Raj Agrawal

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You are here: Home / Archives for nexus

Mobile Post Apocalypse – Holy Wars

June 23, 2015 by Raj Agrawal Leave a Comment

I remember holding a Nokia 6600 and being in awe of how revolutionary and cutting edge it looked. It’s a bulky and completely outdated phone by todays standards, but back then it was an absolute beauty. A never before seen form factor, bulky but good-to-hold curves and a brilliant camera for its time really made the phone desirable by many.

I remember the Sony Walkman phone, which was in a league of its own. Sony owned the camera battles back then, but the Walkman phone offered more; unprecedented sound quality, and walkman-like music management. There were other players – you bought a Motorola just for the looks. There was nothing like a Razr back then, and there is nothing that looks like the Razr even now. Every major competitor before Apple brought something new to the table. There were no lists of consumer-friendly phone specs that you could compare. You simply had to choose one which fit your needs the best. DPI, megapixels, cores, rom; none of these things mattered much. And the phones were generally very stable.

There will not be another Nokia 3310, or at least a phone which will be as popular. Why? It’s because back then, spec sheets did not matter much.

Mobile post apocalypse - Analogy (Poussin, Nicolas: The Victory of Joshua over the Amalekites - An excerpt from the The Jewish Bible)
Mobile Post Apocalypse – Pictorial analogy (Poussin, Nicolas: The Victory of Joshua over the Amalekites – An excerpt from the The Jewish Bible)

Apple revolutionised mobiles. It’s true. Whether or not you’re an Android fan, this is something you simply have to accept. Touchscreens were never very popular. Using a stylus to operate smartphones today can get really cumbersome. O2 had a lot of clout among the business elitists, but the world was mainly either Nokia, Sony Erricson, Motorola, or Blackberry. Blackberry owned the majority of the business market, and the other three ruled everything else. All Apple had to do was make a good Touchscreen phone. And it did. And it brought something new to the table; something which was acceptable as the next big thing; something which did not seem ahead of its time. That’s really all you need to do; make something which feels like a logical follow up without really trying to change the world. Apple did just that, and suddenly they were innovators. Every new piece of technology they put into the iPhone became a standard. DPI became the next screen rating. Cameras suddenly felt obsolete in comparison. Music was already their bread and butter and coin. It’s like the world was just waiting for a good ‘smartphone’ – a term that brings about mixed feelings, but that”s for another time.

War is, on many levels, a mind game. Your strength lies not in the strength of your units, but in your ability to use them properly. You cannot always be innovative in a war. You simply have to do what’s necessary; fight fire with lava. And sometimes you just have to do what your opponent does, but for free. And that is what Google did. Android created a mobile ecosystem, which was comparable to iOS, was free, and was open source. Their aim was not to cater to the few elite believing in shelling out a bomb for quality. Their aim was to cater to everybody. They created a model where mobile manufacturers did not have to worry about software. All they had to do was create good hardware which could support Android, much like a PC. Apple was untouchable uptil then, having a daunting monotony on the mobile market. Android is the natural competition the world needed to strive in an Apple dominated world.

The result – Samsung is now one of the top phone manufacturers in the world. HTC have left that O2 image behind and made some excellent phones. This automatically enables a sense of doubt for Apple, which makes it strive to make it products better. And any competition is good competition.

As an end user, I can rest assured that the next phone I buy will be of higher quality than the last, and this trend will only continue. At a certain point, Android left its Apple-copier image, and started taking initiatives of its own. It did what google does best, integrate search into the ecosystem, which is Google’s main source of income. They initiated the Nexus series of phones – the purpose of which was to increase their search base, by selling premium quality phones at mid range prices. And this has worked very well for Google. Nexus 5 is now the standard by which Android phones are measured with. Sure there is the Nexus 6, but it feels like a failed experiment, with its obnoxious pricing. The Nexus 5 is Google at its best in the Android space, and the remastered 2015 edition coming out is a testament to that.

My main gripe with this holy war is this – there used to be a magical (sorta) feeling about holding a mobile phone. When I had held a Nokia Communicator, the sense of awe I got was completely different than holding a 6600. The joy of flapping and unflapping a Moto Razr was unlike anything out there. I could throw around a 3310 and know that it will still ring when I get a call. There was art; art with flaws, but art nonetheless.

Being a software engineer, I now realize that the best way to build a software fast, is to reuse. Almost every phone today is reusing the same curvy edges slim trim design. Almost every Android phone today has a home screen which looks exactly the same.

It still feels great to hold a LG G4, but there’s not much that can surprise me. Sure the phone can look after my every need; way more than any phone back then could possibly do, but it just feels part of my daily life, and not something that I should treasure. And I see this in almost every industry these days. Maybe that is what customers want; a fixed standard set of specs for their daily lives. But when every phones feels the same, you don’t have much of a choice. I used to get butterflies at the thought of buying and exploring a new phone. Now it just feels like i’m buying upgraded software.

Filed Under: Technology Tagged With: 3310, 6600, apple, google, iOS, LG, nexus, nokia, samsung, sony

Is google really trying to make a profit with Nexus 7?

July 3, 2012 by Raj Agrawal 1 Comment

Google unveiled a new tablet late last month called the Nexus 7. Now there are plenty of affordable Android tablets in the market and most of them lack at the hardware or the software end. But, Nexus 7 is special. This first ever tablet from Google promises great set of features at a surprisingly low price, which is too good to be true. Google isn’t exactly popular for being a money-leecher; they aren’t popular for being generous either. This leads me to question Google’s intentions. Is profit really on their minds, or is it something much more strategic than that?

Google Nexus 7
Google Nexus 7

The Nexus 7 comes packed with a quad core Nvidia Tegra 3 processor and a 12 core GPU, which effectively makes the device capable of using 16 cores at a time. It has a 7 inch screen with a display resolution of 1200 * 800 pixels, and features a Gorilla glass laden LCD display. On the memory side, it has 1 GB of Ram, and up to 16 GB of hard disk space. And front facing 1.3 megapixel camera, with no camera on the back panel. 

It comes loaded with the latest version of Google’s flagship Android OS, called Jellybean. Jellybean comes with a lot of new improvements over ICS, which includes Google Now, a revolutionary new platform for searching and user interaction which goes beyond Voice search and AI. It also has a lot of new tweaks such as Google’s “Project Butter” initiative, which makes scrolling much smoother, almost “buttery”, and the OS much more responsive as a whole. It’s clear that with all of these bells and whistles, that this is a top tier tablet intended to compete with the best out there.

Now here’s the real deal. The tablet is priced at just 199$ for the 8 GB version, and 249$ for the 16 GB version. In case you do not find this surprising, let me remind you that the Kindle Fire, Amazon’s goliath in the tablet space, sells for the same price, but cannot hold a candle to the specs Google are offering with the Nexus 7. The Kindle Fire is a tablet with very limited capabilities and actually justifies the comparatively cheap price tag. The iPad though, now that’s a different story. But even so, in terms of features, the Nexus 7 probably goes neck to neck with Apple’s A-sexual lovechild. One may say it even trumps the mighty beast.

nexus 7 vs kindle fire
Image credit – PCMag.com

Which brings us to the main point of discussion, why price so cheaply? If you ask me, I say it’s a ploy. None of the Android tablets have really made an impact which they were expected to make, mainly due to the stiff competition from Apple, and Amazon. And what do you do when the competition starts getting heavy on you? You try and neutralize the competition. By pricing the Nexus 7 as much as the Kindle Fire, Google has ensured one thing; if there is a question between which Tablet to opt for, the price being a factor, it’s a no-brainer. Google hands down has the best tablet around. They want to hit Amazon, and hit them hard.

But won’t this affect the current lineup of Android tablets too? Most Android tablets out there may feature similar specs but are very highly priced. As such, won’t Google be harming its own partners? Well yes and no. Even though the current generation of Android tablets will become obsolete, it will pave the way for future tablets to follow Google footsteps in the pursuit of making better tablets at around the same price range. Brilliant strategy in my opinion.

kindle-ipad3-nexus7

You can call this transition as rebooting of a brand. If one strategy does not work for a long time, start over. If Google is able to capitalize on the market as they will be hoping with this bold move, then we might see a new era of cheap, high performing tablets in no time. For the customer, it’s a major win, which is all that matters.

Filed Under: Consumer Technology Tagged With: Android, apple, google, nexus, Tegra

Tablet Wars – iPad vs Surface vs Nexus 7

June 29, 2012 by Omkar Jadhav 2 Comments

With the long history and availability of tablets in the market, none of them have been potent enough to rival the Apple’s iPad. Market statistics prove it. While, this is not just about the hardware and software richness, it’s more about convincing and winning the mass consumers. A long list of tablets have come and failed. They were somehow flawed with either features and/or design. Hence, they have been unsuccessful in convincing the mass consumer market. This year we might witness a major change with the announcement of Microsoft’s Surface tablets and Google’s Nexus 7 tablet. The 2 recently announced tablets have plenty of sensible features to offer you’ve always wanted to see in a tablet. Read more as I talk about how each of the 3 major tablets might ably win the mass consumer market.

ios-vs-andriod-windows
iOS vs Android vs Windows

Why Apple iPad has been winning

Apple’s vast eco-system of apps has yet to be matched by any other software company. Though Android has achieved a rapid growth in their apps collection it hasn’t yet surpassed their rival’s offerings. Also Apple’s notable hardware and software integration along with finesse in hardware design has been able to create a far superior user experience that has yet to be rivaled. This self-sustaining ecosystem comprising of iPhones, iPads, MacBooks, platform specific apps, operating systems and their cross platform integration has been the thriving force behind this market reach.

Strengths – App Store, Presence in Smartphone, Notebook and Desktop Markets, Build quality and design, Wide range of Accessories, commendable hardware and software integration.

How Microsoft’s Surface can win

Surface showed some amazing never-seen-before features that no other tablet could pull off this gracefully. A full desktop PC experience in a package which is slim and handy, has only been embodied by Microsoft’s Surface yet. It is just a tablet, but with capabilities surpassing those of other tablets, notebooks and most PCs. Does it really perform as good? This is yet to been seen. Windows already has a vast eco-system with over 1billion PCs from tablets – desktop computers – laptops – ATMs all over the globe. With Surface as a productivity device can attract and complement a considerable portion of this existing customer base. By offering options such as high speed USB ports, SD card slots, video out ports, touch & type keyboard covers and many unmatched functions Microsoft can outsmart its competitors with its Surface range of products. Eventually, the price and the entire product package is what will determine the magnitude of its success.

Strengths – Full Desktop Capabilities, Kickstand, Touch/Type Keyboard, Windows 8, Well-established Windows Eco-system, Premium Design.

How Google’s Nexus 7 can win

Google with its latest tablet innovation Nexus 7 has pitched an unexpected product. Priced just at $199 and $249 (8GB,16GB), falling in the same category as a Kindle Fire($199) and boasting specs unmatched by any other tablet in that price segment or even in higher price segments. It boasts a 7″ 1280×800 HD display, along with a Tegra 3 chipset with a Quad-Core CPU and a 12 core GPU, front facing camera 1.2MP, Wi-Fi bluetooth, NFC, gyroscope, accelerometer battery packing up to 9hours of video playback and 300hours of standby time and weighing just 340gms. With this amazing feature rich high end tablet priced at a mass market level Google has another chance, though this time by its new partner ASUS and not by Samsung – the biggest hardware partner of Google whose efforts in tablet segment haven’t had much of an impact. Google with its Android has already cast its imprint in the world of smartphones with its apps based eco-system falling second in position to Apple’s. With this tablet as its centre stage to showcase its content from Google Play in the tablet market, Google now has the ability to capture a significant share in the tablet market just like it has in the smartphone market.

Strengths – Low Competitive Pricing, CPU and GPU powerhouse, Google Play Store, Wide presence in smartphone market. 

nexus-7-surface-ipad


All of the above tablets offered by the respective manufacturers have their own unique way of delivering the desired user experience through their own well established eco-system. Whether these new products will be able to expand their respective company’s eco-system or will their eco-system sustain them in this iPad dominated tablet market, is to be seen.

Filed Under: Consumer Technology Tagged With: apple, google, microsoft, Mobility Market, nexus, Tegra