iPhone 5–Flattering to disappoint

 

The newest version of the most important product from Apple was unveiled yesterday. With purists gunning for bleeding edge tech to be adopted and inserted into ever thinning profile were not disappointed, it was still a lackluster debut where I felt certain key things were missed.

Build

It was a welcome return to the original design, which was one of the greatest reasons, iPhone sold out when it was introduced. The aluminum back would greatly reduce the need to invest in a phone case.

Physical dimension – Apple avoided the lure of going big and stuck to something which I really appreciated - The width is being retained while the length was increased. I have rotating use of the HTC One X, iPhone 4, and Blackberry 9700. I believe the fit in your pal determines, what you tend to pickup for your daily use irrespective of screen size and features.

I personally do not bother with the 4.0 inch screen introduced. 4.3 would have been the best screen to introduce and continue for a few years, after all, our palms will not evolve in next few years for us to feel the Galaxy Note screens to be any smaller.

Hardware Upgrades

The other hardware upgrades were either expected, given the current crop of smartphones with overflowing features. But, Apple still is left behind by missing to introduce several features beyond the obvious. Retina displays are common, so is LTE and high end optics in flagship phones. Neither did Apple introduce newer Bluetooth version.  The change of data port pin is a bit relief, but again, Micro USB plugs have been around for a while, and we are now heading into Era of Wireless charging, so Apple seem to be chasing the past here.

IOS 6 – Although announced during early Summer, it would turn out to be the weakest part of iPhone eco system, which lacks innovation. It should have been a innovative upgrade, but has ended up being incremental. The classic look is now getting stale and unless, Apple introduces dynamic icons / screen elements to catch up with Android widgets or Live tiles of Metro UI. Apple might excel at what it does, but then so did Blackberry with mobile email. It did not take much time for Blackberry to start staring at its grave with the onslaught of consumer preferences, which they ignored.

What’s for future – The wishlist for iPhone 6 is already out on some tech blogs, I thought I would put in one from my side as well.

• 4.3 inch screen,
• Dynamic screen elements,
• World phone with world wide LTE capabilities in single device,
• NFC or similar approach to use with passbook,
• Offline navigation as standard,
• FM Radio (It’s a unicorn in Apple world),
• Wireless Charging,
• USB Mass Storage mode,
• and a decent set of Earphones, which you don’t throw away after 2 months.

Initial Impressions of the MacBook Pro

Being a PC wanderer, I have jumped the fence to the other side, where everything white is cool, premium and the "in thing".

I'm personally not a fan of the features to cost ratio of Apple products but somewhere down the line, Windows based products were really letting me down in terms of features and execution. Windows Vista was nearly a killer but it was killing the systems it was running on and not the competition. Windows 7 and Windows Mobile have come and saved the MS world for now.

To mention that I own a product from every major platform including RIM (yes, I still love my Blackberrys) is a feeling where I get to evaluate each of the platforms' strengths and weaknesses.

Since this post is about the MBP (MacBook Pro) I will concentrate on it for now. The version of MBP I have is from the refresh cycle of Spring 2011 where they came out with Core iX series of processors from Intel and featured the new Thunderbolt technology. Honeslty, I do not care much for it for now unless it matures and you start seeing a plethora of devices which use this technology.

Build :
The build of the unibody aluminium is impeccable. I have not seen HP Envy but would assume it to be of similar quality if not better. Dell Adamo was another one, but it never caught my attention. Plus, the aesthetic value of an Apple product cannot be underestimated.

The otherwise minimalist appearance is something worth showing off. The build is definitely a 4 out 5 rating.

Hardware :

Intel inside with the GMA video option is something which will be bypassed in today's Windows 7 world with sigh. 1 GB and 2 GB dedicated video cards are the norm.

But the Apple world places a premium on everything. The Core i5 build in the 13.3 inch MBP does not allow any video card customization and still costs equivalent to a Wintel laptop which would include 8 GB of RAM, Core i7 and any of the above mentioned video graphics with a Bluray burner.

But as they, fastest is always not the best. The utilization of the resources in a optimum manner is what is desired today.

I would from a Hardware perspective, give a 2 out of 5 to Apple even though considering they are among the premium laptops irrespective of the OS world.

OS X Lion :
Coming to the OS, I have upgraded to the recently released OS X codenamed "Lion" which has brought in excellent features of the iOS platform and combined some neat multitouch features which nearly eliminate any kind of lengthy scrolling or navigation key strokes.

A swipe to the right with 2 fingers takes you forward in a browser, 2 finger swipe to the left takes you back. Changing screens between Dashboard and active window is a matter of 3 finger swipe to the left or right.

The scrolling is something you have to get used to. There are no scrollbars and flicking to scroll is the  opposite to what you do in iPhone or iPad.

The OS is a major change with introduction of built in App store and also introduction of iOS like architecture where now applications can be full screen without need of a menu bar or status bar.

It is a very promising move and Apple leads the way here, I would assume some novely from Windows 8 when it is released.

Software :

This has been my biggest disappointment. I also assume this would be resolved to a great extent since now the App store is integrated. I hope there are many developers attracted to make good and cheaper Apps for the Mac store so that more tools and utilities can be created for people to use.

A good example is blogging software. On a Windows, I would use Wordpad or Windows Live Writer to get some blogging done, however on the Mac, unless you use iWeb which comes installed with the OS. All other options run from $20 to $50 for a decent blogging utility. In today's world when every mobile platform has blogging tools available for free, it is really appalling looking at the Apple repository for such costly alternatives.

Software has been always premium on Apple platform due to small market share and targeted audience. I guess it will improve with the App Store arrival.

For a long time Wintel loyalist, I take comfort in the fact that whenever I would need to go to Windows 7. It would be a bootcamp click away on the MBP. This is one of the strong reasons for me to combine the hardware superiority of a Mac with software usablity of OSX and Windows on the same machine.

It would be really incredible, if Apple would release its OS like Windows to be installed on any machine without providing support for the hardware issues. That would help people like me to build and enjoy low cost Hackintosh and Win7 platforms on awesome hardware specs.

The Software unless bought and used for which Apple is famous for, gets a 3 out 5 rating in terms of cost and variety of choices.

I will possibly post an update to the software later this week.

How do you like your personal data ?

With millions of people boarding the Internet bandwagon for their daily communication needs, the exponential growth of data has been anything but expected.

Smart phones are becoming a way of life and so are mandatory "data plans" from the wireless providers. No longer you can have the luxury of buying a Blackberry or iPhone and use it to just make calls, send a few SMSes and listen to some music. Agreed, In India and other countries you still have this luxury, if you pay for the phone in full and then use prepaid.

The recent "leaks" of data and the request for "backdoors" to secure data centres from the government have been instances where the government with all its infrastructure seems to be lagging behind in coming up with measures to monitor this ever exploding traffic of data and sniff out bits which might be of national security interest ( that's what they say ).

With global corporations and trans continental business and communication transaction, the limits to which a country can exercise its powers of restraint and investigation are blurred. The recent example of Blackberry maker RIM coming under the radar of the Indian government and now the UAE, Saudi and Indonesian government is such an example.

Security over internet is as important having a lock over your the main door of your home. The government is allowed to open it when it thinks there is a case, but how protective would you feel if the government declares that it can barge into your house at any time for any reason without requiring a warrant and a tangible doubt over your activities.

I love Blackberry for one major reason "Security", which means, if I ever forget my phone or it is lost, I am sure that no one can access anything on my phone and will end up getting either a brick or a firmware formatted phone if possible.

With the current state security measures which feel like the government is looking for "keywords" to search out susceptible information or flow of communication, chances of a normal citizen coming under the scanner without doing anything dangerous is quite possible. This coupled with knowledge of that government is capable of reading your most personal communications would drive any person to try to cover even more of their tracks if their intentions are really destructive.

I always feel it is fair for the government to clandestinely access data about its citizens and about other people when it feels there could be a threat due to their activities. Declaring these kind of activities in open might deter some weak heart folks to drop their negative intentions, but what about people who are brainwashed and readied for martyrdom. Are they going to care whether the government will find out their activities before they accomplish their mission, I think not.

The attacks on Mumbai on the 26/11 had something very specific to "Blackberry" being used for communication. I guess that is what has led to Indian government to target that company so that future use of smart phones like Blackberry can be tapped into. I have no clue as to what other countries found so limiting in RIM's security protocols which couldn't live up to their local guidelines leading to the ban.

I think the takeaway from the "Wikileaks" and "RIM" issues for the common man are :

1. Be cognizant of what you share and what you write on anything which connects to the Internet.
2. Not everything is lost in the World wide web, the bits do keep travelling, and now the government wants to read them.
3. Segregate what portions of life are "tagged" online and what remain strictly offline.
4. Expand the cerebral storage God has given, no government can steal it from there unless the movie "Inception" becomes a reality in near future.

Happy surfing.

Blackberry - The tale continues....

The word brings into mind two things. The fruit which for some reasons maybe less well known than its namesake smart phone from Ontraio.

I remember reading about Blackberry being a craze among business execs for its ability to exchange messages with each other. Gosh !! I don't even recall when it was, maybe 2002 or something. When I came to US and needed to get a mobile, Blackberry was on my mind, but the sheer size of the 7 series was a big deterrent and then I chanced to see the BB 7105t which was way better in terms of width and design than the rest of its clan.

I signed up for it with T-Mobile and used it happily without its main feature of email which was not a great requirement to me. No other major apps were available at that time which would have prompted me to get the BIS service for the same.

It was not until I got a BB Pearl 8100 in 2007 and Google talk came out with a BB version. Combine this with the excellent email facilities, it became my main communication device on the go. Not only the form factor was excellent, but the enhancements to the screen and ease of use with the Pearl navigation made me a fan of it. Then came along the killer !! BB Curve 8320. How I lusted for it for another 7 months before I could get a chance to own it and realize the use of its wide screen estate and full QWERTY layout. Now I had Wi-Fi coupled with the Instant Messaging solution as well as the not-so great but functional Opera Mini browser.

The iPhone has brought some thought to the RIM designers and they seem to be answering it with the BB Bold due anytime now coupled with the BB 8820 (Kickstart) and BB Javelin (younger sibling of Bold sans 3G) and the BB Thunder showing up later down the road.

With my current contract expired, I was pretty much tempted to try out the iPhone and move into the Apple world. 2 days of use and I made a turnabout. Not only did I return the iPhone, but came back to the curve and would hold on to it, till T-Mobile introduces the other BBs for its loyalist.

Interested !! Hit on the the link below to introduce yourself to the world of Blackberries.

RIM - Official Website