I always love having guests on the show and this week we had a special treat. Our guest actually joined as a co-host for most of the show. Jeb Brilliant is a tech-blogger and runs Brilliant Expos. You can see him on his blog TheMobilePerspective.com and pretty much any tech trade show. Jeb and I discussed Google Music, the Galaxy Nexus, and the Nokia Lumia 800. Jeb is an iPhone user but a Nokia fan so we had an interesting conversation about those topics.
Before Jeb joined the show, we talked about Aaron's HTC Rezound review and my Amazon Kindle Fire review. Some want to know if the Kindle Fire is the iPad killer and some don't care about the iPad at all, they just want an inexpensive tablet. Either way, should you consider the Kindle Fire? Watch the review and check out some of the thoughts I shared during the podcast.
In case you haven't noticed, we have a new site design on PhoneDog. The layout is similar to the one we had before, but we have some new content sections, a new color scheme, some cool new fonts, and an improved layout that makes finding the content you want easier.
The first thing you'll notice is the new color scheme of the header. It gives the site a more modern look, don't you think? Next, you'll notice that the "Exclusive Articles" and "Latest Mobile News" sections stand out more and feature more content in a longer list than before. You, our loyal visitors, are what drive the site and you want to see content. Well, there it is and more of it at your fingertips.
One of my favorite new sections is the "Latest Reactions" segment you'll see on most pages as you peruse the site. These are the reactions from our Facebook page about each article we publish. PhoneDog is a highly interactive site that brings the conversation together, whether it's from the site, Facebook, or any new way of interacting that comes along in the future. Now, you can see reactions from your fellow tech-heads on Facebook, even without having to jump over to our Facebook page.
You may notice that a few sections of the homepage have been taken away, but it makes the viewing experience much simpler and less clogged. And these are just a few of the changes. Profile log-ins are back, we have a new Search, and tags are more clearly emphasized with colors and highlighted text on each content piece so you know exactly what to click on to find what you're looking for. Check out the site, peruse the pages and you'll find tons more features that make it new and fresh. Also, let me know what you guys think! Do you like the new look?
Google Music is here and it could not have come too soon. (Actually, it would have been nice if Google had this ready to go a long time ago, but beggars can't be choosers.) Not that getting your music onto your Android device was particularly difficult, what with software like DoubleTwist and such, but no matter how simple the process was, it just couldn't beat Apple's ecosystem with iTunes for music. Now that Android has a simple way to buy, download, and play or stream music, does iOS truly have a stand-out advantage over Android? That's something to consider.
For Android fans or those who are familiar with the OS and the options you have for moving your content to your device, the lack of iTunes was no problem. However, for the average consumer that isn't even that familiar with the concept of widgets (you have no idea how many Android phones I see in the wild with the stock wallpaper still on it and no widgets on the homescreen, not even the ones that come with the phone), it was something that they seemingly just had to deal with. I'm not saying it slowed the growth of Android, the numbers show that it certainly didn't matter too much, but if Android grew this much without having a simple way of buying music, I can imagine that it's going to grow even more now that it does.
We've said this for a long time, but Apple may need to watch out. Now there's nothing standing in the way of Android taking over for good. The Market is full of apps, Music takes away the advantage of iTunes, and the new hardware that we're seeing in terms of displays and overall speed all look like the perfect storm for Google. The iPhone isn't gone and it's still one of the best phones out there, but Apple is going to have to step it way up with the iPhone 5 in order to continue to compete.
