What's coming, a recap
Here's what the Big Four mobile software-makers announced.
iOS 6
At its annual WWDC conference on June 11, Apple announced a slew of iOS 6 updates that will arrive this fall. Many catch up to features already found in Android and Windows Phone, like Facebook integration, video calling over the cellular network, and turn-by-turn voice navigation. However, iOS 6 will also bring some new toys to the playground, like natively storing and accessing tickets to events, and setting call reminders.
Other standout features include offline Web reading, 3D maps, and a smarter Siri that will be able to open apps and get you dinner reservations. At some point down the road, Siri will also wind up in certain cars.
Of course, these latest and greatest features only account for what Apple is willing to tell us now, without giving away any functionality related to new hardware, like a better camera in the iPhone 5, or any processor-related gaming tidbit. It's probable that Apple's next smartphone announcement will reveal an iOS 6 zinger.
BlackBerry 10
RIM may have first shown off bits and pieces of the BlackBerry 10 operating system in early May, but June is when the company kick-started its developer-focused BlackBerry 10 Jam world tour, and began inviting press in on just how it plans to keep developers on board the wobbly ship.
BlackBerry 10 OS and the hardware it'll go on are far from complete, but there is some definite promise. There will be a brand new interface with a cleaner, more minimalist layout than ever before. There's also a new multitasking workflow, called Flow, and an intelligent virtual keyboard that can easily predict your sentences and delete or complete words with a simple gesture. Brand new camera processing features will be able to detect faces, and a novel feature will let you rewind a previous frame to get the exact expression you want.
Not much is known about the hardware itself, save that it's expected to host a high resolution screen. Rumors and leaks point to a 768x1280-pixel resolution for the top-of-the-line series.
It's still early days for BlackBerry 10, and we saw relatively little about how well the OS operates. Until we see more, neither Brian nor I are convinced that the new OS is the game-changer that RIM and some loyal developers swear it is, but the features we know about so far are a big step in the right direction.
Windows Phone 8
Microsoft unveiled Windows Phone 8 on June 20. The major OS update will get support for multiple processors, starting with dual-core Qualcomm chips, two new compatible screen resolutions (including HD), and integrated NFC.
Microsoft is also integrating VoIP and is improving multitasking smoothness. Rumors points to an innovative, unannounced keyboard designed for one-handed typing. There's a revised start screen that gives you resizable dynamic tiles across more of the screen surface. A shared kernel with Microsoft's Windows 8 platform for desktops and tablets will be able to let developers for Microsoft's other computing platforms more easily program for Windows Phone.
The first handsets are slated for fall, eventually to 180 countries. Unfortunately, existing handsets aren't eligible for the Windows Phone 8 upgrade.
Android 4.1 Jelly Bean
Google was the last of the four to debut its new mobile plans, but on June 27, it announced Android 4.1 Jelly Bean, an upgrade from Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich. Jelly Bean's big draws are its revamped search app and its more substantial notifications. Google has made search front and center in Jelly Bean, so that it looks and feels more like Siri. The Voice Actions interface and voice readout are changed, but the bulk of Voice Actions remains the same as before.
What is new is Google Now, an optional program that can tap into your GPS coordinates and several apps to help you organize your life and anticipate your needs, down to suggestions on when to leave to make a certain appointment on time. The notifications menu also gets thicker descriptions for events that pop up there, and the ability to do things like share a photo or respond to a message.
Offline voice typing is new, predictive text is smarter, and overall performance is smoother. In addition, there are resizable widgets; and the NFC feature, Android Beam, can now handle larger files like photos and video in addition to URLs and maps.
Staging a smartphone battle for fall
For Apple and Google, the struggle is for platform dominance. Apple had the upper hand for a long time after the first iPhone launch, with Grade A hardware and the more developed operating system, but Android has wrested away control and now leads the U.S. market with roughly 51 percent to the iPhone's 32 percent.
Right now the ball is in Apple's court. Secrecy and surprise have always worked in Apple's favor, and depending on when the company announces and sells its iPhone 5 this autumn, its newest handset can draw -- and keep -- customers' attention. Discounts on its iPhone 4S will also attract new buyers across U.S. carriers.
Compare this momentum to Google's Jelly Bean roll-out, which will be slow and fragmented as always as the manufacturers and carriers test and slowly deploy updates to select phones, starting with Samsung's Galaxy Nexus and Nexus S, among them. Beyond updates, it'll be up to manufacturers to integrate Android 4.1 into their handset release plans, or you can buy a new, unlocked Samsung Galaxy Nexus from Google now. As great as the little bump is from 4.0 to 4.1, Jelly Bean isn't an earth-shattering update.
For Microsoft and RIM, the next few months will be a pitched fight for survival against the undeniable combined force of Android and iOS. Microsoft has now spent two years trying to make Windows Phone stick, and RIM keeps moving higher up the endangered species list.
RIM's tragedy has gone from bad to worse to so-bad-I-can't-look, with plummeting share prices and sales, massive layoffs and probably more to come. There's also the high possibility that RIM will hack apart its business and sell off parts, and its final hope, future BlackBerry smartphones running RIM's BlackBerry 10 operating system, is delayed from late 2012 to early 2013.
Even if the forthcoming BlackBerry 10 arrives in a blaze of glory with innovative features and flawless hardware, with such low investor and customer confidence.
Here's what the Big Four mobile software-makers announced.
iOS 6
At its annual WWDC conference on June 11, Apple announced a slew of iOS 6 updates that will arrive this fall. Many catch up to features already found in Android and Windows Phone, like Facebook integration, video calling over the cellular network, and turn-by-turn voice navigation. However, iOS 6 will also bring some new toys to the playground, like natively storing and accessing tickets to events, and setting call reminders.
Other standout features include offline Web reading, 3D maps, and a smarter Siri that will be able to open apps and get you dinner reservations. At some point down the road, Siri will also wind up in certain cars.
Of course, these latest and greatest features only account for what Apple is willing to tell us now, without giving away any functionality related to new hardware, like a better camera in the iPhone 5, or any processor-related gaming tidbit. It's probable that Apple's next smartphone announcement will reveal an iOS 6 zinger.
BlackBerry 10
RIM may have first shown off bits and pieces of the BlackBerry 10 operating system in early May, but June is when the company kick-started its developer-focused BlackBerry 10 Jam world tour, and began inviting press in on just how it plans to keep developers on board the wobbly ship.
BlackBerry 10 OS and the hardware it'll go on are far from complete, but there is some definite promise. There will be a brand new interface with a cleaner, more minimalist layout than ever before. There's also a new multitasking workflow, called Flow, and an intelligent virtual keyboard that can easily predict your sentences and delete or complete words with a simple gesture. Brand new camera processing features will be able to detect faces, and a novel feature will let you rewind a previous frame to get the exact expression you want.
Not much is known about the hardware itself, save that it's expected to host a high resolution screen. Rumors and leaks point to a 768x1280-pixel resolution for the top-of-the-line series.
It's still early days for BlackBerry 10, and we saw relatively little about how well the OS operates. Until we see more, neither Brian nor I are convinced that the new OS is the game-changer that RIM and some loyal developers swear it is, but the features we know about so far are a big step in the right direction.
Windows Phone 8
Microsoft unveiled Windows Phone 8 on June 20. The major OS update will get support for multiple processors, starting with dual-core Qualcomm chips, two new compatible screen resolutions (including HD), and integrated NFC.
Microsoft is also integrating VoIP and is improving multitasking smoothness. Rumors points to an innovative, unannounced keyboard designed for one-handed typing. There's a revised start screen that gives you resizable dynamic tiles across more of the screen surface. A shared kernel with Microsoft's Windows 8 platform for desktops and tablets will be able to let developers for Microsoft's other computing platforms more easily program for Windows Phone.
The first handsets are slated for fall, eventually to 180 countries. Unfortunately, existing handsets aren't eligible for the Windows Phone 8 upgrade.
Android 4.1 Jelly Bean
Google was the last of the four to debut its new mobile plans, but on June 27, it announced Android 4.1 Jelly Bean, an upgrade from Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich. Jelly Bean's big draws are its revamped search app and its more substantial notifications. Google has made search front and center in Jelly Bean, so that it looks and feels more like Siri. The Voice Actions interface and voice readout are changed, but the bulk of Voice Actions remains the same as before.
What is new is Google Now, an optional program that can tap into your GPS coordinates and several apps to help you organize your life and anticipate your needs, down to suggestions on when to leave to make a certain appointment on time. The notifications menu also gets thicker descriptions for events that pop up there, and the ability to do things like share a photo or respond to a message.
Offline voice typing is new, predictive text is smarter, and overall performance is smoother. In addition, there are resizable widgets; and the NFC feature, Android Beam, can now handle larger files like photos and video in addition to URLs and maps.
Staging a smartphone battle for fall
For Apple and Google, the struggle is for platform dominance. Apple had the upper hand for a long time after the first iPhone launch, with Grade A hardware and the more developed operating system, but Android has wrested away control and now leads the U.S. market with roughly 51 percent to the iPhone's 32 percent.
Right now the ball is in Apple's court. Secrecy and surprise have always worked in Apple's favor, and depending on when the company announces and sells its iPhone 5 this autumn, its newest handset can draw -- and keep -- customers' attention. Discounts on its iPhone 4S will also attract new buyers across U.S. carriers.
Compare this momentum to Google's Jelly Bean roll-out, which will be slow and fragmented as always as the manufacturers and carriers test and slowly deploy updates to select phones, starting with Samsung's Galaxy Nexus and Nexus S, among them. Beyond updates, it'll be up to manufacturers to integrate Android 4.1 into their handset release plans, or you can buy a new, unlocked Samsung Galaxy Nexus from Google now. As great as the little bump is from 4.0 to 4.1, Jelly Bean isn't an earth-shattering update.
For Microsoft and RIM, the next few months will be a pitched fight for survival against the undeniable combined force of Android and iOS. Microsoft has now spent two years trying to make Windows Phone stick, and RIM keeps moving higher up the endangered species list.
RIM's tragedy has gone from bad to worse to so-bad-I-can't-look, with plummeting share prices and sales, massive layoffs and probably more to come. There's also the high possibility that RIM will hack apart its business and sell off parts, and its final hope, future BlackBerry smartphones running RIM's BlackBerry 10 operating system, is delayed from late 2012 to early 2013.
Even if the forthcoming BlackBerry 10 arrives in a blaze of glory with innovative features and flawless hardware, with such low investor and customer confidence.
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