Kev’s Blog – Page 225 – Kev's Development Toolbox

July 11, 2011

Apple join in on Android sue-fest

Not to be left out with Oracle suing Google for megamillions for infringing on their Java patents with Android, Apple are getting in on the action and suing various Android handset manufacturers for infringing on iPhone and iOS related patents.

Apple in my mind has been getting away with murder when it comes to dominating the smartphone market. Although up until recently, iOS based phones are no longer the top selling smartphone, with Android based smartphones currently outselling iOS. Apple’s approach to control the iOS platform is exactly what Microsoft fell foul of with the multiple anti-competitive lawsuits in the 90s, and they are blatantly getting away with it unchallenged. Think about it, this is Apple’s aproach to controlling the iOS platform:

any software for iOS has to be approved by Apple, and only then can it be offered for sale or for free once approved
iOS software can only be downloaded and installed via Apple’s own AppStore delivery mechanism
you can’t install anything that’s not approved by Apple, and only mechanism to download and install is via their AppStore
the only tools to develop apps for iOS are supplied by Apple
apps for iOS must not emulate or simulate any other hardware or software platform that would allow them to run other software not approved by Apple
Apple takes a cut on every copy of every app sold by 3rd party vendors via Apple’s AppStore

Now think about this. Apple control the hardware. Apple control the software. The only vendor you can buy software from is Apple. This a completely, 100%, closed environment, completely controlled hardware and software platform, entirely controlled by one company, Apple.

Whereas Microsoft went about their mission to dominate the PC platform with a legally questionable approach, I can’t imagine Microsoft getting away with any of the approaches above, and yet Apple and iOS appear to be getting away with it.

The ironic thing is competition via Android is most likely Apple’s free pass to continue with their current strategy – as long as competition exists they most likely won’t be challenged. If their greed gets the better of them however and they continue with lawsuits against companies producing Android handsets, if they go too far and damage the longterm prospects of Android, I wonder if they’ll find themselves walking down the same path already taken by Microsoft.

July 5, 2011

PS4 coming in 2012?

This would seem like an incredibly early release of a new console from Sony given that they tend to promote the ’10 year lifespan’ of their consoles, but at this point it is just a rumor. Maybe they’re planning on getting ahead in the next gen and beating Microsoft to release first? The release of the PS3 was a couple of years after the XBox360 was released and the Playstation brand must have lost some ground to Microsoft during that time. Microsoft is already also rumored to announce the XBox720 in 2012 at E3.

June 29, 2011

Windows 8 UI is a confused mess

Microsoft has a video on YouTube giving a demo of the new UI for Windows 8. It looks impressive, relying heavily on a touch based interface which would suggest it’s being geared towards supporting tablets. However, halfway though the video, the presenter shows that you can still access files on the file system and use Office to edit your Word docs etc. What, with my finger as a mouse? I don’t think so. This is just as bad as trying to squeeze the Windows interface into Windows Mobile for phones which was just as awful and hard to use even with a stylus replacing the mouse. It’s taken all these years later for Microsoft to try another attempt at a new/improved UI for mobile devices (with the new Windows Phone 7), so apparently it takes them a while to learn from their mistakes.

I’m not sure what the point of this video is. You can’t please everyone all of the time, and trying to just results in a half-baked solution. If the video was demonstrating that Windows 8 will support touch based tablets as well as desktops with two different interfaces, then that’s not as bad, but using Office on a touch based device with your finger as a mouse and the existing desktop UI, that’s a disaster.

June 28, 2011

Android market share and daily activations now far exceed iOS devices

Activations of Android devices now exceed 500,000 new devices every day. That’s incredible. What’s more, Android devices now have 34% of the smartphone marketshare compared with 26% for iOS devices.

Although Apple bashes Android for it’s fragmentation and lack of standardization across devices, I believe this is precisely the ingredient that makes the platform so successful. People like choice. People don’t like being told what they can and cannot do (or what they can and cannot install on their phone). Sure, iOS devices do have a more stable platform because it is more controlled, but I’d rather go with the quirks, differences and occasional badly behaving app to get what I want, not what you (Apple) tell me I can have or do, thank-you very much.