What Should be Apple's Next Big Thing...?

Apple has given us iMac, iPod, iPhone, iPad and these all are ground breaking products. All these products have dominated their respective category. What is the next product category should Apple revolutionise?

Apple has always believed in closed environment and it is quite visible from their products. Apple believes in end to end control over its products because this way they can ensure that customer gets best experience of our products. This end to end control and a closed system has allowed Apple to make great products which have made their mark in the world. 

Integrating hardware and software is very important for great customer experience; this is visible from the Mac computer, iPod, iPhone, iPad where the hardware and software are seamlessly integrated. Controlling every aspect of a product is very important, as in the case of iTunes (Apple music store),where all music is available for customers at one place and at similar price point, this gives satisfaction and a great experience to apple customers. 

Since the launch of televisions it has seen lot of upgrades from black and white to colour, from CRT to plasma and LCD and LED TV's. The interface has changed a bit with time but it is still fragmented and not uniform over the globe.

The next industry Apple should look to revolutionise should be Television industry. There are bunch of different options ranging from set top boxes, Apple TVs, Roku boxes etc. which people use for watching TV. The user interface on all these devices is not consistent and neither is the experience pleasant. There is a need of uniformity across the world for a better user interface and a better Television viewing experience. 

Internet is something which is common to whole world and there is a set standard across the globe for internet cables and Wi-Fi routers. This could be a window for future of Television. A television set with built in Set top box and simple but interactive user interface which allows users to choose their content according to their likings, it is like having applications (channels) on your television which you want to watch. For this Apple will have to make direct contract with the Networks and buy television rights from them just as they did for music industry with iTunes. This will eliminate the cable operators who are middlemen in this industry. 

This will be a new era for television. I am sure Apple is working on this project since long and a television from Apple is due in coming years if not months.

Please feel free to leave your thoughts about television from Apple or if you know about any of Apple's upcoming products in the comments section below.

The War is Apple Vs Google or Closed Vs Open?

The Apple vs Google war has been going on for a while now. In 1980's and 1090's Apple was in similar war with Microsoft. Apple represented Closed system back in its competition against Microsoft which favoured Open system and again with its war with Google, Apple is favouring Closed system.

Which one is better: A closed eco-system (iPhone, APPLE) or an open eco-system (Android, GOOGLE). This is an issue which does not have an appropriate answer. There are a number of parameters to consider before answering this. 

First of all, the choice of a mobile phone does not depend on the open or closed system of that phone instead it is all about the perception and requirement of the end user. In case of mobile/smart phones these end users mainly include customers and developers. The real question here is why these customers are using their phones and for what purpose?

Mainly mobiles phones are used by customers for following requirements, that is: calling, messaging, emailing, social networking, internet searching, photos and gaming. All these functions work quiet efficiently on both open and closed system phones. But the parameters on which the future of open and closed platforms will depend include performance, battery life, security and user interface issues. As we know that the closed eco-system of iPhone allows Apple to seamlessly integrate its hardware with software for a better user experience. Let’s see some of the major pros and cons of iPhone’s closed eco-system:

Pros:

• According to me, a closed ecosystem approach is best for small devices like mobile phones as these devices greatly benefit from software that is highly customized for a specific hardware on which it runs. This results in a system with superior battery life, performance and user experience.
• Another advantage is for the application developers of iPhone. Open systems have a wide variety of devices because random vendors can use this open platform on their devices. These devices come with physical keyboard or without keyboard, with touch or without and different display sizes &aspect ratios which makes it impossible to develop an application that has seamless performance on all these different devices. This finally affects end user experience in a negative way. On the other hand, Apple has only four screen sizes and all applications in its app store are specifically optimized for these different devices like iPhone, iPad and iPad mini. This perfect integration of software and hardware allows iPhone to offer much better and seamless user experience.

• For corporate/business users, security of their information is the most important factor behind choosing a mobile phone. The closed end system makes this task easier as it keeps the track of all applications to prevent them from causing a discrepancy and allows a secure atmosphere. The reason  that a closed and controlled system offers reliable and secure functionality was The reason behind the success of  Blackberry and iPhone among corporate customers is their closed and controlled eco-system which offers reliable and secure functionality.. In all these arenas, Apple is dominating with iPhone’s closed ecosystem.

Cons:

• The disadvantages of a closed ecosystem are totally depends on individual preferences and requirements of the user. Some users need their mobile phones for fun stuff like games, other for social networking like Facebook, twitter and some for business communications such as emails.  These needs are the basic driving forces behind the decision of choosing a particular mobile phone whether its iPhone or android. This system targets the mass market as it offers customers with an opportunity of using any software or application on their phones without any restrictions. Whereas in case of iPhone, its target market consists of customers who want their mobile devices to be more performance oriented and safe, for better experience.

What are your thoughts on war against Apple vs Google or Closed vs Open, please feel free to leave your views below in the comments section.

My iOS 6 Experience

iOS 6 has been around since a while now and has received mixed responses. I have been using iOS 6 since the day its out and it seems to be good so far. However i would say the changes in latest version of iOS are more superficial compared to previous versions of iOS.
My experience with the major revamped apps was as follows.

Maps :
Apple completely redesigned the maps app and it is seen as a good move by some experts but it hasn't delivered what it is supposed to. I have to look for all kinds of other apps for navigation. Sure Tim Cook apologised for maps app being a big disappointment but a company like Apple should not be making excuses, i mean they have given us the iPod, iPhone, iPad, they are expected to make perfect apps or at least they should let google take care of the maps. I have no doubt Apple will perfect their maps app in due time, but they should have perfected the app before they bring it out for people.

Siri :
Siri has had major update and now she can open apps and post Facebook updates and tweets. Its been a good improvement and Siri now also understands more languages.Siri does many new things now but i still don't see myself using it alot. Siri still is in Beta and lets hope she learns more useful tricks.

Facebook :
Facebook is not integrated into iOS 6. This is a good feature and now there are lots of sharing options.
Posts can be updated from notification centre. I use this alot and now i see myself updating lot more on Facebook than i did before.

App Store :
App Store is redesigned and now it slides across sideways instead of sliding down. Its a complete new design and now you don't need to put in your password every time you update your apps also you are not redirected every time to home screen when updating or downloading apps.This is great news and its not clear to me why did the app store did it before, it seemed like a bug in iOS to me before but that is how it has been always in iOS, but it is all gone now.

Music :
Music app is somewhat redesigned, its all white now. Podcast is no more included in music, there is all new app dedicated to podcasts in iOS 6.

Mail :
Mail has got its own new enhancements and now i can mark my mails as VIP, flag and they go straight to respective folders. I can insert images and other files with much more ease in iOS 6. These small enhancements are looking good so far.

Safari :
Safari now supports full-screen in landscape mode, this is great feature. This is cool feature because i could see so much more of the web page without the address bar and all other buttons.

So in conclusion i would say iOS 6 has some useful features and some not so useful. I like iOS 6 but i expect something much more from iOS 7, may be more customisable options and change in looks, because since the launch iOS has seen very little change in its basic design. Lets see what Apple has in plans for next episode of mobile operating system.

Please feel free to leave your comments about iOS 6 and its features in the comments section.

Thoughts about iOS 6

Apple iOS 6 is coming this fall, around the time when Apple announces its new iPhone. It is packed with lots of new features and according to Apple it will take your iPhone, iPad and iPod touch in entirely new directions.This update will be available through iTunes and over the air wirelessly.

The key highlights of the new mobile operating system iOS 6 are:

 

Maps.

Maps take a whole new turn. Apple has completely designed the maps application from the ground up. Visual and spoken turn-by-turn navigation and real-time traffic updates are added. The maps are beautifully detailed. A new feature Flyover is added to the maps, it allows you to see major metro areas from the air with photo-realistic, interactive 3D views.

  Siri.

With iOS 6 Siri comes to the new iPad, understands more languages and works in more countries. Siri tells you the score or even the movie review, Siri can also open apps now.You can even use Siri to post Facebook updates and tweet for you,too.

Facebook.

There is system wide integration of Facebook in iOS 6. You can share a photo to Facebook right from the Camera or Photos, Post your location right from Maps. Facebook events are integrated into Calendar, Your Facebook friends’ profile information is integrated into Contacts. If you have your hands full, just ask Siri to post an update for you.

FaceTime. 

FaceTime now works on cellular networks as well as Wi-Fi. Now you can even make and receive FaceTime calls on your iPad using your Phone number.

Phone. 

iOS 6 adds  new calling features to your phone, Now when you decline an incoming call, you can instantly reply with a text message or set a callback reminder.

Mail. 

Mail in iOS 6 allows you to create a VIP list so you will never miss an important mail. It’s even easier to add photos and videos to email messages. And to refresh your mailbox, all you have to do is swipe down.

These are just a few features of iOS 6.

The question many people are asking is, inspite all these changes to the new iOS 6, is it really new? The overall look of iOS 6 is similar to that of previous version of iOS. The phone still lacks customizable options and widgets like those of Android phones and this is a concern for some users out there.

When Steve Jobs first announced the iPhone back in 2007, he said the operating system was atleast 5 years ahead of time. Anybody using Motorola Q9h or BlackBerry Pearl then would agree with the fact that Steve Jobs was right. Sadly the 5 years are up and nothing at WWDC 2012 was announced that was ahead of its time.

But still iPhone has the smoothest running interface on any mobile device out there, the highest resolution display (Retina display), great processors to power up their devices, great technology behind them, a great development team and greatest fan following. So we would have to wait and see what the response of people is when iOS 6 comes out this fall. The developer’s preview of iOS 6 is out for the developers and the reviews have been good so far.

Personally I use the iPhone 4S and eagerly waiting to get hold of the final release of iOS 6.

iOS 7 is out and check out How to install iOS 7 on you iDevice.
Do you want to more out of your iPhone's battery here are 15 tips to improve the battery life of your iPhone.