CES 2013 expected to showcase 'embarrassingly large' smartphones - Page 4

Completely agree and I've said similar things in this thread.

 

The top selling Androids are 3 inch phones lacking features even the 3GS had. 

 

Also in the picture you have above of the S3 and iPhone5 the screen size difference doesn't look to be that great and the iPhone is a much better proportioned device.

 

The S3 is ridiculous, and I'm sure a lot of the sales that Samsung includes in S3 numbers are of the S3 Mini which has a 4 inch screen and is half the price (price being the main selling point of any Android phone). All that to say S3 sales numbers are inflated.

The Galaxy Note 2 is already buy one get one free. Three months after launch. I love it.

 

You want to talk about disposable crap, I've kept disposable cameras longer than these morons punch out new phones.

It is interesting that when people read that Android-based phones are leading over the iPhone that it's assumed that it must be because of the models with the gigantic displays in the LTE flagship models. I have no doubt there are plenty of people that love their huge display phones but what is the market size? There were people that absolutely love the 17" MBP and that doesn't seem to have been big enough for Apple to continue. And there were people that thought the netbook was future of computing and yet we're only barely into 2013 when we find out that the last netbook makers are closing shop.

 

They all hadn't already? Been five years, for crying out loud! 

 

I don't really think I need a bigger phone but I'd love to have a bigger font option on some screens... my vision is a bit poor.

Most had but Asus and Acer are finally closing down production.

• http://www.todayonline.com/Technology/EDC130103-0000104/End-of-an-era--Netbooks-to-be-discontinued-in-2013

Settings » General » Accessibility » Large Text

 

Here you go. Two years old, so it should be pretty cheap.

"phablet"?

 

This has Ballmer's fingerprints all over it. 

If Apple was to go to a 4.3" screen like my old Droid-X with the HD screen and the higher resolution screen it would be wonderful. I have found that looking at the 4" screen of my Iphone 5 vs my old Droid-X you can see much more in a equally balanced screen where with the I-phone 5 it is not of the same value. I totally agree that the big screen smartphone are nothing but crazey....Apple keep up the great work and make the screen just a little larger, but will fit in a shirtpocket etc...

Hahaha comical 

 

 

 

Which begs the question --  which is funnier, a phone that's extra big or one that's extra small?   

 

 

Heck, remember just a few years ago, when many fans predicted an iPhone Mini ?    No one guessed back then that the next iPhone change would be to a bigger screen!

I'm glad someone said it. Apple and Samsung don't divulge information on which device models sell best, so where do people get this idea that massive phones are selling by the millions? It's entirely possible that the largest share of Android devices belongs to the smaller phones. That would certainly explain why 74% of the smartphone profits end up in Apple's coffers.

And I agree: the next big change for Apple will be the addition of the stylus and handwriting recognition. That's when we'll probably see a wider screen.

I would love an iPad or iPad Mini type of device, especially a Mini, that had a phone option. I cannot hear on my iPhone 5. I could not hear well on my iPhone 4 either. As an Apple fan, I hate to make this negative comment, but my flip phones worked better as phones. By the way, isn't the iPhone supposed to be a phone first ?

This is not bad hearing. I have great audio tests and the MD.

Like someone has already state about vision and font size, and in my previous post in some other thread as well, there are certain languages, culture and areas where a bigger phone would be better.

 

There is a 11" and a 13" Macbook Air, i dont see why there cant be two size for iPhone as well. There will never be a one size fits all solution.

Apple already has the BEST one handed Phone devices, ( actually i would argue the iPhone 4S was slightly better for one hand ), how about a two handed devices? 

( Actually i just record Apple mentioning how iPad Mini is also a one handed devices as well..........  )

 

For Chinese, or any other type of languages that has complex fonts, larger fonts is much needed. Added with the general poorer visions of users.

 

And NO, the Fonts size solution, large text does not work. It feels everything are out of scale. 

 

I just wish Apple had make the iPhone 3.8" and a 4.5". Same Resolution, just PPI is different.

 

Tablet is both a Content Creation and Consumption devices. I am not so sure on Content creation part on a 5 - 6 inch devices....

They really just need to make your finger behave like a stylus. With a 3D sensor like LEAP, they can detect your finger above the screen. You can see that here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=_d6KuiuteIA#t=8s

Say someone comes to the door with a package you need to sign for, they just turn the screen to face you and you just sign your name in mid-air with your finger. If it had a fingerprint scanner of course that would be easier, maybe face detection or a retinal scanner.

Styluses need holders and there is no way Apple will ever compromise that space for a writing stick.

Tactile feedback is another feature I expect to crop up. Imagine the game experiences you'll get being able to feel different types of surfaces. These things I'd expect in the iPhone 6 in 2014 iOS 8 and then they'll have a faster version of that in 2015 iOS 9. By 2016, if they double the performance year on year, phones and iPads will be as powerful as today's desktops and could have 2GB or more of RAM. Perhaps they'll allow you to connect iPads to computer displays and be able to use them as desktop-like machines (iOS X?).

They don't have to have a keyboard/mouse or pointer because you can just sit the tablet flat on the desk in front of the display and have the 3D sensor and capacitive screen for control without looking at the tablet. Internet cafes will simply be BYOD (bring your own device) and you just plug them into a display or use wireless display connection - this is safer for data protection as you are just using your own device.

I still like the idea that Google Glasses aims to satisfy, which is having no real display at all in which case the display size is irrelevant. They can overlay images into your normal vision. This is like what you'd see in Deus Ex Human Revolution or Terminator where objects are identified and highlighted:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=inPijjFNNSI#t=46s

You could be sitting on a plane and have a virtual 30" display in front of you and nobody would know. Current tech makes this tricky but a tiny display/projector wuld use much less power than a smartphone display and in a few years, the power draw of the components can be a fraction of what they are now for current performance. If they can fit a battery into the legs of the glasses with a small APU and projector, future smartphones might look like this:



I know people say that everyone wearing glasses (or really just a headband) is not ideal but you wouldn't have to wear them all the time, just when you need to use the device. You still need to take a smartphone out of your pocket. It's not such a big problem putting a pair of glasses on. It's automatically hands-free while driving. Showing someone else what you're looking at is harder but you rarely need to do that with a phone and they can have a wireless link capability.

If they can figure out how to power/charge the device from your body heat and movement, even better.

 

 

Well, my Wife and I are certainly not young. Our eyesight aint that great. I gave my Wife a 4S as a present in 2011. Since then she has had the opportunity to look at a few Android phones. Regardless of the size of the screen she thought they felt cheap and she liked the feel of the 4S in her hand. Remembering of course that the majority of women have smaller hands.

 

So... what I am saying is that in direct proportion to failing eyesight is declining strength in the hands, smaller hands at that. Hands that find smaller phones much easier to grip.

 

Of course we're both talking in conjecture and anecdotes so it's really difficult to say what the real outcome will be and whether Apple will actually "need" to compete in this space.

 

Oh... and by the way... Apple has a 2 size solution and my Wife absolutely loves the iPhone 5... it fits in her hand even better.

agreed styluses are not needed just a finger. Not to mention one of the things Steve jobs would never support is styluses even if there are off brand ones sold, all you need is a hot pen tip. some smartphones already have 2 GB of ram, not to mention one on the iPhone 5, is more than needed.
I see what you mean but this is what tablets is for, no need for a larger screen that is still, not to mention you will not need wires, just wifi which is usually at these coffee shops.
IOS X would be IOS 10, I think you meant Mac OS on IOS devices. Cafes will probably only have wifi. Or tablets with wires connected. the screen would be a futuristic clear, where all you see is it(or through it, wireless link of courses and I guess it would be smart glasses.

Want and need are 2 very different things but people often confuse the 2.

 

There's that word again "want". When you were sitting there in front of your 22" analogue TV 20 years ago did you really really WANT that 32" DLP that you saw in the magazine? Of course you did. People want bigger and bigger but they really don't need bigger and bigger. When you had a small analogue TV in your house, was it 18 feet away from your sofa then? I'm guessing not. I'm guessing you just sat closer.

I just don't get why people get bigger TVs so they can just sit further away.

 

The trouble with fingers is they visually get in the way.  Most of us don't fingerpaint all day in real life.   We use writing instruments like pens and pencils for better precision, finer control, the ability to see the target without a lump of flesh in the way, etc.

 

This is why there are so many dumb stylii available for the iPad, and it's why more precise active pens are becoming popular with both iPads and competing devices.

 

(A stylus is just a stick that substitutes for a finger or fingernail to a touchscreen.   An active pen uses its own locating and pressure sensing system.)

...and yet Apple files for another stylus patent, published just last week. Don't believe all of Apple's public statements. What they say and what they do can appear to be 100% at odds.

http://www.patentlyapple.com/patently-apple/2012/12/apple-invents-advanced-active-stylus-to-work-with-idevices.html

Can you explain to me how this scaling works? The Note 2 has a resolution of 1,280 x 720 (720p) so there's almost NO reason whatsoever for an app to scale. This is the most common resolution in Android phones today. Can you tell me what app that he was using that has "so much white space"? My brother has a Galaxy Note 2, and so far, I haven't noticed any of "so much white space" issue with the apps that he uses (a lot). It's pretty obvious that a 720p on a 5.5" vs. 4.3" is going to look bigger, but the PROPORTION should be unchanged.

A hot pen tip? Either you're not referring to something that is readily available, or capacitive touch screens don't work the way you think it works. The only reason the current system seems pixel-accurate is the loupe, which isn't that efficient.


Apple files a LOT of patents, most of them don't become part of an Apple product.

Wow such arrogance and over-generalization in your assertion. The Galaxy Note 2 is actually very thin and light for the dimension of 5.5" screen, and it's selling quite well for something that's "stupid". Just because people use it doesn't mean that they are "stupid" or "huge people" or "poor vision". I guess you like to insult people who have different needs than you do.

 

Buy one get one free.

 

With due respect, no insult intended, I honestly think you may be the only person in the world who doesn't.

 

We get bigger TVs so we can sit farther away because TV size is a lower priority than room layout.

 

We buy bigger TVs now than we did when TVs used CRTs because we can. Great big CRTs didn't exist so we compromised our preference for practical realities. Now that one can get a big TV for short coin, we don't have to make that compromise anymore.

 

We buy bigger TVs for the same reason people go to theatres. It's more immersive and therefore more enjoyable.

 

We buy big TVs for the same reason we buy Hummers and sports cars or fancy jewelry -- to call attention to our social status. It's a stupid reason, but frankly just the way humans are. Actually, lots of other animals do the same thing, they just do it with intimidating body language or peeing on others.

 

All that aside, screen size has implications for a smartphone that aren't an issue with a TV: selecting items on the screen with a large, imprecise pointer -- a finger. I often accidentally hit adjacent links on web pages and find the iOS keyboard too small for comfort at the present size screen. I would find it much easier to use if the screen were simply scaled up. Scaling up would reduce the pixel density, but given a choice between ease of use and a slightly prettier display, I'll take the former, thanks.

 

For the Note 2?   Where?   

 

BOGO is overrated, though.   It's not Get One Free, because the second one requires a thousand+ dollar commitment just like the first one.

 

BOGO is really more like:  buy two identical phones, each with two year contracts, at half price each. 

 

True, however my purely anecdotal, unscientific observations of my tiny little microsection of the world suggest a shift away from iPhones to big-screen devices.

 

I started taking the train to work in September. I was surprised to see that almost everyone, sitting or standing, was doing something on a phone. I was also surprised to see that almost ALL of them were iPhones. There were a couple of non-Apple phones, but not many.

 

Now, just four months later, I see lots and lots of big screens. I have no idea what kind they are (I'm not up on current offerings) but whatever they are, people are buying them now. I very rarely see an iPhone 5, maybe one every couple of days.

 

The conclusion one draws is that in this admittedly microscopic sampling -- people who commute downtown to work at the same time I do -- iPhones are being replaced with big-screen alternatives, and not many of that group have purchased an iPhone 5.

 

My point is that even if the bulk of Android sales are cheap feature phones, I'm personally seeing such a flood of big-screen phones in my personal life that I believe they are a genuinely significant product segment.

 

Verizon.

 

Totally missing the point.

And some people thought that Apple would never offer a smaller iPad...

 

Got a link to anything that shows the Verizon Note 2 in a BOGO deal?   (If anything, I think it was BOGO for a cover.)   Thanks!

 

 

 

Why go for BOGO anything else, when you could instead get two iPhone 4 in a GOGO deal (Get One Free, Get One Free)

 

Maybe it's because people want the model they're getting.

 

Prices are not the sole reason why a phone is popular, especially in the USA where people tend to spend $100 - $300 extra for a top of the line model.

 

Otherwise the FREE iPhone 4 would outsell the iPhone 4S and 5.

 

It was an ad on TV. I'll take a picture if I see it again.

 

 

 

The point is it isn't selling. It's a brand new phone, three months old, and they have to give one away for free to get people to take them.

Bottom line: If Apple offered a larger screened phone... I would buy it instead of the smaller one.

Verizon is actually in the business of selling contracts... not phones.

They will "give away" a phone in order to lock you into $90 a month for the next 24 months. It can be any phone... from a cheap flip-phone to a Note 2.

Apple doesn't allow their phones to be used in such promotions. But that's not a problem... Verizon doesn't care which phone you get as long as you're paying $90 a month for the next 2 years.

As for the Note 2 not selling.... who knows for sure. I doubt Verizon has a warehouse of 3 month old Note 2s that they are dying to get rid of.

Verizon always has a few phones used in BOGO promotions at any given time. Those phones aren't necessarily overstocks.

They are simply used to sell... contracts.

 

The most telling is that Samsung does.

You make a lot of false presumptions. It's possible that Verizon has bought so many extra phones from vendors at $600 a pop and with a contract that doesn't allow them to return unsold merchandise which is forcing them to sell them Buy One, Get One Free but it's not very likely. Check the sale in the US. Which smartphone vendor sells the most high-end smartphones? Which smartphone vendor pulls customers from other carriers if they don't offer this brand? There is only one. Apple can easily get carriers to pay a premium for their product and carriers can easily recoup from a $400 subsidization to the customer with the iPhone, but you can't get that with any run of the mill Android smartphone. They don't even hold their value like an Apple product.

What more commonly happens is vendors make deals with distributors (carriers are also distributors in this case). If they sell the product, great, if not, they can send them back. The contracts are often complex in that they have to sell x-many before they can send any back otherwise face a penalty or buy x-many before they get a certain discount. This is how channel stuffing works to prop up shipping numbers on the books, but it only works for a short time. At some point you have to move those devices or write them off. What is likely happening with most BOGO is the vendor is giving the vendor a huge discount on the product if they help sell them. They both win in that the carrier can advertise a great bargain and the vendor can move more product that hopefully is getting some profit even if it's minuscule.

You really need to learn to comprehend what you read.

The manufacturers understand their relationship with the carriers. The manufacturers get paid when the carriers order a phone... and the carriers get paid when a customer signs a 24 month contract.

Samsung doesn't care what happens to the phone after it leaves their warehouse. Why should they? Their work is done.

I've seen many phones from all manufacturers advertised for BOGO on the sign outside of a Verizon store.

As has been stated before... I doubt the phones used in the BOGO promotions are simply the result of a massive overstock.

Verizon (and all carriers in the US) are only concerned with selling you service with a contract. Whatever they have to do to get you in the door and sign up... they will do it.

I don't know exactly how Verizon gets phones from a manufacturer... but I doubt they ordered millions of the Note 2 ahead of time and now they are over-run with them.

I would imagine each Verizon store gets shipments multiple times per week. Since they offer dozens of different products from flip-phones to smartphones, tablets and mobile hotspots... I bet they only carry a limited stock.

BOGO phones are just a way to sweeten the deal to get you to sign a contract. That's it. Carriers have offered "free" phones for years... so all those phones the result of an overstock?

No.... it's just how carriers push subsidized phones to make money on the contract. Because the contract, after all, is how Verizon makes money.

And their giving iPhone 5's away for no upfront cost as well so not sure what your point is.  Whatever deals carriers offer has no bearing on how well a device is selling, its all about the contract.  The phone manufacturer still gets paid for the device and the carrier makes their money over the lifetime of the contract.

 

edit - I see this bit of the discussion was based on a false assumption anyway, but my point still stands.

Edited by reefoid - 1/7/13 at 1:38am

 

Is this even a legitimate website? Apologies, but I often can't tell with British sites… 

 

And since O2's official plan at £31 has the phone at £179… I really wouldn't trust whatever that is to give me legitimate information.

They're one of the largest independent phone retailers in the UK, so yes the information is legitimate.

 

However, seeing as this part of the discussion was all based on a false declaration by yourself, its all irrelevant now.

 

edit - and even the 02 site is showing the iPhone 5 with no upfront cost, so another false declaration.  Twice on one page, good going!!

Edited by reefoid - 1/7/13 at 8:50am