Last week was filled with big news and we barely managed to fit all of it in. We started off the podcast with a few words to honor and remember Steve Jobs. He shaped the world of technology and it's only fitting that we pay our respects before continuing with the show. After that, we discussed the iPhone 4S. Most tech bloggers and readers thought the 4S was a huge disappointment and wouldn't sell very well. (At least it seemed like most felt that way.) However, with pre-order numbers starting to roll out, it appears that we were severely mistaken. In the podcast, we discussed some of our disappointments with the iPhone 4S.
Not to be overlooked is the other most anticipated device of the fall and that is the Nexus Prime. We got tons of leaks about this device last week and we discussed them in the podcast and how we feel about this phone and the new version of Android it will be shipping with. But Google and Samsung dropped a bomb on us and said they wouldn't be announcing the device at CTIA as everyone had expected. Why not? We talked about that.
We followed that up with more big news, this time coming from Microsoft and Windows Phone. Version 7.5, Mango, is being rolled out and it is a huge update. Taylor has written his review on the new version and I shared my thoughts as well. We finished up the show with a few extras and an open Q&A.
Hindsight is 20/20. It appears that consumers are not as disappointed by the iPhone 4S as we are. During the show, we talked about how high our expectations were for this new iPhone and how many different rumors we had heard. The rumors were not so far-fetched in themselves - a larger display, new hardware design, 4G, to name a few features, are not out of this world concepts. There was certainly a possibility that we would see a brand new iPhone with ground-breaking new features. The fact that we didn't see that was a huge letdown for a lot of people and made a lot of tech journalists (even the ones with years of experience) hypothesize that this iPhone may not be met with as much love as previous ones have.
But, like I said, hindsight is 20/20. With the initial pre-order numbers rolling out, the iPhone 4S, however uninspiring it may seem, is still on pace to break sales records and has broken some already. What gives? How could we be wrong about this? Well, I said this during the podcast and I'll say it here. Perhaps the Steve Jobs Reality Distortion Field is still up and running. And to be honest, the iPhone 4S is still an amazing phone. True, it's not so good that it's automatically the best smartphone on the market as has been the case in times past, but it can certainly match even the best Android phone out there. And that's really all Apple needs to do. If history repeats itself, and it usually does, we should be due for a big upgrade when the next iPhone hits.
Speaking of letdowns, after months of anticipation and several leaks that only whetted our appetite even more, Samsung and Google revealed that they would not be announcing a new device at CTIA this month. This 'new device' was more than likely going to be the Nexus Prime. We're not sure why Google and Samsung decided to postpone the announcement, though we speculated about a few reasons during the show.
Still, even if we have to wait a few weeks longer, at least we know that the phone hasn't been canceled altogether. And the leaks mean we have more footage to ogle at until the official announcement. We had a look at Ice Cream Sandwich a couple of weeks ago and, I have to say, I didn't really like the look of it. True, the concept made sense because it was basically Honeycomb on a phone, but I was hoping for a little more elegance since that's the one thing I feel is lacking in Android. This new look at Ice Cream Sandwich showed me just that. It appears to be a different or updated version of the build and it is elegant, indeed. It still has the same Android-y, robotic feel, but with some style thrown in as well.
We'll have to wait and see which version is the final build, but the Nexus Prime is shaping up to be one of the biggest releases of the year.
Along with Taylor's review of Windows Phone 7.5, you can check out my review of this new version as well as my video of my top five favorite new features. Though I chose to use a Windows Phone device as my personal smartphone, I recognized that there were several key features that were missing from the OS. Mango brings all of those features and then some new ones that we've never seen before. During the podcast, we talked about how there is a need for a third OS in the market. After all, competition drives innovation. Hopefully these much needed improvements and additions will drive Windows Phone past a measly 1% marketshare, but I have my own theories on why that is still a problem. Microsoft needs to find an effective way of marketing this great OS they've designed. Past history has shown us how big of an impact bad marketing can have. Remember those awful commercials for the original Pre? Creepy. Hopefully Microsoft has something better than that up its sleeve.
