Category: Apples and iPods

Smartphones and Philippine Elections

Bob Freking

Some people like Android, some people like iOS, and heck, some people like Windows & BlackBerry or their feature phone over a newer flagship smartphone. Sure, hardware specs and software design can make one phone better than the other, but at the end of the day, no single smartphone is perfect. It will always have its flaws and room for improvement, while the others may have it well and lack in some other parts.

smartphones

I stick to Android, and I have never stuck with an iOS device for more than a month as I cannot do away with the Apple system in general. I like how I am able to manage my files in Android; I like its Google-centric experience – but this doesn’t mean that iOS users are doing it the wrong way. In fact, it’s fine to like iOS over Android.

Android isn’t perfect either. Software updates significantly arrive slower than iOS, and there’s a lot more to count if we’re doing a heavy comparison here, but that’s not the point – iOS has a lot of flaws too, and other OSes have more flaws or less flaws depending on which you check out.

But the market is full of people with varying needs, and someone has to pick something. At the end of the day, it’s the bigger picture that moves the industry forward:

“What will people buy? Let’s do that.”

I think it’s very similar to real world politics if you look at it that way. We don’t have a perfect candidate for president; they all have strengths, they all have flaws – and each and every one of us have something that we look for in a leader, and we have specific compromises that we are willing to take. Sure, like hardware and software, there will be factual advantages and wrongs with choosing a specific candidate to vote for, but if you see all of them very close, then I think it’s just fitting for us to respect the decision of someone else. After all, it’s the bigger picture that moves the country forward. It’s how democracy works.

“Who will people vote for? Let’s do that.”

Politics is dirty and it involves a lot of people fighting over power, so it’s safe to say politicians will do everything to make you buy into them. Companies will also do the same with marketing – but I think this is where the good news come in: In these circumstances, we’re all pushed to do our research – to look into society on what’s wrong and what’s right, and to look into ourselves on what do we really want and what do we really need. If nothing fits your taste, you can always just wait for the next big innovation to buy – or you can just abstain. After all, if nothing’s good in the market, why buy anyway? Without any demand, they’ll have to push something better out, right? It becomes our job to tell other people of factual rights and wrongs so that the industry would improve. So that our country would improve.

We don’t have to fight others just because they have different priorities and they didn’t choose the same compromises that you did. I didn’t lose friends because they picked iOS, and I won’t lose friends just because they’re voting or not voting for a specific leader. I just hope everyone keeps an open mind on facts and make the right decisions. Don’t let cognitive bias get to you.

The post Smartphones and Philippine Elections appeared first on YugaTech | Philippines News & Tech Reviews.

Smartphones and Philippine Elections

Bob Freking

Some people like Android, some people like iOS, and heck, some people like Windows & BlackBerry or their feature phone over a newer flagship smartphone. Sure, hardware specs and software design can make one phone better than the other, but at the end of the day, no single smartphone is perfect. It will always have its flaws and room for improvement, while the others may have it well and lack in some other parts.

smartphones

I stick to Android, and I have never stuck with an iOS device for more than a month as I cannot do away with the Apple system in general. I like how I am able to manage my files in Android; I like its Google-centric experience – but this doesn’t mean that iOS users are doing it the wrong way. In fact, it’s fine to like iOS over Android.

Android isn’t perfect either. Software updates significantly arrive slower than iOS, and there’s a lot more to count if we’re doing a heavy comparison here, but that’s not the point – iOS has a lot of flaws too, and other OSes have more flaws or less flaws depending on which you check out.

But the market is full of people with varying needs, and someone has to pick something. At the end of the day, it’s the bigger picture that moves the industry forward:

“What will people buy? Let’s do that.”

I think it’s very similar to real world politics if you look at it that way. We don’t have a perfect candidate for president; they all have strengths, they all have flaws – and each and every one of us have something that we look for in a leader, and we have specific compromises that we are willing to take. Sure, like hardware and software, there will be factual advantages and wrongs with choosing a specific candidate to vote for, but if you see all of them very close, then I think it’s just fitting for us to respect the decision of someone else. After all, it’s the bigger picture that moves the country forward. It’s how democracy works.

“Who will people vote for? Let’s do that.”

Politics is dirty and it involves a lot of people fighting over power, so it’s safe to say politicians will do everything to make you buy into them. Companies will also do the same with marketing – but I think this is where the good news come in: In these circumstances, we’re all pushed to do our research – to look into society on what’s wrong and what’s right, and to look into ourselves on what do we really want and what do we really need. If nothing fits your taste, you can always just wait for the next big innovation to buy – or you can just abstain. After all, if nothing’s good in the market, why buy anyway? Without any demand, they’ll have to push something better out, right? It becomes our job to tell other people of factual rights and wrongs so that the industry would improve. So that our country would improve.

We don’t have to fight others just because they have different priorities and they didn’t choose the same compromises that you did. I didn’t lose friends because they picked iOS, and I won’t lose friends just because they’re voting or not voting for a specific leader. I just hope everyone keeps an open mind on facts and make the right decisions. Don’t let cognitive bias get to you.

The post Smartphones and Philippine Elections appeared first on YugaTech | Philippines News & Tech Reviews.

iPhone SE: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

Abe Olandres

Just last week, Apple released their new iPhone. However, it was not the new and better iPhone 7 that everyone expected them to reveal. Instead they re-hashed a four year old design (derived from the iPhone 5) and simply added an upgraded hardware inside.

Their reason for doing so — millions of people still want a 4-inch smartphone. Their 2015 sales numbers point to an observation that a significant number of iPhone users still prefer a much smaller phone. That’s a surprising revelation in a market where Apple’s latest flagship device is the smallest of all the other competing flagship handsets. Yes, the 4.7-inch display size of the iPhone 6S pales in comparison with the 5.1-inch of Samsung’s Galaxy S7, 5.2-inch Sony Xperia Z5 and 5.4-inch LG G4.

Then again, there could be more to that than just the size. We think it’s more of the price. You see, this is not the first time that Apple created an iPhone that was positioned to be priced lower than their flagship.

A couple years back, Apple also introduced a cheaper iPhone 5C along with the upgraded iPhone 5S. Apple was hoping to sell more units because the iPhone 5C would attract Apple fans who cannot afford the premium price of the flagship handset. That did not happen and people snubbed the 5C in favor of the better 5S. The main reason is that Apple did not put a wide enough price gap between the two which was just Php5,000 (around 15%).

Apple learned their lesson, did not repeat it in the iPhone 6 and moved on. Or so we thought.

From the looks of it, the iPhone SE is more like the iPhone 6C of this generation. And this time, Apple applied what it learned from the failed iPhone 5C and made the iPhone SE much more affordable — about 45% less than the retail price of the iPhone 6S.

So, when Apple saw that millions of people are still buying 4-inch iPhones (the iPhone 4S and iPhone 5/5S), they thought it was because people wanted a smaller smartphone. They missed the other observation that people were buying the 4-inch iPhones because they were now much cheaper. If you check around, a brand iPhone 5 and 5S are selling well under Php20,000 or close to 50% of the retail price of the current batch of iPhones. On top of that, the telcos are practically giving them away for free with data plans.

If the 4.7-inch iPhone 6 were selling at the same price as the iPhone 5S, we’re pretty sure it will sell more than its smaller 4-inch predecessor.

This is not isolated to Apple. Other smartphone vendors have surely made a similar observation. Samsung’s A series and J series smartphones are selling well not because people wanted smaller phones but because they can only afford the cheaper versions of the flagship model.

Apple’s observation would have been more believable had they created a 4-inch iPhone that looks alot like the iPhone 6 and called it the iPhone 6SE (Small Edition?). But then again, shrinking that iPhone 6 to just 4-inches would have required a lot of re-engineering due to its slimmer form factor. The thicker profile of the iPhone 5 works just right and the older materials are also cheaper. Not that Apple was lazy as others would call the resurrected design. Rather, they were looking for ways to still make a good margin despite the lower retail price. Perhaps as good a margin as they’re getting on the latest iPhone 6S.

However you look at it, this is still a good move for Apple. They will sell a ton of the iPhone SE as they predicted. However, once the iPhone 7 will be released in September, that would drive the prices of the iPhone 6S and the iPhone 6 down and when the latter matches the retail price of the SE, then we will really know which one will people go for.

In the end, Apple’s success with the iPhone SE will mean that the next generation of iPhones will come in three sizes — 4 inches, 4.7 and 5.5. It would be interesting to see what the iPhone 7 line-up will look like this September.

The post iPhone SE: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly appeared first on YugaTech | Philippines News & Tech Reviews.

iPhone SE: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

Abe Olandres

Just last week, Apple released their new iPhone. However, it was not the new and better iPhone 7 that everyone expected them to reveal. Instead they re-hashed a four year old design (derived from the iPhone 5) and simply added an upgraded hardware inside.

Their reason for doing so — millions of people still want a 4-inch smartphone. Their 2015 sales numbers point to an observation that a significant number of iPhone users still prefer a much smaller phone. That’s a surprising revelation in a market where Apple’s latest flagship device is the smallest of all the other competing flagship handsets. Yes, the 4.7-inch display size of the iPhone 6S pales in comparison with the 5.1-inch of Samsung’s Galaxy S7, 5.2-inch Sony Xperia Z5 and 5.4-inch LG G4.

Then again, there could be more to that than just the size. We think it’s more of the price. You see, this is not the first time that Apple created an iPhone that was positioned to be priced lower than their flagship.

A couple years back, Apple also introduced a cheaper iPhone 5C along with the upgraded iPhone 5S. Apple was hoping to sell more units because the iPhone 5C would attract Apple fans who cannot afford the premium price of the flagship handset. That did not happen and people snubbed the 5C in favor of the better 5S. The main reason is that Apple did not put a wide enough price gap between the two which was just Php5,000 (around 15%).

Apple learned their lesson, did not repeat it in the iPhone 6 and moved on. Or so we thought.

From the looks of it, the iPhone SE is more like the iPhone 6C of this generation. And this time, Apple applied what it learned from the failed iPhone 5C and made the iPhone SE much more affordable — about 45% less than the retail price of the iPhone 6S.

So, when Apple saw that millions of people are still buying 4-inch iPhones (the iPhone 4S and iPhone 5/5S), they thought it was because people wanted a smaller smartphone. They missed the other observation that people were buying the 4-inch iPhones because they were now much cheaper. If you check around, a brand iPhone 5 and 5S are selling well under Php20,000 or close to 50% of the retail price of the current batch of iPhones. On top of that, the telcos are practically giving them away for free with data plans.

If the 4.7-inch iPhone 6 were selling at the same price as the iPhone 5S, we’re pretty sure it will sell more than its smaller 4-inch predecessor.

This is not isolated to Apple. Other smartphone vendors have surely made a similar observation. Samsung’s A series and J series smartphones are selling well not because people wanted smaller phones but because they can only afford the cheaper versions of the flagship model.

Apple’s observation would have been more believable had they created a 4-inch iPhone that looks alot like the iPhone 6 and called it the iPhone 6SE (Small Edition?). But then again, shrinking that iPhone 6 to just 4-inches would have required a lot of re-engineering due to its slimmer form factor. The thicker profile of the iPhone 5 works just right and the older materials are also cheaper. Not that Apple was lazy as others would call the resurrected design. Rather, they were looking for ways to still make a good margin despite the lower retail price. Perhaps as good a margin as they’re getting on the latest iPhone 6S.

However you look at it, this is still a good move for Apple. They will sell a ton of the iPhone SE as they predicted. However, once the iPhone 7 will be released in September, that would drive the prices of the iPhone 6S and the iPhone 6 down and when the latter matches the retail price of the SE, then we will really know which one will people go for.

In the end, Apple’s success with the iPhone SE will mean that the next generation of iPhones will come in three sizes — 4 inches, 4.7 and 5.5. It would be interesting to see what the iPhone 7 line-up will look like this September.

The post iPhone SE: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly appeared first on YugaTech | Philippines News & Tech Reviews.

VIDEO: iPhone SE Highlights From Today’s Apple Event

Heland Ortega

Apple has just announced the iPhone SE, a revamped version of its 4-inch iPhone 5 with a combination of powerful specs and features from its iPhone 6th generation line-up.  If you haven’t had the chance to watch the official launch of the iPhone SE earlier, you might want to check out our video highlighting all the goodness of “the most powerful 4-inch smartphone ever!”.

Here are more related stories from Apple’s March 21 event:

  1. Apple iPhone SE now official!
  2. Apple launches new iPad Pro 9.7 Retina Display
  3. Apple’s iOS 9.3 update rolls out
  4. Apple Watch gets lower price, has new bands available
  5. Apple launches CareKit platform for health care apps
  6. Apple’s New iPhone is Great, but it’s Insulting

The post VIDEO: iPhone SE Highlights From Today’s Apple Event appeared first on YugaTech | Philippines News & Tech Reviews.