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What The OEM Needs

Before returning to Apple in 1997, Steve Jobs said that there was one thing wrong with Apple, "The products suck! There's no attraction in them anymore!" what he meant was that they had become boxes with generic designs and some chips thrown inside for good measure. They failed to induce lust within the consumer, did not make them wait in lines for their release, did not make them think about selling vital organs, apendages, wives, anything, just to lay their hands on a new Apple product.
Android OEMs seem to be suffering from a similar fate as Apple in its Jobs-less era. Though it has become highly successful in the low and middle-end market, Android has been unable to usurp the iron throne of the iPhone on top of the high =-end market, where all the large profit margins reside. A few phones are able to make a splash, but none of them have had as huge an impact as the iPhone. Even developers are getting tired of the highly fragmented platform and journalists are getting bored of reviewing similar looking devices coming out of a thousand different camps, as everyone and their mother, maybe even their grandmother along with a few nephews, think that it’s a good idea to 'develop' a new Android device.
What Android needs is a super sexy halo device, a flagship that through amazing design, stands out in the crowd and attracts customers towards it in droves. The iPhone was such a device and now even Microsoft’s Windows Phone has such a device in the shape of the Nokia Lumia 800 and it’s upcoming follower the Lumia 900.
The iPhone offers a perfect mix of stellar hardware married to beautiful, yet simple software. People are attracted by the design, and once they get it in their hands and explore the UI, it’s the begining of a love affair. With its latest iteration, Ice Cream Sandwich, Android has, for the first time, gained as beautiful an interface. All Android needs at this point is for some OEM to build a design, attractive enough to give consumers that initial push to fall in love with their OS and to take them to the level of sophistication, as their competitors.
Here are a few of my thoughts about what leading OEMs in the Android world can do to have any hope of being as sexy as their competition:
Samsung
Of all Android OEM’s, none have been as successful in the Android arena as Samsung. Owing to the fact that they produce their own chipsets, they are able to optimize their software much closer to their hardware and are thus able to create a blazing fast user experience. Even their designs are mostly serviceable, but they lose out on one key aspect: material quality. They tend to make all of their phones with cheap looking plastic, which is not preferable for customers who are spending exorbitant amounts of money to purchase their high-end phones. We need more metal, glass and polycarbonate, people!
HTC
Initially, HTC were on the right path; they made some pretty cool devices, like the Nexus One, the Desire S and the Legend, which proved successful for them. But they took that success to heart a little too vehemently. Now, all their devices seem so similar that one would need a microscope to differentiate them, the same wide speaker grills and curved edges; do not make a sexy device! Add to that the sheer volume of devices they produce, customers can get confused far too easily. Guys, churn out low to mid-end devices, all year, but focus all your attention and all your design chops on one high end device per year and build a brand around it. Fortunately, their new One series seems to be on the right track, let’s see what kind of impression it makes.
Motorola
Motorola, just needs focus! They are being acquired by Google, which is a huge deal! One would think that their collective vision of software would be better. After their ridiculous experiments with MotoBlur, their new skin is a major improvement, but there’s still a long way to go to achieve design parity with their competition. Also, they need to maintain the integrity of their brands; it wouldn't exactly inspire customer loyalty to have their newly minted devices one-upped just months after they bought them. For example, the Droid Bionic was released in September 2011, the Razr, two months later and the Razr MAXX a mere three months later, all at the same launch price of $299.99 on a two year contract. Such tactics do not inspire customer loyalty, as customers buy high-end phones with the assurance that theirs would be the best phone on the market for the foreseeable future. Again, focus on one flagship slab phone, coupled with another flagship QWERTY slider per year, and you're golden.
Sony
Sony is one of the strongest Android OEMs, right now in terms of design. Both the Xperia Arc and the newly announced Xperia S are pretty well-designed phones, but Sony always commits one fatal error, it does not iterate fast enough! The fact that the Xperia S is going to be launched with Gingerbread, instead of Ice Cream Sandwich and that it is using last year’s silicon (i.e. the Snapdragon S3, instead of the S4) cumulatively makes it a bittersweet deal. Good design needs substance as well, so ramp-up your game Sony, catch up already!
Android has now evolved into a pretty compelling platform with the advent of ICS. OEMs need to do justice to such attractive software and combine it with, simply put ‘amazing hardware’, to make sure that this sweet lass called Android, finally becomes sexy enough to attract as large a cult following as iOS.

Basically you've addressed the strategy each of the major players in Android need to take. I have generalised it a bit more other threads, saying that they need a strategy close to Sony and HTC, meaning more polish and support on a range of fewer phones. Although I do agree about Sony being behind on both OS and tech. While churning out numerous various iterations each year seems to be profitable, it is conversely damaging to these companies. The company's reputation becomes tarnished, and when they perfect the 'smaller range of phones with more polish' strategy, the companies should see more profitability.
Samsung while needing to put better build materials, also needs to reduce the sheer range of phones they put out each. Galaxy S series (1, 2 and upcoming 3) Galaxy Note, and Ace series really comprised the quintessential range of Samsung Android phones. The Galaxy Beam could be included when released. However you can't say that about the Galaxy R, W, Fit, Mini, Gio etc. It fails to really bring meaningful variation. Android is about options, but the difference in choices should be substantial or tangible.
I, often, go as far to say you have three level for consumers; high end, mid level, and budget. Now the major players excluding Sony, usually like to intergrate the lastest tech, which means that 4 - 5 months later the manufacture can introduce a new phone on just two levels or all three. So you've got a base range of 9 phones more or less each year. You might have a catergory of Special phone category for unique features like the Galaxy Beam or Xperia Sola or Padphone. A company should easily be able to provide excellent support for 9-10 phones. It might be a little more with 4g(or next gen)/International variations but is a new budget phone every 4 months necessary?
I really think customers would get this, but what do you think.

Agreed with pretty much all of it. Ever since after the Nexus One (arguably, before it as well), there have been too many Android devices that are practically clones. Although this is good because the more phones there are the more people will use Android (I guess), it's just overcrowding crap. And yes, Samsung's phones major downside is the stupid plastic they use, haha!

charmthief88 said:
Basically you've addressed the strategy each of the major players in Android need to take. I have generalised it a bit more other threads, saying that they need a strategy close to Sony and HTC, meaning more polish and support on a range of fewer phones. Although I do agree about Sony being behind on both OS and tech. While churning out numerous various iterations each year seems to be profitable, it is conversely damaging to these companies. The company's reputation becomes tarnished, and when they perfect the 'smaller range of phones with more polish' strategy, the companies should see more profitability.
Samsung while needing to put better build materials, also needs to reduce the sheer range of phones they put out each. Galaxy S series (1, 2 and upcoming 3) Galaxy Note, and Ace series really comprised the quintessential range of Samsung Android phones. The Galaxy Beam could be included when released. However you can't say that about the Galaxy R, W, Fit, Mini, Gio etc. It fails to really bring meaningful variation. Android is about options, but the difference in choices should be substantial or tangible.
I, often, go as far to say you have three level for consumers; high end, mid level, and budget. Now the major players excluding Sony, usually like to intergrate the lastest tech, which means that 4 - 5 months later the manufacture can introduce a new phone on just two levels or all three. So you've got a base range of 9 phones more or less each year. You might have a catergory of Special phone category for unique features like the Galaxy Beam or Xperia Sola or Padphone. A company should easily be able to provide excellent support for 9-10 phones. It might be a little more with 4g(or next gen)/International variations but is a new budget phone every 4 months necessary?
I really think customers would get this, but what do you think.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My Personal opinion differs for every company,
1. HTC - Last year, they produced many handsets, but none of none them was able to catch up with Samsung's flagship. They even produced two variants of their previous flagship Sensation which are Sensation XE and XL. In terms of design, XL was just a re-branded sensation with the beats logo, colored grills and increase in the CPU speed, while the XL was Xtra Large and was really costly. This played a major role in their loss of profit or revenue last year, Although i liked the Explorer, it was quite cool handset and showed improvement over it's predecessor Wildfire S.
2. Sony- Previous year, they just focus on their Xperia line of phones, one by one they just released Xperia series phones. They completely forgot their legendary series viz Walkman, Although the xperia smart phones were good- looking, sony's strategy failed to appeal to consumers much.
P.S. Sorry, it was Sony Ericson previous year.
3. Samsung- They are the most successful company in the Android smart phones arena. Producing smart phones like Galaxy SII and Galaxy Note, i think i don't need to say much about them. But, whereas they produced great phones, they also made some goofy mistakes, like producing clones of their previous flagship like Galaxy S Plus, Galaxy S advance and the recent Galaxy S blaze. In my opinion, Samsung currently holds a powerful portfolio of smartphone varying from Low-end droids to high end. But they also have some obsolete stuff in their portfolio which they should clean viz. Pop, fit, mini etc.

(ALL ABOUT)Samsung Galaxy S3: the latest bid to dominate the Android market

Samsung has released a new flagship smartphone, the Galaxy S3, including voice control, wireless beaming of content and exclusive apps, as it aims to consolidate its position at the top of the mobile sector.
The S3 has a super AMOLED 4.8in screen, larger than its predecessor the S2, with an 8 megapixel rear camera and 1.9MP front camera which offers "intelligent camera features" that the company says will adapt to what it sees you doing.
The phone runs on Google's Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich) software, but has a number of Samsung additions – including voice recognition and eye tracking.
The phone will go on sale on 30 May in the UK, with Orange and Phones4U already lined up to sell it. No price has yet been given. It will go on sale in the US this summer. Samsung said it will go on sale with 296 carriers in 145 countries. It can connect at "4G" speeds in compatible countries.
"S Voice" can respond to spoken orders such as "wake up" when its screen is off, "snooze" for an alarm, or to play a particular song, change volume settings, and take pictures. It also responds to gestures, so that lifting the phone to the face while sending a text message will dial the recipient's number instead.
Samsung has also souped up Google's Android Beam (which can pass data such as business card details) so it is capable of sending a 1GB file between two S3 phones in three minutes, or a 10MB file in two seconds by touching them together.
It comes in a 15GB or 32GB version, though the company said a 64GB model would come soon. Buyers can get an optional wireless charging pad, similar to that offered with the now-defunct HP TouchPad last year.
At 4.8in, the screen size is only just below the minimum 5in that most analysts class as a tablet – indicating Samsung's confidence that top-end users will want larger screens. The first-generation Galaxy S in 2010 had a 4in screen; the S2, a 4.3in screen.
The company sold an estimated 44m smartphones across its entire portfolio in the first quarter of 2012, more than any other company. It dominates the Android sector too, selling around 50% of phones on a platform which itself makes up 50% of smartphone sales.
Jason Jenkins, editor of CNET UK, said: "The Samsung Galaxy S3 is a cracker of a smartphone that makes the iPhone look a little like yesterday's model. It cements Samsung's place as one of the leading phone manufacturers and really puts the pressure on Apple to come up with something different for its next iPhone later in the year.
"It's also starting to look like this will be a two-horse race – Samsung and Apple fighting it out for the number one spot with everyone else left to pick up the crumbs. HTC, Sony, BlackBerry and Nokia are the ones with the real work to do."
Ian Fogg, an analyst at IHS Suppli, said: "What's striking is that Samsung is focusing on software and the experiences, more than the hardware (although that is excellent too). Features like Pop over, social tag, and S Voice all aspire to differentiate from the opposition through the user experience that Samsung's software customisation delivers.
"Samsung have been leading up to this for a while, but this is the first time they've led their product positioning on user experience and software."
Francisco Jeronimo, IDC's smartphones analyst, was downbeat, saying: "It is not an eye-catching device that will overwhelm consumers."
He noted that analysts had not been given the chance to try out the voice control in pre-release demonstrations of the phone. Of a brief test, he said: "Overall, [it] seems very similar to Siri, but my first impression was that is not as well integrated with the phone as Siri is with the iPhone."
Carolina Milanesi, smartphones analyst at the research group Gartner, said that Samsung was looking for ways to remain ahead of rivals in the Android space, as well as Apple.
"They need to push the boundaries in order to remain ahead," she said. "It will be interesting to see how many of these new features [in the S3] will be open to developers so that they can take advantage of them in their apps."
However, if developers start to target Samsung APIs for apps, that could potentially split the Android platform still further beyond the individual versions produced by Google – and would also tend to increase Samsung's control of Android.
Such an "embrace and extend" manoeuvre would build its control of the platform, where it already presently has half of worldwide sales and is the biggest profit-maker.
Jeronimo observed: "Samsung definitely embraced Android, and is extending it. We shouldn't also forget that Samsung has a quite opportunistic approach to market trends.
"If Android is now the new kid on the block that can best contribute to its success, they will invest and nurture it to maximise the opportunity. But if the trend changes (and they are very good at anticipating that), they will also change the platform they embrace in the future."
But, he added: "It is clear that Samsung has no other strong options at the moment."
No price was announced, though Milanesi suggested that it would be priced similarly to the Google-branded (but Samsung-made) Galaxy Nexus, released last October, and that prices of the year-old Galaxy S2 would be cut to boost Samsung's already dominant share.
Milanesi was generally impressed with the device, though with some reservations. "The design is much improved, and despite the fact that it is still plastic it feels much less cheap than the Galaxy S2 and the Nexus," she said.
But she thought the S Voice control was less convincing: "It came across as a little gimmicky when I played with it. But to me the main issue is that these features are quite buried in the device, so might not be that obvious to consumers. S Voice is not as complex as Siri – more like voice activation for simple commands."
Overall, she suggested: "I think Samsung has similar challenges to Apple but with a less convincing overall package and a weaker brand."
But Fogg suggested that the real problem would be for other companies. "For Nokia, this must be deeply concerning," he said. "One of Nokia's stated reasons they opted for Windows Phone was because they believed that it would be impossible to differentiate using Android.
"Samsung is showing with the the Galaxy S3 that it's perfectly possible to innovate with Android software. In fact, Android is enabling faster innovation than any handset maker has managed with Windows Phone."
But the new Galaxy S3 could also pose problems for the smaller players in the Android space, Fogg suggested. "Samsung's marketing spend and brand awareness are second to none. This combination of marketing spend and channels will cause serious problems for smaller handset makers such as HTC, LG and Motorola."
Jeronimo warned that Samsung needs to consolidate its position: "Samsung needs to come up with unique features and not to catch-up once again with other vendors. What is there that's completely unique on the S3 that we haven't seen on other devices? Maybe slight differences on the features, but nothing disruptive.
"They entered a new era. The only way to succeed is to set the pace of innovation. I believe that's exactly what they want to do, but they still suffering from the 'follower-syndrome': to improve what others created. That's why consumers will compare the S Voice to Siri and not the other way around."

If you're going to copy/paste an article that someone else wrote, I believe common courtesy would be to cite the source. Also, what is the point of starting a thread like this? There are already a ton of other GS3 threads, why not post your OWN opinions in one of those threads instead of starting a new thread with someone else's words?
All that said, I don't think Sammy is going to dominate anything with this phone, it is downright hideous. I really hope the US variants look a lot nicer.

Your opinions on the tablet

Hello,
I've had the tablet for about a month now (8010). I really love it. But I am sure many of you will agree that there is alot of room for feasible improvement. This was how I felt about the galaxy note phone that I currently have as well. Accordingly, I feel that when the galaxy note 2 10.1 tablet comes out... it will have significant OS improvements that will make it much better.... Only for this reason am I considering returning the product just to be more patient for the second generation... your thoughts?

aycn602 said:
Hello,
I've had the tablet for about a month now (8010). I really love it. But I am sure many of you will agree that there is alot of room for feasible improvement. This was how I felt about the galaxy note phone that I currently have as well. Accordingly, I feel that when the galaxy note 2 10.1 tablet comes out... it will have significant OS improvements that will make it much better.... Only for this reason am I considering returning the product just to be more patient for the second generation... your thoughts?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The later generations are typically better, and there are typically later generations coming out all the time, so if you wait for the note 2 10.1, you will find some issues that will be improved on with the note 3 and so on, or some other device. That is how things work and progress, so it really depends on how much money you have if you are able to continue buying the latest and greatest every 6 months or so and want to take the time to get everything set up again. I figure I'll be fine with this one for a couple years and then upgrade a generation or so down the line or go to something else that becomes better. It is never ending as technology is constantly improving and methods for development are always improving and changing.
In order for companies to have money and staff for their proper research and development, people need to purchase their products on the market now and invest that way.

I am perfectly happy with my Note 10.1. I would suspect the Note 10.1 v2 won't be out until late next summer so you have to decide if you want to wait that long go for it.
As for improvements to this I would be curious what you think needs major improvement, so much so you would return this. I am actually quite impressed with the software on this. I have a Galaxy Nexus and Xoom both with Jellybean so I was a little hesitant getting a non Nexus device but I must say Samsung has done a pretty good job with this OS, even TouchWiz is pretty good. While we are promised Jellybean soon, and I am fairly confident we will get Key Lime Pie, I doubt we will see anything after that unless the dev community is able to make it happen. As of now I am good with this because the tablet is good enough not to need much more from the OS.
Speed and responsiveness thanks to the quad core and 2 Gb of RAM is impressive. Unlike the Tegra2 in my Xoom, I believe this hardware will hold up well for the next 2 years of app development. Even with Jellybean on the Xoom, the Note 10.1 with ICS is much smoother (thanks its internals).
All this to say I am very happy with this tablet.
Sent from my GT-N8013 using xda premium

aycn602 said:
Hello,
I've had the tablet for about a month now (8010). I really love it. But I am sure many of you will agree that there is alot of room for feasible improvement. This was how I felt about the galaxy note phone that I currently have as well. Accordingly, I feel that when the galaxy note 2 10.1 tablet comes out... it will have significant OS improvements that will make it much better.... Only for this reason am I considering returning the product just to be more patient for the second generation... your thoughts?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's kind of a bad comparison you're making. The Note 10.1 is the equivalent of the SGS3 and Note II both h/w and s/w wise. The OG Note I was equivalent to the SGS2 and OG G-Tab 10.1. Samsung sold only 700K OG G-Tab 10.1’s in the U.S. after spending $500K marketing them and distributing them via the U.S. carriers. That’s pretty pitiful considering it was deemed the most compelling Android tablet on the market and the best alternative to the iPad. All the Android tablet makers are also now making W8 tablets. Depending on their success with W8 you may see them greatly reduce or pull out of the Android tablet market completely.
This article talks about Android tablets in a post-W8 tablet world…
"I think [productivity-focused Android tablets] are going to fade away," says Rob Enderle, the principal analyst of the Enderle Group, summing up the group consensus. "I think we'll see Windows convertibles and hybrids pick up that category. The keyboard really goes with Office."
The analysts I contacted also agree that Windows tablets will quickly gobble up Android's market share in the premium-priced tablet segment. Dropping $500 or more on a 10.1-inch Android tablet requires a lot more deliberation than spending $200 on a 7-inch Google Nexus 7. For this reason, analysts believe, consumers will flock toward the more seamless (and less glitchy) Windows experience when going for a big-screen (and non-iPad) tablet.
But will Android tablets vanish entirely? Most of the experts I spoke with don't think so. Excluding Forrester's Rotman Epps, most analysts expect Android tablets to be around for the long haul, albeit in a niche role that focuses on low prices and media playback.
http://www.pcworld.com/article/2012231/is-windows-8-an-existential-threat-to-android-tablets.html​

The only thing I think that the note misses:
A working and reliable office clone, with the ability to ink
A note taking program that records audio, as it takes not. Like livescribe does, or onenote does. I was quite suprised to find that this doesnt exist in android yet.
A keyboard accessory, that works like a clam. A tranformer type keyboard would be fabulous
Otherwise I think the Note 10.1 is fabulous

Yup. I agree with the others. You're trying to decide if you should own the best android tablet or nothing?. The Note 10.1 stands out in front of the other tablets. So it your looking for the best tablet, this is it. Don't wait.
If you really would like to upgrade when the next model comes out, I would keep the Note 10.1 until then.

I agree, this is by far the best tablet on the market.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 using xda app-developers app

What you did not mention is what is that you do not like in the note.
Samsung has given note hardware that is not required at present like 2gb of ram one of the reasons for doing so is to make it future proof upto a certain extent, I belive a life of a laptop is 3 years, cellphone and tablet may be around 2 years and with period I think note would be good enough.
Yes the screen resolution on PAPER looks like it needs improvement but that was I think to keep price down because of the Spen.
But overall I believe its a great tablet.
One thing I can challeng no other tablet can do or will do for a long time to come is write a mail using spen believe me my handwriting on a scale to 1-10 is 1 and still it recognises it and thats something awesome

Thanks for all your responses! My biggest worry / problem with this tablet is to build quality. Overall, for a 500+dollar tablet I feel like its overall aesthetics aren't as sleek nor seem as durable as it should be. [really didn't mind the plastic build on my note phone but I guess a tablet it does seem a little cheap. Secondly, I think the biggest improvement can and will be made in themulti-app functionality. I enjoy the experience of it right now but it is not truly a polished function of Samsung's feature. Included should be hOw S- memo functions. LastIy the biggest disappointments Come from Polaris. I use a bluetooth keyboard to really Use my tablet as a laptop replacement for small tasks such as organising class notes. But I often am frustrated with how Polaris functions. Though the merit of the tablet is its s-pen the inability to be productiveWith a keyboard on Polaris makes me wonder if I should seriously consider Windows...
Sent from my GT-N8010 using xda app-developers app

I think you have formed an opinion against the note if you think polaris is not good enough you can look at other office apps on market place spend few extra buck or dl it from sites
Looks are concerned well once in case they wont matter but I have the bluish grey like the one on SG3 and I love how the back looks but again I have case so its not visible. but then its onces taste. I feel looks wise tablet may not win awards but its not an ugly duckling either. its a look samsung has gone with for all its mobile devices so whether you like it or hate it you have to live with it

After owning the first Galaxy Tab, Asus Transformer and the Galaxy Tab 7.7 the 10.1 note is without a doubt the one i have enjoyed and used the most. The screen resolution is a slight let down after the 7.7 but everything else is best on the market at present so this is a keeper. Good for media and useful for business.
Sent from my GT-N8000 using Tapatalk 2

aycn602 said:
Hello,
I've had the tablet for about a month now (8010). I really love it. But I am sure many of you will agree that there is alot of room for feasible improvement. This was how I felt about the galaxy note phone that I currently have as well. Accordingly, I feel that when the galaxy note 2 10.1 tablet comes out... it will have significant OS improvements that will make it much better.... Only for this reason am I considering returning the product just to be more patient for the second generation... your thoughts?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think u should wait for the tablet that will launch in 2040... it would be perfect. Would have a full frame prismless dslr integrated, will be able to change physical shape, will have quantum computing cpu, 12800 ppi display, ffc (far field communication chip, allowing u to beam photos from distant planets without internet) and will be powered by a nuclear fusion cells that can outlast human life span on one single charge!
But in order to pass this time till next big thing comes... buy note 10.1. It brings a smile on my face everyday! Hopefully it will give u same joy!
Enjoy the journey!
Sent from my GT-N8013 using Tapatalk

smrsxn said:
I think u should wait for the tablet that will launch in 2040... it would be perfect. Would have a full frame prismless dslr integrated, will be able to change physical shape, will have quantum computing cpu, 12800 ppi display, ffc (far field communication chip, allowing u to beam photos from distant planets without internet) and will be powered by a nuclear fusion cells that can outlast human life span on one single charge!
But in order to pass this time till next big thing comes... buy note 10.1. It brings a smile on my face everyday! Hopefully it will give u same joy!
Enjoy the journey!
Sent from my GT-N8013 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is good stuff. Personally I love this thing and I use it to about 1/10th of its ability. It's fast, smooth, and there is so much to it that I'm just enjoying reading and researching this thing. The great thing about this, and android in general, is options. We have lots of options.
I am always amazed about complaints, particularly in the cell phone arena. People have completely forgotten its a damn phone. If you want a super computer, well go buy one. Same can be said for the tablet market. If you are working on some complicated excel sheet, and you get pissed because something gets corrupted or something, chances are, you should be probably using your computer for that excel sheet that is mission critical for your 8am meeting. Don't get mad cause some formula driven excel sheet got corrupted why you tried to edit or create it on your tablet
My last rant will be about one of my iSheep friends who I let play with it. He held it, turned vertically, then horizontally, then vertically again, repeat a few more times etc. He snapped a couple pictures, then handed it back to me after 45 seconds and said, "this thing is terrible...its clunky and awkward". I looked at him, shook my head, and did the best sheep imitation I could muster. That cult is more then I can handle.
Sent from my GT-N8013 using Tapatalk 2

The iPhone 6 from an Android user's perspective

This is from a article I was just reading. I just had to share it.
The iPhone 6 from an Android user's perspective
http://www.appy-geek.com/Web/ArticleWeb.aspx?regionid=1&articleid=28711005

I went trough the article and all what it reads it is true and correct.
Anyhow Apple is not just about phone specs, it is a philosophy, a different way of thinking.
They are always on research of perfection, their devices are stylish and perfect in details.
No matter how much ram they put on their devices (1Gb?), the OS runs always smooth.
Instead, to have Android OS running nicely you need to buy a top device with good specs, otherwise you will always see lags etc.
Apple may me behind compared to Samsung on pure specs, but Apple does in a perfect way what it promises to do, this at least till new version of iOS come out... but that's marketing... otherwise who would buy new device?
This said, I am now using a Samsung S4 PLUS after several years of iPhone and that is because I can now get a top device, running nicely with 1/3 of the price of a new iPhone. Till Samsung S3 this was not the case, but Samsung S4 is a big step forward and I am pleased with it.
I compared iPhone just with Samsung devices because they are the biggest in the market, of course there are other Android top device to take into consideration as well, but then this would get too far

J1897 said:
..., to have Android OS running nicely you need to buy a top device with good specs, otherwise you will always see lags etc.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's not a fair comparison between Android and iOS. To have iOS running nicely you need to buy a iphone or ipad which have top specs and are always priced among the highest
I like many many things about iOS, iphones and ipads. I just hate Apple's walled garden approach, closeness, and super greediness. That's why I buy Android devices over and over still. Apple's attention to details however is something all its competitors should emulate. Top notch components that may not have the top specs on paper but are indeed very very high quality e.g. camera, cpu, battery, screen. Little to no lags, smooth operation all around, just solid overall. Can't say about most Android devices even high end ones. My Asus Transformer Prime had a ton of lag, GPS problem, short battery, slow storage. It was $500, though with more storage, had the same price as iPad2 yet nowhere near iPad2's performance in almost any category. I felt it's shameful for Asus to release such a product. To compete with Apple, you have to be God damn serious. A lot of vendors sneak in second, third grade components or have poor software in their flagships that ruin otherwise perfect devices, e.g OPO (screen issue), Moto X (poor camera and rather bad screen). My Note 3 is excellent and have more capabilities than iPhone 5S but still needs to be better to level with iPhone 5S's smooth operation.
Last point I want to make is Google needs to drive the market better. Take mobile payment as an example. Google Wallet and NFC came long time ago. I just didn't find a lot of merchants having POS terminals to accept Google Wallet. Now Apple is looking to be taking over the world of payment by a mobile phone. Whose fault is it that Android mobile payment hasn't caught on fire? Google. They seem to lack the business or marketing savviness to drive a business initiative. It takes convincing merchants to get POS terminals to support mobile payments. If Apple truly succeeds, that's just shame, shame, shame on Google.

Some the "new" things have been years on Android and even on Symbian. Like week numbers in calendar..

Thoughts on support/development since launch?

I have to admit im a big samsung fan. Got the note edge and think it still is the greatest handset ever made (have refused to upgrade as a result). But the approach samsung took with it was heartbreaking - seemingly releasing it and seeing if third parties made it sink or swim. Safe to say i think it sunk and functionality never moved on much from launch day. Have a Gear2 Neo - really not much happened post launch either from Samsung or third party devs.
3+ months on from launch of the S2 it's starting to feel eerily similar. We've had a firmware update that delivered a few watch faces and a notification dot and they're talking about a payment system some time next year. The Samsung App Store environment leaves a lot to be desired itself, let alone much of the content. Seems samsung doesnt get a lot of love from big name apps/developers (eg - no official facebook app on a tizen watch, ever?) for its quirky and unique hardware, should they be doing more themselves? I'd have thought they'd want to back Tizen as hard as they could, given Android Wear's foothold and Apple's ability to flex its strength in the market. The advertising blitz in my home city has been pretty remarkable.
Dont get me wrong, i love the watch and what it does out of the box - but is it starting to feel again like a class leading device is struggling to reach its full potential? Perhaps this is really all a smart watch will ever do, or really needs to do.

Couldn't agree more!! I have had several Samsung products. 2 -Tv, 2 - tablets, 2 - watches, note 2, 3, and 4. Tizen has been this way for a while, and Samsung loves selling you an item more than maintaining it with updates. My poor galaxy note 8 languishes with no updates. If you buy Samsung products you just have to know what you buy is pretty much the way it's going to be for they will be moving on to selling newer tech and forgetting about you and your last month's tech..

Rsmin said:
Couldn't agree more!! I have had several Samsung products. 2 -Tv, 2 - tablets, 2 - watches, note 2, 3, and 4. Tizen has been this way for a while, and Samsung loves selling you an item more than maintaining it with updates. My poor galaxy note 8 languishes with no updates. If you buy Samsung products you just have to know what you buy is pretty much the way it's going to be for they will be moving on to selling newer tech and forgetting about you and your last month's tech..
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Agreed. Samsung makes great products but what you get at purchase is basically what you get, period. Anything new afterwards, if anything, is a bonus...unfortunately.

I pretty much agree with your statements so far. Samsung is a huge global institution making everything from memory chips to washing machines. Each individual product is a tiny piece of their overall efforts, and so they're basic strategy is to make al kinds of stuff and see what sells. They don't have the control-freak perfectionist attitude of Apple. (Apple makes sure things work smoothly, and locks them down -- the first iphone had no apps whatsoever for quite a while).
But the Gear S2 is a runaway success compared to earlier Samsung smart watches, and there has been some action from small developers (and a few large ones: Uber, Ebay) since launch. And smartwatches in general are still in the early adopter phase; even many Apple fans say the iwatch is more a toy and/or fashion statement than a must-have device so far. So I'm not giving up hope for some interesting development just yet. If Samsung pay comes out and starts to be successful and useful, that could mean something.

Tstreete, I hope you are right..

tstreete said:
But the Gear S2 is a runaway success compared to earlier Samsung smart watches
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Definitely seems to have struck a chord where other products have failed to. My non-techy friends even recognise the device, perhaps due to it being advertised on every bus stop in our city.
At any rate it seems I have been proven wrong with the release of the Gear Watch Designer application. Certainly an instance where im happy to be made a fool of lol.