What in your opinion sells a mobile/tablet ??

[MetalheadGautham]

This thread created out of a bunch of offtopic posts by a bunch of guys including "respectable mods" like myself and Anorion.

Take a look at these random quotes to get an idea of what the discussion was like.

lol refurbed pieces can be returned again to apple if they are defective, I got a brand new one, friend got a refurb at the same time, we frankly have noticed no difference whatsoever, in the packaging or the working, in fact, my new piece had an older os version without the wifi hot spot feature as against his old refurbed piece which had a newer os version and newer features, friend saved 5 grand, I felt slightly cheated with no pride whatsoever on having a "brand new" device... no one could tell the difference

the 22.5 k device is worthless though unless you are prepared to spend on apps, iStore doesnt have as many good freebs as the droid store, but our premium end is the best in the world

and even the refurbed iphone that has just been retrieved from a bucket of water and run over by a truck is bound to have fewer bugs than any android fresh of the shelf

(sorry for the flame bitter truth mods, but he did call refurbed pieces defective!)

Problem is Indians love great free apps. Bet most of us will still use WMP and IE if Firefox, Chrome, Opera, VLC, etc were priced at 5-10$ each.

I have an iPad2, and its free apps are hopelessly sad

BTW I hope previous gen galaxy flagship models also come out as refurb pieces. A single core 1GHz AMOLED galaxy could be around 15k that way

I agree Android Market is lacking as many high quality apps as App Store has. But there are plenty of excellent quality apps... more than you might ever need... I use tons of apps and games on my Android device (not droid, its Android) and have yet to see a buggy or poorly designed app.

I agree with you that Android implementations by OEM manufacturers are buggy. Google cannot help it. Android is open source and runs on multiple screen sizes and resolutions, multiple processors and GPUs, varying sizes of RAMs... Its the job of OEMs to implement Android properly.

Nexus devices, which happen to be pure Android experience devices, are the most stable ones. They get the fastest updates, and have no bloatware or custom skins. And as for bugs, I am sure even iOS has bugs which have to be patched via updates from time to time. I hear a new iOS 5.1 update is coming out soon because iPhone 4S users have a terrible battery life problem...

Fanbois vs Fandriods
lol I always love to see the two fight!

But seriously How many apps does one really use daily after the "bhoot" of new phone wears over, like 2-3 months after? Then it all comes to accessibility and integration.

Cilus made a good point, Iphone in India is a way for apple to keep getting 2x profits.
Comparing Iphone with anything is foolishness, Its a Fad and a Brand.

Devices using Androids have a market, there are 10 manufacturers trying to lure customers and hence keep offering more specs at lower cost. Where as Iphone is a single entity.

But yeah it should not be forgotten that Because of the crazy specs loving fandroids the world is going to see faster and more capable devices because of its openness. world with only apple would be had been stuck with overclocked chipsets and more more cores!

More the competition more the people WIN!

haha good luck if you believe that apps are not the only things that keep making people buy what are otherwise overpriced screens

dont be scared about buying a refurbed piece, Apple has a reputation to maintain, let them worry about it

I beg to disagree with that statement. While apps is 99% of the time the factor which decides how much time you kill on your flashy new phone or tablet, the amount of useful work done is almost the same across all platforms

I mean, for me a tablet is MAINLY for the following:

• Check email and read news while having breakfast
• Update facebook status and tweet from the toilet
• Browse forums over tea
• Watch movies and listen to music in the bus
• Read ebooks - epub, djvu and PDF formats while travelling and before exams
• All the above with good battery life that is around 9-10 hrs minimum

And that is kinda all I bother looking for. My iPad2 does the job beautifully, and so does my friend's Acer Iconia and I guess even a 99$ chinese tablet would do the job fine provided it has good enough battery.

A phone is supposed to do all a tablet should along with the following extras:

• Make calls and send/recieve texts
• Push mail support
• GPS enabled navigation support with decent maps software
• View and edit popular document formats. Viewing is more important than editing

I added the above features for a phone because a tablet is not with you all the time, whereas a phone is almost always with you.

For everything else, like messing around with apps, playing mmorpgs, playing counter-strike, dota, etc there is a netbook

Infact, after using lots of my friends' netbook, which if you go for the 6-cell ones have a damn good battery backup, I feel my tablet is next to useless. A phone + netbook is the best portability solution IMO.

^yes, that +1, except, its not really occasional, first thing friends ask after hellos is if they can have my device to play with haha, then they stop talking to me and stare at the screen, its as if they are friends with my phone, and not me lol, and I dont even have a fancy shmancy top of the range model, just the 3GS, and some of my friends have pricier phones, one of them has an iPhone 4, but my device is the one they ask for because of the apps.

+1 also to u dont need 3G, you really dont, 2G is enough, and 3G is pretty unreliable at least in some areas of cities, that is, a 3G connection is not guaranteed no matter where you go anyway

@MHG, stuff you wanted, a berry will do as well, and far more pocketable, if you nid tab for screen real estate, thats cool, but you are right in saying any tab will do all of this almost as well, just re-iterates my point, the one and only advantage that an iDevice has to offer over its competition is the Apps, and they didnt become the company every other mobile manufacturer wants to be by making mobiles, they became that by creating a high quality ecosystem, despite the app store being open to all, most of the highest quality apps have the same approaches, the simplistic yet elegant design sensibilities, goes back all the way back to the Braun radios actually

off-topic lol not about refurbs

Spoiler

hmm... good points all... would agree even... but it soon stops being "time pass" and most people actually find time to invest in their pet app. People really have no reason to get three stars and all feathers on all levels on all versions of angry birds, most people are aware that its completely stupid lol, but people are still going for it, taking time out, incorporating it into their lives, each app has a major social sphere, which you will only discover once you start using them. Fakebook, twitter and email are diversions of equal importance, and none of these really have parties! and the phone... please, nobody wants to get a call when you are just reaching a high score in doodle jump. these apps are there on droids too, but they are much better on iPhones, really. Why? because it does not have a complicated and buggy UI, things just work. Its not just games really, there are all kinds of apps for all kinds of things, fakebook and mail makes only makes you do what other people want you to do, but for whatever you really do in life, like spend time in space, practice an instrument on the move, or are a professional, there is bound to be an app to make your life easier

Donno why people spend 40K on a tab and not 50 bucks on an app.

handhelds have a major advantage in gaming, coz of the rapid nature of the updates, the rate at which content is churned, and just how easy it is to look at the controls and the screen at once... in some rare cases droids work out better than iPhones... I really do know both sides of the story, because of the way droids are made, all the interesting projects are beta released on droids first

the istore actually competes with itself, at least the NZ store competes with the US store lol... big bummer with the istore is the regional restrictions, the Indian store has a lot of internet based services missing for some reason, the US store seems to be the best bet, but all the content come out first in the NZ store, and like it doesnt have some stuff too lol, which is the reason istore Enthusiasts around the world pick NZ accounts... so basically you dont have the full app store access at all. Another bummer is the price drops, you pay 400 bucks for an app today, it might be 50 bucks tomm. Worst still, right now both Asphalt 6 and Asphalt 6 Free are free lol.

another great thing about iPhone apps is that it reduces cancer, never experienced this with any android app... once you start playing you forget about smoking haha

what are your experiences with paid iPhone apps?

 

[AndroidFan]

I am just going to rant a little...

I would give an iPhone or iPad to my grandfather. Its "easier" to use. But for the rest of us who can tie their shoelaces, Android is just as easy to use.

Smartphones are a considerable investment. You can get a decent laptop for the price of a high-end smartphone. So, people like to flaunt their phones. Its like a shiny thing in their pocket... like their gold rings, and big cars, and expensive watches, phones are also a status symbol. That is why iPhones are selling so well...

iPhones have good built quality, I agree, and overall software integration is excellent, but the kind of premium people are willing to pay for a brand is astounding...

I cannot understand how anyone could spend 45k on an iPhone 4S when you can get a similar one from HTC or Samsung for 30k. That is why there is such a huge market for Vertu dumb phones which cost lakhs of rupees. People like brands.

For me, Android has been awesome. It has enabled the masses a cheap and easy access to real smartphones. I myself use an LG Optimus One which I had gotten for 10k. I could never afford an iPhone for myself, because even iPhone 3GS at that time cost more than twice that much money...

I have grown up reading Digit and Chip, and I stay on top of tech news all the time. For me, Android is cutting edge tech. When you handle cutting edge stuff, sometimes you bleed... its normal... But its completely worth it... So much customizability, so many mods, kernal patches, powerful apps... I love Android... Android is for Geeks...

I am not beholden to one company to develop OS for my phone. Open Source is powerful. Crowd Sourcing is powerful. Samsung and LG may have crappy implementations of Android on their phones, but I don't depend on them to provide decent software... I know the Dev community is ready and waiting to take apart anything these companies throw at you, and totally refine it for you... That is why Android is awesome...

P. S. My Dad uses an iPhone 3GS, I love the iPad I have at home, my sisters have an Samsung Galaxy SL and a Samsung Focus (WP7). So, I have used pretty much everything...

 

[Anorion]

Yay! move to fight club?
did put off topic stuff in spoilers lol

I cannot understand how anyone could spend 45k on an iPhone 4S when you can get a similar one from HTC or Samsung for 30k. That is why there is such a huge market for Vertu dumb phones which cost lakhs of rupees. People like brands.

Nope its the app talking here, protoxide, orbital, asphalt, fractal combat, Aerox, world of goo... all mind blowing apps, in fact one iDevice is never enough lol, anyone who picks up one is bound to pick up another and another... the Samsung Galaxy S does not really work with the Samsung Galaxy Ace or the Samsung Tab, but the iPod 2G and iPhone 3GS and iPhone 4 and iPad 2 can all be used together as one coherent system. Ive seen it work in strange ways really, friend of mine really liked the apps I had on my iPhone, decided that he loved apple as a company, but his family treats nokia like their family jeweller, so they only ever get nokia phones, but he decided to go get himself a macbook

the android market is also very, very stagnant, the same few apps are at the top ever since the market was made. If you see there are 2-6 price drops in iStore apps because of competition every hour. If one big publisher releases a racing game, the other big publishers drop their prices, this competition is just too good for the consumers. Essentially, this means that you will get a constant stream of high quality apps.

its just the paid apps really, everything else in the iStore is just not any good.

Apart from that, not everyone in the world has a hacker ethic, they would rather have something premade and something that works, instead of something that you have to customize. Its soo much more easier to use an iPhone, you dont even have to take it to a service center for an OS upgrade.


Now played one game, a mobile MMORPG called star legends on an SE Arc, this phone costs twice as much as the iPhone 3GS, and found the loading screen as well as the touch responsiveness was horrible when compared to the much cheaper iPhone 3GS. That was after it got stuck on authenticating (loading screen) for a long time, and I had to hunt around for a fix, and apparently had to do something like "turn background services off" lol. Those ten minutes I could have just played without tension.

I want a droid to surprise me, I want the android market to fill up with more quality apps, but I guess because android is cheaper, less people are willing to invest in premium apps in that marketplace ? donno - this is just a guess, but I would like to know why so many people make such great apps only for the iPhone platform. Maybe the assurance that their apps will work seamlessly across so many devices is another factor. If an android can offer me even 1/2 the apps on the app store, or at least 1/2 the number of same quality apps, and doesnt throw up a bug or glitch or wrong input in the first half an hour of use, then I will run to the store and get one haha.


Ok, how many of you hunt for and download paid apps on either platform? I do about 10 a month, from the iStore if I dont then I feel im wasting my 3GS.

 

[sujoyp]

Guys after u get job and get busy in all boring day-to -day life its worthless to count number of application android or IOS support....all this is just soo up-to-college-life like

Most people dont care how to patch, change ROM, I have seen guys who have basic nokia ringtone and a boring wallpaper for whole year.

Thing is a bugfree, easy to use, non-hangable, good touch sensitivity is much more needed for most rather then support of ROMs....soo iphone wins for most in case they have the money

 

[red dragon]

^^Bang on!!
Most of you wont even care how many apps are there in app store or android market,once you get out of college,get a job,get busy with some real work.
For me,any phone that works without much fuss and decent battery is fine.
I am using a gs2 now,but fully aware that a
Iphone is much less fussy compared to droids(only problem is I can not spend 45k on a phone)
If priced similarly,would pick up the iphone anyday over any damn droid.
We all know both these platforms are good but android is way too overrated.
All those custom ROMs,CWM recovery,custom kernels,o.c,uv etc are pure waste of time.

 

[MetalheadGautham]

A phone should have the following at any cost:

It supports hot swappable memory cards
It supports tethering via USB, acts as USB router and has WiFi hotspot functionality
It supports sending and receiving files through bluetooth
It can actually download music and video to the memory card and save them
I can plug it into any machine and transfer files via USB
Last but not the least (useful esp while I travel) I can replace battery easily

The above are damn basic features for me in a phone which I find missing on iOS. Android, Blackberry, Symbian and Windows Phone all beat iOS because they have the above really trivial features.

Purely on entertainment quotient however, I find iOS to be much better, with loads of high quality games readily available for it, and for the same reason my sister uses my iPad2 a lot more than I do.

 

[Omi]

^
Eggxagctly

These are so random things which one can encounter daily, why put restrictions on such basic things, I don't find a damn reason, can anyone JUSTIFY the above points quoted by MHG missing in an idevice, without stoning himself or a dolphin getting run over by a speedboat?

 

[sujoyp]

@MetalheadGautham
Other then 1 & 2 point I agree with all others

hot swappable I find useless if I have a 8GB memory card.....even Fixed memory card of 8gb and 16 gb is OK unless u r unlucky enough that ur internal memory card crashes but I think even in last 4-5 years none of my memory card failed...

I dont think most people with gingerbread android have ever used these tethering features, wifi hotspot...

Bro u r much knowledgeable and tech savy then most here and I am just saying from the common user prospective

*st.gsmarena.com/vv/reviewsimg/phone-usage-report/charts/big_1.gif source -> *www.gsmarena.com/mobile_phone_usage_survey-review-592p3.php

Thats the reason iphone wins at many features

 

[skeletor]

My cousin has an iPad 2. (gift from me) It is sooo difficult to use. I can't transfer songs, videos and photos easily....wtf?

Tablets suck. Half-trick ponies and only good as an expensive photoframe.

Good for old people though.

There is no point in spending 45k on a phone if it is not easy to use. And that's where Android comes into play. Much much easier to use. And not even expensive.

I don't care about apps/games cuz I have a life. Only ease of use which is something Apple and Microsoft, of late, have no idea about.

---

Now coming to the topic. What in your opinion sells a mobile/tablet ??

The choice depends on what you think you are - a sheep or a human. As you know, currently in this world, we have sheep more than humans. That's why iOS and Windows sells more in tablets, phones and desktops. But I can see the trend changing. Sheep are realising that they are humans, so they have started to make the right choice of late.

 

[MetalheadGautham]

@sujoyp: tethering refers to usability as usb/wifi router for mobile internet. MOST users with 3G plans NEED this feature. plug n play usb internet. and desktops can use wifi through phone's usb interface.

Hotswap mainly for situations when cable is missing, to transfer music directly into memory card.

 

[Skud]

@MetalheadGautham
Other then 1 & 2 point I agree with all others

hot swappable I find useless if I have a 8GB memory card.....even Fixed memory card of 8gb and 16 gb is OK unless u r unlucky enough that ur internal memory card crashes but I think even in last 4-5 years none of my memory card failed...

I dont think most people with gingerbread android have ever used these tethering features, wifi hotspot...

Bro u r much knowledgeable and tech savy then most here and I am just saying from the common user prospective

*st.gsmarena.com/vv/reviewsimg/phone-usage-report/charts/big_1.gif source -> Mobile phone usage report 2011: The things you do - GSMArena.com

Thats the reason iphone wins at many features

At least in my case, that chart more or less reflect my usage pattern. Calculator & Notes/tasks are in 4th & 5th along with the top three.

 

[Anorion]

fail survey, does not include angry birds or doodle jump, those would be right on the top, if the survey does not include apps, that wont be reflected in a bar graph of what people do with their phones

some figures
iStore takes in 6x more revenue than the droid market (gsmArena)
there are more iPads in the wild than Linux Computers
There is 1 Android tab sold for every 24 iPads
iPads have 75% share in tab markets even with lots of devices with lots of features (west europe)

Now what has the iPad really got to offer that other tabs dont?
Can it be a lack of customization - nope, cant be the driving force for so much share
Can it be better features - nope, iPads have pathetic features
Can it be better hardware - lol, again nope

Can it be a better App Store - ofc lol, apps, apps and apps only

there is nothing else that can possibly explain the iPads success

@ico, theres a diff way to use Mac products, once you get used to it, you will start enjoying it, there are many ways to get great content that are exclusive to the iPad, try the podcasts area of the store for the rest you can sync with iTunes... the data is handled differently from droids or windows machines, lots of internal data maintenance... that is you don't need to "delete and re-install" applications, or the photos wont start deteriorating if you just keep them on the disk for long periods of time

 

[Sarath]

What sells a phone:

Brand (Nokia is a VVIP on our lands, Apple takes a sweet spot along side)

Build quality: a lot of people hold the dummy pieces and of it looks good then it is a good phone for them

Shopkeeper's word: they usually come up with " this sells a lot " or " people have a problem with this etc etc " But most importantly they tell you if a particular phone is having a problem, like customers coming back unsatisfactorily.

Friends advice: most people ask their friends and decide much like help me buy a phone threads in TDF


I've observed apple users (iPhone) are pretty happy with their devices. It is almost impossible to make them shift bases. I see android fanboys ripping and lolling on apple and I'm like (pokerface)

Android is too taxing for the user. It has just too many things going on. I loved it in the beginning. It's fun but when the fun ends its a pain.
The problem is theres nothing like an android out there. So we have to watch for improvements in android itself.

I don't think android is good for mass adaptation. It's good for ones who can put in the effort into building their phones but a lot of people don't.

To end it I would say both Android and iOS serve a completely different audience. It's not possible to get a winner out of either.

 

[AndroidFan]

@Sarath,

I agree that Android has a bit of a learning curve, but its not as difficult to use as you might think. Its infact very simple to use in many ways. You can plug and play the device, no need to use software like iTunes just to transfer songs or pictures. Bluetooth can be used to share files, unlike in iOS or WP7.

iOS is just an application tray with apps and folders which can be swiped. Android also has an App tray which can be easily accessed from the home screen. In addition, there are multiple homescreens which can be customized with shortcuts and widgets, just like Windows has a desktop mode, and most files are hidden inside...

IMO, using an Android phone completely can be learnt in less than an hour.

Cheers!