iPhone 5

In a few hours, Apple plans to introduce the iPhone 5 (according to several sources).  And I am wondering why this announcement is so eagerly awaited!  The press has been buzzing for ages about this new device, and making predictions of when in September/October the new phone would be released.  My guess is that lines are starting to form in front of stores (I’m at a conference and no where near an Apple store to check it out myself.)  For some reason this impending announcement is being treated like the release of a new Harry Potter story.

Hey, folks, its a phone, OK?  The fact is that I’m still using my 3GS.  I never moved to the iPhone 4 because my contract was still in the no-upgrade period.  Yes, I will get an iPhone 5 because I want a front-facing camera for video chats, etc.  I’m sure the new device will have some cool features, but this is a characteristic of many new technologies.

Apple’s genius is in getting people foaming at the mouth over every new device they bring to market, whether it is groundbreaking or not.  Take the iPad 2.  This (long overdue) upgrade of the original iPad still falls short of what Apple should have done, yet lines stretched around the block as people clamored to get their hands on the latest Apple gizmo.  And yet, a few weeks ago when Sony began shipping their new “S” tablet, there were no lines in front of Best Buy, even though the Sony tablet beats the iPad 2 by any measure imaginable.  It is beautiful, the screen is gorgeous, the operation is great, and the tablet can easily be connected to other devices, memory cards, etc.

It turns out that the Apple mystique is so powerful that if Steve Jobs had written the phone book, he would get the Nobel Prize in literature.

Will I get the iPhone 5?  Yes, of course.  I need to understand all the popular devices, and this one is on the list.  Will I stand in line to get one?  Not on your life.

Does an iPad killer exist?

It may seem like sacrilege to suggest that the day may come when Apple no longer owns the tablet market, but that day is coming – just not right away.

The problem with the iPad is that it is constantly running behind itself.  For example, when the original iPad came out, there was no front-facing camera, making it useless for Apple’s own videoconferencing application (let alone Skype, etc.)  Then, with iPad 2, there was no 4G capability, even though AT&T had announced 4G a few weeks prior to Apple’s launch.  And, as slick as the design of the iPad 2 is, it still looks like the Star Trek Next Generation PADD designed by Mike Okuda over 20 years ago (http://tinyurl.com/29tvorx).

Not that this is a bad thing – the iPad design is functional, just not as elegant as it could be.  In short, it is not truly “Appleish.”

Along comes Sony with their “S” tablet:

Not only is this tablet nice looking, it performs superbly as well.  First, the looks.  Instead of a uniformly thick plate, the “S” is tapered, kind of like folding a magazine back around itself.  This makes it easy to hold in portrait mode, and provides a nice typing angle when used in landscape mode.  Second, it is the lightest tablet on the market at this time – significantly lighter than the iPad 2.  The only physical design flaw I could see is the pop-out door for the USB and SD card slots (slots the iPad doesn’t even have.)  This door is just asking to be broken off by users who are either young, or who are trying to do things too quickly.  This, though, is the only physical design flaw.

As for performance, the unit I tested has the smoothest motion I’ve seen when it comes to moving stuff on the screen, or moving an entire screen full of graphics.  A lot of work went into having this tablet reek of excellence and, at similar pricing to the iPad, the Android-based Sony “S” is a device to watch closely.

The tablet world will continue to grow, and Apple’s lead will continue to decline.  Don’t weep for Apple, though, they have always done well as a minority player.  In fact, the best thing about the new competition in the tablet marketplace is that all new tablets (including the next one from Apple) are likely to advance even faster than they would if Apple had the market to itself.