Windows 8 – I think there’s something in this..

Over the last 3 weeks, I’ve been getting curious. About Windows and its form factors. I’d watched and commented on the new Windows 8 phones and Surface hardware from other posters and reviewers on the web.  But these were not my own thoughts and feelings. 

At the same time, I’ve been using a Mac for nearly 6 years. I’ve been ensconced in iOS products since the iPhone 3G and the first iPad.  I’m pretty well invested and it’s pretty much part of my day to day living of tools and data in the cloud via the app model.  I’ve various levels of enjoyment of Android phones, starting with the not so good HTC Desire, but to what I will summarise as excellent in the LG Nexus 4.

You know the drill – the tech guy needs something else to play with. Windows is definitely worth a shout. Coming up over the next few days – an experiential look at the Nokia Lumia 920, running Windows Phone 8.  Starting off in the next post, the Microsoft Surface RT.

From smartphones to tablets

With more of us consuming our content on smartphones and tablets, our requirements for computing on the go are coming more refined. And our preferences are shifting all the time.

What started as uniform acceptance of 3.5 to 4 inch smartphones is changing. With the success of the Samsung Galaxy range, culminating in the extremely successful S3 and Galaxy Note, it seems Apple has responded competitively and is due to announce a 4inch (16:9) device this September according to trusted bloggers such as iMore and TheLoop. What's interesting for me, is less about the 4S to whatever the new model is going to be called, but seeing if there will be another opportunity to use a more immersive and more portable device to take around with me everywhere.

Like most of us my iPhone or Galaxy Nexus is my primary carry around device largely because driven by the occasional need to make and receive calls. I carry the iPad around for preferred consuming on the train, on flights, in the hotel or even at my desk in the office. It ends up being a strange problem, in that the the the iPad is perfect for web browsing, book reading, RSS feeds and video playback — however, it's not as portable as I'd like it to be. It's too heavy. As such, while suited to the hotel, couch or on your desk in the office, it's not the preferred experience when on the train or when needing to drop something lighter into the bag when you're on the move.

While smartphones by Samsung, Motorola and HTC have been increasing in size, it's the tablet space which I see is going to be more interesting. Many of us have developed tastes and preferences for different types of portable devices when we are on the move, dependent of course on where we will be.  The iPad has redefined what we do on the couch, but it's not ideal for the key things we want to do when on the move, largely due to its current mass and weight. And what is it we are doing when on the move in the main? Our access to the web has been redefined by apps, with the occasional visit to the web. Really you say? Think of mail, RSS feeds, tweets, eBay, video chatting, SIP calls, book reading, movies, TV shows and games. This is where I can see the 7-8" tablet is being readily accepted as the middle of the ground tablet device where another option of portability is required.

Nexus 7 by Asus. Great price, nice features
but lack of 3G is a poor decision

I spent thirty minutes just the other day with the Galaxy Nexus 7. Initial impressions were quite good. It held nicely in one hand, the screen was sharp and bright (although not taking on the Super AMOLED colour vibrancy which I really like on the Galaxy Nexus phone) and it was quick.  It packs some good processor power for the stuff I'm talking about. Of course, optimised tablet apps on Android are sparse, but in time this should change for the better. What struck me as how I think I would prefer to slip a tablet into may bag for my every day commute. I'm suggesting I'd carry this around more than my iPad.

Back to the Nexus 7, the let down was for two fundamental things. Wifi only specification — an odd decision when you think about it. When you want to catch your feeds on the the commute, you can't until you reach the internet. This is a seriously poor decision which will have put off many buyers since access to your cloud data and the web everywhere is where we're at. The second let down was more minor, but yet important — the lack of rear side camera. A glaring miss when we all now expect it.   Some commentators will say these features are reflected in the trade offs for manufacturing cost. It seems to me that v1.0 of this product has a couple of key improvements ahead of v2.

Of course, being heavily invested in iOS and OS X reduces the chances of accessing the data or applications I would want to use on Android, but the shortcomings of the Nexus 7 rule this out for me anyway. This  paves the way for a £200-250 iPad mini (or whatever it's going to be called) in September.

@TrojanKitten beautifully mocks up the expected dimensions of the
forthcoming iPad mini

So believing the rumours for a moment, the 7-8" tablet is going to to be redefined and at a price point which will sell by the proverbial bucket load. However, therein lies the delicate challenge. If you have a device which is portable enough, what happens to the use case for the smartphone itself?

For me, the next piece is then to work out how I don't need an iPhone anymore and can cost effectively manage the low number of voice calls in a neat and subtle on-person microphone sort of way. I can't imagine the major telco's or Apple or any other the hardware vendors looking forward to this.

Nearly a month with the new iPad

It's amazing how our perceptions and expectations of technology and gadgets change so quickly.  I had an iPad 1 on the day it was launched in the UK.  That was May  2010. I sold it on March 2012. During that time, it had been at my side as my trusted tool when I attended seminars and conferences as part of my job. It had been my bathroom and couch companion on a daily basis (Confirmed - I am a guy).

The first iPad got through 2 major iOS releases during that time.  It started at iOS3 before the iPhone 4 came out. I finished using at iOS5. Apple are very clever with their design and of devices. They future proof the device to a certain extent (2-3 years) to ensure it can run a number of future software releases before obsolescence starts to show up by virtue of new iOS features which will no longer be supported.  We saw this on the iPhone 3G when you upgraded to iOS4. Glenn Fleishman's argument on Apple's incremental improvement approach talks to that point.

That said, I had grown tired of my iPad 1. It started with the zippier performance seen with the iPad 2 with the dual core graphics chip and doubling in memory to 512Mb. My daily apps started creaking such as Guardian, The Times, dJay, FlipBoard and others.  I saw app crashes a bit too often. I would kill open apps sometimes just to reduce the chances of a large app launch going wrong (even though iOS memory management is completely seamless). Then I upgraded my phone to the 4S, which I posted previously. It became very apparent that in less than 2 years, I would want to upgrade to the new iPad as soon as I could.

For an iPad 1 user, it's like going from the iPhone 3G to the iPhone 4 for the first time. Read the reviews from Gruber, Dalrymple, and Anandtech  on what feels like a huge jump in performance. There's been enough said on the Retina display, so all I will say is that this device has the potential to take publishing and new PC displays to a whole new level.  It's that good and most of all satisfying to use. I suspect it narrows the value add of the Kindle e-Ink displays, such is its clarity and brightness.

[FAO - owners of the Guardian and The Times apps. I'm sure you have it in hand. But please upgrade your iPad apps to Retina as soon as possible.  Right now and in places, they look terrible.]

On a day to day basis, the old irritants on the iPad 1 are gone. Apps like the ones I mentioned strangely do not crash any more (at least very rarely). I suppose this is because the new chipsets and the 1Gb RAM on board can cope with everything thrown at it and still have room to manoeuvre. I do understand that the 1Gb is not purely dedicated to the apps, but in part for the retina display. Of course, all this may change when iOS6 comes out and can do more on newer hardware which we will see in the fullness of time.

Typing on the new iPad is much, much more responsive. Fast typists like me now feel the new iPad keeps up with their speed, allowing for anyone being accustomed to typing on the iPad in the first place.  I've taken the new iPad on a couple of business trips, preferably over my 11" MacBook Air and I've been surprised at how fast I can do my surfing, social, document management, mail and calendaring and task management. I'll be sharing more on my comparisons with the MBA in a coming post. One of the themes coming out of this is that iOS apps on the new iPad seem to more often have an edge over the OSX counterpart.  Take OmniFocus for example, an application I have been looking at for task management. The UI experience on the iPad is miles superior to the OSX version, which is ok, but cumbersome in places. Of course, the OSX app will see another upgrade and for that matter, so will Lion, starting this summer.

Watching HD movies is simply fantastic. The detail is eye-popping on the Retina and very satisfying when on a plane.

The other big surprise was pairing the new iPad with the 3rd generation Apple TV. Airplay Mirroring has the possibility of becoming a staple device is most enterprises for presentation and learning and development. Great little device.

Downers? Possible LTE this time next year, since it won't work on the planned UK 4G frequencies. But if the incremental improvements for iPad (4) have anything to go by, this new one will be back on the market in no time :)

Woke up this morning...

..and got ready for my early morning run.  Fired up the Apple Store app on my iPhone.
Ordered the new iPad and Apple TV.

Nice start to the day.