What Apple Needs to Do

I will start this editorial stating that I know Apple is doing just fine. The market penetration they have in the tablet space they created is unprecedented. However, with each passing quarter, Android pushes further and further ahead of Apple (http://goo.gl/9ZYDC) in the Smartphone arena. Consumers are fickle. Just as RIM, complacency leads to change.

Where the Android ecosystem falters, Apple excels. Apple does not license iOS. Their control on their operating system allows tight integration with their hardware. It slows down the development cycle, usually timing major updates with hardware releases. But when updates are released, they are released to most Apple hardware simultaneously and typically with few deployment issues. This is something Android can’t touch with a hand grenade. Most Android phones are at minimum one (realistically two) Android versions behind current. This may not phase the average consumer, but it matters to me.

This is where I see Apple’s strength’s end. Aside from Siri, which I classify as a gimmicky piece of novelty software, I haven’t seen any worthwhile user experience (UX) advancements from Apple as long as I can remember. Compare that to the improvements in Android over the past two years and I really feel Apple needs to put some muscle into their user interface or Android’s momentum is going to catch up with them on all fronts.

Apple is set to announce “something” in the coming weeks. We were already introduced to iOS 6. You can expect a new iPhone (to be called “New iPhone”) as well as a 7” iPad Mini. The New iPhone will surely support LTE and will sport a larger screen. This increased screen size will provide the user an additional row of icons. A smaller dock connector is planned as well as a relocated headphone jack. Prior to Tim Cook, Steve Jobs was always a big opponent of a larger Smartphone screen. But the consumers have spoken and larger screen Android phones are hot. Increasing the screen size of the New iPhone and the addition of LTE will surely damage iOS’s historically great battery life. However, the larger size will also allow for a larger battery to hopefully balance the scale.

For full disclosure, I’m an Android lover. Not an Apple fanboy, but not a hater. I’ve been using an Asus Nexus 7 tablet for two months and have witnessed all the glory of Android 4.1 with Jelly Bean and Google’s “project butter” efforts. All I can say is Apple needs step it up.

My name is Jason Evans. I have lived in Bel Air for most of my life. Graduated from C. Milton Wright in 1995, University of Maryland in 1999 (B.S. Mechanical Engineering), UMBC in 2004 (B.S. Computer Science), and University of Maryland again in 2010 (M.E. Computer Engineering). Technology is one of my passions, and I will be posting on Bel Air Patch regularly on this topic. Feel free to comment or ask me any technology related question.

#Apple #iOS #Android