Well the rumours have been proven correct for the most part (except the name which is confirmed as the Galaxy Nexus rather than Nexus Prime)...
The newest pure Android phone has been unveiled and looks incredible. The device features Android v4.0 (codenamed Ice Cream Sandwich) and has other nifty features not described in my previous post such as facial recognition software that unlocks your phone, tap-to-share data transferring via Android Beam, a panoramic camera, Google's new social network-focused People app and a barometer (!). It's also tightly integrated with the cloud.
Thankfully many of us running previous editions of Android will also see these benefits as 4.0 is rolled out in the coming months but there is little doubt that the Galaxy Nexus combines the state-of-the-art in terms of Android software development and cutting-edge mobile hardware, leaving its rivals in the shade...it is expected to land in November 2011
It appears that official word on the latest Nexus android phone will be unveiled shortly in an announcement delayed from the 11th of October due to the passing of Steve Jobs. The Nexus Prime, as it is apparently to be known, will now be unveiled by Samsung and Google on the 19th of October. It is significant as it is likely to be the first device released that runs the 4.0 edition of Android known as ‘Ice-Cream Sandwich’.
The device is expected to be a beast with a 1.2Ghz processor-powered core, a gig of RAM and 32gigs of internal storage. It will also be capable of playing 720p HD video via its super AMOLED screen and recording 1080p HD video via it’s 5meg rear camera.
The device follows on from the two previous and highly popular Nexus devices - the Nexus One made by HTC and the Nexus S also made by Samsung. Nexus devices are seen as the purest Android phones, devoid of any manufacturer cruft or gloss, leaving only the cleanest Google experience from which all other Android devices are designed to flow.
It will be interesting to see if the Prime continues this legacy....
Farewell to Steve Jobs, clearly a man of vision,
passion, drive and determination who took the ultimate beating, both
professionally and physically, before getting back up off the floor and proving
the doubters wrong. Perhaps the highest of praise might be to describe him as
the Tesla of the modern age.
God clearly has some electronics issues he needs a
hand with and at least we know the computing technology in Heaven will be
incredible! Rest in peace...
Amazon, the world’s biggest online retailer and a stealthily quiet yet powerful technology company has announced a new raft of its increasingly popular Kindle devices. The original Kindles are e-book readers that link via 3G or wi-fi to the company’s vast online digital bookstore offering a variety of digital media including books, magazines, blogs etc. Recent innovations have included colour versions and ad-supported models that have lowered the entry price, boosting popularity further.
However, their biggest and most recent innovation is their announcement of the Kindle Fire, a tablet device running a derivative of the Android operating system. The Fire, long rumoured to be in development, takes the Kindle concept even further and sets it sights on a number of the industry’s big players. Priced at only $199 it is designed as a marginal loss leader to enable Amazon to make its money from selling digital content beyond just books. Movies, music, games etc. will all be touted through the device. It also offers a web browser (more later) that enables it to act like a pc, no doubt harnessing online social draws such as Facebook, Twitter, Google+ as well as productivity options such as Gmail and Google Docs. It will also link to Amazon’s own Android marketplace, foregoing Google’s own storefront.
The device clearly intends to undercut the iPad, especially by leading significantly on price, and looks to lure more people in to the increasingly popular Amazon ecosystem. Its 7 inch touchscreen is sized to make it more portable than existing Android and other tablets, which tend to be 10.1 inches in size, and its simplified pc concept will appeal to the non-technical.
However, the Fire’s secret weapon may well prove to be it’s Silk browser, another secret development only revealed at the tablet product’s launch. Unbeknown to many, Amazon is actually a significant player in providing the cloud-based backbone to the web. Companies such as Netflix use Amazon Web Services to power their online delivery and Amazon is looking to use it’s own capabilities to offer a whole new browsing experience on the Fire. Silk sees the bulk of the browsing processing done in Amazon’s data centres before it is delivered to the device, speeding up the process and reducing the need for powerful hardware on the tablet. It looks set to challenge other notable browsers such as Google’s Chrome, Microsoft’s Internet Explorer, Apple’s Safari and mobile favourites such as Opera and will hopefully spur further innovation in these other browser makers.
Many are wondering what Google’s take on this device will be. After all, it is based on a derivative of their operating system but it seems to directly challenge a number of Google’s core services and products including Chrome, Music Beta, Books etc. The two companies have clearly not colluded on the device and it is obviously a powerful competitor to other Android tablets that are priced much higher. However, Google have always said that more web users is good for them so it shouldn’t be too destructive for them. Besides, the Fire will help get Android further established.
Personally I think this is a superb move by Amazon, building on a strong brand and utilising their already popular online services to offer a holistic and dominant route to market for content providers. By keeping the cost of entry down, they will help put capable computing devices in the hands of more people and make the web more pervasive, a goal a number of pure technology firms such as Apple and Google have held for a long time. It is curious that it is a company that is famous for its physical product retail services that is leading the way on this approach to the web. Amazon have the ecosystem, money and brand equity to make Fire a success and no doubt this first model will be a toe in the water ahead of a launch of subsequent devices that will perhaps have other options such a 3G connectivity, bigger screens, laptop form factors etc. adding variety and appeal as they come along.
The Fire may be a loss leader in terms of the actual device cost but it will undoubtedly reap high profits through digital content delivery's higher margins, opening the door to better online services and cheaper prices through strong competition. The next 6 months will be interesting times as Google, Apple and Microsoft scramble to counteract this powerplay.
