The sixth generation iPhone is here!

It’s time. No other electronic device has stirred up this much talk, rumour and excitement since the release of…well the last iPhone I’d say. Of course, I don’t want to bash on Samsung, their Galaxy SIII flagship phone is also one very impressive piece of technology. But still, the Apple brand and the smartphone revolution brought about by Steve Jobs five years ago with the introduction of the original iPhone is legendary to say the least. Samsung simply does not have the same type of followers. While some people who hate Apple, I got to read what one had to say by the way, are so frustrated by the company’s success, they are going mad – telling people in their article to consider the fact that the iPhone is not a Swiss pocket knife with all sorts of handy gadgets, like a knife for example to cut off some mushrooms in the woods. Now I don’t know what kind of mushrooms that specific journalist is into, but I believe he once thought Apple might be a drug selling company and just got really disappointed when he found out that this is not the case.

While certain saint-like people criticize Apple for not selling drugs, but letting poor Chinese workers build their iPhones under harsh conditions for companies like Foxconn instead, people like me just can’t help but admire the economical success of the company. Let’s now take a look at the Apple shares in the period of 2003 – 2012. Suffice it to say, there is nothing else quite like it:

Since products like the iPhone and the iPad have been introduced, Apple has simply made a fortune. A lot of people outside of the company got rich too. And let’s not forget, the US budget also profits in a time of global shortage of cash. That’s why the verdict on the patent dispute between Apple and Samsung was not a big surprise for many people…

But let’s get back to the topic. Early today, Apple showed a little hint that something big was going to come, since the online Apple store has been down all day. If some people still had their doubts about the new iPhone getting presented today, they should have vanished in the meantime.

Mystery in the online Apple store…

Not much was known on technical specifications of the new iPhone, as usual, but tech-fans assume that performance levels will be contending with the Samsung Galaxy SIII. However, rumours were that it will include worldwide LTE support. Now that is a big call, since LTE networks are somewhat different from country to country. Also of course, iOS 6 will be released and while we all already got to enjoy a little preview, it will be interesting to see what changes Siri and Apple’s new map application will have in store.

The main reason Apple went with the development of their own map/navigation software is obviously due to their competitive relation with Google, as in Android. While Google Maps have made all of us, whether we’re Apple supporters or Android fans (I haven’t forgotten about you Windows guys, but let’s be honest, you’re not in the picture right now), Google’s navigation has made all of us quite happy. My biggest fear is that the app is more limited when it comes to actual maps, compared with Google’s product.

So, what did the keynote say? Well, it’s official, the next iPhone is officially called iPhone 5. It has got a metal backside and the display is larger. According to Phil Schiller, marketing manager at Apple, it is the thinnest iPhone ever and he considers it a “jewel”. Here are all the specs from the keynote so far:

– It is only 7,6 mm at its thinnest point
– With 112 grams, it is also lighter than the iPhone 4S
– The display is 4 inch retina-display, with a resolution of 1136 x 640 pixels
– LTE is also included
– It is shipped with a brand new processor, the A6 chip
– Battery life headlines with 8 hours of voice calls or surfing via 3G, as well as 8 hours for surfing via LTE according to Schiller. It can also do 225 hours of standby time before you need to go and find a plug
– The iPhone 5 comes with a new camera, capable of taking photos with a resolution of 8 megapixels (3264 x 2448). It also includes new features, like noise reduction and an infrared filter, getting close to the quality of SLR cameras. It can only also take panorama photos with up to an incredible amount of 28 megapixels!
– It comes with three microphones and a noise-cancelling earpiece, in order to increase audio quality
– A new dock connector is also introduced, which is 80% smaller compared to the previous one
– The iPhone 5 comes in black and white versions
– Prices for the new version of the iPhone will stay the same, i.e. it costs as much as the iPhone 4S did until now
– The iPhone 4 and iPhone 4S get cheaper

P.S. iOS 6 will come out on September 19th and it will also run on the iPhone 3GS. The iPhone itself will be available as from September 21st.

Is Microsoft getting up again?

It has been a while since Microsoft have published something interesting. Two days ago, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer introduced the “Surface”. Let’s talk about it.

But first, we shall take a look at the past ten years or so. In 2001, Microsoft released Windows XP. I still remember how excited I was, after all the disappointment with Windows ME. It was much more stable than previous releases and it had style. It’s no wonder that XP is still being used by more than 30% of all installed user bases in January 2012. Just think about this: 30% of all the computers used today run an operating system, that is more than a decade old. And people in the industry know that a decade in IT is like the lifetime of fridges since their invention. After that, something called Windows Vista came out, but somehow you get that feeling of “I don’t want to talk about it” when people mention it. Suffice it to say, it was a catastrophe. It was not stable, it was released too soon and since the development of Windows 7 was already under way, I guess not even the guys at Microsoft knew why they were offering it. For those of you who like to judge things by numbers, here you go: Since it’s release in January 2007, Windows Vista reached a climax of usage of 18,6 % of total user bases. Even Windows 2000 still had 20% in May 2005. As fast as Vista appeared, it faded away again, as Windows 7 was released in October 2009. Today, a resounding 3,9 % still use Vista (guess some people never learn), that is less than the total user base of Linux with 4,9 %.

Now we have to praise Microsoft for Windows 7 – it’s quite stable, it has style and even though some gadgets are a copy of Mac OS X, it’s fun to use. The only bad thing I have to say is the pricing, since you can’t get a copy of Windows 7 Home Premium for less than about 60 euros. Also, people that don’t know much about software and IT don’t really know which version to go with. It’s all a bit complicated with Microsoft.

Another success for Microsoft was the introduction of the Xbox. Even today, it is one of the big three consoles next to Sony’s Playstation and Nintendo’s Wii in gaming.

In the mean time, three other IT companies had a huge impact on the IT industry and it’s safe to say that these three formed the IT consumer  landscape as it is today. Self-evidently I am talking about Apple, Google and Samsung.

Let’s talk about Apple first. The fruit company was lead by CEO Steve Jobs in the last 14 years until his death last year and in that time Apple rose to become the most valuable company in the world by share value. So why is that?
Apple introduced two new devices which revolutionized the IT industry: the iPhone and the iPad. The iPhone gave the word smartphone a whole new meaning, it practically redefined it. At the time the iPhone was released in June 2007, it was by far the most advanced mobile phone on the market, quite simply two years ahead of anything else. When Apple’s competitors watched the presentation of the iPhone by Steve Jobs, something he was renowned for, one could easily imagine them thinking “shit, we’ve got to get to work”.

What followed was the introduction of touch-interface mobile phones that dominate today’s mobile phone segment. Samsung, LG and HTC were among the first to introduce similar devices and today, in 2012, Samsung is the number one selling mobile phone company. In my opinion, this only happened for two reasons: the first being that Samsung’s phones can compete with Apple’s iPhone and are cheaper, and secondly because of Google.

Google was probably gobsmacked by Apple and the iPhone, so they decided to work on an operating system for mobile devices of their own. Android is the result. And even though it was not able to become the number one mobile operating system, it came fairly close and who knows what the future holds for it.

So while Samsung, HTC, Motorola and alike profited next to Apple from the revolutionized mobile phone market, Microsoft and Nokia stayed behind. They were unable to offer any products that could catch up and compete with the new generation of smartphones.
What made Microsoft fall down even more was the introduction of the iPad. Apple not only revolutionized the phone, but the tablet computer industry as well. Today, the iPad is THE tablet computer market, with over 60% market share.

Due to the success of the iPhone and the iPad, a lot of customers became interested in Macs. Revenues for Apple in the Mac and MacBook segment also increased strongly. With the new enhancements in the next installment of Mac OS X, Mountain Lion, which will be released next month, as well as a new top-notch MacBook Pro with a display that no other product can match, Apple certainly have raised the bar for the competitors for the next few months.

Now die-hard Microsoft fans might say, “well, Microsoft is not a mobile phone company”. But fact is that Microsoft was deeply asleep while the others revolutionized the IT product market. Let’s take a look at Apple and Microsoft when it comes down to share value in the last 10 years:

So now, Microsoft brought out it’s own tablet computer, called “Surface”. It will come in two versions, one powered by the Nvidia Tegra CPU and the other, the Surface Pro, will have a quad-core Intel Core i5 processor. You can watch the keynote on YouTube, if you want to know more about it:

What I found particularly interesting about the keynote was the fact that you immediately notice the way the keynote presentation is held. It instantly reminds me of Apple’s keynotes, only lacking some experience and quality here and there.
I also found some words, like “innovation” to be sort of ironic coming from Steve Ballmer, since he was the guy that laughed at the iPad and now he is the one, presenting Microsoft’s own version of a tablet computer. It will be interesting to see if the market will accept a product from Microsoft. With a lot of criticism coming the way of Windows 8, as it is neither an OS made completely for the PC at home (which does not have a touch screen interface) nor  for a tablet computer, Microsoft might need all the success it can get at this point.

We will simply have to wait and see if Windows 8, a hybrid operating system combining tablet computers and PCs, will be a success and if the Surface will have any chance on the tablet computer market. The non-existing app store for the Surface will certainly be a problem, but hardware-wise it should be able to compete with other products.

If, however, neither Windows 8 nor the Surface will be a success, then Microsoft will be in some deep trouble, as development and production costs will most probably not have been met. It might then be the beginning of the end of Steve Ballmer at Microsoft…

Apple Haters: Listen up!

Since Apple has announced that they are going to release their next version of Mac OS X in the summer, version 10.8 a.k.a. Mountain Lion, the technophile part of our world speaks of nothing else. Of course this announcement has encouraged the anti-Apple community to start bashing on Macs, iPhones, iPads, iOS and everything else containing a small letter with a dot, followed by a capital consonant.

Now before your read on any further, you should know that I am an Apple fanboy. I like their products, enjoy using them and as a student of the economic field, I admire the success of the company, especially their special way of handling marketing and public relations. So if you are an Apple-basher, I suggest you stop reading, before your entire spectrum of the world, stretching from MS-DOS to the piece of software they call Windows 8, collapses.

So what they are bashing on right now, especially in Germany, is the fact that Apple will release Mac OS X 10.8. just a few weeks prior to the planned release date of Windows 8. They keep posting: “Is this a silly coincidence?” Of course it isn’t, it is a strategically planned move. I really do not expect the majority to know anything about running a successful business at all, but I expect people who write about topics they think they are experts on, to know a thing or two about competition.

Since the IT industry is one of the most competitive fields worldwide, where a few patents can rule an entire segment of a market, I am hugely surprised that people even question the fact, that Apple plans to bring out a product about the same time as Microsoft releases Windows 8. Companies do this all the time, so stop acting like Apple Inc. is supposed to be a welfare organization.

I am also sick and tired of people claiming Apple products are overpriced machines that look good and include inferior hardware in comparison to a brand new PC or the latest smartphones. Yes, they are more expensive than an average PC or an Android smartphone. Yes, they might not have the strongest processor that is currently out on the market. But what they always forget is the fact that this does not matter that much to customers who trust in Apple products.

It is the simplicity of Mac OS and iOS, the optics and design of the products, as well as the reliability. We do not need the latest NVIDIA or ATI graphics chip to play the latest games, we like to use our Macs for work, to design things, or for recreational purposes. Still, I am not going to be another user, trying to list all the advantages of using a Mac and the disadvantages of using a PC, since it always depends on the individual user and what he or she needs a computer for.

Of course there are people who like to brag with their iPhones and their Macs, but these people did not buy a Mac or an iPhone for the same reason that Apple fans bought them for. And please do not tell me that a teenage boy, whose parents bought their son a Dell Alienware gaming laptop, is not going to brag about it.

I am also really fed up of people who have a grudge on Apple users, just because they feel sorry for themselves due to not being able to afford an Apple device. It is not the fault of Apple customers that they don’t have the cash. Some people have the money to buy a sports car every week, others have to fight for a grain of rice every single day! Life is not fair and we all know it. I also had to work next to studying to be able to afford a Mac, to be able to afford to travel a bit and to buy things I consider to be of high quality and worth the money.

I do not want everyone to buy Mac, I honestly don’t. I can only tell people about the advantages of Apple devices that suit my individual needs. An accounting company in southern Africa would be stupid to buy Macs for every single work desk in their office, since the job they need a computer for will also be down with a cheap PC. A graphics design studio in Paris, France, on the other hand might buy Macs for the fact that they look stylish and want customers to have the impression: “Ok, this seems to be a professional studio; they care about the interior fitting – c’est bon.” But most importantly, they want to use a computer that was designed for creative people, who don’t want a huge assortment of software, but a simple-to-use computer which suits their needs.

So instead of bashing on a company and it’s products, try to encourage people to compare different brands and find the one(s) that suit their needs the most. Start thinking outside of your small town box and try different stuff once for a while. And even if Apple names each version of Mac OS X after a ferocious cat of prey, I promise they won’t bite 😉