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Samsung Galaxy S4 – A game changer? Should Apple Worry?
The mobile phones industry has been a fast growing and a fast changing industry. New technologies have been introduced in the past 20 years or so that made cellular phones part of our lives in every way. Companies have been moving ups and downs in terms of market share and domination of the cellular phone business. Consumers taste have been changing over the years with the changing in technology. For example mobile phones were decreasing in size, and the smallest phones were the coolest and most expensive but that is not the case now. Who knew that 5-inch smartphones can be popular? Consumers prefer smartphones with big screens to be able to do the many other tasks that are becoming essential and I am not talking about making phone calls. Making phone calls becoming the least used function in the smartphone with many users spend more time surfing the web, checking emails and watching videos.
When the PC maker Dell Inc. introduced the 5-inch screen smartphone known as the Dell Streak it didn’t generate that much attention. The Dell Streak idea was to give consumers a hybrid smartphone, so it could be used both as a phone and also as a tablet because of its big 5-inch screen. Sales didn’t meet expectations and the reason was that consumers didn’t like the idea of carrying a smartphone that size. The Dell Streak was discontinued in 2010.
(Video Courtesy of CNET)
We can reflect back on this fast changing business by looking at those companies who were once on the top and now they struggle to survive. Nokia for example, it was the world’s largest mobile phones manufacturer, well not any more. Nokia has missed on the smartphone revolution and tried to catch up late. It seems that Nokia executives didn’t see it coming for two years. Nokia realized late that cellular phones evolved into something more than just a device to make phone calls, it changed into a device that can do most of the functions that the personal computer does, and that device became known as the smartphone. Of course Nokia is playing catch up, we hope they will succeed.
Research in Motion the Canadian based company and the maker of the BlackBerry enjoyed a period of great success few years before Apple got into the cellular phone business. BlackBerry was once a class of its own when it came to cellular phones. Blackberry introduced many unique and cool features such as secure email and the internet. Apple decided to get into the mobile phone business and introduced the first generation iPhone. Apple promised then to bring the full experience of the internet to the cellular phones and not just a water down version. The smartphone revolution started and the rest is history and apple has iPhone 5 in the market.
Apple became the biggest smartphone seller in the world. People were lining up get the best smartphone in the market. The majority of the other companies started catching up with several products to some degree of success. No one came close to compete with the iPhone with the exception of one smartphone and that was the Galaxy smartphones line made by the Korean based electronic manufacturer Samsung Inc. Samsung electronics introduced several smartphones but its top of the line smartphone the Galaxy became an iPhone competitor. Backed by Google’s Android operating system, the Galaxy line of smartphones gain great popularity with many features that out performed the iPhone. Samsung out performed apple and sold more galaxy devices globally than apple sold iPhones. However Apple still has the Lion share of the smartphones sale in the U.S with 29% compare to Samsung share of 21%. Apple didn’t introduce any major breakthrough in innovation and technology to convince consumers to stick with the pricey iPhone devices since the iPhone 4 was released.
Will the new Samsung Galaxy S4 with enhanced software features help Samsung expand its market share in the U.S? Business analyst believe Samsung will take over Apple spot and become the world’s biggest smartphone seller globally and in the U.S. Apple of course still has an advantage during the holiday season because it sells more smartphones than any other company, thanks to Apple die hard fans who line up to buy the new Apple products. That advantage may not be a great help or long lived if apple doesn’t come up with a smarter smartphone and soon. Apple has to change the iPhone design and come up with a breakthrough in technology and innovation to stay in the lead at least in the U.S market. The stiff competition between Apple and Samsung can also widen the play field as apple may be experimenting with other devices such as the smart watch.
Samsung Galexy S4 Specifications
GENERAL 2G Network GSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900
3G Network HSDPA 850 / 900 / 1900 / 2100
4G Network LTE (market dependent)
SIM Micro-SIM
Status Coming soon. Exp. release 2013, April 26th
BODY Dimensions 136.6 x 69.8 x 7.9 mm (5.38 x 2.75 x 0.31 in)
Weight 130 g (4.59 oz)
DISPLAY Type Super AMOLED capacitive touchscreen, 16M colors
Size 1080 x 1920 pixels, 5.0 inches (~441 ppi pixel density)
Multitouch Yes
Protection Corning Gorilla Glass 3 – TouchWiz UI
SOUND Alert types Vibration; MP3, WAV ringtones
Loudspeaker Yes
3.5mm jack Yes
MEMORY Card slot microSD, up to 64 GB
Internal 16/32/64 GB storage, 2 GB RAM
DATA GPRS Yes
EDGE Yes
Speed HSDPA, 42.2 Mbps; HSUPA, 5.76 Mbps; LTE, Cat3, 50 Mbps UL, 100 Mbps DL
WLAN Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, dual-band, DLNA, Wi-Fi Direct, Wi-Fi hotspot
Bluetooth Yes, v4.0 with A2DP, EDR, LE
NFC Yes
Infrared port Yes
USB Yes, microUSB v2.0 (MHL), USB On-the-go, USB Host
CAMERA Primary 13 MP, 4128 x 3096 pixels, autofocus, LED flash
Features Dual Shot, Simultaneous HD video and image recording, geo-tagging, touch focus, face and smile detection, image stabilization, HDR
Video Yes, 1080p@60fps, 1080p@30fps, dual-video rec.
Secondary Yes, 2 MP, 1080p@30fps, dual video call
OS Android OS, v4.2.2 (Jelly Bean)
Chipset Exynos 5 Octa 5410
CPU Quad-core 1.6 GHz Cortex-A15 & quad-core 1.2 GHz Cortex-A7
GPU PowerVR SGX 544MP3
Sensors Accelerometer, gyro, proximity, compass, barometer, temperature, humidity, gesture
Messaging SMS(threaded view), MMS, Email, Push Mail, IM, RSS
Browser HTML5, Adobe Flash
Radio TBD
GPS Yes, with A-GPS support and GLONASS
Java Yes, via Java MIDP emulator
Colors White Frost, Black Mist
Additional Features
– Wireless charging (market dependent)
– S-Voice natural language commands and dictation
– Smart stay, Smart pause, Smart scroll
– Air gestures
– Dropbox (50 GB storage)
– Active noise cancellation with dedicated mic
– TV-out (via MHL A/V link)
– SNS integration
– MP4/DivX/XviD/WMV/H.264/H.263 player
– MP3/WAV/eAAC+/AC3/FLAC player
– Organizer
– Image/video editor
– Document viewer (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, PDF)
– Google Search, Maps, Gmail,
YouTube, Calendar, Google Talk, Picasa
– Voice memo/dial/commands
– Predictive text input (Swype)
BATTERY Li-Ion 2600 mAh battery
Most Popular Apps for Android and iOS
Smartphone Apps are taking web design by storm. Apps are everywhere and there are huge numbers of apps made by developers for the two most popular platforms and those of course Google Android and Apple iOS operating systems. Apps business is becoming a huge market with a share value of 25 billion dollars. Developers compete to publish apps daily. With so many apps offered for free or with a price tag, users face the dilemma of what apps to download that fit their needs without downloading many useless apps that slow down their smartphones and eat up their memory. The list below are examples of the most popular and good apps to have.
Haze
This app is a nice weather app that puts some color in the weather forecast with Haze. It’s a fun weather app with animations and an audiovisual interface that is both simple and addictive.
Price: $.99
iPhone
Cam Me
This app will let you go hands free. With this camera app you you dont need the camera timer on your smartphone. Just wave and smile.
Price: Free
iPhone
Swiftkey
The newest Swiftkey update provides more accurate corrections and better predictions than other keyboard apps. Touchscreen typing is still hard to get to master, some screens faster than others.
Price: $3.99
Android
Winston
This app give users the power to listen without having to read, with Winston users can have their Twitter and Facebook feeds, or areas of the news that interest them, read aloud in a really nice voice. Moreover users can wirelessly connect to Apple TV via AirPlay to watch/listen on a bigger screen.
Price: Free
iOS
Switchcam
The new web app automatically synchronizes footage of an event from multiple cameras and turns it into one tidy interactive video where viewers control the produced feeds.
Price: Free
Any camera. Just upload to the service.
Kickstarter
The crowdfunding platform for creative startups has been around for a few years. What is new is its sleek, simple iPhone app. Now users can search, pledge and track those indie art projects while on the go.
Price: Free
iPhone, iPod Touch
Find. Eat. Drink.
This app give users great tools to find the best places to eat and drink on the go. Recommendations are collected by industry insiders; chefs, bartenders, baristas, butchers, pitmasters.
Price: Free
iPhone, website
Flayvr
This app allows users to take back control of their smartphone’s camera roll. Flavyr instantly organizes photos by date and seamlessly patches video and photos into the same collection. .
Price: Free
iPhone, Android.
Evernote Hello
Evernote’s latest update of their contact-management app offers a business card scanner and the “Hello Connect,” which allows two or more people in a room running the app to wirelessly sync up their contact info. It’s info swapping made easier.
Sunrise
Why go several places if you can achieve your goals with one. Sunrise, a new calendar app built by two ex-Foursquare designers, pulls together your appointments from Google Calendar, Facebook Events and Birthdays and weather outlooks.
Price: Free
iPhone
Vine
This is a Twitter app introduced by Twitter that lets users capture and share short looping videos, it has been a great success. Big brands, news outlets and creative Twitter users have flocked to it. The limitation for producing creative content in six seconds is both the beauty and challenge of Vine.
Price: Free
iPhone
Pixplit
This is a nice twist on the crowded photo-collage app space. with Pixplit useres collaborate in a network where friends create social photos (called Splits) together in a single frame using their mobile phones. Post a photo, slice into a frame and wait for another user to fill out the picture, often from another part of the world.
Price: Free
iPhone
Any.Do
This popular reminder app is a cool tool to support a new feature called Any.Do Moment, it is a quick and fun overview of your day and the things you have on your list in a simple list broken into four sections.
Price: Free
iPhone, Android
Showscoop
This app is for people who like to go to concerts, you’ll want to check out Showscoop.This app gives users a chance to rate live music shows they see and share those ratings with others.
Price: Free
iPhone
Hotel Tonight
This app makes it easy to search for and book hotels at discounted prices up to 70% off if booked by noon. This app has been around for a few years, but they update the app all the time, often adding new cities.
Price: Free
iPhone, Android
CineMama
This is desinged specifically for pregnant women from the March of Dimes. using this app woomen can create a time-lapse video of their pregnancy, and get health tips along the way.
Price: Free
iPhone
Llama
This cool android app switch your phone ringer off for you if you forget to do it by the time you get to work or to a meeting or to a classroom. It’s pure brilliance via automated convenience.
Price: Free
Android
Eventster
Eventster this mobile app helps users discover nightlife, concerts, festivals, sports, theater around you. This app also allows users to search their surroundings based on tastes and interests.
Price: Free
iPhone
Why You Need To Invest In Good Company Branding
Entrepreneurs today are focused on making the big bucks, and quickly. Being in such a rush, they tend to forget one of the most important details of a business and marketing campaign: the brand. In order to ensure success for your business, you will need to leave no stone unturned when it comes to investing in good company branding.
Why is it so important? Keep reading to find out.
Consistency
Branding brings consistency, which is good for your customer base. Consistency ensures that your customers return, which will allow your marketing costs to go down when you start hitting sales goals. Investing in and developing a good company brand will allow your customers to know what to expect from you, and also allow them to be able to rely on you. Finding a company with a track record of high quality branding is a must, look at the companies they’ve previously dealt with Guerilla Branding and Turquoise are a couple examples of branding agencies that have dealt with large brands.
Aesthetic Appeal
Branding is marketing in itself, because people will go for what looks good. A major part of branding is developing a consistent aesthetic appeal. You want your business to have a look that the customers will be attracted to. Many people judge books by their covers, and you want to pull them in as well. Developing good company branding will help you do just that.
Memorability
You want customers to remember your company, right? It’s proven that visual cues have a much greater impact on people’s memories than audio cues. This is another reason why you want to invest in good company branding. Your logo, website layout, and anything else that require design really matter if you want people to know who you are.
Higher Price
Branding actually allows you to charge more for your products/services. If people go to a cheap looking website, they will be expecting cheap prices that you’ll be forced to abide by. If they go to a high-quality looking website, that was truly invested in, then they will be more inclined to purchase premium priced products and services. These are four of the reasons it’s better to invest in good company branding. All this involves is investing in a logo, a website layout, and a communications image that your customers can look at and think “quality”. If you can do that, your sales will increase, and your marketing costs will diminish because the customers you achieve will be customers that you’re more likely to keep. You’ll be able to say goodbye to the stress of finding customers, because you’ll be keeping the ones you land.
Setting Up Your Workspace for a Small Home Startup
So you’ve decided to start your own business, but you’re not financially in a place where you can open up your own office or storefront. More and more, business owners are creating functional home workspaces to accommodate the fact that many startups cannot afford the initial overhead. But just because you’re working from home, doesn’t mean you shouldn’t have a functional place set aside for your business.
There are many steps in planning a functional space that every startup business owner should utilize.
The first thing that you need to do is to find a space in your home that will meet the needs of your workspace. Doing handmade jewelry pieces for your company? Then you’re going to need a quiet space with a large work table. Starting an online company with computer services? Then you’re going to need a functional computer and computer desk for your workspace. The key is to select a workspace that works for you and can cater to what you will need in a workspace. And no, this doesn’t mean a cleared off space on your dining room table. You should strive to have a separate workspace, perhaps in a cleared off room, that only serves that one particular purpose.
After you’ve though about what your needs are, then you need to work on planning out the design and features of your workspace – renovating if necessary. And if you don’t have a lot of startup cash, don’t worry – it doesn’t need to be extravagant.
A quick trip to Ikea or Target to get a desk and some organization tools is all you really need to start with. If you do have some funds you’d like to invest in your workspace, then try planning and reworking your workspace, painting it in a color scheme that fits the theme of your business and adding some design flair. That way, if you do have a meeting with your client, you can provide them with a competent business image that will match your product or service.
Now that you’ve got the design and planning aspects covered, now you need to make sure you have all of the tools of your trade. This can mean getting a new computer, or bolts of fabric – whatever it is to make sure you’ve got the equipment you need. You also need to ensure the safety of the materials and products for your business. If your client has provided you with sensitive information or prototypes, you need to do everything in your power to secure them. Having a security system in place may be crucial for many different types of workspaces.
No matter what your budget is, or how you to decide to outfit your workspace, make sure that it properly represents your business. If one of your business mottos is that you strive for cleanliness and professionalism, you don’t want a space that is anything but, as this doesn’t send a positive business message to any of your clients, or people that you interact with in your business.
Startups and Choosing your Domain
Startups and Business domain
You just start new a business venture and you want your startup to go on line. The best way is to have a website to show the world how good and unique your startup is and try to promote your ideas. Choosing the domain name for your business is very important. A good available domain can be an eyecatcher for many web surfers which can bring visitors to your website hence customers to your business.
Your business can be desinged around a known trade mark such as iPhone apps or Facebook games A good advice is to avoid domains that contain words with trade mark names such as iPhone, or Facebook,etc. Big companies have been aggressive in raging legal battles to secure their trade marks and they are wining their disputes.
Choose a domain that will help your business grow and respect copyright laws. Many startups struggle in the early stages to survive. Startups also face many challenges to get their business above ground and running and the last thing they want to worry about is to fight a legal claim against a big company.
Betterfly – Find the right person
The service industry is changing. New models of business come out daily and the intense competition drives people to search for new ways to find potential customers. Outsourcing has been with us for a long time. Businesses reach out to professionals for tasks like advertising and marketing. Now, if we talk about individuals, people have been using the Internet for a long time to make purchases of products (Amazon comes to mind). People offer their services via websites like Craigslist. Recently I visited BetterFly and their specialty is the service sector.
Make an account on BetterFly and then search through the listing of services. You may be looking for a musician for lessons or a therapist. From teachers to yoga instructors, the website claims to offer services from more than a thousand individuals. On finding one, you have the option to make transactions for services rendered through the website or you can get together and use any other method.
If you happen to use the service, do leave a feedback about the provider so that other people can benefit from it.
What they say about themselves
Betterfly is the first website of its kind to exclude companies, focusing on people instead. Its goal is to make it easy to find the best people to help you learn, look or feel better. Betterfly sets out to make that process easier and more efficient for its users. By catering to individuals instead of companies and by offering a broad but well-defined set of services, Betterfly enables users to compare apples to apples.
Why it could be a success
Finding the right professional can be difficult. Yellow pages are there, but you can’t be sure about the competence of a person unless you hear some positive feedback. All this is provided to you through BetterFly. The website is still beta so I’d give it some time to see how it fares.
China’s BYD – A Model For Chinese Innovation?
I was surprised to see a TechCrunch article today about the supposed innovative tech hub that is Shenzen in China. Most of us know that the Chinese don’t seem to have too much of an ethical problem in copying software, gadgets, designer clothes and pretty much anything else, so the stereotype is that the Chinese manufacture, they don’t innovate.
It’s happened countless times in the startup world, which is why sites that are popular world wide tend to find it hard getting momentum in China as there is invariably a home grown Chinese copy (I can’t help but suspect this is somehow encouraged by the fiercely protectionist Chinese authtorities).
I’m open to having stereotypes contradicted but this article did nothing to do dispel my belief that China is an extremely efficient copying machine rather than a creative hub of innovative tech entrepreneurs.
The TechCrunch Article mentions BYD as being a shining example of innovation, with Western journalists supposedly agog at their R&D. I think R&D is Chinese for “Copy good ideas”.
For a start let’s take a look at their logo:
Not so innovative.
And some of their designs:
First the BYD S6 – A shameless copy of the Lexus RX
Next the BYD F6 and the spookily similar looking BMW 7:
I’m not so sure that we’ve seen the spark of innovation in China yet. A good start would be to tighten up software piracy laws and properly enforce intellectual property, perhaps then some truly innovative ideas might actually make some profit for their creators. Why spend all that time developing a great business or product when every Chinaman and his dog can create carbon copies faster than you can ship the originals?
Socially!