Apple vs. Samsung: Who's Winning Now?

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airborne11b

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Wow, what a biased article. I mean that, author.

How do you figure the smartphone category to be a draw? To get single-handed mode: On the Note 3, all you have to do is slide your finger from the edge of the screen in, and back out again. Just a swipe. That's not a setting.

The hardware on all EXISTING Samsung phones trump the yet-to-be-released iPhone 6:

-Apple has introduced nothing new, and 1080p isn't "Retina HD" -- it's just HD. Not to mention already surpassed, by both pixel density, size, and pixel count. I'm not going to even talk about the paltry 750p.

-NFC? Been there, done that. Water resistance? How is this not super important. Pen input? Nope. IR Blaster? Nope. Expandable storage? Nope. Removable battery? Nope.

The list goes on and on, ffs. How is this a draw?


Oh, and this: "Although the Galaxy S5 and Note series sport a heart-rate monitor on the back, Apple's devices promise to keep better tabs on your activity via better designed apps, a more accurate M7 motion co-processor and a barometer that can track your stair climbs."
-- Are you serious? You're tooting unavailable apps, and 'promises', as better than the built-in the Samsung heart-rate monitor, and library full of amazing health apps [already available] on the Google Play Store. Wow.

1080p on a 4.7 - 6 inch phone display is retina at normal hand-held distance.

Any resolution can be retina given a small enough size of screen or the distance at which you're viewing the screen.

A 27" 1080p monitor is retina at 3 and a half feet away. However most people view a computer monitor at a desk at about 12 - 24 inches away at most, so you see a nice difference when you move up to 1440p.

However, 1080p vs 1440p on a 5 inch phone? Ya you got to hold it 2 inches from your eye to tell the difference lol.

No true at all. I'm moved from HTC Velocity (Raider??) @ 540 x 960 to a HTC Butterfly @ 1080x1920 and at any distance could tell the difference. I've now moved from 1080 to an Oppo Find 7 @ 1440 x 2560 and can still tell the difference at any distance my arm can produce.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I just thought 'Retina' was an apple marketing term for 'buy this product sheep'.

Yes you are wrong. There are more to screens than just pixels. Color accuracy, refresh rates, contrast, viewing angles, etc etc. So it's possible you "see a difference", but it's not from the actual pixels themselves.

1920 x 1080 on a 5" screen is retina quality at 8" away from your face. (retina just meaning as good as the human eye can see). So for a 5" phone screen to benefit from the 2560 x 1440 in terms if pixels/clarity, you'd need to hold it 3 or 4 inches from your face lol.

So yes, you are wrong.
 

firefoxx04

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You have to pay a $100 premium to get features that we started to expect in 2012. Apple continues to try and play catch up (key board 'try') while Android manufacturers are not competing against each other at a rate that Apple cant keep up with.


I love my S5. Battery starts getting bad, not a problem. Amazon.com has retailers who stock excelent aftermarket batteries that perform well for under $30.

Storage space getting low?? Not a problem, Newegg offers 16gb cards (in a 4 pack) for $20 or you can spend a little more and get a single 32-128GB card.

Apple refuses to implement those two 'features' in their phones (okay so does HTC) even though they are the only two features that the majority of the public actually understands. That is HUGE.
 

everygamer

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Google Wallet has been around for more than 3 years, and the Galaxy Nexus was the first NFC enabled phone that allowed you to make payments. These both came out a while ago, not sure how Apple Pay's product is considered innovation when its late to the party.

As to Samsung betting on VR, no, this is more just Samsung playing with a new technology, and adding another accessory to the Galaxy Note's portfolio. They, and the rest of the industry do not expect VR to have a huge impact on entertainment in the next 10 years. Even Oculus's founder says that we are at the ground floor for VR technology, were just making the first steps, and they have a realistic outlook for its future.

Smart watches will have a far more reaching impact than VR, and a much larger customer base. VR is going to likely be limited in its total customer base, in the next few years it will be something PC gamers with extra money buy, maybe some businesses who want to showcase something or build a unique user experience. Smart watches will likey be on hundreds of millions of people by decades end.d
 

everygamer

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Every bonehead Android response forgers Apple produces a holistic, end-to-end products with proper support and service.

1. Apple has stores across the world to assist new and existing customers learn about the phone, receive free help and here's the KICKER with a damaged phone out of warranty they still try to help their customers. Good luck with any of this with an Android manufacturer. Apple is heads and shoulders ahead of every Android manufacturer.

2. Update support and compatibility. Apple provides zero day updates for its devices. No B.S. with carriers, delays, added bloatware, etc. So customers receive new features, fixes and security updates constantly for their devices. Even old iPads and iPhone 4S and later. Apple has consistently supported devices for 3 years and on zero day.

Do not tell me that rooting a Android phone and manually updating is your solution. 99% of Android users in the world don't do this, so it's not a solution. Simple statistics show when a new Android version comes out there is such a small adoption rate its embarrassing. Apple has an incredible adoption rate, the envy of the mobile market.

3. More, better and first apps. App makers always make for iOS first than Android. This has been borne out for the past 7 years and won't stop. There is no need to elaborate this is common sense in the software and business world.

4. Android likes to be "first to market" on some features. For example NFC. Who cares if you have the technology in the device when corporations are not using it for commerce? Apple will make partnerships, produce enough critical mass and infrastructure for a feature to be useful for their customer. The hard work is not sticking the technology into a device. The difficult part if getting businesses to provide the service to use the technology. It's a holistic circle to provide the customer with usefulness not its there and pretty much useless but we get to brag we put it there. Lets be real, if mobile payment takes off its going to be due to Apple Pay. They even considered people would want to pay with their Apple Watch and facilitate this. Apple did not go into iTunes without the proper level of partnerships. We've seen every John and Jane company try like Sony and even music publishers to offer online songs. They fail since they never try to provide the product customers are actually seeking for a service. Android has failed with NFC and Apple will be the most likely to succeed.

5. Build quality and material. Apple products use much better materials than Android phones. There is no question about this. From crappy plastic all around, Android phones cheapen out on the product's materials to drive cost down and cost for their devices aren't significantly cheaper than Apple's.

6. Philosophical difference. Apple will try to improve a technology for how people are trying to use it not just add more to market that it has a bigger number. Android manufacturers will just add 16MB camera up from 8MB and this will be their improvement. Apple will understand people want faster focus, sharper images, better low light pics and add the necessary changes to their products to facilitate this even while leaving the pixel count the same. Even with side to side comparisons Apple picture quality has consistently been better than Galaxy line's picture quality.

There are many other places differentiating Apple products from the Samsung Galaxy line. There are too many to list. Most customers aren't egg/gear heads who are so deep into their technology, they want something that works and meets their utility. That being said, it is no wonder Apple phones have been the number one selling phones in human history. And why its the number one product line in consumer electronics history. They produce what the world wants and there's no better device delivering what people really want.

QED

Sigh, here is the reality. Most people don't use the majority of the innovations in most cell phones/tablets both Android/Apple that have been released in the last few years. The most significant innovation in the phone market has been linking a mobile computer to an online store for obtaining productivity/entertainment tools/media. The average user will make phone calls, browse the web, chat, play some simple games, run a few apps, and listen to music. Everything else, all the extra innovation, is largely going unused and it mostly there to differentiate the products in the market from an advertising standpoint.

The reason NFC hasn't taken off is because of a few reasons, and most have nothing to do with Apple and how they do business.

1. Retailers need to upgrade all of their registers to include NFC hardware. Some of the larger retailers have more modular technology and they can add on components to do this, but many smaller retailers would need to replace their equipment at significant cost. It is an infrastructural change that has been going on for a few years now starting with gas stations about a decade ago. A few phones getting out there has increases the demand, and that helps. Many vendors are opting to use on-screen QR codes instead of NFC because it can leverage existing hand scanners. So regardless of how big a push Apple makes, I doubt they are going to pay to equip every retailers stores with NFC enabled readers.

2. Cell Phone providers & Manufacturers have not pushed NFC because they have gotten together and have been working on a standard for handling NFC financial transactions and the technology that will make it work. Standardization processes can take some time but once in place they tend to have a longer shelf life than something developed by a single company. Case in point Microsoft, they tried to push HTML and browser standards for the last 20 years but are finally giving up the fight and moving IE to standards and dropping most of their custom/proprietary junk.

Don't get me wrong, I applaud Apple for finally moving in this direction, they have a very large fan base and will add more demand to the market, and they will do it with more focus that the many android phone makers. That said, the market was already moving in this direction, the technology already works, so Apple is not innovating, they are doing what they do with all of their products, wait till someone else comes up with it, then try to find a way to improve and turn on the charm. They have some of the best advertising and one of most well defined brand and they are consistent with how they move it forward.

Just remember, it can't work as Apple vs the Industry, they have to be part of it too, if they aren't eventually the extra money in their pockets will not be able to support them.
 

everygamer

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Hi drapacioli. Great point about Apple Pay. It could flop. I remember Apple's failed social network, iTunes Ping. I also know that NFC has been around for a while. But no other company has gathered this much support for a mobile payment solution thus far. It looks like it has a better chance of success than Google Wallet, which the carriers basically torpedoed.

And yet, you called Apple Pay a "potential game-changer" in your article.

By the way, how does a carrier supporting or not supporting an NFC pay system have to do with its failure or success? Verizon can't block my phone's NFC, and neither can Sprint, etc. It's up to retailers and restaurants, and anyone else who I interface with to buy goods and services.

Verizon blocked Google Wallet from being deployed on the Galaxy Nexus when it was originally released in North America (2010 i think), the phone had NFC support but the ISP has say in what software the phones can include. I don't think they do anymore though, now as long as the phone has NFC it works.

NFC credit transactions are not just between the phone and the reader at the retailer, there is a data transaction between the phone's software (app or built into OS) and the financial institution unless there is token data stored on the phone from a previous data sync. So its not just between the phone and retailer, it does have an element that traverses the ISP's data network.
 

Ninjawithagun

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Samsung is winner hands down in the smart phone category. I own an iPad 4 and love it for what it does and still IMHO the overall best tablet currently on the market for what I need (may not be the best solution for others, I'll agree). But use a Note 3 for my smartphone duties because it has so many advantages over the current iPhone family (and next one too). Having the smart stylus capability and micro SD slot make it a no braininer of which to choose. With the new Note Edge, something is finally offered that is REVOLUTIONARY in offering an all-new change to how we interface with our phones. The new edge interface is absolutely ingenious and Apple is nowhere near implementing anything like it. And Apple Watch is a total train wreck. The thing is Noah Ark HUGE and has none of the slim design or application prowess of the Samsung Gear watches. And so far, every app advertised for the Apple Watch would be better used on an iPhone or iPad. Congrats to Samsung for once again beating Apple to the next-generation of smartphone technology.
 

bonezy

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Hi drapacioli. Great point about Apple Pay. It could flop. I remember Apple's failed social network, iTunes Ping. I also know that NFC has been around for a while. But no other company has gathered this much support for a mobile payment solution thus far. It looks like it has a better chance of success than Google Wallet, which the carriers basically torpedoed.

And yet, you called Apple Pay a "potential game-changer" in your article.

By the way, how does a carrier supporting or not supporting an NFC pay system have to do with its failure or success? Verizon can't block my phone's NFC, and neither can Sprint, etc. It's up to retailers and restaurants, and anyone else who I interface with to buy goods and services.

Verizon blocked Google Wallet from being deployed on the Galaxy Nexus when it was originally released in North America (2010 i think), the phone had NFC support but the ISP has say in what software the phones can include. I don't think they do anymore though, now as long as the phone has NFC it works.

NFC credit transactions are not just between the phone and the reader at the retailer, there is a data transaction between the phone's software (app or built into OS) and the financial institution unless there is token data stored on the phone from a previous data sync. So its not just between the phone and retailer, it does have an element that traverses the ISP's data network.

Disabling is not the same thing as not supporting. The difference?:
"You can't use this"
vs."
You can use it if you want, but don't expect us to provide products and services for it. You're on your own."

And your last part pretty much says, "Data that's sent over the internet has to go through an ISP."

Thanks.

(In other words, again, carrier support has zero to do with the success / failure of NFC. You haven't said anything of value here.)
 

ldo

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Interesting that you score Apple over Samsung in smart watches by comparing VAPOURWARE against an actual SHIPPING PRODUCT.

Guess which one the customers are buying right now?
 

scook9

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I cant help but be completely nonplussed by ApplePay....Google wallet came out in 2011 and has offered NFC payment since then. The only barrier to adoption in the US has been greedy carriers and their push for ISIS (now Softcard) while blocking Google Wallet from functioning. This is hardly a nod in the direction of Apple. Similarly, to unlock your hotel room using a phone, this was announced months ago for other android/NFC phones.

I am not really a fan boy and like the hardware of the latest iPhones but feel there is very little if ANY innovation taking place this generation (for Samsung OR Apple)
 
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