REVIEWS

Saturday 26 April 2014

The Flagship killer

                         OnePlus One vs ? 

  We all have heard and seen the hype and rumour surrounding the flagship launches. Compaines call it the 'revolution' which is nothing but an evolution and 'The next big thing', which  happens to be 'Just the next thing'. Falling for all this, you brought yourself a flagship recently and are convinced that you  got 'The Flaghip of the year' and made the wisest choise?. Think twice!(those of you watching the internet closely will know what i am taking about ). Because the very defenition of 'Flagship' seems to have been slightly redefined. It is no more just the very high end specs and all the bells and whistles, but a factor that we never expect it be  associated with  -'PRICE'.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A company called OnePlus seems to be taking  this aspect head on with the moto 'NeverSettle'. OnePlus is a start-up company and producer of smartphones from China founded on December 17, 2013 headquartered in Hong Kong and Shenzen. Now you might think how on earth can a company with no notable  history just make a phone that can stand against the SAMSUNG, HTC, APPPLE , SONY etc. But they have done it with the OnePlus One. With killer specs and more importantly a pricing of $299  that makes the deal so tempting. 


 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The phone  has a 5.5 inch 1080p  screen with a pixel density of about 401ppi. Most smartphones you see these days have plastic chassis. But OnePlus went with a material that we haven't seen very much of in smartphones, magnesium .The phone like most recent high-end phones, is powered by  Qualcomm's blazing-fast Snapdragon 801 coupled with 3GB of RAM and Adreno 330GPU. In terms of  storage, we see a new  strategy here with the One. OnePlus is skipping the 32 GB option, jumping straight to 64 GB for just $50 more than the 16 GB model. Considering Apple charges an extra $100 to jump from a 16 GB iPhone to a 32 GB one, $50 for an extra 48 GB is looking like a pretty sweet deal. The rear of the camera has 13Mp shooter with dual LED flash which can even record 4K and  720p slow motion videos @120fps .The front has a 5MP shooter for all your selfies. In the software department , One dosen't dissappint at all. Running on the latest 4.4 kitkat  the One ships with the mod community's favorite custom version, Cyanogenmod. CM builds that you download for rooted phones typically feature the stock Android UI (or something very close to it), but the special version of CM (11s) that runs on the One has its own unique appearance. Like all versions of Cyanogenmod though, the beauty is in how customizable it all is. The OnePlus One lets you choose between using onscreen or capacitive (below screen) navigation keys. If you go with capacitive keys, then you'll always be able to use 100 percent of the screen for your apps and content. If you go with onscreen navigation, then you end up sacrificing a little real estate. Apart from all this ,One also packs in Tap-on display ,Wake with voice and  NFC features. The phone gets its juice from a 3,100 mAh battery which OnePlus is advertising "over a day's worth of battery life". Out of the box, the One will come in both "silk white" and "sandstone black" colors. Right now it looks like the white model is tied to the cheaper 16 GB version, while the black  to the $50 more expensive 64 GB One. 

 

With this launch ,OnePlus  has hit the one spot where its competitors are weak and lacking and 'Smashed' the flagship by their never moto 'NeverSettle'. What do you think?. Please feel free to share your thoughts in the comments section below.

 

Wednesday 16 April 2014

Why this is do or die for Apple

           Has Apple lost its charm or its  that the  competion just  caught up?

   So folks, its the time of the year when the rumour mill churns out the best rumours. Yes, I am talking about 'The big daddy of innovation-Apple' . From the mouse, Mac ,GUI and the iPad,Apple constantly challenged the status quo and led the way. Times are getting tougher  for Apple  as rivals are inching closer and even beating them at their game . The world's watching Apple fall as  some predicted when  Steve jobs passed away.
  Apple generally  launches its new iPhone(s) in September and the last quarter of the year blows up with sales. Sales typically hit the top peak  around the holidays , but Apple has supercharged this by releasing iPhone at that time.  Demand consistently peaks after a new iPhone debuts, as you’d expect.
From 2007 to 2011, iPhone sales doubled every holiday season, more or less. A new iPhone meant way more sales, but that’s no longer the case. In 2012 that growth fell by two thirds, and even with two iPhones in 2013, it all fell again by another two thirds. But you wouldn’t realize this by looking at the sales chart. Sales look like the chart on the left. It’s the one with a lot of upward momentum.

Look at the chart and you’ll see why Apple is finding it tough to stay on the top. Dwindling growth each year for the last few years.  But  a look at the rumours on the web about the speculated products(if true) show that Apple is moving in the right direction .
A new iPhone is  obvious. But how different will it be when compared to the current gen? Only Apple knows. Based on a recent survey, its clear that the world cant wait for an iPhone with a bigger display. 


  “This is the highest level of demand for an unannounced Apple model in a ChangeWave survey – stronger than we’ve seen in previous years for the iPhone 5S and iPhone 5 models prior to their announcements,” said Andy Golub of 451 Research. “Speculation over a larger screen iPhone is clearly striking a chord with consumers.”

 

 

 

This is quite contrary to what apple convinced us some time ago . Apple tried to convince us that  4inch was the perfect size for a phone. They were even seen ridiculing the competition (Yep,the note lineup).But now the  phablets rule the world .A recent leak suggested that the next iPhone will have a 4.7 inch screen and even more variants. A new Mac book pro ,Apple Tv etc are to expected.

 









 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Another leak(pic shown below) points out that Apple clearly know its situation and hudles.



But when you believe something and make others believe the same and then you realise that you were not right  is what Apple is finding difficult to fight. Just like with the screen size,closed ecosystem , and also the megapixel count race. Not to mention  the 'premium' tag that Apple devices hold proudly for we the customers are tapped.What this situation has is that it has created a new environment with faster,cheaper devices and we are left with  more options to chose from.


 What will Apple do and to what extent will they 'Think Differnt' to get back on track has to be seen.