*Please see my disclaimer, these are my personal views, which are not always 100% accurate*
It has been quite some time since I have posted a blogcast. For the most part I have stuck to the gadgets world with cell phones, tablets, laptops, and related news. Every once and a while I will jump to world events such as Iran. Not much has changed with Iran...yet, and as usual, the electronics are still changing at a very fast pace. I will admit, it has slowed a little bit in the last few months.
One of my last tablet posts, I believe I recommended the Asus Transformer Prime, iPad, and Samsung Galaxy as some of the top tablets. At the time they were in the top five best tablets, and still remain some of the best tablets out. There are (will be) three main players driving the tablet market, Apple, Google, and now Microsoft. Apple has recently released the iPad 3 with a retina display, and that is simply hard to beat. I personally have always been too cheap to buy Apple products, even though I like them a lot. If they could ever find a way to lower their prices, they would probably take a huge market share from the rest of the players. Google has done very well putting their Android OS on just about every other tablet out there. Some have said this is one of their mistakes, there is just too many versions of Android which makes it difficult to update all of these devices and keep them in sync. Google just released a 7" tablet this month, the Nexus. It sounds like a Samsung built tablet, but this is actually an Asus device. It is Google's version of Amazon's Kindle Fire tablet...but much nicer! It has the quad core cpu, eight core gpu, and the best part - Jelly Bean OS, the latest version of Android. It has cut a few features, but this is to keep it affordable, $200!!! I can't wait to get one of these tablets! And where is Microsoft??? Well, they are getting ready to launch their first windows 8 tablet! A few of us in the corporate world are very excited about this. I have not seen the tablets in person, but I have been using Windows 8 Preview for quite some time on my laptop. My biggest frustration is that I don't have a touchscreen to take advantage of the new OS features, so I am stuck in the "desktop" layout most of the time. I can't wait to see the new windows 8 devices!
I mentioned the ultrabooks in a past post, these were the new laptops, a cross-breed between a tablet and a laptop. The portability of a tablet, the power of a laptop, a perfect combo! I think these will be a big hit, but they need a little more exposure. The focus still seems to be on tablets!
Then we have the ever changing world of cell phones, and if you know me, that changes a lot! Today, I give the crown to the Galaxy Nexus with Jelly Bean. This is a very conditional and temporary position however. Let me explain, and also let me assure you, I do know what I am talking about. I have owned nearly every version of iPhone and Galaxy phone, and owned or worked with MANY other various droids. The conditions of the Nexus are two fold. First, it has to be a working Nexus. This phone shipped in December as the first Galaxy phone on Verizon and the first with Ice-Cream Sandwich android OS. It was amazing! The 4.6" screen was testing the limits, but was very comfortable and liked by all. The contour is extremely unique, even today. The problem is, it had an issue with its 4G radio. Some people either didn't notice it, or just didn't seem to have the problem. I went through three Galaxy Nexus phones. I wanted to keep it SO bad, but when the data didn't work, it had to go. The second condition is that it would have to have Jelly Bean to be the best phone out there. The only way to get Jelly Bean right now is to root your phone. This OS has some awesome features!!! This will be a short-lived crown for the Galaxy Nexus. The Samsung Galaxy SIII is out, and will soon have Jelly Bean to add to its features. Once Jelly Bean is pushed out on these phones, it will be hard to top! This is the phone I currently have. It is a little buggy, but so far is quite impressive overall. A 4.8 screen (Samsung is always pushing the limits!), ice-cream sandwich, and many other cool features added by Samsung make this one of the best phones I have ever seen! I will add that I have also had the Galaxy SII while I was with AT&T and that was one of my favorite phones, ever! Apple is getting very close to releasing the iPhone 5, and EVERYONE is expecting very big things, including me. If it is not jaw-dropping, then there will be some major disappointment. It is so hard to know what to expect as they are very secretive. If it doesn't have a 4.6 retina display and 4G at the very minimum, they will be in trouble! :) I expect the iPhone 5 will be the biggest seller to date, and I expect it will be the #1 phone this year. Up to this point, I have had all the way up to the iPhone 4s and would take a Samsung over the iPhone in a heart beat. The screen size is enough by itself, but add 4G and ice-cream sandwich (and soon Jelly Bean) to sweeten the deal and it is a no-brainer. I do miss the iOS on the Apple iPhone, much easier to use, but Android gets better all of the time. Apple has quality hardware, and quality software. Google puts their software on everything, and the biggest problem I have as an IT guru is supporting all of these different versions of hardware that all have different versions of the Android OS. Google really needs to figure out how to push their software out to the phones rather than letting the carrier manage this. Verizon takes an eternity to push out updates!!! And for that reason, I am pretty disappointed in most of the other droid phones (Razr, Bionic, Rezound). The old android OS is very frustrating coming from an iPhone background. The Razr just received the Ice-Cream Sandwich update, so that was a big win. After having the Galaxy phones though, the screen is just too small on the Razr. I suppose I shouldn't close this conversation without mentioning that Microsoft is finally jumping into the game again. They will soon have their windows 8 phones - I am quite excited about this!!!
Cell phone summary - Nexus is the best phone out when rooted with Jelly Bean installed, soon to be replaced by the Galaxy SIII with Jelly Bean, and certainly outdone by the iPhone5. While S-Speak is a very lame voice control feature on the Galaxy SIII, the voice control in Jelly Bean is unbelievable! I am expecting Siri on the iPhone 5 to blow us away! And watch out for the Windows 8 phones, they will be a whole new experience!
Lastly, keep your eyes peeled for "surface" communications. Microsoft started working on this type of technology a long time ago, but do a search for corneware on youtube for this surface technology and see what is coming, it is going to change the way we communicate! Whether we like it or not, things are headed into the "futuristic" worlds we see in the movies, like Minority Report.
