Tuesday, September 18, 2012

News Report #2


Despite A Slowdown, Smartphone Advances Are Still Ahead
By: Nick Wingfield; NY Times Technology Section

            Smartphones are the big thing right now and it is incredible how much we spend on these smartphones for their features. The release of the Iphone in 2007 was a great leap for smartphones and they have only improved from there. Iphone 5 was introduced last week which is showing the public how apple is slowly incrementing change into their devices. Although these are incremental, they can lead up to big advances in the future smartphone. As David Yoffie, a professor at Harvard Business School said, “Five years of incremental change can be very substantial change five years later.” For example, there is longer battery life, bigger screens, better software, etc. Apple is eventually planning on coming out with a fuel powered battery which is intended to last for weeks. Siri is only improving as the updates are improving allowing for better knowledge of everything.
            Android/Google mobile have made updates by coming out with wireless payment through your cellphone. This concept has been slow to take off because not many stores have accepted this yet. Apple has a similar product called Passbook which stores electronic versions of your store payment. Even more advanced, Google is planning on realeasing a product where there will be a screen in front of your eyes. There will be some time before this product is sold on the mass market but this “augmented reality” is a great breakthrough for technology.

            This article really grabbed my attention because I recently have an update for a new phone and have been reading up on the Iphone 5. Needless to say I am definitely going to get this phone and am quite excited to see the changes. Yes they have not made many changes, but the changes they have made are substantial. There is always competition who is going to have the best feature on their smartphone and I think Google is coming along if this augmented reality follows through. Like it said in the article, imagine seeing old ruins of a monument and then seeing it before the it was ruined through your pair of glasses connected to your smartphone. That is incredible to me, but I do think this will be very distracting to the user. 

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