So, the predictions were mostly correct – unlike those in the case of the iPad! With the 3GS being (even in name) a clear stopgap between the 3G and the next big iPhone remodel, it feels as though we have been waiting for this announcement forever! We shan’t run through all the spec upgrades, which are plentiful and can be ogled in full detail here. But which new features are we the most excited about?
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Video Calling This is the first time that I’ve felt like I’m in the future. I’m sure if you’d asked my five year old self, I would have predicted ubiquitous video-phones long before now. I also thought we’d be riding jet-packs to work, so get on it please, Apple.
Sweet Design I defy you to tell me it looks anything other than totally awesome.
Super-sharp Display Apparently the pixels are indistinguishable to the naked eye. Sounds good to me!
Different Colours No, it isn’t really a ‘feature’ per se, but I’d be fibbing if I denied how stoked I was to see that the two breeds of iPhone actually are distinguishable this time round. Now I just need to decide which one I want…
Decent Camera with Flash Finally! The one point I felt I really did have to concur on with naysayers was the relatively poor quality of the camera. I’m looking forward to busting out Hipstamatic with this.
Few could have failed to notice that two certain giants of the technology world are butting heads more and more lately. Following an I/O event which was riddled with direct digs at Apple, Google have used their official blog this Thursday to announce the latest of many offerings; Google TV. Naturally, comparisons with the similarly named product from Apple were rife.
Discussion and speculation has divided certain web communities, blogs, and even our own office! The premise of the video certainly appeals to many: ‘If the TV is so fun to watch, and the internet is so smart, why must we choose?’ However, certain aspects of the video rang hollow. Who reschedules a meal for a TV show – have the folks at Google not heard of TiVo, digital recorders, Sky+? Also, using one’s television to browse photos and play games or music – touted here as nothing short of revolutionary – as anybody with a Playstation or a HDMI cable knows, it is really anything but!
It is probably about time the TV industry got a huge kick. Satellite subscriptions have remained just as expensive and the TV Guide UIs just as ugly for far too long. Computer makers have been trying to get into the TV market for years, and current solutions in use include the Roku box, Apple TV and Boxee, amongst others. Far from innovative, it is actually nothing particularly new or original – with its integrated or set-top box format and backing from major companies it is in fact rather reminiscent of a terrible flop from Microsoft, the MSN TV:
However, this is one of the last frontiers which has not been optimally capitalised on. More developers getting into this arena can only push things forwards – and it only takes one company to make the breakthrough. There are some concerns regarding the concept itself – for instance, concerns regarding the quality of most web videos. With TVs getting larger and larger, and the rise of HD satellite and Blu-ray, is this content really able to compete? Additionally, TV is a mostly passive experience, whereas using a computer, iPad or iPhone is mostly interactive. Integrating these two ‘modes’ will be difficult – and it doesn’t seem to have been done right yet.
Do we have reason to believe that the ‘revolution’ will happen at the hands of Google? Critics say that they are just too sterile a company to develop something which is part of a home entertainment system, lacking the user-friendly nature and flash designs of competitors. Indeed, it would be fair to say that, aside from their legendary ‘endless’ beta periods, the other main criticism of Google’s operations is that though they frequently announce intriguing new projects, the final offering rarely turns out to be as remarkable as originally touted. They do, as a brand, lack the ‘wow’ factor of their main rival.
Further nay-sayers have focused on the long, almost whimsical line of products from the house of Google. “They should improve their own subpar/ugly products before they move on to new areas of the market!”, a web user declared. “They are obviously trying to be dominant in every area they can. How many damn products do they release each year, always something new? Even if they are great concepts, they always fail because they don’t spend enough time refining them.”, another wrote. Indeed, for a product which is due to launch in a few short months, a cartoon demo with no hint of the actual product does not fill one to the brim with confidence. It would be nice, in addition, if Google could unveil a logo that doesn’t look like ‘a guy in IT concocted it in Microsoft Publisher’ (another blog quotation).
For our own part, we’d love to see this take off, whether it be through Google, Apple, or somebody else. Google, in consensus with Microsoft here regarding Apple’s total control over the user experience, is once again staying out of the hardware domain, with Logitech manufacturing the units. An announcement several months ahead of the launch certainly gives Apple time to react, and many of us are waiting eagerly to see if this will mean an update to the AppleTV, which, generally regarded as a ‘hobby’ project for Apple, has gone for several years now without any major changes.
Frequent requests appear to be for a fully functional remote app, enabling users to use their iPhone or iPod Touch as a remote control (Apple does currently offer a free remote app of sorts), and for the addition of more features. General consensus seems to be that if Apple were to relaunch the AppleTV as compatible with apps, it would be a competition killer. Google also seem be thinking along these lines, including the following encouragement for developers in their blog post:
In our announcement today at Google I/O, we challenged web developers to start coming up with the next great web and Android apps designed specifically for the TV experience. Developers can start optimizing their websites for Google TV today. Soon after launch, we’ll release the Google TV SDK and web APIs for TV so that developers can build even richer applications and distribute them through Android Market.
As developers, we are always happy and excited at the prospect of new platforms to be working with, and we are reserving final judgement at this point – so watch this space for any ForemindsTM innovation coming to your TV!
With the UK release date for the iPad still mired in uncertainty, we certainly weren’t planning on risking our reputation as Apple fanatics. The only answer to our dilemma (“OMGmusthaveiPadplsplsnow?!”), we concluded, was to fly out there and get our hands on a bunch of the things – right on the launch date – from the Apple flagshop store on swanky 5th Avenue, NYC. We had an amazing time, and thought we’d share some of the snaps from our whirlwind tour with you all!
Here we are!
Scoping out the store, the night before the launch!
Bottosso Base Camp – The Pod Hotel, just around the corner from the Apple Store.
The crowd on launch day!
News truck!
Reporting at the front of the store.
Kindle vs. iPad! Wonder if they were inspired by our previous blog…
Smurfs.
Hotel advice booklet: NYC vs. London culture clash!
Central Park – we got very lucky with the beautiful weather!
Out and about NY.
Running off to the Met was one of the primary missions for some of our team members – for others, the prospect was a fate worse than having the iPhone OS 4 beta 2 forcibly installed on their phone for all time. Their loss!
The very typical NY diner where we had our breakfast each morning. A little glimpse of Mr. Bottosso himself in the corner, there!
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The final crucial detail remaining: did we storm NYC after all? Well, we’re primarily lovers, not fighters, so no, not really. We did come back with a whole load of iPads, though!
