Tag Archives: bendgate

Smaller is back in the game!

Reading Time: 4 minutes

small_is_good

Average-Smartphone-Screen-Size, phonearena

Source: phonearena.com

For a long time we observe the trend of increasing of the size of the phone. Personally I find it strange – from 4-5 years I have the same phone – iPhone 4S – with a 3.5 inch screen which (as Steve Jobs) I consider as the perfect size. Apparently the rest of the world thinks otherwise. On the one hand I understand it – the larger screen has a lot of advantages:

  • a much better browsing of websites;
  • watching movies or photos is much more convenient;
  • games on larger screens seem to be more realistic and controlling them by the touch screen does not cover it in most by our fingers;
  • they are easier to use for people with low vision after setting a larger font – even my mother recently bought a Lumia 640 XL with almost 6-inch(!) screen “because now she sees better “;
asians

It looks funny, isn’t it?

On the other hand I think that phones so large are crazy. In recent years several times I have been in China where the trend seems to be even bigger. Perhaps due to the small size of the Chinese people but when they were talking on their phablets they looked as if each one of them held a tablet! I hate to think how uncomfortable it is and the fact that it just looks silly (everyone – not only Asians). Of course some of them can cope by using headphones but it is not always a possibility.

I-phone-bend-mainAnother important issue is the discomfort of carrying them – phones with a 5-6 inch screens barely fit in the pockets of jackets not to mention the pants. And even if someone succeeded this is not always the safest way to keep a smartphone (remember how bendgate started?).

This screen size also affects negatively on the performance of smartphone components. Today batteries in most mobilephones do not stand up all day (and for a long time it did not change) and they have even more difficult task to do in phones with such large screens. The same applies to the processor’s performance – the bigger screen and resolution the harder it has to work and this may slow its efficiency (eg. in smaller number of displayed frames-per-second in movies or games). Manufacturers are trying to solve this problem by packing inside their devices newer and more modern processors but not everyone is able to afford change their smartphone every 3-6 months.bateriea7_cpu

Unfortunately in recent times this trend completely pushed out of the market mobile phones with screens smaller than 4.5 inches which has the top specification. Fortunately there is hope. Recently Sony introduced several variants of the upcoming Xperia Z6. The standard models are about to have a screen size of 5.2 inches (Z6) and 4.6-inch (Z6 Compact). Of course there will still be larger variants – Z6 Plus with 5.8 and Z6 Ultra with 6.4-inch screens. But guess which model attracted the most attention? Yes – you got it – 4-inch variant Z6 Mini! Of course it will not be smaller version of the Z6 (like Z6 Compact) because the announcement shows that it will have a slightly inferior processor but as I mentioned – a smaller screen does not need quite as strong components. Most importantly – such a model would has literally only one competitor. Any idea which one?

iphone-6c-metal

New iPhone 6C?

It’s … Apple. From leaks we know that the company from Cupertino unexpectedly wants to introduce a new 6C model in February and its screen would has exactly 4 inches. I do not know about you but if its specification, design and colors would be attractive with great pain in my heart I’ll start to think about replacing the good old 4S.

Ankieta

Source: komorkomania.pl

In modern times the size of mobile phones clearly prevailed over common sense when by the definition they were meant to be mobile and convenient to use devices. As for me my old 4S is the example of quality, design, size and ease of use perfection. Nevertheless after so much time its components and speed of working are weaker and while I thought about buying the latest iPhone 6S I would give Apple much more if they gave me its components packed in old clothes of 4S. Well growing screen sizes in smartphones seems to be inevitable but survey made in the article on komorkomania.pl gives me hope (on the side).

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Apple pickpocket

Reading Time: 3 minutes

apple more dollarsEvery year Apple “generously” give us a new version of its phone. Lately, even doubling impressions, since there are two iPhones and even more colours. Some say that changes are good from the point of view of the user. But I have the impression that Apple behaves like a wolf in sheep’s skin. In the old days iPhone was setting the standards – not always had the best components but innovative features combined with (no doubts) the best design in the market and unmatched clarity iOS formed product practically unbeatable. Until now. In my opinion Apple shot itself into its foot. After the death of visionary Steve Jobs from the main innovator in the mobile market dropped to a miserable copyist of Asian copmetitors solutions which has not worked well. The famous “bend gate“, smaller batteries and skyrocketing prices in Poland discourages more customers. Of course queue for new iDevices is not declining but it remain some disgust. But the thing I was most upset was that suddenly “normal” iPhone (without Plus) has become secondary product. It is no longer the best product on the market in favor of greater Plus model. Why? Of course it’s about money. If you want to buy the iPhone which „lasts” whole day on a single battery charge you have to purchase Plus with a larger battery (obviously it’s more expensive). The same is about the camera – only in iP6Plus there is optical photo stabilization (more expensive). Not to mention the added functionality of the system in Plus (some features similar to the iPad’s software). Of course company explains lack of those by size of the casing or screen in iP6 but really „basic version” of this phone could easily handle all these functionalities. In addition there’s new swindle called “ChipGate” – the latest S versions processors comes from two companies – Samsung and TSMC. On paper the specification of this first looks little bit better (first of all why there are any differences?) but in practice during tests it turned out that it consumes much more energy for the same activities and was getting hotter. Moreover the calculations showed that there are more better processors (in percent of all) installed in… Plus versions (which are of course more expensive!). The cherry on top is that in practice customers in store can’t choose which processor will have because there’s no possibility to turn it on before buying (only in refurbished versions). Last but not least is that Apple continues to treat Poland as a third world country. In theory in Poland Apple’s market share ranks at around 2,14% but it still does not explain why Siri – which is one of the basic functionalities since the iPhone 4S and one of the main tools in using iWatch – is still not Polonized. Not only that iDevices premieres in Poland are delayed, we need to pay more for them comparing to other countries and in addition we can’t use all the features of the iOS. This way Apple simply pulls out lots of money from client’s pockets by not ensuring access to all its solutions and forcing customers wanting to have the best possible equipment to purchase more expensive variants. The icing on the cake is basic capacity of 16GB. To what extent is this enough – a few hundred pictures, songs and few apps? Of course you can buy a bigger capacity versions that are… more expensive. The conclusion is one – the company that once was famous for its innovation and unmatched facilities for not small amount of money has become a company that has increased the capacity of the screens in their devices (unthinkable at the Jobs times) and the efficiency of extracting even more money from their customers pockets.

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