charlesn

igorsky said:

It’s weird how Samsung is still stubbornly releasing products as though Apple is their competition. That war ended years ago. They should focusing on the Chinese Android OEMs that are eating their lunch. 

This IS an especially weird one, isn't it? "Thinner" has been in Apple's DNA for a long time, so the "Air" phone isn't a surprise. But Samsung? Thinness has never been a pursuit for them and yet here they are, with a near dupe for the Air phone, but arriving a few months earlier. I have no evidence to support this, but it very much feels like a case of finding out what Apple was up to, and then rushing a product to market to beat Apple to the punch. Not that it matters, as you point out! The choice of phone is now a choice between ecosystems and not the device. In the Android ecosystem, new form factors seem to be important sales tools, so Samsung gets to claim "thinnest Android" phone for a while--no doubt a flood of thin Android phones will follow, until the form factor is commoditized and then it's on to the next sales gimmick. But these ultra thin phones are a real engineering challenge for a number of reasons, and my bet is that Samsung chose being first to market over taking the time to make sure that v1 works as advertised. We'll know soon. 

anthogag said:

iPhone Air will be better. Thinner. One camera is probably better for the thinner iPhone. 

How is is "better" to get the 16e camera on what may be a $1,000 phone? 

mpantone said:

Tim & Co. don't want to serve niche markets. 

IPad, IPad Mini, IPad Air 11", iPad Air 13", IPad Pro 11", iPad Pro 13". 


As for Edge vs Air: comparing actual photos of the Edge to an allegedly accurate non-working model of the Air, I'd say the Edge is clearly the better looking and more successful ultra thin design. While the Edge still retains a camera bump, it's very svelte and accentuates the thinness of the phone. The Air's camera bar is far larger and more pronounced, which is giving hunchback on such a thin phone.

BUT... if Samsung's first folding phone is any guide--you know, the one that randomly burst into flames and was prohibited on airline flights--I wouldn't be first in line to try its uber thin phone. That Samsung achieved such a slender profile while retaining two camera lenses, which Apple was unable to do, makes me wonder a lot about things like heat dissipation, battery life, etc. We shall see. 

Here's the latest of what Meta is up to with its RayBan glasses--and honestly, WHO could be surprised:

"Meta recently sent an email to Ray-Ban Meta users that said, in part, "Meta AI with camera use is always enabled on your glasses unless you turn off ‘Hey Meta,'” and “the option to disable voice recordings storage is no longer available.” Basically, Meta is vowing to look at what I'm looking at and store whatever I say, so you could argue there are some pretty big privacy concerns."

NOBODY I know wants cameras and microphones pointed at them by some idiot wearing what should properly be called "Incel Glasses." In terms of social interaction, they are anything but "smart," and the original "glasshole" name applied to wearers of Google Glass that debuted a dozen years ago still very much applies. I cannot imagine Apple getting into such a socially repulsive business. 

I would LOVE to stop using Alexa voice control for smart home devices, but it's ubiquitous while support for Siri remains very poor. If Apple does release a HomeOS, I hope it does a MUCH better job of getting smart home device manufacturers on board to support it. Lacking that improved support, I'm not sure what the point of this exercise would be.