’t, won’t or simply have no incentive to get the installed base past the Android 2.x API set. There are better and more powerful APIs in Android 4, and there will be better ones again in the future, but developers can’t take advantage of them because almost nobody is running the latest OS…

…This means that iOS apps are not only better than Android apps today, they’re getting better faster than Android apps because Apple is deploying and the installed base is rapidly upgrading to much more powerful APIs on the devices in consumers’ hands.

And:

You’re either buying into a platform or you’re buying gadgets. The fundamental disconnect between the apprently solid Android engineering that’s happening at Google and the actual packaging and deployment that’s happening to end-users is turning into a real problem. To my mind, it’s a dealbreaker for schools or anyone thinking beyond their next carrier subsidy.

Windows 8: A Giant Misstep Forward

John Gruber:

The recurring theme of these Windows 8 reviews: the brand-new Metro UI is elegant, clever, original and shows much promise; the updated classic Windows desktop is better than ever; the two environments don’t flow well together.

This is Gruber’s summary and very much matches my own take on the reviews I’ve read. Lot’s of genuinely positive comments but there’s always a ‘but’ and a sense that somehow it doesn’t quite work.

I thought that this from Christian Cantrell (mentioned in Gruber’s piece) was also a very astute observation:

In my opinion, the best computing model is one in which all the devices you use have operating systems, UIs, and interaction models that are appropriate for that device’s form factor and for its intended purpose with data being seamlessly shared between them. My interpretation of Windows 8 is that Microsoft tried to anticipate Apple combining their operating systems into one, and tried to beat them to it. However, I think they’ve beaten Apple to something Apple isn’t interested in doing, and that actually represents a big step backwards in computer interaction and productivity.

In a sense the merging into one that Apple is doing is not about the OS that sits on Macs and iOS devices, it’s iCloud. That is where Apple is unifying the experience. We will then continue to see unique, platform specific operating systems that increasingly tap into that iCloud.

Microsoft is going for one unified OS, Apple is going for iCloud everywhere, implemented via different OS’s.

My issue with Microsoft’s route is that the road to one OS for everything is the road to compromise. And that’s something Apple aren’t prepared to do.

Why do developers prefer iOS over Android? Try 75% adoption of iOS 5 while ICS is stuck at 1%

The Next Web, quoting Chris Sauve:

iOS 5 captured approximately 75% of all iOS users in the same amount of time it took Gingerbread to get 4% of all Android users. Even more astounding is that 15 weeks after launch iOS 4 was at 70% and iOS 5 was at 60% while Ice Cream Sandwich got to just 1% share at the same age.

The problem Android fans pretend isn’t there! It’s a real problem that a new operating system released in October last year is still only on 1% of Android devices. What percentage will it be on when Google release the next version later this year?

People compare the most recently released versions when comparing iOS and Android. But really it makes more sense to compare the OS that at that given time is on most devices. Though that would leave Android languishing a long way behind. What’s the point in making big strides forward with the development of an OS if no one gets to use it. I’d be very frustrated if I worked on the Android team!

Why Mountain Lion could blunt Android’s momentum

Yep. This pretty much nails it. It’s pretty obvious what Apple are up to in creating a beautiful harmony between the Mac, iPhone and iPad. And the greater integration that Mountain Lion has with iOS devices makes for an even more enticing, jump fully on board with the complete Apple ecosystem, proposition.

Positive review of the Galaxy Nexus and Ice Cream Sandwich

Joshua Topolsky at The Verge reviews the Galaxy Nexus and the latest Android OS, Ice Cream Sandwich:

The Galaxy Nexus is the best Android phone ever made. It’s one of the best smartphones ever made, and with a couple of minor tweaks (particularly to the camera), it could be the best smartphone ever produced.

Still, there’s really not much to knock here. The hardware is elegant and smartly designed. The software is beautiful and useful. Google has cleaned up a lot of the bad, and replaced it with a serious amount of good. It’s faster, smarter, and a lot more friendly than any of its predecessors. Ice Cream Sandwich easily gives iOS and Windows Phone a run for their money, and in many ways, it’s a superior operating system than either of them.

If there’s a bone to pick, perhaps it’s with the size, which could be off-putting to some, or the fact that right now the only carrier you can definitely get the phone on in the US will be Verizon. But those are minor blips on the radar, not show stoppers.

Very positive review for the most part. The camera would be a big issue for me. 90% of the photos I now take are with my phone and so it simply has to be great.

John Gruber of Daring Fireball did have this to say about Topolsky’s review though:

If you’re like me, you’re skeptical about this, because every time a new Nexus phone has arrived (along with a major revision of the OS), the initial reviews have been along the lines of, “Hey, Android finally got its act together”, but then when the excitement wears off it turns out the whole thing is still a jumbled mess and second-rate (at best) experience and we’re really supposed to wait for next year’s Android.

But there aren’t many buts in Topolsky’s review of the Galaxy Nexus and Android 4.0.

Robert Scoble on some surprises to expect from Apple tomorrow

A couple of quotes from a very interesting post by Robert Scoble on tomorrow’s announcements from Apple:

The press will be caught off guard by the expansiveness of the Facebook deal. Zuckerberg isn’t playing around. If he’s getting in bed with Tim Cook at Apple he’s going all the way, not just sticking his toe under the covers.

And:

iOS 5’s new AirPlay features will be shown over and over again tomorrow to drive home this new three-screen strategy. It’s one area where Apple is way ahead of Android, so look for them to make sure you understand that…Apple has never really made a big deal about AirPlay but tomorrow they will, demoing it over and over as they announce content deal after content deal.

What’s interesting about Scoble’s thoughts is how he’s not talking about the hardware at all. I know that that’s what a lot of people will be interested in, but it’s the software where the magic truly happens. It seems more and more likely that the next iPhone will not have a dramatic design overhaul and that Apple is going to simply give it a hefty internal boost whilst really pushing forward with the software capabilities.

The Facebook deal sounds very interesting. Apple and Facebook have been known to be far from friends and if they are working anywhere near as closely together as Scoble suggests, this will have big ramifications. Personally, I’d love to see the same kind of system level integration of Facebook into the iPhone that Twitter is getting.

An emphasis on AirPlay shouldn’t really be a surprise. It is an amazing and hugely underrated technology. Scoble talks about ‘content deal after content deal’ though which is where I already start to lose some hope. Almost certainly, the content deals will only have relevance to the US market. I hope I’m wrong, but it’s usually the case that UK content deals will get added later.

All in all though, I’m excited to see what Apple announce tomorrow. The new iPhone (whatever it is called) has been a long time coming (along with iOS 5 and iCloud) and my expectations are high.