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'It's Time to End the Yearly Smartphone Launch Event' (vice.com)
Owen Williams, writing for Motherboard: Thursday, at a flashy event in New York, Samsung unveiled yet another phone: the Galaxy Note 9. Like you'd expect, it's rectangular, it has a screen, and it has a few cameras. While unveiling what it hopes will be the next hit, it unknowingly confirmed something we've all been wondering: the smartphone industry is out of ideas. Phones are officially boring: the only topic that's up for debate with the Galaxy Note 9 is the lack of the iconic notch found on the iPhone X, and that it has a headphone jack. The notch has been cloned by almost every phone maker out there, and the headphone jack is a commodity that's unfortunately dying. However, the fact that we're comparing phones with or without a chunk out of the screen or a hole for your headphones demonstrates just how stuck the industry is.
It's clear that there's nothing really to see here. Yeah, the Note is a big phone, and it has a larger battery too. It's in different colors, it's faster than last year, and it has wireless charging. Everything you see here is from a laundry list of features that other smartphone manufacturers also have, and the lack of differentiation becomes clearer every year. It's the pinnacle of technology, and it's a snooze-fest. This isn't exclusively a Samsung problem: Every manufacturer from Apple to Xiaomi faces the same predicament. The iPhone's release cycle that Apple trained the world to be accustomed to, with splashy yearly releases and million-dollar keynotes, is clearly coming to an end as consumers use their existing phones for longer every year.
It's clear that there's nothing really to see here. Yeah, the Note is a big phone, and it has a larger battery too. It's in different colors, it's faster than last year, and it has wireless charging. Everything you see here is from a laundry list of features that other smartphone manufacturers also have, and the lack of differentiation becomes clearer every year. It's the pinnacle of technology, and it's a snooze-fest. This isn't exclusively a Samsung problem: Every manufacturer from Apple to Xiaomi faces the same predicament. The iPhone's release cycle that Apple trained the world to be accustomed to, with splashy yearly releases and million-dollar keynotes, is clearly coming to an end as consumers use their existing phones for longer every year.
But the smartphone market is unique! No other major product has an annual update of existing products that's pretty much the same as what went before. *cough* cars
Surprised it's lasted this long. The reason we're not seeing "innovation" is because a smartphone is a smartphone is a smartphone. We're pretty much topped out on what the useful purpose a smartphone is for. Everything else is just maybe nice to have, but not absolutely necessary. However, I'd like to see more advancement on the camera side. Like a real optical zoom in a reasonably sized package.
How about releasing a smartphone with a removeable battery (include a spare with the cost of the phone), a headphone jack, and *gasp* a clamshell slide out keyboard!
What's old is new and what's new is old!
They could add infrared cameras, laser distance sensors, air quality sensors, and maybe a better way to adapt accessories to the phone such as a low powered connected hardware keyboard designed and produced by the manufacture.
I'd argue that they mostly have. You can get a reliable new car for around the $20k mark. Land has certainly gone up a lot, but i think the actual cost of building a safe well insulated home has been pretty stable.
Obviously against a background of controlled inflation they've continued to rise in absolute dollars/euros but that's true of everything.
It's interesting how you can date a TV episode or movie by the tech. My wife and I have been working our way through all twenty seasons of "Midsomer Murders" and have reached the point where their cars look more modern than ours (they have built in GPS touch screens) but they're still using flip-phones. I'm pretty sure that season was shot in 2008.
The phone form factor thing is fashion, not function. I wouldn't be surprised if the huge, razor thin, bezel-less phone looks as dated as 1970s bell-bottoms in a few years. They're not really comfortable to use or carry, and the thinness drives all kinds of design limitations.
Post may contain irony: discontinue use if experiencing mood swings, nausea or elevated blood pressure.
There's a shit ton of stuff that can still be added to a phone, but it's not "innovation", rather "improvement".
Some time in 2017, mobile phones have reached a point (in terms of power) where they can indeed be used as "pocket desktops". There's enough raw power in them to act as such. All we need is the required improvements, and most of those are software-based, rather than hardware-based.
A couple months ago I played with a Samsung S9+ for a couple of days, and when I needed to charge it I once plugged it into the USB type C of a Lenovo port replicator. It so happened that I had an USB stick connected to the port replicator, and I was amazed to find out the phone detected the port replicator, knew it had audio output capabilities and also detected the USB stick. It could read data off the USB stick but errored out when writing on it.
That got me thinking: the protocol worked. The hardware was compatible. The proper software implementation of all the possible features was missing. So there's the slew of opportunities right there: develop software to leverage your phone's power in the desktop application area. Yeah I sound like a marketing dude but I'm not, I just really look forward to see that happen. Unfortunately, politics and agendas might get in the way, but wouldn't it be cool to come hone, slam your phone into a dock and have a mouse, a keyboard and a couple monitors linked to that dock, complete with Internet access, LAN access, etc.
...gis sdrawkcab (usually not responding to ACs; don't bother posting as AC)
Surprised it's lasted this long. The reason we're not seeing "innovation" is because a smartphone is a smartphone is a smartphone. We're pretty much topped out on what the useful purpose a smartphone is for. Everything else is just maybe nice to have, but not absolutely necessary.
However, I'd like to see more advancement on the camera side. Like a real optical zoom in a reasonably sized package.
I can't wait for the innovation of the thicker phone. Give me a thicker phone- give me more bezel... if it means you can fit a battery in it that actually lasts a full 24 hours- give me a nice thick bezzelly phone WITH A REAL CHUNKING HUNKING POWERFUL BATTERY.
That's the innovation I want.
"That's the way to do it" - Punch
I’m using my 6S till it dies.
What was it - last year? - when Apple officially threw in the towel by spending 2/3 of the event demonstrating their $1200 smartphones killer feature was... animated cartoonish faces which mimic your movements. If that doesn’t scream “we’re out of ideas”, nothing does.
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