Wednesday 24 October 2012

GOOGLE: LET US PLAY!























GOOGLE 29 OCTOBER PREDICTIONS 2012

Before I make my predictions let me say this…

It’s an amazing time for technology! Apple has announced some very interesting products a few days ago… As usual Apple makes many great claims that are the equivalent of farting in the wind! You couldn’t smell that? They’ve done two very odd things as you know: iPad 4 within 6 months thus invalidating the 6 month old iPad 3 and released the much talked about iPad Mini. The iPad Mini spec has been taken out of the iPad 2 and the 7.9” screen isn’t their famous Retina and is also not HD. The price is also out of whack! $329! Is Apple so desperate to make money by touting the iPad Mini to the blind and ignorant? Honestly, if I were in the market for an iPad I would go for the best possible which is now the iPad 4 64GB! But by the time I have splashed out for an iPad 4 with all the trimmings I could have a decent PC desktop or laptop that will last me a couple of years as opposed to one year! I have stated before and I will state it again… Because of the iPad the price of a powerful laptop has come down considerably! I would rather have a laptop to be totally honest with you! I think “Apps” are the biggest red herring in the IT world at the moment! Why? Because you and I both know it is better to have Microsoft Office in all its glory on a decent laptop!

The grass is green as the Android… The other side… Well, look at the tablet market that they occupy: Internet on the go – including social networking, entertainment and moderate productivity with some decent apps with Office compatibility! All of this in a pocketable 7” tablet form. The price is right too! $199! The Nexus 7 is leading the way and will continue to do so! I don’t mind spending $199 for what the Nexus 7 brings! Amazon has got their strategy going too with their custom Android operating system on the Kindle Fire HD that is a direct line to their marketplace. Some people complain that the Android tablet apps are scaled up from the mobile ones and that the aesthetic isn’t pleasing. Personally, I don’t care! As long as I can access things like Facebook, Twitter, the Web, YouTube, etc I am happy! I find that it is a nice stop gap between when I’m on the road and when I get home to my PC! Then you look at the “phablet” market that Samsung is currently leading! I am planning to get the Galaxy Note II as I’m due for an upgrade soon! Then I ask myself, “Do I really need a tablet should I find myself with the Note II?”

Yes, Android has been trying to get into the tablet market as occupied by the iPad. As you know this is where the quality of the apps is duly noted! I think Samsung are doing their best and the Galaxy Note Tablet 10.1 seems to be hitting that sweet spot with much of the onboard applications! The Note Tablet 10.1 looks the closet to the iPad Asus are not too far behind with their tablets too! Their PadFone 2 certainly looks interesting…


MY PREDICTIONS
It’s funny, these days you can’t keep a secret before product press launches! I’m afraid that the Google Playground press event is going to be disappointing! Why are secrets being leaked? Mind you, going back to the recent Apple press event… that was disappointing all-round – even though I didn’t know anything about the iMac!




If that’s the LG Nexus 4 then I can tell you already that I am disappointed with the design which looks like stock Samsung! I keep looking for something radical but the Google Nexus has never been radical; it’s as though they wish to deliver a middle of the road handset with a 5MP camera when others are doing 8MP and above! Here’s the rumour regarding the LG Nexus 4 spec:

4.7-inch display 1280 x 720 HD resolution
1.5GHz quad-core processor
Android 4.2 Jelly Bean or Key Lime Pie?
2GB of memory
8MP back camera
1.3MP front facing camera
8GB or 16GB of storage
2,100mAh battery

Hmmm… The quad-core processor is good as is the 8MP camera. But doesn’t the Galaxy Note II look more attractive? Well, maybe the rental price will be good! Certainly the above spec is so much better than the iPhone 5!

ANDROID 4.2
I think it is fair to say that Android rules the world in terms of its omnipresence!

Somehow I don’t think 4.2 will be Key Lime Pie… I am sure that the next major Android release will be version 5! Perhaps Android 5 won’t come in time for November 5 to commemorate Android’s fifth birthday!

I think there will be better notifications – similar to that of the Galaxy SIII where you put the handset to your head to dial a person who just sent a text, a richer set of camera features such as panoramic photo capabilities and a stronger Google Voice Search and Now! I am hoping that the card results will look better! I want to see more of an effort in the design!

NEXUS 7 32GB 3G?
At the time of writing I have just looked at Google Play to see what’s shaking with regards to the current pricing of the Nexus 7 16GB model and it hasn’t changed. It’s still £199!

Could it be that a 32GB version is on its way and that will either make the 8GB version obsolete or cheaper still! More choice for the user! Reducing the price of the 8GB version will give people more choice and it would be very attractive to non-demanding users at £99!

I predict that the 32GB Nexus 7 will feature a microHDMI output and USB port. It’ll probably go for £250 or thereabouts!

NEXUS 10 by SAMSUNG
Could this rumour be true? I think so! Why would Samsung step aside for LG to take up the Nexus handset mantle if they weren’t going to do something that will keep up their momentum as a leading force in Android device manufacturers? Expect a 10” Nexus from Samsung! I do think that they are going to come up with a screen resolution that will be higher than that of the latest iPad (4); the Nexus 10 is said to feature a 2560 x 1600 resolution, 16:10 aspect ratio and 300 pixel per inch (PPI) density.

I am predicting that this will be a major tablet that will feature a range of in-built applications created by Samsung and Adobe i.e. Photoshop Touch! Like the Galaxy Note 10.1 Tablet the Nexus 10 is going to be aimed at creativity and the creative industries! I am quite sure that the price will just undercut the iPad 4! I am almost certain that this is the reason why Apple rushed iPad 4 and Mini! iPad 4 attempts to hit the Nexus 7 and Mini is aiming at the Nexus 10 – if it really exists! But I am certain that it does!

I can see a quad-core 1.6 or 1.7 processor, 2GB RAM, 16, 32 and 64GB storage with further expansion via a microSD slot. I think this one could be a real iPad killer in terms of spec! This could be the reason why developers will flock to Android!

NEXUS Q
This one stalled earlier this year, but I think we are going to see another preview of the work in progress enhancements. I would imagine that it would be a gaming device as well as a cloud storage / playback device. I am curious if I am right! I can see Google demonstrating some games with it!

NEXUS 2 PLUS
This could be the Samsung GT-I9260, Galaxy Nexus 2+! It could be that Google will be showing this off with the Nexus 10! If LG is doing the Nexus 4 then logic dictates that there must be a 2 and 3! I think the third one will come from HTC!

NEXUS PHABLETS
Now could it be that there will be Nexus phablets to come? I get the feeling that we might see one from HTC.

I reckon more devices will come to mark Android’s birthday!

I wonder how many of my predictions will come true! We’ll see… Monday 29 October can’t come soon enough! Lol!

FLOODING THE MARKET?

That’s a tough one to call… Do you see Google flooding the market to their disadvantage? Personally, I think having a widest choice as possible is a good thing! Not everyone is due for an upgrade at the same time; therefore there will be opportunity to get one of the latest Android handsets! I believe that Google are taking advantage of the fact that there are those who stick with their brands… There are those who are loyal to Samsung, HTC, Sony, etc. LG is very much hot on the heels of Samsung! If LG can wow the Android purists with their Nexus model I think they stand a good chance of being able to gain more of a reputation!

The good thing about flooding the market is that today’s expensive handset will come down considerably in price! A perfect opportunity for those to yet experience the smartphone phenomena and those who require a second handset!

Roll on…

Thank you so much for reading!

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Best wishes!
 

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