m630

exactly, im a vzw user, and waiting for the 4G model, im sure the next version will be the one to get

theonlychoman

Some more interesting news regarding the next gen iPhones aka iPhone5: http://www.bgr.com/2011/02/14/apple-...-out-keyboard/

skelevirus

A keyboard would be awesome!!

Bteljuice

Just a heads-up for everyone here.

Phones started rolling out will dual core processors. Do you really want phones with outdated hardware?
IMO, Stick with your current phone for a few month and if you're really a HARD APPLE FAN, wait to see what the iPhone 5 will have under the hood. If you don't want to wait, there's the LG Optimus and the Samsung Galaxy S2 that are rolling out soon (Both are Android 2.3).

Honestly, my next phone will surely be a dual core CPU with Nvidia GPU. Won't change my phone till HTC releases their next Super Smartphone.

swajames

And this is where the smart money diverts from your thinking, Jad. The bottom line is that hardware specs are probably the least relevant attribute in what drives the vast majority of customers to buy a phone. People do care about usability, integration, the UI, the availability of content, design, form factor and overall fitness for the intended purpose. Nominally higher spec hardware still typically produces a less than stellar user experience on Android devices due to the significant fragmentation between the OS and the hardware. On an integrated platform like iOS, these issues simply don't manifest themselves in quite the same way. To bring an automotive analogy to illustrate the point, there's little point focusing on the engine when the handling is suspect. That's the reality with many Android devices. Buying on hardware specs alone results in a compromised experience - regardless of the supposed horsepower, witness the jerky UI/scrolling and the lack of multitouch on many (make that most) current Android devices.

Simply put, no one cares about hardware specs if the software and overall user experience is on the money. This simple truth is what Apple understands and others don't. It's not that Apple hardware is underpowered, it is simply not something that defines the experience in the way that the software and attention to detail do.

Anyway - two bold phone-related predictions.

1) Nokia has just destroyed their business. Elop is about to drive them into the ground. The tie-in with WP7 is the kiss of death and may prove to be the thing that turns Nokia from the leader (at least in terms of total units) to a second-tier player. Why? No one wants WP7, and there's absolutely nothing about Nokia's mediocre hardware or brand that will make WP7 any more attractive. Customers that already passed on WP7 aren't going to reconsider just because it now runs on Nokia hardware.

2) Android's rise is about to plateau. The availability of iOS on other carriers and the dawning realization that OS fragmentation is killing the Android ecosystem is going to come home to roost. Looking at the position in just the US, Verizon powered much of the growth in Android, that's going to be more limited now that VZW is selling the Apple device and no longer reliant on giving Droids away for free to make up the numbers.

Bteljuice

Appreciate the Input Steve.

However, I may have to disagree on a few points.

- The reason why Android has been so successful for the past few years is based on its functionality and the ease of its UI. Furthermore, on how much focus they did on Widgets, which is one of the main Attributes that Android has and lured most customers to move to Android (either from iOS or WinMo). Sure it HADa few jerkyness back in 2.1, but as of Froyo 2.2 and Ginger 2.3, that was gone (thus their even bigger success+ good advertising). That is part of every OS development.

Moreover, hardware DOES have an impact on OS (one of the main reasons why iphone 4 and ipad have the A4 and the new generations might have the A5). Having used an iphone 4, the A4 seems more than enough on it, however, they will be placing an A5 on new generation Apple devices. The same applies to Android OS when 3.0 got released for Tablets and 2.4 soon to be released for phones, which brings us to your second argument.

- "To bring an automotive analogy to illustrate the point, there's little point focusing on the engine when the handling is suspect"
The above statement couldn't be any truer, which is why iOS has the second highest ranking OS in the market. However, customers got bored of the same SAFE old icon only homescreen (same since ios2.0 up till now). And the only reason why iOS wasn't facing much Jerkyness is because they didn't have multi tasking until iOS 4.x (which they did have in their first release of multitasking update, then got fixed). They all start somewhere and get a learning curve to improve it (again, part of development).
Android is widely focusing on it UI and improving it on EVERY update.

Here are my thoughts on those two points:

1-Regarding Nokia. WP7 is wonderful and has been praised by many unbiased reviewers, just lacks a few things which are going to be included in their next updates (don't know why, they should have been there on FIRST release but I am sure there's a big reason to it). As for what is going to happen, only time will tell. I have to agree with you though, nothing appealing about Nokia hardware that will make WP7 any more special, only time will tell.

2- I think every OS has it's own type of customers.Small example is: WinMo relied on the people who liked to tweak their phones, this is why when that was stopped in WP7, they took a HUGE HIT and THAT is when everyone started moving to Android. Because Android could do what ever WM6.5 can, better, easier and more user friendly.

Thank you again Steve for commenting. I always value your wisdom, thoughts and knowledge sharing. Please keep sharing.

I hope more people can jump in as well and share their thoughts. Would like to learn moreon this matter.

swajames

It's all good, Jad. I think we're saying much the same thing on the hardware point, we all love the horsepower but once the hardware is fast enough to never get in the way of what you want to do then the incremental gains from that point on do start to become increasingly irrelevant.

You're right on the improvements in Android - I was perhaps a little harsh on that point. That said, the proportion of Android customers using old or older versions of the OS is still pretty high - much higher than it is on iOS. Google really needs to work on its customers and carriers to get more of them up to date.

2011 is shaping up to be a very interesting year, we will certainly see a lot happening on the hardware and software front. Let's hope Google and Apple deliver!

Bteljuice

Always a pleasure.

What I was suggesting, IMO, to have the latest hardware because from then on, updates will keep rolling. So better have the newest hardware under the hood to be able to keep up with the OS requirements and keep your phone up to date.

Current OS may not need all that OUMPH right now but will surely need them in the upcoming updates from iOS and Android.

I am talking after experience since having back then the latest HARDWARE (HD2, two years ago) allowed HD2 users, such as myself, to keep up with the latest updates without being thrown out of the way and forced to change phones=spending money. We were able to update to WM6.5.3 , Android 2.1, Android 2.2 and last but not least DUAL BOOT Android 2.3 and WP7.

Having the latest hardware NOW may not impact much on the current OS, just as Steve explained spot on, but will surely help you keep up with technology as it improves throughout 2011 and who knows, maybe mid 2012 .

theonlychoman

The numbers (albeit they are based on totals of only 5-"prominent" stores) are out: http://www.bgr.com/2011/02/16/exclus...-expectations/

swajames

An interesting story, but I think BGR are making a number of extrapolations and logical leaps based on extremely limited data.

Before one could even begin to judge whether the actual sales numbers - from just five Apple stores - constituted good or mediocre results you'd need access to a significant amount of extra data.

For example:

How many units were in stock?
Did all of the available units sell out?
What were the expected sales numbers?
How did the Apple store sales numbers compare to AT&T and VZW sales numbers in the same locations?
How did the AT&T numbers look prior to the CDMA launch?

All of these - and more - would be needed to draw any remotely meaningful conclusions. As it stands, all we can see is that the VZW device outsold the AT&T device - something that let us not forget is still very much in demand - by around 30 to 40 percent. I'd guess VZW is far from unhappy with these numbers. You also need to remember that the VZW presale did not suffer from the the glitches that plagued the AT&T launch.

About the only reliable data point we've seen to date is Verizon's press release that confirmed that this has been its most successful device launch ever in terms of units shifted. As a publicly traded company discussing price-sensitive information, we can be sure that this at least is accurate.

Simply put, I'm reasonably confident that other carriers would have loved to have had similarly "disappointing" numbers as VZW.