Apple iPad 3 launch => Android win? Apple win?

[zuben el genub]

Some of us simply don't want large screens. I don't even have a TV that big! I'm farsighted and they drive me crazy.

Anyway:
Would you mind being more original, Samsung? - Neowin.net

 

[SUroot]

I'd like to see some CPU benchmarking done on the Ipad3. If its really 4x more powerful than Tegra 3, that could mean amazing developments in the future and Apple have actually innovated for a change.

On the other hand, it may expose them for being the over-exaggerating, sheep hearding, fashion-victim attracting, hypocritical nonsense pushers that they really are.

Win Win.

 

[A.Nonymous]

I'd like to see some CPU benchmarking done on the Ipad3. If its really 4x more powerful than Tegra 3, that could mean amazing developments in the future and Apple have actually innovated for a change.

On the other hand, it may expose them for being the over-exaggerating, sheep hearding, fashion-victim attracting, hypocritical nonsense pushers that they really are.

Win Win.

Is it really innovating if you just put bigger, better and badder hardware in an existing device? I would argue it's not. Apple has certainly done some innovative things. The iPhone was very different from existing devices when it came out. The stole the best ideas from existing phones, added their own ideas and spit out the iPhone. The iPad was different than the existing tablets. They dropped the keyboard and stylus altogether and put out a tablet that was light, thin and ran entirely on touch. Many of their ideas have been innovative, but I don't know that shoving faster hardware into an existing design qualifies.

 

[jonmorris]

How powerful does the new iPad need to be? I can see that it may well help things like iMovie when you're ready to render a video - but what else?

There's a lot more pixels to render, so the more powerful GPU already has a lot more work to do just to be equal to the iPad 2 (okay, it's not quite as simple as that - but I think that's still a fair statement).

Given I've just got an Xperia S, I am quite happy with the display and the fact I can't barely make out any of the pixels. I like my iPod touch 4G display too, so the new iPad screen will be great - but it certainly isn't revolutionary. By the end of 2012, there will be loads of smartphones and tablets with Retina Display-matching (or beating) screens.

Screen resolutions have been growing for years. Ten/eleven years ago, Nokia was selling mobiles with 128x128 pixel displays and just 4,096 colours. Smartphones had little more, and I remember being amazed when we got 320x240 pixel screens.

Other companies also offered high-definition displays, like Toshiba (which had 800x480 pixels on a smartphone) and Motorola with its quirky phone with a round display that was 300PPI.

The new iPad is the 3GS / 4S of the iPad world - and I guess any real innovation will come with the next one. I wouldn't be surprised to see Apple even introducing a pressure-sensitive pen, to allow drawing or note-taking with handwriting. Even though Steve slagged off the stylus, the Galaxy Note is finding a market with people who actually remember that besides the many negatives, a stylus did have positives. As Apple had the Newton, I am sure they can 'reinvent' the stylus to save face!

 

[psychotron]

How powerful does the new iPad need to be? I can see that it may well help things like iMovie when you're ready to render a video - but what else? By the end of 2012, there will be loads of smartphones and tablets with Retina Display-matching (or beating) screens.

I agree there is little use for a quad core processor in a device running a mobile OS. I disagree with you on loads of smartphones and tablets matching the iPad's resolution coming soon. They aren't even coming in 1200x800 in big numbers yet. Do you know how expensive it is to get screens with that high resolution made? Apple has billions to put into their products, these other companies do not. Especially when all of their tablets to date have been relative failures. No company in their right mind is going to dump a ton of money into producing a product they aren't guaranteed to sell. Apple doesn't have that issue.

 

[jonmorris]

But we have the Xperia S with its 1280x720 pixel display, which is around 340ppi - and it's here right now, as I have one in my hand as I write this (well, on my desk!). I am sure Samsung, and probably LG, will have a tablet with a screen the same resolution as the new iPad (indeed, one of them probably makes the screen for Apple?). There are many more smartphones with 1280x720 screens, but the PPI depends on the size of screen chosen.

Personally, I prefer the Xperia S screen than the smaller screen on my iPod touch. For one thing, I can type easier on the on-screen keyboard - but it's also great for photos and video, plus web browsing.

I'd guess most of the competing manufacturers will have these screens in some of their devices. Obviously not all, as they're also producing hardware to sell at the low-end (which Apple isn't bothered about) where margins are tight, but where there are still large customer numbers.

Apple might be a long way ahead of some of the competition, but I doubt the likes of Samsung are going to find it that hard to produce similar technology. They do, after all, actually make a lot of it themselves - hence supplying Apple. Apple can buy technology as stated above (by huge investments and securing large orders at good prices) but they're not the only ones.

 

[mrspeedmaster]

I agree there is little use for a quad core processor in a device running a mobile OS. I disagree with you on loads of smartphones and tablets matching the iPad's resolution coming soon. They aren't even coming in 1200x800 in big numbers yet. Do you know how expensive it is to get screens with that high resolution made? Apple has billions to put into their products, these other companies do not. Especially when all of their tablets to date have been relative failures. No company in their right mind is going to dump a ton of money into producing a product they aren't guaranteed to sell. Apple doesn't have that issue.

I bet is there will be other manufactures with hi-res tablets. Samsung was suppose to come out with a 11.6 with even higher res than the iPad.
The thing is, they won't be selling in volume and won't be priced cheaper.

My best bet would be Samsung selling it for $650-700.
Acer might sell one at $550. The going price will be $600. Bookmark this prediction.

Analysts did not believe Apple could ramp up production last December due to manufacturing and yield issues.
A large reason why Apple stock went up after the announcement is that Apple had validated their supply chain decisions and showed they had the ability to deliver this tech in volume. By all accounts, it was a manufacturing challenge.

Everyone was expecting Apple to charge an additional $80 to the existing price. That was what the rumor mill were noting.

Nope. Instead, they dropped the price of the iPad 2 to $100 and that will also compete with the lower end.

Rumours of a 7.85 this summer would price the new, smaller iPad at $250 to compete with the Kindle Fire. I don't buy this rumor or maybe Apple is just readying to see how the market reacts and be prepared to act accordingly. If they do have a 7" model, they will have all the price point covered like they did with the iPods.

 

[SUroot]

Is it really innovating if you just put bigger, better and badder hardware in an existing device? I would argue it's not.

I've never seen a point be so entirely missed. Well done on that one.

What I am saying is if apple truly have (which I doubt) made a mobile CPU 4x more powerful than anyone else currently can, then yes. That would be truly ground breaking.

A feckin' Xeon can be many, many, many, times more powerful than a quad core tegra 3. I KNOW that YOU KNOW WHY there are no XEON powered android tablets or smart phones. Clearly I am not talking about putting a mammoth CPU in a tablet. I'm talking about the development of mobile processing.

in

 

[jonmorris]

Given Apple enjoy healthy profit margins, there is always some scope for others to match the hardware - but invariably with a cheaper casing, less fancy packaging etc.

Despite saying that other companies will have hi-res screens, maybe even higher than the new iPad, I don't dispute the fact that Apple will probably be far more successful. The iPad looks slick, it has loads of accessories and is easy to use.

If Apple has anything to be worried about, it's the iPhone because Android smartphones ARE stealing market share - something not yet happening with tablets.

 

[mrspeedmaster]

Here is some interesting stuff on the iPad display.
Samsung, LG and Sharp were commissioned to produce the panels each.

The tech uses a manufacturing technique called SHA (Super High Aperture) design to pack that number of pixels on a panel. It is strictly an engineering technique which is rather complex and complicated.


How Apple Squeezes Four Times the Number of Pixels into its New iPad Retina Display | DisplaySearch Blog

If you didn’t catch what Apple means by that, they are referring to SHA (Super High Aperture) pixel designs. SHA is a method of increasing aperture ratio by applying approximately a 3

 

[psychotron]

Just played with the Asus Transformer Prime a bit in hopes of one last chance to like an Android tablet before getting the new iPad, wasn't feeling it. The first word that came to mind while playing with it was the first thing I thought when playing with the Galaxy Nexus...clunky. How this thing has a Tegra 3 chip and 1GB of RAM is puzzling to me. Simple things like pressing the home button while in an app or bringing up the app drawer or switching apps all lagged noticeably. There were only about 80 low res photos on the thing taken from people playing around in the store and those took a good 4-5 seconds to load, lagged when I started to swipe quickly thru them and pinch to zoom flat out sucked. All of these things are buttery smooth on my iPad 2. I don't know what it is, ICS feels like a beta version, its nowhere near as fluid and intuitive as iOS and thats highly disappointing.

Then there was the interface....I have been using Android phones for years, my Galaxy S2 is my 4th one. I think I know my way around the OS pretty good, however, I found myself looking at this thing like I had never seen the Android OS. Its confusing and cluttered, and thats coming from someone used to Android. I can just imagine people who have no clue what Android is picking one up for 2 minutes and going WTF? Then putting it down to go play with an iPad. In fact, after spending time playing with ICS on the Nexus and now the Transformer Prime, I am hoping my S2 never gets upgraded to it unless they smooth it out. As of now, its slow, laggy, cluttered and not very fun to use at all.

 

[Covart]

Given Apple enjoy healthy profit margins, there is always some scope for others to match the hardware - but invariably with a cheaper casing, less fancy packaging etc.

Despite saying that other companies will have hi-res screens, maybe even higher than the new iPad, I don't dispute the fact that Apple will probably be far more successful. The iPad looks slick, it has loads of accessories and is easy to use.

If Apple has anything to be worried about, it's the iPhone because Android smartphones ARE stealing market share - something not yet happening with tablets.

hi-Res screens on Android devices MAY happen this year, but you are unlikely to see them from any manufqcturer except Samsung, and even then it is highly doubtful they will produce any in mass quantity, given the recent comments from Samsung on lackluster tablet sales.

iPhone marketshare is relatively static now. Both iOS and Android take up over 90% of the market, and with Apple having such a loyal following it is unlikely to ever dip below 20-25%. I really believe Android is stealing marketshare from RIM and Windows phones, which is why we see incremental bumps in Google's Android share of the worldwide pie. and I really don't think Apple cares, since they take home over 50% of the smartphone profits. Just my opinion though.

 

[Bnice]

Just played with the Asus Transformer Prime a bit in hopes of one last chance to like an Android tablet before getting the new iPad, wasn't feeling it. The first word that came to mind while playing with it was the first thing I thought when playing with the Galaxy Nexus...clunky. How this thing has a Tegra 3 chip and 1GB of RAM is puzzling to me. Simple things like pressing the home button while in an app or bringing up the app drawer or switching apps all lagged noticeably. There were only about 80 low res photos on the thing taken from people playing around in the store and those took a good 4-5 seconds to load, lagged when I started to swipe quickly thru them and pinch to zoom flat out sucked. All of these things are buttery smooth on my iPad 2. I don't know what it is, ICS feels like a beta version, its nowhere near as fluid and intuitive as iOS and thats highly disappointing.

Then there was the interface....I have been using Android phones for years, my Galaxy S2 is my 4th one. I think I know my way around the OS pretty good, however, I found myself looking at this thing like I had never seen the Android OS. Its confusing and cluttered, and thats coming from someone used to Android. I can just imagine people who have no clue what Android is picking one up for 2 minutes and going WTF? Then putting it down to go play with an iPad. In fact, after spending time playing with ICS on the Nexus and now the Transformer Prime, I am hoping my S2 never gets upgraded to it unless they smooth it out. As of now, its slow, laggy, cluttered and not very fun to use at all.

You are funny, it's like you go out of your way to start a android vs apple battle all the time. Let me help you, Apple,iphone,ipad,ipod,imac,mac-books and ishuffle are the best. Everthing just work and they are buttery smooth. You happy now?

 

[psychotron]

You are funny, it's like you go out of your way to start a android vs apple battle all the time. Let me help you, Apple,iphone,ipad,ipod,imac,mac-books and ishuffle are the best. Everthing just work and they are buttery smooth. You happy now?

Not really. I much prefer my Galaxy S2 to the iPhone

 

[EarlyMon]

Let's please confine our comments to the issues and not about each other.

Cheers, thanks.

 

[A.Nonymous]

To be fair, the HC interface and even the ICS interface on a tablet is completely different from most phones.

 

[psychotron]

What I would like in an Andriod tablet is something 10 inches with a display like the new IPad. I couldn't care less about how many cores because ICS is too laggy even with a quadcore at this point. Then Google needs to optimize ICS for a tablet that size and resolution. Not just enlarge existing apps, looks like crap. Smooth it out and polish it up before running off to Jellybean. I think they rush these updates to the OS too soon. Then they need to work on Google Play, make it more similar to the App store and then get third party support. Once they do that, then the manufacturers can worry about maxing out the hardware. Get the software right first.

 

[5280Man]

With like 20 Android phones a month and a new version of the OS every two, your Android phone is obsolete and running an outdated OS within a few months...

There aren't 20 Android phones a month. And I don't think we get a new os every two months. I understand, you were being sarcastic. However, when a new phone is released for Android it does not mean that the other phones are out dated. One example is 4G. The iphone 4S was released without 4G making it outdated the day it was released. This is technology and technology moves fast. Another thing that made it outdated was the screen size. 3.5 inch is a thing of the past. It works for some but it is by no means the 'standard' anymore. 4.3 inch is the standard and 4.65-5.3 is fast becoming the standard. This is why the iphone 4S was considered outdated the day it was released. It's not an Android versus ios debate, it's a 'this is where technology is today' and the iphone doesn't have it. Android lacks nothing that ios has and is continuing to ingrate the latest tech. That is not easy and I believe the Android team is doing a great job accomplishing this task. Android is by no means perfect, but then again, is any model perfect for everyone?

As for the OP, I totally agree with the comment about trying to compare a phone that isn't even announced yet to other phones that aren't announced. That's impossible to predict. However, I will say that from history Android device manufacturers will have the latest tech in their phones while the iphone will still be playing catch up in that department. What issues are you having with your phone that would make you want to switch to the iphone? Have you posted in the forum for your phone? Have you thought about a different Android device? The Nexus perhaps? Maybe even the upcoming HTC X which is quad core. The SGSII is a very nice device and the SGSIII is coming soon. Not officially announced yet so I shouldn't throw that one out there just yet.
Give us some more info about your problems and issues and maybe we all can help. That's the great thing about a community, there are great people here to help that may have had the same issues.

 

[psychotron]

There aren't 20 Android phones a month. And I don't think we get a new os every two months. I understand, you were being sarcastic. However, when a new phone is released for Android it does not mean that the other phones are out dated. One example is 4G. The iphone 4S was released without 4G making it outdated the day it was released. This is technology and technology moves fast. Another thing that made it outdated was the screen size. 3.5 inch is a thing of the past. It works for some but it is by no means the 'standard' anymore. 4.3 inch is the standard and 4.65-5.3 is fast becoming the standard. This is why the iphone 4S was considered outdated the day it was released. It's not an Android versus ios debate, it's a 'this is where technology is today' and the iphone doesn't have it. Android lacks nothing that ios has and is continuing to ingrate the latest tech. That is not easy and I believe the Android team is doing a great job accomplishing this task. Android is by no means perfect, but then again, is any model perfect for everyone?

As for the OP, I totally agree with the comment about trying to compare a phone that isn't even announced yet to other phones that aren't announced. That's impossible to predict. However, I will say that from history Android device manufacturers will have the latest tech in their phones while the iphone will still be playing catch up in that department. What issues are you having with your phone that would make you want to switch to the iphone? Have you posted in the forum for your phone? Have you thought about a different Android device? The Nexus perhaps? Maybe even the upcoming HTC X which is quad core. The SGSII is a very nice device and the SGSIII is coming soon. Not officially announced yet so I shouldn't throw that one out there just yet.
Give us some more info about your problems and issues and maybe we all can help. That's the great thing about a community, there are great people here to help that may have had the same issues.

Manufacturers are making too many Android phones too quickly in a desperate attempt to take market shares from Apple. Most people just barely got dual core phones, now quad core phones are coming out, like WTF? You want to be stuck with that outdated tech 2 more years? Then you have Google rushing updates to the OS. ICS just came out 3 months ago and only what? 2 out of like 60 Android phones can even get it. Now they are already working on Jellybean while everyone sits around and hopes for ICS, are you kidding me? It's becoming quite ridiculous. At least with an iPhone, you know when you are getting an OS update and you get it as soon as its released, as it should be.

 

[blarelli]

I am resisting the urge to buy the next iPhone as I have had an Evo 4g since day 1. Although I am feeling like I am ready to move on from the Evo and upgrade to something better. When the iPhone 5 will be released what Android device(s) do you think will be equal or better? I have an iPad and a macbook and feel getting the iPhone will complete the whole cloud concept and just allow better syncing. Am I off base? I have a lot of issues now with my Evo and hardly any issues with the iPad. Any suggestions?

I'm sitting around waiting for something to come from Huawei's quad core that is supposed to be the most powerful phone in the world that they announced at MWC '12. Huawei means affordable, and with them trying to bust into the high profit market with the likes of HTC and Samsung, they probably tried very hard to do this phone right.

 

[blarelli]

Manufacturers are making too many Android phones too quickly in a desperate attempt to take market shares from Apple. Most people just barely got dual core phones, now quad core phones are coming out, like WTF? You want to be stuck with that outdated tech 2 more years? Then you have Google rushing updates to the OS. ICS just came out 3 months ago and only what? 2 out of like 60 Android phones can even get it. Now they are already working on Jellybean while everyone sits around and hopes for ICS, are you kidding me? It's becoming quite ridiculous. At least with an iPhone, you know when you are getting an OS update and you get it as soon as its released, as it should be.

That has been a bit of a problem, but the claim right now is ICS is supposed to fix that, and make it much easier for manufacturers to update the software on their devices.

 

[psychotron]

That has been a bit of a problem, but the claim right now is ICS is supposed to fix that, and make it much easier for manufacturers to update the software on their devices.

Well it's been out since Dec and I haven't heard a thing about anyone getting it....

 

[bubbalv29]

The iPhone, no matter what version is available is definately my next device. I've owned two Android phones, and don't get me wrong, Android is a great platform, and it has good things coming for it. But, like others in this thread have mentioned, at the moment, it is very touch and go. There is no standard for Android like there is for iOS. There are so many Android devices out there that can out perform one another is many areas, and there are also Android devices that are extremely underpowered, and obsolete on release. With Android, you never know when you'll get support, or even what apps may work on your device. Apple optimizes iOS based on the fact that it will be installed on set hardware, they know exactly what they are dealing with. Even the third generation iPod touch is still getting OS updates because it is still supported. I'm ranting I know, my point is, I have the best of both worlds, Android phone, and iPod touch, if I had to choose, strangely, I would choose iOS.

 

[5280Man]

First of all, Jelly Bean has not been announced yet for a release date. Right after the iphone 4S was released everyone kept talking about the iphone5 and wondering when it would be coming out. Techies will always be talking about the next phone or os update. Don't get too wrapped up in the online hype. It happens here as well as on iphone websites.
Second, manufacturers do not release phones in an attempt (or desperate attempt in your words) to take market shares from Apple. Manufacturers release phones to make money, just like Apple does, GM does, Toyota does and every other manufacturer of goods. Quad core phones are coming out because the chipset manufacturers have made them available to the device manufacturers. A quad core phone does not mean that a dual core is outdated. It just means the limits are continuing to be pushed. Dual core phones are the 'standard' right now so phones being released with a dual core chip are not outdated. Phones with a single core are outdated. Once quad core is the standard dual core phones will be outdated. Like I explained earlier, the iphones 3.5 inch screen is sadly outdated. Why punish device manufacturers if they want to push the limits and move technology forward? Updates are another story and we all agree that updates need to be pushed faster. There are ways around that but that is not for everyone. As I said before, the Android model is not perfect but it does work for ALOT of people. Just look at the numbers, 850,000 Android devices activated everyday. Apparently the model is working for a lot more people than the ios model is. And when I say model I mean the whole business model around Android like: multiple devices, multiple manufacturers, free os to the manufacturers, open to anyone to modify and use, on every carrier, etc...
Android has had to overcome many issues, some they are still working on, and for the most part they are doing a great job. And as for releasing an os every 2 months, Android has only had 4 main os upgrades for their phones over 4 years. That's one per year just like ios. Eclair to ICS from 2008 to the present. Honeycomb was for tablets only.
As for iphones getting updates as soon as they are released, that is easy when the hardware does not change and there is only a few phones to support. It's a different model, a model that works for some. But as the numbers show, the Android model works for millions more. Americans, and the world as well, demand options. I know I like options and I'm sure you do too. Android offers those options. Have you ever read what the OHA is all about? (Open Handset Alliance) Their objective was to unite all manufacturers with one OS. Google took the lead on that and said they would create the OS. The problem was that there were too many OS's among all the carriers and different devices. The OHA was created to bring all those devices together under one unified OS that was universal among all carriers, manufacturers and devices. This gave people the option for different handsets that were all compatible. This was a huge objective and they accomplished it. I suggest you check out their website, it's quite interesting to read how is all came together and why. Android has many many flavors. Find the flavor that works for you and run with it. Maybe your flavor is ios, great! Run with it. Once you understand what Android is all about, how it came to existence and why you start to understand how great it is and how great it will become. Ios is a great os and is beautiful. But the fact of the matter is that it is not as powerful as Android. It all depends on what you are looking for and what your flavor is. Maybe ios does not have the device that works for you. All you have to do is look at one or two devices. For Android you have many many choices. And most likely you will find the device that works best for you. Hence the power of options. I know I don't want to walk into a car dealership looking for a new vehicle and have the sales person tell me they only offer one model. Do you?
Just my $.02

 

[5280Man]

I thought I'd add this to the discussion here. It's impressive that Android can accomplish these numbers while being on so many devices. Just some food for thought.

Android vs iOS – Which Is Really More Stable? New Data May Surprise You