Technology catch-all thread

[iamshack]

I haven't worn a watch in at least 20 years. And I really have no interest in how it works with my iPhone.

 

What I want is data in regards to my health and my workouts/exercise. I've been tempted to buy the Nike Fuelband, but haven't seen enough to pull the trigger. But from what I have read, Apple has some very big plans for the aspects of the watch that I am interested in, and if anyone can make it happen, it's going to be Apple.

 

And Joe, seriously, just get over it already...you're just being stubborn and spiteful, and your insults add nothing to these conversations...ever.

[kev211]

If I ever buy an apple watch it will be in a few years after they've worked out the kinks and developers have had some time to come up with neat ideas.

[iamshack]

If I ever buy an apple watch it will be in a few years after they've worked out the kinks and developers have had some time to come up with neat ideas.

Understandable...but the first iPhones/iPads/iPods were pretty incredible even though they pale in comparison to the recent generations...

[chw42]

After looking at some hands-on videos, I don't understand why Apple went with a watch crown to navigate through the watch's UI.

 

You have a touch screen that can detect scrolling, why not just use that? It's not like the crown is huge and easy to use. It's quite small and I feel like they should at least allow users to choose whether they want to scroll using the screen or the crown.

[Y2HH]

After looking at some hands-on videos, I don't understand why Apple went with a watch crown to navigate through the watch's UI.

 

You have a touch screen that can detect scrolling, why not just use that? It's not like the crown is huge and easy to use. It's quite small and I feel like they should at least allow users to choose whether they want to scroll using the screen or the crown.

 

You can use either. The crown was added so you could scroll without covering up the small screen with your fingers, but if you want you can just use the screen.

Edited September 10, 2014 by Y2HH

[Y2HH]

Not the actual screens - not even close.

 

They're actually very close. The real devices will be a bit larger, as the images are only showing the glass panels, not the surrounding metal (which doesn't stick out far).

 

These, however, are exact:

 

http://www.sizeall.com/compare/Apple-iPhon...one-6-Plus/1322

Edited September 10, 2014 by Y2HH

[Jake]

Saw this on Twitter and I can't resist...and yes, of course it's not a legitimate comparison yada yada

 

[Balta1701]

I found this both more entertaining and useful.

[Y2HH]

Saw this on Twitter and I can't resist...and yes, of course it's not a legitimate comparison yada yada

 

 

Yea, pretty dumb.

[Y2HH]

I found this both more entertaining and useful.

 

I don't know why, but this made me laugh.

[Jake]

http://www.androidpolice.com/2014/09/09/ip...right-by-users/

 

A more sober Android-centric look at iPhone 6/+/iOS 8:

 

When you consider the iPhone 6 / 6 Plus along with iOS 8, I think this is easily the most compelling iPhone in a long, long time. Like, iPhone 4 long time. I remember actually deciding between an iPhone 4 and a Nexus One - it wasn't an easy decision. Apple has modernized the OS and kept the hardware up to date while upsizing its phone to contemporary proportions - that eases a lot of pain points for more serious phone buyers.

 

Of course, it's still an iPhone, and it's still going to have the limitations of one. I use an iPad Air every day, and iOS is good for some things, but I find it frustratingly hamfisted in regard to stuff like notifications or personalization. The RAM management sucks, too, and iOS 8 looks to be no lighter on the footprint side - I am not looking forward to the performance changes on my Air once I give it the update, let's just say that.

 

From an Android user's perspective, though, the iPhone 6 - I think - would be the least painful switch for such a person in a long time. I'm not going to make that switch (I'm a Google fanboy, and iOS is simply not a place for Google fanboys), but it's clear Apple is paying more attention to the competition, especially in regard to software, than it has in years past. The new screen size options are really just necessary evolutions, it's the OS where the iPhone is really moving forward.

A lot of that movement is still catch-up, though, as Android users have been happily humming along with things like NFC, rich notifications, widgets, intent-based actions / sharing, collaborative document syncing, and NFC payments (well, not humming along, but we have them) for one, two, three, or even four or more years.

[Y2HH]

http://www.androidpolice.com/2014/09/09/ip...right-by-users/

 

A more sober Android-centric look at iPhone 6/+/iOS 8:

 

I have to agree with that.

 

The iPhone 5 was nice, don't get me wrong (I have one), but it wasn't significant in any way like the 4 was over the 3.

 

And iOS8 is basically what iOS7 should have been.

 

As a person that uses iOS in combination with quite a few Google services (gmail, docs, maps), I much prefer the iOS+Google experience over the Android experience. Android is basically the Linux of the mobile world (not because it is Linux), but because if a feature exists, or is even thought of, it's thrown into Android...so the thinking that Apple is playing catchup to Android is akin to saying OSX or Windows are playing catchup to Linux...there really isn't a feature in the world Linux doesn't have, or that you can't hack into it...but they're not just done well most of the time.

 

But keep in mind, all of this is opinion.

Edited September 10, 2014 by Y2HH

[chw42]

Saw this on Twitter and I can't resist...and yes, of course it's not a legitimate comparison yada yada

 

 

Most of it kind of is though. The iPhone 6 has a much better SoC, but it's not like what that chart is comparing isn't true.

[chw42]

I have to agree with that.

 

The iPhone 5 was nice, don't get me wrong (I have one), but it wasn't significant in any way like the 4 was over the 3.

 

And iOS8 is basically what iOS7 should have been.

 

As a person that uses iOS in combination with quite a few Google services (gmail, docs, maps), I much prefer the iOS+Google experience over the Android experience. Android is basically the Linux of the mobile world (not because it is Linux), but because if a feature exists, or is even thought of, it's thrown into Android...so the thinking that Apple is playing catchup to Android is akin to saying OSX or Windows are playing catchup to Linux...there really isn't a feature in the world Linux doesn't have, or that you can't hack into it...but they're not just done well most of the time.

 

But keep in mind, all of this is opinion.

 

Android is a lot more like Windows than it is Linux. Especially when you take user-base into account.

[chw42]

You can use either. The crown was added so you could scroll without covering up the small screen with your fingers, but if you want you can just use the screen.

 

That's what I get for watching a Verge hands-on...the guy made it sound like you had to use the crown.

[Y2HH]

Android is a lot more like Windows than it is Linux. Especially when you take user-base into account.

 

I find most features tossed into Android (and it has all of them), to be half-assed implementations that require multiple fixes because it was rushed to market. After they're fixed they're much better, if not equal to anything Apple or Microsoft has, but upon initial implementations they're tossing them in there just so they can say they were able to do that for years, which is what you're seeing with that comparison.

 

Android has had video calling for eons...and it's just NOW getting good via Hangouts, to where a regular user can do it without configurations, tweaks, settings, etc...meanwhile Apple's facetime was so simple from the get go that people actually used it.

 

Aside from the iPhone, which basically took ideas from Windows Mobile 4.x, and other operating systems of that day and brought them to mass market in way people actually wanted, Apple is never first to the dance...but when they finally arrive at the dance, people notice. They did this with the iPod, the iPad, the Mac, etc...so if features exist, odds are Apple won't have them for a while, but when they have them, they'll be usable from the get go.

 

This has been my experience over the years...and when I was younger I wouldn't have cared...I enjoyed tweaking stuff and figuring out how to make it work, but these days...when I hit a button, I just want that button to do what it says it can do, which is why I lean toward iOS.

 

Look at NFC...a technology I always thought was a gimmick because Android vendors tended to toss it into their devices but never bothered to take it further than that. Great, I can bump a playlist. The problem with that? You can text and email one, too...and you don't need an NFC chip to do it. Apple finally introduces NFC to the fold YEARS later, but took it to a level the Android vendors never bothered with: getting Visa, Mastercard, American Express (and soon Discover) into the fold and worked directly with huge retailers like Target, Walmart, McDonalds, etc...and with POS terminal vendors to implement their technology so it would roll out to stores, gas stations, etc...will it end up being useful or just another NFC gimmick? I don't know, time will tell...but at least Apple is trying to make it something better than the crap it is now.

Edited September 10, 2014 by Y2HH

[Jake]

Rarely are things built into Android OS that aren't working very well. The openness, though, allows the third-party vendors to use customers like lab rats/beta testers.

 

I don't think the desktop OS comparisons quite work. There are shades of Windows and Linux. It is like Linux to the extent that there are lots of versions, it is appealing to developers and tweakers, and there is an active community trying to build new features itself and/or fix annoyances in the OS. But, like Windows, it is the un-glamorous and widely available option. Much like Windows has usually come to describe "all which is not Mac," that is close to true with Android as well. Like Windows, more features are there but haven't always been well-marketed or super-refined when they reach the end user. Design hasn't always been a priority, much like Windows. The reputation that comes with running on low-end devices is there, too. I know a bunch of people who will never touch an Android device because they bought a s***ty phone that ran Gingerbread in 2011 and they assume everyone's experience must be like that.

[Y2HH]

Rarely are things built into Android OS that aren't working very well. The openness, though, allows the third-party vendors to use customers like lab rats/beta testers.

 

I don't think the desktop OS comparisons quite work. There are shades of Windows and Linux. It is like Linux to the extent that there are lots of versions, it is appealing to developers and tweakers, and there is an active community trying to build new features itself and/or fix annoyances in the OS. But, like Windows, it is the un-glamorous and widely available option. Much like Windows has usually come to describe "all which is not Mac," that is close to true with Android as well. Like Windows, more features are there but haven't always been well-marketed or super-refined when they reach the end user. Design hasn't always been a priority, much like Windows. The reputation that comes with running on low-end devices is there, too. I know a bunch of people who will never touch an Android device because they bought a s***ty phone that ran Gingerbread in 2011 and they assume everyone's experience must be like that.

 

This is a very fair opinion on it.

[chw42]

I find most features tossed into Android (and it has all of them), to be half-assed implementations that require multiple fixes because it was rushed to market. After they're fixed they're much better, if not equal to anything Apple or Microsoft has, but upon initial implementations they're tossing them in there just so they can say they were able to do that for years, which is what you're seeing with that comparison.

 

Android has had video calling for eons...and it's just NOW getting good via Hangouts, to where a regular user can do it without configurations, tweaks, settings, etc...meanwhile Apple's facetime was so simple from the get go that people actually used it.

 

Aside from the iPhone, which basically took ideas from Windows Mobile 4.x, and other operating systems of that day and brought them to mass market in way people actually wanted, Apple is never first to the dance...but when they finally arrive at the dance, people notice. They did this with the iPod, the iPad, the Mac, etc...so if features exist, odds are Apple won't have them for a while, but when they have them, they'll be usable from the get go.

 

This has been my experience over the years...and when I was younger I wouldn't have cared...I enjoyed tweaking stuff and figuring out how to make it work, but these days...when I hit a button, I just want that button to do what it says it can do, which is why I lean toward iOS.

 

Look at NFC...a technology I always thought was a gimmick because Android vendors tended to toss it into their devices but never bothered to take it further than that. Great, I can bump a playlist. The problem with that? You can text and email one, too...and you don't need an NFC chip to do it. Apple finally introduces NFC to the fold YEARS later, but took it to a level the Android vendors never bothered with: getting Visa, Mastercard, American Express (and soon Discover) into the fold and worked directly with huge retailers like Target, Walmart, McDonalds, etc...and with POS terminal vendors to implement their technology so it would roll out to stores, gas stations, etc...will it end up being useful or just another NFC gimmick? I don't know, time will tell...but at least Apple is trying to make it something better than the crap it is now.

 

People had to jump through hoops for video chat on Android? I've never experienced that. Before Hangouts, there was Google Talk (turned into Hangouts), Skype, and a few other services.

 

Google Wallet has allowed you to add all major credit cards for a long time (like 2 years) and there are MasterCard terminals in a lot of places. They haven't pushed it as hard as they should have and the carriers are pushing their own service (yeah, that one that is named after those terrorists...carriers = terrorists). But Apple isn't going to get this pushback from carriers. Google either doesn't put all their weight behind their products or they don't have the influence. I think it's more likely the former since they make so many products. Things get lost in the shuffle. Meanwhile, Apple might have 5 services and put more resources into getting things in order. They also have a higher influence on retailers and carriers. NFC is also a lot more than just mobile payments, but we've discussed this before.

Edited September 10, 2014 by chw42

[RockRaines]

I only see people who currently already wear watches, or people who need to look cool and let people know they have money buying them.

 

I'm sure Apple will sell a s*** ton.

I wear a watch for fashion not function and it's quite a bit more costly than what Apple is selling. It seems like a calculator watch to me.

[Y2HH]

People had to jump through hoops for video chat on Android? I've never experienced that. Before Hangouts, there was Skype and a few other apps.

 

Google Wallet has allowed you to add all major credit cards for a long time (like 2 years) and there are MasterCard terminals in a lot of places. They haven't pushed it as hard as they should have and the carriers are pushing their own service (yeah, that one that is named after those terrorists...carriers = terrorists). But Apple isn't going to get this pushback from carriers. Google either doesn't put all their weight behind their products or they don't have the influence. I think it's more likely the former since they make so many products. Things get lost in the shuffle. Meanwhile, Apple might have 5 services and put more resources into getting things in order. They also have a higher influence on retailers and carriers. NFC is also a lot more than just mobile payments, but we've discussed this before.

 

Skype isn't part of Android, and it requires all parties download a separate 3rd party app, sign up for it, login to it, configure it, etc...this is exactly the thing I'm talking about. No, it's not a big deal for us, but for my mom, or certain friends, forget it...you know what's easier? Having them touch the Facetime button.

 

And I already went over Apple's push for NFC over the shoddy implementations on various Android devices...yes you can install your credit cards, so what...they hardly bothered working with the numerous credit card companies, etc...and this isn't Google's fault at all. Google created software that supported NFC, but the NFC chips, installed by the likes of Samsung, etc...need to be pushed by Samsung, unless they're implementation works across the board with HTC, Sony, etc...which I'm sure they're not all that interested in. And while yes, I agree NFC is more than just mobile payments, I think mobile payments is the big use case for NFC -- but that's only IF (and that's a big IF even for Apple), everyone gets on board, and even with Apple involved, I don't see this happening quickly.

 

I don't want my device usable at 3 specific stores, but not usable at others...for this to work it's going to take time, but the manufactures have to back it to the point I can use NFC almost everywhere I go. Then and only then will it be useful to me.

Edited September 10, 2014 by Y2HH

[chw42]

Skype isn't part of Android, and it requires all parties download a separate 3rd party app, sign up for it, login to it, configure it, etc...this is exactly the thing I'm talking about. No, it's not a big deal for us, but for my mom, or certain friends, forget it...you know what's easier? Having them touch the Facetime button.

 

I think you're overestimating how stupid people are if they can't go download an app and sign up for it. People over the age of 60 are a different story, but those aren't the vast majority of mobile users.

[chw42]

Skype isn't part of Android, and it requires all parties download a separate 3rd party app, sign up for it, login to it, configure it, etc...this is exactly the thing I'm talking about. No, it's not a big deal for us, but for my mom, or certain friends, forget it...you know what's easier? Having them touch the Facetime button.

 

And I already went over Apple's push for NFC over the shoddy implementations on various Android devices...yes you can install your credit cards, so what...they hardly bothered working with the numerous credit card companies, etc...and this isn't Google's fault at all. Google created software that supported NFC, but the NFC chips, installed by the likes of Samsung, etc...need to be pushed by Samsung, unless they're implementation works across the board with HTC, Sony, etc...which I'm sure they're not all that interested in.

 

It's a combination of retailers and credit card companies. Credit card companies need to give incentive to retailers for pushing mobile payments, which I'm sure is now the case. Google didn't do that.

 

I feel like it is Google's fault, it's their service. Samsung and other OEMs don't have a mobile payment service. They just put the chips into the phone and I doubt they care about mobile payments.

 

Like I said before, NFC is more than just mobile payments. It's also great for triggering actions, which I'm wondering if Apple will finally implement.

Edited September 10, 2014 by chw42

[Y2HH]

I think you're overestimating how stupid people are if they can't go download an app and sign up for it. People over the age of 60 are a different story, but those aren't the vast majority of mobile users.

 

It's the requirements of having to do all that...when it really shouldn't be (and isn't necessary for the most part).

 

Then you also have to deal with Microsoft's shenanigans, which they can't get away with right now, but the second Microsoft took control of the mobile space, trust me, Skype would disappear from iOS and Android tomorrow, and MS would be like, well...you can buy a Windows Mobile device! This should be base functionality in any mobile OS stuck on a phone with a forward facing camera (all of them these days), and it should be as easy to use as Facetime...and granted, Hangouts is easy NOW, but damn it took years to get there.

[Chisoxfn]

I think you're overestimating how stupid people are if they can't go download an app and sign up for it. People over the age of 60 are a different story, but those aren't the vast majority of mobile users.

Why should I have to do all of those things when it is so easy on an apple device. I don't want things that take time and mean everyone has that app on there phone. Personally I hate having a million apps, I want a select few and only ones that I use and use regularly. That way when I go to click something, I know where it is cause it is actually used. I don't want to scroll through 8 pages to find the watch espn app or check my fantasy football lineup. Facetime and the ease of it is fantastic and it blows me away that the android phones don't have a similar set-up used.

 

Since my S4 busted and I've gone back to Apple, other then the fact that I'm using an old Iphone and am on 3g (which sucks), I have re-remembered how much smoother all of the interfaces work...how much better the email function is on apple vs. google (which is hilarious since gmail on the web is phenomenal but the standard email app on android devices sucks). Bottom line, since under most circumstances, when you buy these products new, they are the same price, I really believe the apple version is less buggy and far more refined. Sure it might not have a few of the bells and whistles of an android but what it has will work and work smooth and be functional.