Time of the month. iPhone 5 and Nokia's Windows Phone 8

It’s going to be a busy month. Apple look set to launch the new iPhone and although I personally am not a huge fan of the company as a whole I’m hoping they can at least pull something entirely unforeseen out of the bag, for theatricality’s sake at least.

I mean what I’ve seen thus far is nothing short of underwhelming. iOS 6…I mean…really?....that’s it? And as for that mock up design demonstrated in a recent video on tech nirvana The Verge, well, the less said about that particular disappointment the better. Don’t get me wrong I wasn’t expecting any radical changes design-wise but I can’t help but feel a little deflated. Let’s hope those guys got their intel wrong on that one.

But hey, do not mistake me for a dead-eyed cynic. I’d love nothing more than for Apple to prove me wrong here. Innovation is always great for the field (as is competition by the way Apple….just so you know…) so here’s to my naivety showing and here’s to Apple shocking the world with a time-travelling super-phone that cooks omelettes and cure’s cancer. But come on people, I can’t be the only person out there that has the sneaking suspicion that these guys have run out of ideas. Google have refined the user experience wonderfully with their Jelly Bean update making the system far more enjoyable to use than iOS and the likes of Samsung continue to up the stakes in the field of sheer power and hardware (if not build quality.)

Apple will really have to pull something out of the bag on the 12^th of September. Something with more stomach than Facetime, Siri or a simply a prettier screen. Something, dare I say it, revolutionary. Whether they can or not…..well…we’ll have to wait and see.

Also I’d be amiss if I didn’t mention the highly anticipated iPad mini right!?........*silence*……..Now that that’s done we can move on.

On the other end of the spectrum Nokia look set to come out guns’a’blazin’ with the Lumia 820 and the Lumia 920, the first in their range of Windows 8 devices. I’ve always wanted to love windows phone and Nokia have a special place in my heart seeing as a Nokia 3210 was the first mobile I ever owned and one of the best! I played around with the Lumia 900 and couldn’t help but think that with a little refinement and little time Microsoft would have something truly special in their arsenal. The OS is an absolute joy to use and something incredibly refreshing in today’s market however I couldn’t get on board with the screen resolution and the dire/expensive market place. The design of the Lumia 900 itself though is phenomenal and judging from leaked pictures (yes, okay, again from The Verge) it’s great to see that Nokia have applied that wondrous unibody to its new line up and from what we can see it looks thinner and even sexier than before!

Also said to support high resolution screens, multiple core processors and wireless charging these phones are set to be great flagships for Windows phone 8 if no doubt underappreciated by the mass market in general. Apple’s new iPhone is dropping and It’s hard to compete with a company that has that kind of influence on the general public but hey, I know who I’m rooting for!.....well….until the next Nexus phone :)

Peace and love!

Return of the Groupie! and the Importance of smartphone philosophy

I’m back! And what a wonderful world of smartphone joy it is that I’ve returned to! In my absence we’ve seen an HTC device become (in this humble blogger’s opinion) the best Android, nay, the best smartphone on the market today with only the mighty Galaxy Nexus (a very personal favourite and my current daily driver) able to match it’s greatness. I can already hear the fanboy expletives being screamed at computer screens across the realm of Geekdom however I stand by the statement and you’ll see why later.

Since I’ve been gone we’ve also finally seen the reveal of the much anticipated Samsung Galaxy SIII, a smartphone which I must admit even had me a little wet around the gooch in anticipation….I’m sorry.  However the unveiling of Korean manufacturer’s flagship has left more than a few phone groupies (myself included) a little underwhelmed.

Sure it does everything it should do on paper and sure, it does it all really, really well but the antiquated design, Siri imitation and substandard build quality just fail to show the innovation and ambition that can put a device that one precious step ahead of it’s peers, something it seems HTC have taken heed of with it’s One series of smartphones. Sense 4.0 not withstanding, the One X is one of the most beautifully crafted and considered handsets I’ve ever had the pleasure of tinkering with. Yes I still feel Sense, even its Ice Cream Sandwich incarnation is annoying and convoluted however the device illustrates something that the Galaxy SIII failed to do, and that something is design philosophy.

Now this is something Samsung clearly knows how to pull of as they managed it splendidly with the Galaxy Nexus. As we all know a nexus device represents an Android clean slate, a device free from manufacturer meddling and running Google’s latest OS as envisioned and that’s exactly what the Galaxy Nexus was through and through. Even it’s beautifully monolithic design (a feat which in my eyes surpasses even the iPhone 4’s) with its lack of conventional buttons and its smooth, sleek chassis spoke volumes about the phone’s design philosophy. This is why I place the Galaxy Nexus above the SIII and on par with the One X.

In this day and age, simply making sure your device is outfitted with the best specs isn’t what matters *cough* LG! *cough cough.* A design philosophy, consistent within itself, is needed to strike a rapport between manufacturer and consumer. That rapport is invaluable. Love them or hate them it is something Apple mastered years ago and is something other manufactures are finally taking on board as seen in devices such as the Nokia Lumia 900 and the HTC One series.

It’s just a shame that Samsung, after showing such promise with the Galaxy Nexus (questionable build quality not withstanding) then decided to throw the baby out with the bathwater when they needed it most.

One small step for Apple. One not-so giant leap for tablet technology

Now I hate to say I told you so but…well, you get it!

San Francisco yesterday was host to the next phase in the evolution of Apple's tablet technology and with the announcement of the ludicrously titled New iPad the guys and gals down at Cupertino officially put yet another stamp on the market whilst of course simultaneously attempting to belittle and undermine the progress of their competitors.

Now at first glance you may look at the new iPad and think to yourself that not much has changed. But take another look and…well…you'll probably still think the same thing. The chassis is similar enough to it's predecessor but let's face it, there was never going to be a radical redesign in that department. Where the true change lies (at least according to Apple) is inside the beast.

The new iPad introduces Apple's A5X dual-core chip which is said to have a greater knack for graphical output with Apple stating that it's on par with quad-core chips. I'm expecting the new iPad to fall in line with its predecessors and sport the same Imagination Technologies Power VR SGX-based chip.

Now here's where it gets interesting! Apple believe their new A5X chip to be, and I quote "twice as fast" as NVIDIA’s coveted Tergra 3 chip and say it will boast for times the graphics performance. Now if you know anything about this stuff you will know that the Tegra 3 chip GPU with it's 12GeForce graphic cores is an absolute monster when it comes to performance which leads me to believe that Apple are starting to believe their own hyperbolic marketing bullshit. I doubt it's even possible that their dual-core chip exceeds NVIDIA’s own at all let alone by such an epic margin. Hey, if I'm wrong and they have indeed invented the superchip then fair dues but it's crap like this that really winds me up about Apple in general.

I'll admit that a significant leap forward has been made in regards to the New iPad’s screen technology. Apple have moved away from the previous iPad’s 1024 x 768 LED-backlit display and upgraded to a 2058 x 1536 resolution display that incorporates 264 pixels per inch. This is pretty awesome regardless of how you look at it and it's something I can't wait to lay my peepers on. I think Tim Cook said something about it having like a million more pixels than the HDTV in your home but I'll chalk this up to the usual Apple hyperbole/bullshit.

The new iPad does also have 4G LTE connectivity for you lucky guys out in the states which apparently isn't too much a drain on the devices battery. It also sports a 5MP camera with something called iSight (sigh) and 1080p recording with video stabilization. It sports the same height and width as it's predecessor but comes in a tad thicker at 9.4mm as opposed to the iPad 2's 8.8mm.

So that's it really. I'm guessing they stayed away from calling this thing the iPad 3 because it really isn't that much of a leap forward over the iPad 2. It's conventional fare and is exactly what everybody who is familiar with this industry expected. Better screen. Faster processor. Siri (Which apparently isn't as vocal as it's iPhone cousin.) Better Camera and whatever else.

In this blogger’s opinion, there's nothing to suggest that the average consumer need purchase this above the more than adequate iPad 2. This is a device for tech junkies and elitist douchebags. Unfortunately, more so for the latter.

iPad SchmiPad!

I for one am not terribly excited about the news that the iPad 3 is likely to be officially announced on the 7th of March and slated for a release date of the 16th. Now before all the Apple fanboys out there decide to plant their fingers on the home row and fire out a series of nerdy retorts, let me explain. This is a blog and not a news site so I'm free to lace each post with my opinions, however irrevocably biased they may be. I don't hate Apple. I just don't hold them in the same esteem as the majority of my peers.

Ipad 3 Back panel

The mere fact that people are getting overly excited simply because the leaked picture of the device's alleged back panel has floated onto the net says it all really. Sure, the tech geek in me is salivating at the chance to see a new toy demonstrated but unless Apple pull something entirely unexpected out of the bag I'm guessing the whole thing should prove to be pretty conventional fare.

The iPad 3 will be a necessary evolutionary step in an ever more competitive tablet market. It will likely incorporate the Retina display, possible LTE connectivity, Siri, improved camera functionality and perhaps the rumoured A6 chip (whether it be dual or quad core remains to be seen) but taking even these things into account I see little evidence as to why this product should be thought of as anything more than the iPad 2s.

My hope is that the design differs slightly from what we've already seen although if I have to submit to Apple's superiority in any regard it would be in the design department as their hardware innovations have been nothing short of (he says begrudgingly) revolutionary.

There is also rumour that Apple could possibly be releasing a smaller 8-inch budget friendly iPad alongside the iPad3. If this unlikely speculation proved true then I would have a lot more respect for the people down at Cupertino. Despite the fact that it would be interesting to see what Apple's idea of 'budget friendly' is, it would still mean that the tech giants are actually toying with the idea of moving away from solely making elitist devices for people with more money than sense and maybe, just maybe, considering the average consumer……pppfffftttt hahahahahahaha!!

All of this and more remains to be seen however until I'm proved wrong I still maintain my stance that the iPad 3 is nothing to get that excited about