Finally, smartphones based on the Google-backed Android operating system are starting to come of age. The OS will soon come in its second major iteration, and will power smartphones from the likes of Motorola, HTC and Samsung.
What this means is consumers can start choosing from a plethora of quality devices (as opposed to the one and only iPhone) that run on a modern and snappy mobile OS that provides an almost desktop-like Internet browsing experience, an amply-stocked application store that can help extend the abilities of their devices, and simple contacts integration with Facebook and Google accounts.
The impressive-looking hardware (a 3.5G smartphone with 4-inch touchscreen and 8.1-megapixel camera) is accompanied by a slick pair of custom applications, Timescape and Mediascape, which provide much more refined experiences with media playback and communicating with contacts.
Have a look at what the XPERIA X10 might be capable of when it gets on shelves in the first quarter of 2010:
Over in the United States, Motorola’s new Droid smartphone (it could possibly be called the Milestone if it arrives here) is getting lots of airtime for being a possible iPhone-killer with its well-specced hardware – a fast mobile processor that’s coupled with a 3.7-inch touchscreen and a 5-megapixel camera with dual-LED flash:
Smartphones won’t be the only devices that will get loaded with Android. Netbooks will soon be graced by the ‘droid, too:
It is an announcement that few envisaged or even contemplated. But for Macintosh users with BlackBerry phones, the announcement that Research in Motion (RIM) will be releasing a BlackBerry Desktop Software for Mac must be music to their ears! Currently, if you are a Mac user who owns a BlackBerry phone, you can only sync your device with your computer using third-party software, like PocketMac or MarkSpace’s Missing Sync for BlackBerry. Come September, with the BlackBerry Desktop Software for Mac, you will be able to sync your iTunes playlist, calendars, contacts, as well as add and remove applications, and back up or update software in your BlackBerry phone with a Mac. But why the sudden change of heart from the Canadian company? I have a suspicion that RIM is trying to slow down the momentum of its rival offering, the Apple iPhone. And why target the iPhone when there are so many other smartphones out there, you might ask? Well, just look at this report that highlights the fact that despite having only 3% of the world’s market share, Apple and RIM have an estimated combined 35% of the world’s operating revenue. Having a big market share doesn’t always translate to big profits. Nevertheless, you might say that having BlackBerry Desktop Software for Mac is not going to have a significant impact on consumers, since those who are using a Macintosh probably have an iPhone, and those who have a BlackBerry probably don’t have a Mac. That can’t be the whole truth of course. There are still plenty of Mac users who don’t like the touchscreen iPhone but prefers the buttons, email security and battery life of a BlackBerry. More importantly, there are many Mac users who are probably still on a Motorola Razr or a Sony Ericsson CyberShot, and who are contemplating the leap to a smartphone. Having a BlackBerry syncing software for Mac means they don’t have to give up their beloved Apple machines or their precious BlackBerry. But the biggest losers are not Apple (hey, BlackBerry users don’t have to switch to Windows anymore) or its iPhone; it’s the Windows Mobile and other OS-based smartphones that will suffer the most. By September, Apple and RIM are probably the only companies that manufacture smartphones catering to both Windows and Mac users out of the box (let’s keep Palm Pre out of the picture for now). For the savvy smartphone user who straddles between two major OS platforms, the choice will be either an iPhone or a BlackBerry. Who needs other mobile platforms anymore? This move from RIM might not seem significant but the ripples it causes will one day turn to waves across the smartphone market.
I had the pleasure of meeting Mr Kua Cheng Hock from Adaptive Instruments while I was covering the launch of the iPhone 3GS here. He’s also from the Guide Dogs Association of the Blind and is the only blind person in Singapore who owns a guide dog as well – he’s working on getting funding so more visually-handicapped people can get one for themselves.
So why was he at the launch anyway? This might surprise you. According to Mr Kua, the iPhone is one of the few phones that’s made to be friendly for the blind right out of the box (you simply need to tweak a few settings to switch on its accessibility features). Apart from verbally relaying what’s onscreen to him so that he can operate it, the smartphone’s built-in GPS and digital compass can help him find his way. Currently, he has to carry multiple devices just to do the same thing. The all-in-one device is much cheaper too and can help him with his email and other work-related activities as well. I’ll let him do the talking:
Oh, by the way, this was shot on location with an iPhone 3GS too.
As we’ve mentioned in our iPhone 3GS review today, the smartphone captures decent images and movies with its 3.2-megapixel camera. It has a really intuitive way of letting you focus as well. You simply need to tap on the desired part of the image onscreen:
The square above indicates the area I’ve tapped onscreen. On the top right, you’ll see a slider to switch between video and camera mode.
The camera churns out great photos in daylight or well-lit areas despite its relatively low resolution:
Images in low-light conditions tend to suffer from some visible noise as you can see below – but it’s a general limitation of such cameras in phones:
Here’s a typical food shot in an environment with very low lighting (hey, it was closing time). The iPhone manages to pump up the exposure so that your subject is visible:
The 3GS captures VGA-quality video and also allows you to choose an area to focus on as well, just like in picture mode. This opens up creative ways in which you can capture footage. In our example below, we used its macro focus to limit the depth of field, so you can see details on the raindrops and the texture of the car door’s faux-leather trimming:
Note that the videos on this blog have been compressed because they’ve been uploaded to YouTube straight from the iPhone. As with the camera mode, the quality of the video does tend to suffer when you’re in low-light environments, with visual noise becoming rather visible:
If you’d like to see the full quality of the footage that we’ve captured, download it from here.
