Samsung, Google to scale back giant screen sizes on new Android phones

123468

Comments

  • Reply 101 of 144
    gwmacgwmac Posts: 1,830member


    I have to think Samsung named this new phone the Mini as a slap in the face towards Apple given that it is .3" larger than the iPhone 5. It is their way of saying if 4.3" is a mini what is a 4" screen. 


     


    I think Apple have already solved any potential battery issues. Even diehard fandroids if they are being honest would admit that the iPhone is more battery efficient because one company makes both the hardware and OS and both are optimized to work as efficiently as possible. There is no reason to think that a 4.8" iPhone wouldn't get as good of battery life as an iPhone 5 today. So personally I don't think battery life is the reason for a delay. The HTC One also seems to meet the othr complaints that Tim mentioned but could these component makers deliver in quantity for Apple. HTC requires only a fraction of the screens that Apple would demand with a new iPhone. 


     


    I still maintain that Apple will release a larger phone but I don't think it is necessarily for the reasons Tim Cook listed. Sure those are part of the reason for a delay but they could have solved all of those a year ago if they were so inclined. I think they knew that 3.5" had reached a dead end and people simply found it too small. They thought that a slight bump to 4" would not upset the apple cart too much and would still allow for one handed operation which they seem to think is extremely important. If they were going to have 2 distinct iPhone would they have a 3.5" and a larger one for the long term or a 4" and a larger one. It made a lot of sense to increase the size of the current model to 4" and let that gain traction for 2 years and allow developers to make the needed changes then next year release the larger one which allows app developers far more time to make changes. It will be much less of a shock and less backlash to spread these changes out over 2 years.


     


    Perhaps if I had never owned a large screen Android phone I would not be so adamant in wishing my iPhone 5 were larger.  I also blame my iPad for wanting a larger screen when away from my house. My iPhone hardly gets used as a smartphone at home and is instead used only for texts and calls. I don't want anything as big as the Note II because I really think that is just overkill, but anything close to 4.8" would be perfect. I don't want Apple to make a larger iPhone to admit they made a mistake, I want them to make one because I am over 40 now and simply need it to better read sometimes very tiny fonts on apps. But then again I also have a 30" monitor and a 70" TV so I guess I just prefer a larger viewing experience in general. 

     0Likes 0Dislikes 0Informatives
  • Reply 102 of 144
    michael scripmichael scrip Posts: 1,916member
    rcranesnz wrote: »
    Phones like S3 and S4 never fits in gentleman's pocket. Unwillingly, will never use them. 

    Oh come on... the Galaxy S3 is only slightly bigger than the iPhone 5. And the S4 is roughly the same size as the S3.

    If you can somehow fit an iPhone 5 in your pocket... but not a Galaxy... something is wrong.

    Since Galaxy phones don't have insane bezels on the top and bottom... Samsung is able to put a much larger screen in a body that is only slightly larger.

    Apple needs to lose the chin and forehead.

    700
     0Likes 0Dislikes 0Informatives
  • Reply 103 of 144
    tallest skiltallest skil Posts: 43,388member


    Originally Posted by Michael Scrip View Post

    Apple needs to lose the chin and forehead.


     


    Nonsense.

     0Likes 0Dislikes 0Informatives
  • Reply 104 of 144
    gwmacgwmac Posts: 1,830member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Michael Scrip View Post





    Oh come on... the Galaxy S3 is only slightly bigger than the iPhone 5. And the S4 is roughly the same size as the S3.



    If you can somehow fit an iPhone 5 in your pocket... but not a Galaxy... something is wrong.



    Since Galaxy phones don't have insane bezels on the top and bottom... Samsung is able to put a much larger screen in a body that is only slightly larger.



    Apple needs to lose the chin and forehead.





     


     


     


    I think you hit on one of the main reasons why Apple has delayed the launch of a larger iPhone, the chin and forehead problem. The forehead as you call it should be fairly easy to address to shrink in size to allow for a larger screen without increasing the overall size. The chin however would be a far more drastic shift since the iconic home button has always been round which obviously needs more space than an oblong button like the one that Samsung use. If they keep the home button "as is" then the iPhone would be longer in height than competing Android phones. If they make it narrow and oblong then they will hear that they are copying Samsung. That is a tough problem to overcome. I doubt they would do something as radical  as to make a home button on the right side of the phone. There is a little room on the chin area to decrease the space a tad and perhaps go a bit more oval shaped as opposed to a longer and more narrow oblong shape like the S4. Perhaps one day they won't need a physical home button and they can simply add that to the display itself which would allow a far larger display with not much bigger footprint than the current iPhone 5 besides slightly wider. That would seem to be the best solution. 

     0Likes 0Dislikes 0Informatives
  • Reply 105 of 144
    macrulezmacrulez Posts: 2,455member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by KDarling View Post


    Drop the sales/shipment thing if you want to be taken seriously.



    I doubt anyone will take up this helpful suggestion, but in all seriousness I don't recall ever seeing more sound advice given here.

     0Likes 0Dislikes 0Informatives
  • Reply 106 of 144
    tallest skiltallest skil Posts: 43,388member


    Originally Posted by MacRulez

    I doubt anyone will take up this helpful suggestion, but in all seriousness I don't recall ever seeing more sound advice given here.


     


    Good to see that you people still stick together.

     0Likes 0Dislikes 0Informatives
  • Reply 107 of 144
    geekdadgeekdad Posts: 1,131member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Michael Scrip View Post





    Oh come on... the Galaxy S3 is only slightly bigger than the iPhone 5. And the S4 is roughly the same size as the S3.



    If you can somehow fit an iPhone 5 in your pocket... but not a Galaxy... something is wrong.



    Since Galaxy phones don't have insane bezels on the top and bottom... Samsung is able to put a much larger screen in a body that is only slightly larger.



    Apple needs to lose the chin and forehead.





    Must be they wear tight "skinny jeans" maybe....

     0Likes 0Dislikes 0Informatives
  • Reply 108 of 144
    geekdadgeekdad Posts: 1,131member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Tallest Skil View Post


     


    Good to see that you people still stick together.



    nice to see you debate the issue instead of attacking the poster......


    /s

     0Likes 0Dislikes 0Informatives
  • Reply 109 of 144
    tallest skiltallest skil Posts: 43,388member


    Originally Posted by geekdad View Post

    nice to see you debate the issue instead of attacking the poster......


    /s



     


    Seal of Quabity!


     


     


     0Likes 0Dislikes 0Informatives
  • Reply 110 of 144
    geekdadgeekdad Posts: 1,131member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Tallest Skil View Post


     


    Seal of Quabity!


     


     




    so?...what is your point again? The issues? you know what that means? Do you want to get personal? There is a lot of good stuf available.....


    How about you just stick to the issue and leave the personal stuff out? break your trend....

     0Likes 0Dislikes 0Informatives
  • Reply 111 of 144
    macrulezmacrulez Posts: 2,455member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Tallest Skil View Post


     


    Seal of Quabity!


     


     






    Still more ad hominem, without a single shred of evidence of any kind at all to counter KDarling's suggestion.


     


    Thanks for proving geekdad's point.

     0Likes 0Dislikes 0Informatives
  • Reply 112 of 144
    hill60hill60 Posts: 6,992member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by geekdad View Post


    Sales of the Samsung Galaxy S4 well over 10 million 



     


    SHIPMENTS!!!


     


    Samsung does not report sales.

     0Likes 0Dislikes 0Informatives
  • Reply 113 of 144
    gatorguygatorguy Posts: 24,726member
    the Samsung Galaxy Mega with a 6 inch display is also on the way to AT&T. If DED had mentioned that in the article he wouldn't have had an article. Samsung's just covering every niche apparently.
     0Likes 0Dislikes 0Informatives
  • Reply 114 of 144
    gatorguygatorguy Posts: 24,726member
    hill60 wrote: »
    [SIZE=20px]SHIPMENTS!!![/SIZE]

    [SIZE=20px]Samsung does not report sales.[/SIZE]

    Unless they were free they were almost certaimly a sale
     0Likes 0Dislikes 0Informatives
  • Reply 115 of 144
    hill60hill60 Posts: 6,992member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by wakefinance View Post



    Also it's laughable to say that a 4.7 inch phone doesn't fit in a pocket, unless you're a girl in which case you probably have a purse. I can put my Nexus 7 in my pants pocket, and I don't wear cargo shorts.


     


    Try doing $300 damage by putting one of these things in the back pocket of a tight pair of jeans and sitting down.


     


    At least HTC has a warning about cracking the screen, maybe Samsung should too.

     0Likes 0Dislikes 0Informatives
  • Reply 116 of 144
    hill60hill60 Posts: 6,992member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Gatorguy View Post





    Unless they were free they were almost certaimly a sale


     


    So the fifty or so S4's in a cupboard at work are sold or shipped?


     


    The recalls of unsold stock when handsets go end of life?


     


    Such as the S3's that no-one wants now?


     


    Are they sold or shipped?

     0Likes 0Dislikes 0Informatives
  • Reply 117 of 144
    geekdadgeekdad Posts: 1,131member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by hill60 View Post


     


    SHIPMENTS!!!


     


    Samsung does not report sales.



    not going to argue with you...KDarling put it to rest quite nicely.....


    But here on AppleInsider they list SALES in their articles...


     


    http://appleinsider.com/articles/13/05/27/samsung-breaks-smartphone-sales-record-in-china-for-q1-doubles-apples-iphone


     


    They mix sales and shipments into the same bucket on AI meaning....they are the same....


     


    http://appleinsider.com/articles/13/05/14/apple-fell-to-18-share-of-smartphone-sales-in-q1-gartner-says


     


    If their shipped or sales were not the same then this would not happen


     


    http://appleinsider.com/articles/13/05/08/samsungs-cash-pile-triples-in-one-year-now-worth-285b-minus-debt

     0Likes 0Dislikes 0Informatives
  • Reply 118 of 144
    geekdadgeekdad Posts: 1,131member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by hill60 View Post


     


    Try doing $300 damage by putting one of these things in the back pocket of a tight pair of jeans and sitting down.


     


    At least HTC has a warning about cracking the screen, maybe Samsung should too.



    But why would you do that? If you put your IP5 in your back pocket of tight skinny jeans and sat on cement bench or similar....do you not think the glass would break?


    Great point...i think they all should come with that warning....but isn't that just common sense?

     0Likes 0Dislikes 0Informatives
  • Reply 119 of 144
    geekdadgeekdad Posts: 1,131member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by hill60 View Post


     


    So the fifty or so S4's in a cupboard at work are sold or shipped?


     


    The recalls of unsold stock when handsets go end of life?


     


    Such as the S3's that no-one wants now?


     


    Are they sold or shipped?



    No....they end up being free with a 2 year contract....kind of like you can get the IP5 in some places or the 4S.....


    Like BestBuy does here: http://appleinsider.com/articles/13/05/31/best-buy-launches-limited-time-trade-in-program-150-credit-for-iphone-4-or-4s-free-iphone-5


    So does Apple count that free IP5 as a sale? Or asume it was a sale because they shipped it to a retailer?


    Do those traded in IP4 or IP4s get removed from the sales figures for Apple?

     0Likes 0Dislikes 0Informatives
  • Reply 120 of 144
    runbuhrunbuh Posts: 315member


    The Galaxy S4 Active, with 5" screen, was announced today.  Samsung flip flops on their smaller screen strategy and reverts to large screens!

     0Likes 0Dislikes 0Informatives
Sign In or Register to comment.