Nobody market it as "iPhone Killer" but you. Google is just fine with iPhone, as far as it has a decent browser to show their Ads in the web pages. I went to local operator shop. They had several Android devices on display, and just one had "android" mentioned in the specs. End users don't care. But there was another (android) device in the center of the shop (same place where iPhone used to sit about a year ago) and it was labeled as "Twitter" phone, as the twitter widget was pre-installed on the home screen. Super easy. Can iPhone do that ? This is what matters to end users.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Quadra 610
It's just OK. Not revolutionary. If your product is "just OK" in the same category as Apple's product, then Apple's next product update will consign your product to oblivion, or nearly that.
So what will be the next apple great invention, after they brought us copy and paste ? Home screen with active widgets ? Multitasking for 3rd party ? Component architecture and leveraging other applications functionality ?
Quote:
Originally Posted by Quadra 610
That's the rule when competing in the same handheld space as Apple.
That's hilarious ! I guess Andy Rubin sits in his closet scared to death counting down days to the Apple WWDC.
I believe the iPhone is the top selling phone. That indicates some sort of supremacy. The iPhone also dominates mind share, developer support etc. Nokia and RIM selling more total phones (many of which are free/ not even smart phones in Nokias case) doesn't give them a smartphone supremacy.
It needs to be put into proper perspective. iPhone is successful, no doubt about it, it went far beyond the expectations (of Steve Ballmer), but it is still drop in the sea if you look at the total number of the phones sold worldwide. In that perspective, it is still a non-player. What is it the "smart-phone" just artificial category with no real meaning. I think the google's labeling as "superphone" is just sarcasm. It means nothing.
I guess the "In what manner is the iPhone currently supreme?" is a valid question. It is a nice device, easy-to-use, with lot of 3rd party content, but dominant, supreme it is not. Revolutionary ? Neither. The first phone with WAP browser (Nokia 7110 ?) was revolutionary as well as the first phone with downloadable 3rd party applications. iPhone is just iteration over this, enabled by evolution in the technology, but it is not really revolutionary. For me the most innovative feature is finger-based GUI, but competition pretty much caught-up in that regard, as N1 shows.
I guess the "In what manner is the iPhone currently supreme?" is a valid question. It is a nice device, easy-to-use, with lot of 3rd party content, but dominant, supreme it is not.
None of this matters. I agree with the idea that the only iPhone killer is the next iPhone. Let's see what happens when iPhone 4.0 comes out. People buy the phone that is right for them, but I don't see any company being market leader for very long. Things are far to fluid and Google giving away their OS to everybody won't help if they loose control of mobile ad revenue which might happen to them. What Apple has going for them is the amazing hype they can create and the fact that they make great hardware. I really think they are the best consumer hardware company in the world because they have (control) the whole package: software, hardware, user experience, and hype machine.
I keep hearing about how the google apps on Android are streets ahead of their iPhone counterparts now. I know about the Google Maps turn by turn GPS, but in what other ways are they superior? Has anyone done a Droid/Nexus One vs iPhone direct comparison?
As for the Nexus One in general, it looks nice, very slim, very pretty. Much better tech specs than an iPhone too, particularly that super high-res screen. Apple, your move.
I keep hearing about how the google apps on Android are streets ahead of their iPhone counterparts now. I know about the Google Maps turn by turn GPS, but in what other ways are they superior? Has anyone done a Droid/Nexus One vs iPhone direct comparison?
As for the Nexus One in general, it looks nice, very slim, very pretty. Much better tech specs than an iPhone too, particularly that super high-res screen. Apple, your move.
Google Voice works much better on Android than its iPhone version. GMail is built-in as well as Calendar. Search is seamless.
Pinch to zoom for me is not replaceable. It is the best way to mobile surf, IMO. However, I do agree that it's competitive advantage isn't very high, and most would jump ship for a similar experience at less cost.
Actually pinch to zoom is very replaceable. You simply provide a screen in which the resolution is so high that you no longer need to zoom in on the text to have the phone render it legibly.
My friend's Droid and my iPhone can be side by side and the text on his phone is much more legible on most websites without zooming in. That is what happens when you push out something around 60% more pixels on the screen in terms of density. These new screens are sharp enough to practically replace ebook readers. I'm hoping that is what Apple presents with their tablet which will obviously be targeting that market as well as the netbook market.
Quote:
Originally Posted by kotatsu
I keep hearing about how the google apps on Android are streets ahead of their iPhone counterparts now. I know about the Google Maps turn by turn GPS, but in what other ways are they superior? Has anyone done a Droid/Nexus One vs iPhone direct comparison?
As for the Nexus One in general, it looks nice, very slim, very pretty. Much better tech specs than an iPhone too, particularly that super high-res screen. Apple, your move.
There has been very little comparison from what I have seen. Most of the comparisons have been showing an Iphone and Android phone du jour loading a website or two and then walking away. The closest I have seen to a real comparison is a four part video series at Phonedog.com.
Android still has some issues. The app memory limitation is lame as is the lack of desktop management software. However I suspect that there are fixes for these in the pipe.
I own an iPhone(2G) and just traded it and some cash for for a 3G. I really enjoy the iPhone and like the large number of cheap and unique apps on it. I have found several of them that are GPS related and very useful for my training.
That said, AT&T and Tmobile networks are barely tolerable where I live. The quality of the Verizon network is outstanding and everywhere. I am shocked that this phone is going to be available on Verizon as well. Clearly a lot of apps are porting over to Android very quickly. I can see myself easily holding out until the next Apple announcement. That said if the torrid pace of Android continues, Apple doesn't answer well in the next six months, and finally if this form factor were refined yet again, it would become impossible for me to say no.
Bring this form factor out with a nice trackpad instead of a trackball or even just remove it. Fix the app memory limitation and endorse something like DoubleTwist or produce a similar app for desktop management and no matter the iPhone advantages, it would be off my list.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Brainless
Google Voice works much better on Android than its iPhone version. GMail is built-in as well as Calendar. Search is seamless.
In my opinion, one way that Google has taken a step backwards is in having separate apps for Gmail and all other mail. Not everyone wants to use Gmail as their primary email address.
One way Apple is taking a step backward is in really making it harder to jailbreak. Many folks like myself have used several hacks to get around Apple limitations in terms of development. I couldn't tolerate my iPhone without either Bite or QuickSMS. If forced into a pure iPhone environment, many more could jump due to several jailbreaking advantages disappearing.
Here's an article I just caught over at WIRED.com. This pretty much summarizes their feelings on the Nexus One:
Congratulations, Google. You?ve spent untold millions of dollars to produce another iPhone ? two years late.
LOL! My thoughts exactly. The articles - really, an official blog post - goes on to say that Google spent the last decade telling us how "out of the box" they are and now they're using all their resources to copy Apple in an attempt to steal a piece of its success.
I find it interesting that Google didn't mention music at all in their presentation nor did anyone ask about it in the follow-up Q&A session. Some kind of built-in music playback/management seems to be a necessary checkbox for consumer phones, especially "superphones". Does the android marketplace cover music sufficiently so nothing from Google needs to be built in? Isn't music part of this "Ecosystem" that the presenters kept talking about - more than just another app?
Exchange support and all the security features it requires were also not mentioned. That seems to be a necessary checkbox for business phones. I think a "superphone" should be for both consumers and business users, so people don't have to carry two phones. I can understand Google not wanting to discuss MS's Exchange product since they provide a competing service. So, why not mention how well it integrates with Google Apps for business (assuming it does)? Questions about Google Voice were met with the answer that "We're not the Google Voice group." Is Google getting so big that their divisions don't interoperate?
Beyond the omissions, I think the Nexus One looks great. Google Earth ran more smoothly on it during the demo that it does on my 2-year old Intel laptop. The photo app looks really slick. Hopefully, the cross-operator platform Google is providing will inspire competition among the network operators and bring down plan fees. I'd like to see some explanation of how the hardware's going to work with all the competing standards and varying frequency bands they plan to sell for as soon as this spring. Will there be a separate CDMA-only phone sold tied to the Verizon plan when that comes out? When the Vodaphone version comes out, will it be the same hardware as the T-Mo version? If so, why can't Europeans buy the unlocked phone now and use it where they want (assuming they want the English-speaking version of the OS)? Is there a technical limitation? Regardless, I like where its going.
Here's an article I just caught over at WIRED.com. This pretty much summarizes their feelings on the Nexus One:
Congratulations, Google. You?ve spent untold millions of dollars to produce another iPhone ? two years late.
LOL! My thoughts exactly. The articles - really, an official blog post - goes on to say that Google spent the last decade telling us how "out of the box" they are and now they're using all their resources to copy Apple in an attempt to steal a piece of its success.
I just read that article and even though I respect the author's opinion, I have to say that it felt like reading an Apple fanboy's mind. Because only a true fanboy would look at the surface and not bother to dig down deeper to see what is truly being offered, which is what this article does. This, so-called "analysis" is just a rehash of all the same old tired, general points that I've been reading elsewhere. There are a lot (and I mean a lot) of things that are very note-worthy of the Nexus One and Android 2.1 (that Apple should take note of) that this article so happens to not bother to mention in this "analysis".
How much did the author really listen to the event? Not much, by the looks of it... Too busy in Apple fanboy-land thinking of how to put down Google's phone to bother to pay attention.
Of course there will be a lot of similarities between how we see all smartphones on the surface. There's only so much you can do with the current technology. We can improve the capacity and speed of the hardware, but it's still the same technology. They'll both have OSs, both have capacitive screens, both have a storage medium. How far, exactly, do we have to go before something isn't called a "me-too" device any more? From the tone of the article, it seems like the author would be impressed by no less than the Nexus One being the size of a wristwatch and having a completely holographic UI... Ridiculous.
If you read the comments below, you'll see just what everyone else thinks of this load of rubbish "analysis".
I find it interesting that Google didn't mention music at all in their presentation nor did anyone ask about it in the follow-up Q&A session. Some kind of built-in music playback/management seems to be a necessary checkbox for consumer phones, especially "superphones". Does the android marketplace cover music sufficiently so nothing from Google needs to be built in? Isn't music part of this "Ecosystem" that the presenters kept talking about - more than just another app?
One of the few places that the iPhone still holds the edge is as a media device. Music and Video apps are orders of magnitude better on the iPhone. HTC Sense is much better than the default Google Experience phones, but still a few notches below the iPhone. The photos app in 2.1 seems pretty impressive especially if it were to interface seamlessly with Picasa.
Quote:
Originally Posted by heulenwolf
Exchange support and all the security features it requires were also not mentioned.
I thought that Android has already licensed ActiveSync from Microsoft and it's part of Android since 2.0. I don't use Exchange, so don't know what the quality is. But synching with Google Services is top notch. A third party Google Docs app also works very well.
Anyone who thinks this is a good phone can no longer use the "a CDMA iPhone won't work overseas" excuse as the reason to dismiss the idea of a Verizon iPhone. And why would they bother putting in a GSM chip and not include support for the non-US GSM frequencies is beyond me (note to those who thing GSM is a consistent world-wide standard...it's not, the US uses different frequencies.)
You are quite a bit out of date. I travel back and forth constantly, spending about 8 months in the US and 4 months in 3 countries in Europe each year. Phones are purchased in the US or Sweden. I no longer pay attention to what frequencies the GSM's use. For over ten years they've all been fully frequency capable from cheapo's to smartphones.
The Google is a better phone for the European market than the US. Its all GSM and prepaid focused with lot's of carrier switching. An unlocked GSM phone is more competitive there than in the US. For me, its a trade-off between the storage capacity and integration of the iPhone and being able to settle on one phone for both sides of the ocean. Getting an iPhone unlocked -- while not impossible -- is very difficult unless you're willing to jailbreak it. The Google phone fits my needs but I have to be a very narrow market. Why a US rather than European initial launch is beyond me.
I'd be very excited if this were an unlocked iPhone but to go back to the days of SD cards and uncertain syncs is not moving forward.
What? Where can I buy the iPhone unlocked in the US? Legally of course.
You can't. Some countries in Europe you can, but you pay dearly for the phone. I don't care about the US so I have no idea about its functionality here but I would think on T-Mobile they would be fine.
Comments
Apple doesn't own ANY patent for multi-touch, I don't understand why everyone is acting as if that's a well known fact.
This one was filed for in 2005, published 2006, but does that mean it was awarded? Not sure, but it covers the tablet too.
http://appft1.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-...DN/20060197750
Fugly. Not a bad phone but no "iPhone Killer."
Nobody market it as "iPhone Killer" but you. Google is just fine with iPhone, as far as it has a decent browser to show their Ads in the web pages. I went to local operator shop. They had several Android devices on display, and just one had "android" mentioned in the specs. End users don't care. But there was another (android) device in the center of the shop (same place where iPhone used to sit about a year ago) and it was labeled as "Twitter" phone, as the twitter widget was pre-installed on the home screen. Super easy. Can iPhone do that ? This is what matters to end users.
It's just OK. Not revolutionary. If your product is "just OK" in the same category as Apple's product, then Apple's next product update will consign your product to oblivion, or nearly that.
So what will be the next apple great invention, after they brought us copy and paste ? Home screen with active widgets ? Multitasking for 3rd party ? Component architecture and leveraging other applications functionality ?
That's the rule when competing in the same handheld space as Apple.
That's hilarious ! I guess Andy Rubin sits in his closet scared to death counting down days to the Apple WWDC.
I believe the iPhone is the top selling phone. That indicates some sort of supremacy. The iPhone also dominates mind share, developer support etc. Nokia and RIM selling more total phones (many of which are free/ not even smart phones in Nokias case) doesn't give them a smartphone supremacy.
It needs to be put into proper perspective. iPhone is successful, no doubt about it, it went far beyond the expectations (of Steve Ballmer), but it is still drop in the sea if you look at the total number of the phones sold worldwide. In that perspective, it is still a non-player. What is it the "smart-phone" just artificial category with no real meaning. I think the google's labeling as "superphone" is just sarcasm. It means nothing.
I guess the "In what manner is the iPhone currently supreme?" is a valid question. It is a nice device, easy-to-use, with lot of 3rd party content, but dominant, supreme it is not. Revolutionary ? Neither. The first phone with WAP browser (Nokia 7110 ?) was revolutionary as well as the first phone with downloadable 3rd party applications. iPhone is just iteration over this, enabled by evolution in the technology, but it is not really revolutionary. For me the most innovative feature is finger-based GUI, but competition pretty much caught-up in that regard, as N1 shows.
I guess the "In what manner is the iPhone currently supreme?" is a valid question. It is a nice device, easy-to-use, with lot of 3rd party content, but dominant, supreme it is not.
As for the Nexus One in general, it looks nice, very slim, very pretty. Much better tech specs than an iPhone too, particularly that super high-res screen. Apple, your move.
I keep hearing about how the google apps on Android are streets ahead of their iPhone counterparts now. I know about the Google Maps turn by turn GPS, but in what other ways are they superior? Has anyone done a Droid/Nexus One vs iPhone direct comparison?
As for the Nexus One in general, it looks nice, very slim, very pretty. Much better tech specs than an iPhone too, particularly that super high-res screen. Apple, your move.
Google Voice works much better on Android than its iPhone version. GMail is built-in as well as Calendar. Search is seamless.
That's hilarious ! I guess Andy Rubin sits in his closet scared to death counting down days to the Apple WWDC.
Dollars-to-donuts this is exactly what's happening.
Pinch to zoom for me is not replaceable. It is the best way to mobile surf, IMO. However, I do agree that it's competitive advantage isn't very high, and most would jump ship for a similar experience at less cost.
Actually pinch to zoom is very replaceable. You simply provide a screen in which the resolution is so high that you no longer need to zoom in on the text to have the phone render it legibly.
My friend's Droid and my iPhone can be side by side and the text on his phone is much more legible on most websites without zooming in. That is what happens when you push out something around 60% more pixels on the screen in terms of density. These new screens are sharp enough to practically replace ebook readers. I'm hoping that is what Apple presents with their tablet which will obviously be targeting that market as well as the netbook market.
I keep hearing about how the google apps on Android are streets ahead of their iPhone counterparts now. I know about the Google Maps turn by turn GPS, but in what other ways are they superior? Has anyone done a Droid/Nexus One vs iPhone direct comparison?
As for the Nexus One in general, it looks nice, very slim, very pretty. Much better tech specs than an iPhone too, particularly that super high-res screen. Apple, your move.
There has been very little comparison from what I have seen. Most of the comparisons have been showing an Iphone and Android phone du jour loading a website or two and then walking away. The closest I have seen to a real comparison is a four part video series at Phonedog.com.
Android still has some issues. The app memory limitation is lame as is the lack of desktop management software. However I suspect that there are fixes for these in the pipe.
I own an iPhone(2G) and just traded it and some cash for for a 3G. I really enjoy the iPhone and like the large number of cheap and unique apps on it. I have found several of them that are GPS related and very useful for my training.
That said, AT&T and Tmobile networks are barely tolerable where I live. The quality of the Verizon network is outstanding and everywhere. I am shocked that this phone is going to be available on Verizon as well. Clearly a lot of apps are porting over to Android very quickly. I can see myself easily holding out until the next Apple announcement. That said if the torrid pace of Android continues, Apple doesn't answer well in the next six months, and finally if this form factor were refined yet again, it would become impossible for me to say no.
Bring this form factor out with a nice trackpad instead of a trackball or even just remove it. Fix the app memory limitation and endorse something like DoubleTwist or produce a similar app for desktop management and no matter the iPhone advantages, it would be off my list.
Google Voice works much better on Android than its iPhone version. GMail is built-in as well as Calendar. Search is seamless.
In my opinion, one way that Google has taken a step backwards is in having separate apps for Gmail and all other mail. Not everyone wants to use Gmail as their primary email address.
One way Apple is taking a step backward is in really making it harder to jailbreak. Many folks like myself have used several hacks to get around Apple limitations in terms of development. I couldn't tolerate my iPhone without either Bite or QuickSMS. If forced into a pure iPhone environment, many more could jump due to several jailbreaking advantages disappearing.
Exchange support and all the security features it requires were also not mentioned. That seems to be a necessary checkbox for business phones. I think a "superphone" should be for both consumers and business users, so people don't have to carry two phones. I can understand Google not wanting to discuss MS's Exchange product since they provide a competing service. So, why not mention how well it integrates with Google Apps for business (assuming it does)? Questions about Google Voice were met with the answer that "We're not the Google Voice group." Is Google getting so big that their divisions don't interoperate?
Beyond the omissions, I think the Nexus One looks great. Google Earth ran more smoothly on it during the demo that it does on my 2-year old Intel laptop. The photo app looks really slick. Hopefully, the cross-operator platform Google is providing will inspire competition among the network operators and bring down plan fees. I'd like to see some explanation of how the hardware's going to work with all the competing standards and varying frequency bands they plan to sell for as soon as this spring. Will there be a separate CDMA-only phone sold tied to the Verizon plan when that comes out? When the Vodaphone version comes out, will it be the same hardware as the T-Mo version? If so, why can't Europeans buy the unlocked phone now and use it where they want (assuming they want the English-speaking version of the OS)? Is there a technical limitation? Regardless, I like where its going.
Here's an article I just caught over at WIRED.com. This pretty much summarizes their feelings on the Nexus One: LOL! My thoughts exactly. The articles - really, an official blog post - goes on to say that Google spent the last decade telling us how "out of the box" they are and now they're using all their resources to copy Apple in an attempt to steal a piece of its success.
I just read that article and even though I respect the author's opinion, I have to say that it felt like reading an Apple fanboy's mind. Because only a true fanboy would look at the surface and not bother to dig down deeper to see what is truly being offered, which is what this article does. This, so-called "analysis" is just a rehash of all the same old tired, general points that I've been reading elsewhere. There are a lot (and I mean a lot) of things that are very note-worthy of the Nexus One and Android 2.1 (that Apple should take note of) that this article so happens to not bother to mention in this "analysis".
How much did the author really listen to the event? Not much, by the looks of it... Too busy in Apple fanboy-land thinking of how to put down Google's phone to bother to pay attention.
Of course there will be a lot of similarities between how we see all smartphones on the surface. There's only so much you can do with the current technology. We can improve the capacity and speed of the hardware, but it's still the same technology. They'll both have OSs, both have capacitive screens, both have a storage medium. How far, exactly, do we have to go before something isn't called a "me-too" device any more? From the tone of the article, it seems like the author would be impressed by no less than the Nexus One being the size of a wristwatch and having a completely holographic UI... Ridiculous.
If you read the comments below, you'll see just what everyone else thinks of this load of rubbish "analysis".
I find it interesting that Google didn't mention music at all in their presentation nor did anyone ask about it in the follow-up Q&A session. Some kind of built-in music playback/management seems to be a necessary checkbox for consumer phones, especially "superphones"
One of the few places that the iPhone still holds the edge is as a media device. Music and Video apps are orders of magnitude better on the iPhone. HTC Sense is much better than the default Google Experience phones, but still a few notches below the iPhone. The photos app in 2.1 seems pretty impressive especially if it were to interface seamlessly with Picasa.
Exchange support and all the security features it requires were also not mentioned.
I thought that Android has already licensed ActiveSync from Microsoft and it's part of Android since 2.0. I don't use Exchange, so don't know what the quality is. But synching with Google Services is top notch. A third party Google Docs app also works very well.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/pcworld/2010...ecouldreach550
Anyone who thinks this is a good phone can no longer use the "a CDMA iPhone won't work overseas" excuse as the reason to dismiss the idea of a Verizon iPhone. And why would they bother putting in a GSM chip and not include support for the non-US GSM frequencies is beyond me (note to those who thing GSM is a consistent world-wide standard...it's not, the US uses different frequencies.)
You are quite a bit out of date. I travel back and forth constantly, spending about 8 months in the US and 4 months in 3 countries in Europe each year. Phones are purchased in the US or Sweden. I no longer pay attention to what frequencies the GSM's use. For over ten years they've all been fully frequency capable from cheapo's to smartphones.
The Google is a better phone for the European market than the US. Its all GSM and prepaid focused with lot's of carrier switching. An unlocked GSM phone is more competitive there than in the US. For me, its a trade-off between the storage capacity and integration of the iPhone and being able to settle on one phone for both sides of the ocean. Getting an iPhone unlocked -- while not impossible -- is very difficult unless you're willing to jailbreak it. The Google phone fits my needs but I have to be a very narrow market. Why a US rather than European initial launch is beyond me.
I'd be very excited if this were an unlocked iPhone but to go back to the days of SD cards and uncertain syncs is not moving forward.
$20 bucks cheaper makes it budget friendly?
What? Where can I buy the iPhone unlocked in the US? Legally of course.
What? Where can I buy the iPhone unlocked in the US? Legally of course.
You can't. Some countries in Europe you can, but you pay dearly for the phone. I don't care about the US so I have no idea about its functionality here but I would think on T-Mobile they would be fine.
What? Where can I buy the iPhone unlocked in the US? Legally of course.
http://www.buy.com/prod/apple-iphone...211493259.html