Every update is a bore: why Apple and Google need to 'innovate' - Firstpost

by Tushar Kanwar Is the smartphone industry all out of innovation? Wait a minute, that cant be right, can it? We've just witnessed the spectacular launch of the Samsung Galaxy S4, arguably the best phone you can buy right now. It has bleeding edge-hardware, a stunning display, a ton of built-in sensors and a whole host of software features that look straight out of a 90s sci-fi show – all of this packed into an incredibly petite 7.9mm thin form factor. And yet, so incredibly underwhelming and boring, almost cruelly so. "Evolutionary, not revolutionary", a term I've heard being repeated so often about the S4 that I'm on the verge of losing count. Dig a bit deeper past the marketing hype, and you'll see a phone that's rather unremarkable in terms of new ground it breaks. Take the headline-grabbing octa-core processor, for instance. It's not an eight-core chip in the way the name would lead you to believe – more like two quad-core processors packed in together, one for power-hungry performance tasks, and another more battery-efficient processor for everyday tasks – and only one quad-core processor works at any given point of time. Galaxy SIII and the SIII mini. Reuters In effect, that's the kind of power that is not significantly different from other leading quad-core flagship devices today. The camera – a 13-megapixel shooter – sources a generic sensor that's already out in some other devices and due to hit many more. And the ultra-sharp 1080p-resolution screen? Rather common by now, and we're not even halfway done with 2013! Some would argue that given the commoditized nature of hardware, the only real avenue for differentiation is software. With the S4, you're told you're getting a metric ton of software doodads – Smart Scroll, Air View, Smart Pause. Use the phone for a week, and you realize they're little more than headline-baiting feature fluff that is more frustrating to use and get right than it should be. What you also realize is that these are more likely than not going to be disabled after the initial novelty of exploring the phone's features dies out. Don't get me wrong here – this isn't meant to single out Samsung, nor is it a criticism of Samsung's latest flagship alone – my rant was merely illustrative of a larger trend in the industry. Look at HTC, Sony, Blackberry and LG – pretty much every device you see launch these days subscribes to the same playbook – a stunning pixel-rich display, super fast processors, high-specification cameras and the odd software trick unique to the platform (albeit for a short period of time before it is copied). It would appear that smartphone makers have hit the wall of innovation, and phones for the most part look the same and do the same things, in pretty much the same way. Where's the dramatic new innovation, the OMG-inducing leap into the next-generation? And it's not just Android manufacturers who're guilty of playing it safe and not messing with the formula. Apple's last few smartphones have seen minor upgrades – a little thinner here, more punch there, a slightly tweaked camera, and most recently, a slightly bigger screen. Will the next iPhone, whenever in the next few months that it launches, have a faster chip and a higher-end camera? Of course it will. Yet, it does sound awfully like the last two upgrades to the iPhone, doesn't it? Where's the wow factor? Where's the stuff that really moves the needle? Pity then that this general lack of excitement in this space will hurt Microsoft and Windows Phone 8 as well. While there's no denying that the platform is breath of fresh air, the guts of a Windows Phone 8 device is about the same as what you would see in other handsets – there isn't anything special setting them apart from the massive crowd of Android smartphones. There's some good news in the fact that the smartphone segment is maturing (some would say, to the point of stagnation), which is that pretty much any flagship you pick up today is going to be pretty capable of doing what you need, and doing it well. Instead of an out-and-out single "best smartphone" out there, today you have many great ones. That said, hopefully one or more of the players will come along and produce something that will catch us by surprise, and revitalize that excitement we felt about phones not too long ago. via Technology - Google News http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=t&fd=R&usg=AFQjCNHyqrbv1U8_thqBMlfdUjAv9xEMaQ&url=http://www.firstpost.com/tech/every-update-is-a-bore-why-apple-and-android-need-to-innovate-770707.html

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