Android rising with the Nexus 4 and HTC One – a bigger iPhone next?

In the last few months, I’ve played a lot with leading smartphones from the market leaders. And I’ve focused not only on my go-to device in the form of the iPhone 5, but also spent real time with the Nokia Lumia 920, the Blackberry Z10, and the Microsoft Surface RT in terms of innovative tablets. It’s a good thing to do, as it increases my knowledge and experience of both the innovation goals and dilemmas of the device makers as well as how those design choices in hardware and software marry up in terms of consumer experience. In my day-job, this is a constant point of debate in terms of embracing the BYOD approaches for MDM platforms and determining which ones can work for the enterprise stack and which ones still require roadmap updates in order to work. It also matters in having an opinion which is unique and allows you to cut through the business bullshit crap which fills most large enterprises. What I haven’t said is that in all this time, I’ve also been using the LG Nexus 4 as another premium Android device which comes at a medium price point in UK and international markets.

So overall then, like many of you readers who collect smartphones and tablets, it places us in a great position to understand the markets and take punts in predicting the next wave of innovation and who may hold the keys to dominance.  Up to now from a handsets makers point of view there are 2 key players – Apple and Samsung in terms of smartphones, however, this post concentrates more on how much I think Android is closing the gap on Apple hardware and iOS.

LG Nexus 4

Over and above it’s predecessor the Samsung Galaxy Nexus, the Nexus 4 reverts to an quad-core Snapdragon chip, a 320ppi IPS LCD screen at 4.7 inches meaning its slightly taller and wider. The largest capacity version comes with comes with 16Gb flash storage, 2Gb RAM and only HSDPA 3G and Wireless N at typically up to 100Mbps link speed. 

With GeekBench scores which demonstrate its twice as fast as the Galaxy Nexus and on a par with the iPhone 5 – it suggested to me that Apple’s strategy of premium phones which are now half of its the revenue and profit annually, could increasingly come under threat from the sheer scale of Android via lower end manufacturer devices (e.g ZTE, Huawei, LG, Sony, etc) which can largely replicate the form and function of the iPhone to more markets and more people who can’t afford iPhones. The Nexus 4 is a good example of this.  The SIM free version costs just £239 for the 16Gb version. Yes, it doesn’t have LTE, but there are other ways to achieve that cheaply.  It’s a solid replacement for the Galaxy Nexus, which as you know a I really liked and has been my preferred device for running, owing to the better audio sonics compared to iPhones (in my opinion).

So high end features smartphone, sold at a medium to lower end price point in the market. Not withstanding the supply issues Google and LG had with the Nexus 4, we’ve also seen that this approach has been taken by other handset makers married up with telco’s provides s a route for device makers to enter the market and see what share of revenue and profits can be made. The reality is that if your not Apple or Samsung, this is a largely futile exercise.  Apple’s execution of its premium and high margin approach commands 60% of handset profits, with the other 20-30% going out to Samsung.

However, times are changing and innovation is being applied across the board.  It’s easy to say Android has been closing the gap to a large degree on the innovation Apple continues with the iPhone hardware and iOS software.  And within that, there are many parts of Android (v4.x) in terms of features which we all know and would like to see executed in some iOS like way when v7 comes out.  Added to that, while the hardware on Android devices is good to excellent, it still falls short of the smooth overall polish and great user experience you find with the iOS range of devices (and of course iOS apps). 

The reported profiles of iOS and Android users are said to be different.  iOS users are said to be more loyal and Android users more price sensitive and responsive to device offers on plans.  If you’re an iOS like me, then it’s difficult to move away due to your lock-in to the Apple ecosystem based on a level of dependence on OS X versions of the products which combine with cloud (Dropbox 90% of the time) and social media (namely Twitter and Facebook), all of which might night be on Android or any other mobile platform.

But then, just like serial innovation and the ability to create breakthrough products – something comes out of the gate and you just say – wow.

The HTC One

You can read many of the web’s best reviews on the One when you have a moment and like many product launches its easier to read the first few paragraphs and say “meh, big deal”.  But it’s when you get one in your hand and add the optional HTC case on it, do you start to marvel at this feat of engineering.

Combined with the optional case, for me this is the best handset made to date. Gorgeous 1920 x 1080 pixel IPS LCD display, 2Gb RAM, 32Gb storage, driven by a quad-core Qualcomm snapdragon brains.  It rounds off including 4G LTE and Wireless AC (link speed on N is already 150Mbps) and for throwing your content around devices around your home, it’s one of the first few to support Miracast streaming capabilities.

I’ve never been a fan of HTC Sense from my annoying days with the Desire HD, but HTC have re-skinned it and you can read up what others think about it.  I don’t use it myself, and prefer gaining the near 100% replica of the stock Nexus experience by using Nova as my launcher, combined with Holo locker for the unlock screen and SwiftType for my keyboard.

You may say so what to all that – and you’d be right.  But beyond the marvellous size of screen, its feel, the quality case, the Nexus experience – you then get the sound with the Beat audio engine built in for stereo speaker grills at the top and bottom of the screen which work beautifully in landscape mode when watching Netflix movies or just listening to Spotify tracks.  From an Apple-centric view, this is what the HTC One excels at, the basic things like picture and sound – done really well.  Does that sound familiar?

With a GeekBench score now in the higher echelons of smartphones and a quality variety of apps, it’s no surprise to read that this rate of developing maturity in the smartphone market, encouraged by innovations in user experience is prompting some prominent bloggers to switch to Android as their main go-to device.  And I’m not surprised.

So yes, my favourite Android phone is a slight back, but it’s great combination.  If there were all the Android counterpart apps to what I use on iOS and OS X, then this would be my go-to device right now.

The next iPhone

With investors continuing to expect insane quarterly numbers from Apple backed off by an enormous expectations of new products, I firmly think Apple has a battle on its hand to retain the top end of the smartphone market. The fusion of iOS and custom engineered hardware makes Apple special.  But the company’s challenge and core strategy it to bring to market innovations in the smartphone market which every generation or so, make a jump in innovation and customer value – to enable Apple to control the top end. 

iPhone 5S with quad-core chips, wireless AC, 1080p display, a further optimised camera is expected. And of course, it will be their normal twice as fast (GeekBench score in the 3000-4000 range) as its predecessor and it will launch in the autumn. Unfortunately, any which way you look at it, the 4.7 inch screen is what many of us experienced consumers want (despite the design rules Apple applied for the iPhone). With the Beats Audio built in, HTC One has now demonstrated that great audio could now be a now a standard for any premium smartphone.

For me, the HTC One is the best hardware on the market – (I can’t stand the Samsung Galaxy S3 or S4 due to the plastic back). I wish the One could could get the best of Android JellyBean and the forthcoming iOS 7 with it too. Kudos to HTC as you’re well an truly back in the game.  I wish you only could apply the sales and marketing muscle of Samsung to get everyone to know what a great phone you’ve released.

And now over to you Apple. With analysis suggesting that iPhone growth may be topping out, they need need to pull the proverbial rabbit out of the hat.  And yes, let it please have a 4.7 inch screen.  Apparently it can be done without screwing up the ecosystem.

External lenses with the iPhone 4S: the iPro lenses

During the Olympics, I got rather excited when I read an article of an Olympic press photographer who was using an iPhone 4S as his mainstay camera and shooting some great pictures.  On closer inspection, he was using an external lens system by Schneider Optics, the product line being the iPro lens system.

Ever since putting down my Nikon DSLR a few years ago, I’ve been trying to find the most satisfactory solution which gives near picture quality to SLRs, but with the convenience of compacts.  I bought and sold the Panasonic G1 in the last 2 years, largely unsatisfied with its speed of operation and sync for daylight and flash pictures.  With these other types of non SLR camera, the trade offs to the performance and optics are obvious, but the gains are increasingly that in a world where our smartphone dominates our everyday experience, that it is increasingly the preferred device to take photos which will end up on our on-line galleries and social networks, which in turn are used for our end of year calendars, season greeting cards and increasingly, hold our visual data for productivity and collaboration applications.

Without going into a full-blown review, which I’m sure you can find elsewhere, the iPro lens system is made up as you can see below, with 3-lenses and a case for the iPhone 4 and 4S which utilises a bayonet mount for each lens. Each lens is of the fixed type and corresponds to 35 focal lengths accordingly for both stills and video:

The nice touch is that unused lenses, become part of a lens case and a handle which attaches to a screw attachment on the iPhone case, thereby making a sort of mini monopod as shown in the next picture:

Packaging wise, it came in 2-boxes.  One for the iPhone case with the wide and fish eye lenses and handle, the other holding the telephoto lens.   Setting it up took a few minutes, with care being applied to getting the iPro case onto my 4S. I should add the case fitting is very tight.  Getting it off, was tricky and Schneider Optics should look at this as an area of improvement for their next version.

In terms of usability, beyond the novelty, it was nice.  I found the wide and fish eye lens most fun.  Don’t expect stellar quality as the lens a function of the optical capability of the iPhone 4 and 4 itself and their own glass working with it.  But remember, my aim is not taking stunning detailed RAW images, but photos to add to my cloud service apps and social networks.  To that end, it played nice.  Another improvement I’d like to see is the bayonet fitting for each lens to the case to be less fiddly (as handling miniature and delicate lenses like this open up the accident factor if you’re in an odd place), but as a a solution for getting a better range of photos with my iPhone 4/4S and keeping it as small a possible, this is very good, not not great.

One point of note, is that the iPhone’s flash does not work with the iPro lens, thereby forcing daylight scenario photos and thereby opening up the limitations of the iPhone 4 and 4S low light capabilities to the newly crowned iPhone 5.

An iPhone 5 equivalent set of lenses and case is current under development at Schneider Optics and you can bet it will be available in a number of months, given this iPhone 5 model size should see us to a 5S in about a years time. Attending a friends wedding at the summer enabled me to get a real tour of duty for a day and experience for how practical the iPro lens were to use and assess the quality of the photos.  I liked it, and it is quite a pull in wedding conversations with the “where did you get the cool tech from for your iPhone” sort of line.

If you want better range of fun factor with an iPhone 4 and 4S, the iPro lens is well worth a closer look.

Nearly a month with the iPhone 5

The relationship we have with our smartphones nowadays, like the standard mobile phone before it, is the most important we have in terms of devices running our lives in connectedness with the modern world, western industrialised or not.  Mail and collaboration, productivity, utilities, games, music, video, books and the web itself mark the cornerstones of what has changed in terms of we expect to have since Apple launched the iPhone to great intrigue and derision back in 2007.  For me, and most other smartphone converts in the industrialised world, we’ve not looked back.

My old 4S was a very, very good smartphone, but when I got Google’s Ice Cream Sandwiched Nexus S, I really appreciated and wanted the larger screen in an iOS smartphone.  The question then became when that would happen and would it force Apple to make design trade offs, based on their previous statements that 3.5inch screens were designed optimally for one-handed use.

Ordinarily, I could have and perhaps should have waited since I only had the 4S for seven months.  Problem is, smartphones lose value very quickly as the ante is upped with the latest model.  Losing £200 resale value on an unlocked mint condition unit, happened in an alarmingly short time.  I suspect the larger screen is the main value differentiators in most people’s eyes (like mine).  Most notably, and as we’ll come onto, each iteration of iOS software is designed to work optimally with each new generation of hardware.  What does this mean?  It means that you see signs like seeing how a little bit laggy the Apps Store loads on a 4S and knowing that in a another 12-months, it will may well be the basic entry model and the minimum requirement for iOS 7.0 (though to be honest, I expect the iPhone 4 to still be the very minimum).

So after, a month, was my £200 net cost increase for the same phone (albeit larger) worth it?  I have to look it at that a number of ways.  Let’s take the basics which I have to admit to:

1. I’m a geek and spend a disproportionate amount of income using, playing and learning technology.  Implicitly this mean a regular nature upgrades of favoured products
2. I really wanted a 4 inch iOS device to bump up the screen usability compared to what I have on the Galaxy Nexus – which I preferred in screen estate.  Have I said that already?

Of course that does not say in the main what I think of the device, so in predictable fashion here are my bullets:

In your hand use – very light as you will know.  I mean it feels crazy light.  Feels more like a slippery bar of soap than the previous 4/4S.  If you’re prone to drop, get a case immediately.  But do I like, yes.  The taller dimension is actually a better hold in my relatively large hands.

Speed – yes, definitely snappier.  It’s the small things like the Apps Store opening up so much more quickly.  Add to that my son and I opening Football Championship Manager 2012 on the new device for the 1st time and being surprised how much quicker than the 4S it was.  I mean, fast.  Add to that the ICS’d Galaxy Nexus, is starting to feel slow.

Screen – freakishly sharp.  While still Retina display, they’ve enhanced the vividness of the colours, blacks and contrast, which always looked washed out to my the preferred image on the Nexus with its OLED display.  Parity, by my eyes, restored.

Camera – faster.  Much better in low light.  Nuff said.  Photographers rejoice.

Wireless – being in the UK, have yet to early adopt when it comes to Everything Everywhere (T-Mobile and Orange) as the first UK 4G service rolls out imminently.  That said, 3G performance feels quicker possibly due to the CPU, GPU, RAM combo on the new hardware.  5Ghz wireless N is now on board with the new Broadcom chip.  This baby now connects around my home access point at 150Mbps.  Bear in mind the iPad mark I, connects at 65Mbps on 5Ghz wireless N.

Battery – based on my own profile of use, it seems to be less than par with the 4S which is disappointing.  Not a lot, but noticeable.  Check the Ars review on that.

Each iteration of iPhones brings further superlatives. I mean packing that much better tech in a model which is larger (but more miniature inside), lighter and faster.  True Moores Law stuff, Intel must be weeping.  As an end-user with limited appreciation of other smartphones (i.e. 2 previous Android models), the iPhone 5 is stellar.  If you don’t believe me, grab a cup of coffee and read the mind-boggling detail AnandTech goes into in terms of its review.

When upgrades seem like downgrades

I've been a big fan of of the Silvio Rizzi's Reeder for iPhone, iPad & Mac for what feels like ages now. It's one of my core and most often used apps for catching up with tech and sports news on a daily basis. I'll admint, I'm an RSS guy and I'm proud. Don't get me wrong, I love curated feed apps such as Flipboard and Zite which add tremendous value to the reading experience.  But when it comes to really scanning all your news items, it's got to be an RSS reader. Reeder's interface and experience reveals a clean, functional and Mac simple-like experience in reading and sharing news feeds. It achieves a uniform experience this across the entire iOS and Mac range which is a rare feat. It's an app I wish existed on Android (although gReader Pro is very good in its own right).

The iPhone version is what I use most while on the move. Up to version 2.x it offered a quick way to read news but to share with Instapaper and most importantly Twitter followers, using my custom URL which is I set up on bit.ly.  Real nice bit of flexibility.

I've had version 3.x running for probably for 2 weeks, and while this post is not there to overly criticize the developer (who does a great job and is clearly thinking of evolving the product), the new version has left me somewhat disgruntled in terms of the overall balance of gains in new functionality versus ones which have been changed or upgraded for that matter. My main grips fall into 2 areas affecting functionality and user experience.

The functionality gripe is simple. The bit.ly support for custom URL sharing in Twitter is gone (at least for now). And the custom Twitter messaging has been replaced by the generic iOS Twitter integration dialogue:

Reeder v3.0 for iPhone - sharing to Twitter.
No visible shortened link
and no way to do it

The other odd grip relates to the design led animation to move from one article to another. It essentially mimicks moving from one piece of paper to another as if they were joined together. It's an interesting touch, but not to my liking. Again, the sort of thing which for some of us, takes away from the overall experience and enables us to moan that v3 feels like a backward step in places. You only need to look at some of the review on the Apps Store to see that I'm not alone.  

Anyway, if you are new to Reeder and have always wondered if its worth the 3 bucks (separately for iOS devices and Mac), there are other posts which provided a more rounded introduction than my moans.  I mean, I still use it daily, so that's saying something about the competition.

Recording iOS app demos

I've used Camtasia Studio in the past to better serve customers with quick fire demos for applications which I think customers should know about and use.

At the same time, and ahead of Mac OSX Mountain Lion this summer, developers have been reverse-engineering AirPlay and have found ways to get it working seamlessly between iOS devices and Mac.  MacStories picked out AirServer is a solid app which did the job and behaved well. About £10 to purchase outside of the Mac Apps store, but damn, this is useful.

Combo with Camtasia? I can now record demo's from iPhone and iPads mirrored on to the MacBook Air or the iMac and have Camtasia running in the background to capture in the background. It's post record editing, if you didn't know..is excellent.

I suggest you check it out for yourself.

It's no wonder

When an opportunity came up to upgrade to an iPhone 4S and remain cost neutral, I took it. I mainly expected a slight performance bump given the reviews I'd read.

When I went from the 3G to the iPhone 4, it was a major bump.  Responsiveness, multi-tasking and all that good stuff felt satisfying.  So perhaps on this upgrade, my expectations were lower.

I skim read a number of reviews and thought that the only thing I thought I'd enjoy getting to grips with was Siri.

Surprisingly, I was wrong.  And on a variety of counts:

1. Firstly, compared to its predecessor, the 4S is much more smoother and fast. App loading and switching are all markedly quicker than before.
2. The screen is brighter and I see a better white balance and colour clarity compared to the 4.
3. Wifi performance now consistently picks up 28-30mbps on my fibre link.
4. Web pages, even on 3G load much quicker.  
5. Listening to Spotify streams and loading RSS feeds or web pages, feels seamless. Heck, even the audio seems more polished, but that could be for other reasons.
6. The cell signal for voice and data is a lot better.  Taking the same journey everyday to my office, I notice the higher bars on the voice side  I can read pages and tweet in places where the 3G signal on the 4 was borderline.

I could go on, but feel that's not needed. The only downside, is that the battery sucks down noticeably quicker. Same usage pattern, but I'm reaching for a recharge when I get home in the evenings. I doubt, it would get me through a day of travel the way the 4 or most Blackberry's would.

My experience seems to match up with AnandTechs deeply technical review.

Same appearance, but much better phone overall.  It's no wonder it sold by a record bucket load for Apple in FY11 Q4.