Almost three years after I last bestowed my predictions upon the curious ears of my friends and family, I find myself compelled to once more share my thoughts for what Apples near future holds.
It's been a bumpy ride for the Cupertino based company as Google and Samsung have constantly been nipping ever closer to their heels. With their timed hardware releases, half-assed features attempting to be "the first to the punch", and comedic commercials designed to paint the picture of superiority over Apple, it's been quite the adventure! One thing they've done right is fool a lot of people. The majority of people that buy Android devices are doing so for one of two reasons - either they despise Apple products because they want to be "non-conformists" and not support a "monopoly" company, or they have fallen for one or two features Android boasts, that Apple doesn't yet have. It isn't until 6 months into their two year contract that they realize those features only work half of the time, or they're not really applicable on a day to day basis.
But enough of my ranting, and onto what I feel Apple has going for them!
iOS 7
As some of you may or may not know, Jonny Ive is the man responsible for a very good chunk of Apple's success. He's the man behind the scenes that most people don't know about. He, along with Steve Jobs, is the man responsible for Apple's soar to success over the last decade. The iMac was responsible for bringing Apple out of the slump that former CEO John Scully (Pepsi's CEO) had dragged Apple into - and Jonny Ive was responsible for the iMac.Jonny Ive is the head of industrial design at Apple, a fancy title for the way Apple products look and feel. The materials that are used, the manufacturing process, everything from head to toe on an Apple product is ultimately given the green light by Jonny Ive, and in most cases actually originated from his ridiculous mind. The success in branding Apple has attained (number one in the US) has a lot to do with the quality of products, and Jonny Ive is the one that's ensured those products remain bar none.
Why tell you all of this?
Over the last few years Apple has received a lot of negative feedback for their mobile operating system (iOS) never changing, with each new release only having one or two major new features. This has been the biggest complaint from Apple consumers, creating the achilles hill for Apple's competitors to gain an edge. The man that, up until last year, has been in charge of iOS development (Scott Forstall) was "pushed out" of Apple. The man that's taken his place?
Jonny Ive.
The significance of this move hasn't yet been realized by the masses, but I'm here to tell you - this is going to be huge for Apple. To put the man that's largely responsible for Apple's success because of his unique eye in charge of both the hardware and the software design, is a move that's going to shoot Apple, once again, to the top of the tech world.
When I heard this news I immediately thought, "iOS 7 is going to be smoother, crisper, flatter, and an all around more beautiful experience. Finally."
Several months later, we're seeing more and more people create concept designs (mock-ups of what they think the next iOS is going to look like) that are in line with what I thought last October.
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| iOS 7 Concept - Music app |
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| iOS 7 Concept - Icons |
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| Google Maps for iOS |
Google has done a fantastic job with their iOS apps. Google Maps, Google Search, Gmail - all three apps of which are available on both Android and iOS. Interestingly enough, they look, feel and operate smoother in the iOS versions than their Android counterparts. My hat's off to Google for the way they've designed those apps, fully utilizing the iOS engine. I bring this up because those applications are the closest representation of what I feel iOS 7 is going to look and feel like.
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| Google Search for iOS |
There's been a lot of negative media in the last year and a half as more and more people are falling for the features Samsung is boasting in their Galaxy series. Because of this, unsuspecting consumers that are new to the smartphone world are entering into it with a preconceived notion that "Apple is behind the curve". With respect, Samsung has done a great job at hammering this notion into the consumers brain with advertisement after advertisement that blatantly attacks the iPhone, in favor of their latest and greatest feature that Apple doesn't have.
Despite all of this, Samsung has only managed to top the latest iPhone's sales for a single quarter - Q3 2012. Interestingly enough, analysts have gone out of their way to attribute this to two things - the first being that the iPhone 4S was already 8 months old before the Galaxy S3 was even released, and the second being that most iPhone users were "holding out" for the iPhone 5 to be released. Both are extremely valid points, and consequently that was the only quarter the iPhone was overtaken in sales.
Guess what? This isn't new. It's all part of the cycle that Apple and Samsung go through. Samsung releases their next flagship device every year around Spring, or the beginning of Summer. Why? Because they know that's the perfect time-frame for them to maximize sales for a few months. It's happened in the past, and it's going to happen this year with the Galaxy S4.
The iPhone 4S was released in September of 2011. The Galaxy S3 needed to compete head to head with it, and Samsung knew that the iPhone 4S was too popular for the S3 to stand a chance for that holiday season. So, they released it 8 months later, after all the hype and excitement had died down. This also gave them the opportunity to add something to the device that they already knew the 4S didn't have. So they slap something together to add to it, and release the device late enough after the 4S, but enough time before the next iPhone was to be announced to get a substantial amount of sales. That release date was May 2012. The iPhone 5 was then released in September 2012. The same cycle happened with the Galaxy S4. They waited to see what the iPhone 5 didn't have, slapped something together, and released the Galaxy S4 enough time after the iPhone 5 hype had died down, but plenty of months before the next iPhone was to be announced to get a good amount of sales. The Galaxy S4 was released the end of April 2013. This is in preparation for what's surely coming this September, so let's get to that!
iPhone 5S - The next big thing from Apple.
So let's straighten those out.
I'm going to tell you what I think the next iPhone is going to come with, why I think that, and provide you with a source or two that backs up my prediction. So without further adue. . . let's start with the least exciting, and move up.
Form Factor
As has come to be Apple's reputation of cycle, the next iPhone has been dubbed with the "5S" title. This has gained a reputation for being an "in between" model, because the physical appearance has little to no changes from it's predecessor. The 3G and 3GS share appearance, the 4 and 4S share appearance. As such, the people fully expect the "5S" to share it's physical form with the iPhone 5 we've all become familiar with - and I'm no exception. Don't change a good thing. The iPhone 5 is the thinnest, lightest, most durable flagship smartphone to date. Though there are those that would like to believe the screen size is going to get a tad larger, Apple isn't one to come out with a design half-assedly. Their decision to bump the screen size from the 3.5" of it's early devices, to the latest 4" of the iPhone 5 was founded upon extensive research regarding usability for consumers in everyday. It's working for them, and the shelf life of Apple's 4" screen has at least two to three more years left, if not the rest of it's lifetime as a physical touch screen.
A7 Processor
Every release since the iPhone 4 has come with a new processor designed exclusively by Apple, with the title "A" followed by the number of the iPhone's generation. This coincides with the iOS version that's released alongside the latest iPhone as well. iOS 4 came out with the iPhone 4, iOS 5 came out with the iPhone 4S, which was the 5th generation iPhone. iOS 6 is the current operating system that was released with the iPhone 5, mistakingly thought of as the 5th generation iPhone when it is in fact the 6th. Same goes for the processors. The 6th generation iPhone comes equipped with the A6 processor, and so it's safe to say the 7th generation iPhone will have the A7. Typically each processor has twice the processing power as it's predecessor, and I see no reason this wouldn't be the case with this years release.12MP Camera
There are more pictures taken with an iPhone than with any other camera. Period. The iPhone has dominated the photographic world, and point and shoot camera sales have dropped further and further each year. Apple has gone through the logistics of what makes a picture amazing with a fine tooth comb, and they've spared no expense to ensure their camera is equipped with the absolute best lenses, sensors, and glass. That's why when I take a picture with my iPhone 5's 8MP camera, and take the very same picture with a Samsung Galaxy S4's 13MP camera, I get the following results. Note - I haven't even looked up any images comparing the iPhone 5 camera to the Galaxy S4 camera yet, I'm just that confident that there's going to be little to no difference between the quality of the images, that I've boldly stated that and will post my findings regardless of what they are. Remember as you're looking at these images that the iPhone 5 has an 8MP camera, Galaxy S4 has a 13MP camera. 5MP difference between the two devices:
Now that you've seen the difference an iPhone camera exhibits from it's closest competitor's +5MP camera - are you excited to see what pictures emerge from a 12MP sensor that comes from Apple? Yeah. Me too.
NFC
Near Field Communication (NFC) is a technology that's relatively new. It was introduced in consumer products about a year ago, and has since paved it's way to the mainstream path gradually. There are more and more android and windows phones coming equipped with this technology, and Samsung has utilized it to advertise an easy way to transfer pictures or files to your friends using "S-Beam". Companies like Isis and Google are taking advantage of it with their implementations of mobile payments.So what is this technology? It's a glorified bluetooth and so much more. Anything that has an NFC chip inside it can instantly detect other NFC chips and exchange information. The differentiator from this and what we've come to know as bluetooth is that there's zero "pairing" involved. If I wanted to communicate with another phone to, say, transfer a file to my friend via bluetooth, I would have to turn on my bluetooth, search for their device while they're device was in "discovery" mode, enter in a pin number, and then tell them to enter that same pin number to accept my "pair request". At that point, I would then have to go to the file I wanted to share with them, menu, share via bluetooth, and select their phone from the list of paired devices. It then searches for it, and they would have to accept the incoming transfer. It's at this point that the file is sent from my device, and received onto theirs! I feel as if a nap would benefit me after all of that.
Why NFC is different - Let's say I wanted to transfer that same file to my friends phone, and we both have NFC enabled phones. We would both ensure NFC was turned on. I would go to the file I wanted to share, touch menu, share via NFC, and simply touch my phone to theirs. Bing! They accept the transfer and it's done.
Now that you know what NFC is, let me tell you how it's going to revolutionize the way we live our lives. I mentioned before a company called ISIS taking advantage of the NFC technology in the form of mobile payments. Anybody with an NFC enabled device can download the ISIS app, and it becomes their "wallet". There are vendors setup all over Salt Lake City, Utah and Austin, TX (the two trial markets) that are equipped to accept ISIS payments. The concept is this - Let's say you're getting gas. You're at 7-11 (one of the participating companies in the ISIS trials), you bust out your phone and open your ISIS app. It asks for your PIN. You punch in 1234 and it lets you in, giving you access to your two credit cards, checking account, and savings. Your specially equipped sim card recognizes your location, and ensures that it's the same location as the POS system that you're using to pay for your gas at. This way nobody can simply discover your PIN, download the app, and use your money elsewhere. The sim card's location and location of the point of sale must match for this form of payment to work, as an added measure of security beyond the PIN you entered in.
It's a fantastic idea, and the implementation seems to be working sufficiently. There are a few downsides to it however, the first of which is the amount of time it takes to actually get to that step of "tap to pay". The fact that you have to unlock your phone (which most likely has a pin number associated with it for those who are smart), open the ISIS app, enter in (another) PIN, choose a credit card or a checking account, and finally tap to pay. Cumbersome, but necessary given the nature of the action. You're dealing with sensitive information, and want to ensure it's as secure as possible.
Go ahead and take a look at the following GIF that illustrates the next predicted feature we'll be discussing.
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| Mobile Fingerprint Scanning. This changes everything. Again. |
The Next Big Thing
In July of last year, Apple purchased a company called Authentec for $356 million. This company specialized in Fingerprint Sensors and NFC technology. Though some people thought that meant the iPhone 5 would have NFC, those more familiar with how Apple works (myself and others like me) knew that it wouldn't be so soon. I've said this before and I'll say it again, Apple makes a concept prove itself in the industry before they perfect their own implementation and release it.Well as we've just discussed above, NFC and Mobile Payments have proven themselves as a concept that has seen some mainstream already, and given the implementation is secure enough for the masses comfortability levels, it will quickly become the norm.
Imagine a world where you can step out of your car at a gas station, bust out your phone, slide your finger across the home button, tap it to the POS, and put your phone back in your pocket.
The efficiency of that is ridiculous, compared to the process that's currently being used.
But what are some other applications this fingerprint sensor could have? Mobile payments is a big one, but for an iPad and iPod touch that doesn't have an internet connection away from WiFi, what good would a fingerprint sensor do them? A couple of ideas thrown around are an alternative to having a PIN number for locking your phone. Easy enough to do, right? Or enabling multiple "users" on a family iPad, possibly in conjunction with iOS 7's potential "Multi-User" feature for iPad's and iPod Touches? Those are just a couple of spitball'd ideas, and we're sure to find out soon enough exactly what this technology can do for us.
We'll find out what iOS 7 is all about on this day, and it's going to be exciting for sure! There hasn't been an official date announced for the Apple event that will detail the next iPhone though, but you can be sure that the moment we know, it'll be listed here as an update.
- Colten Lindsey
Hello everyone. Welcome to Colten's Apple-holics Anonymous. The place where we're not actually trying to recover from an addiction - rather, to feed said addiction :D Yes, this is where Colten makes all of his predictions; what we can expect from apple in the coming months! So if you're not interested in potentially getting excited about something, with the possibility that said excitement is all for naught. . . then you should probably stop reading now! Otherwise - you are curious. You want to know exactly how accurate Colten is in his predictions, thereby creating a path with a fork in the road. The two forks? 
2 - iPad 2 - This hasn't been announced yet. The first generation iPad releases for Verizon in February, 2011. I think that soon after this (within 3 weeks), Steve Jobs will come out in a keynote and announce the iPad 2. This iPad, I feel will be available for AT&T and Verizon - TEMPORARILY. Steve won't specify that it's temporary, but it will be. Again, we'll get to why in a bit. The iPad 2 will have predicted features such as: 
3 - iOS - The next iOS update after 4.2 (maybe iOS5?) will be the one to implement todays greatest and most boasted features on the android platform. Though Apple is admittedly 'late' in their implementation of some features (copy and paste, picture messaging, horizontal keyboard, etc), they have implemented them the absolute best in my experience. So seamless, so flawless an experience to do as simple a task as copying text, and then pasting it into another field. Gorgeous. Another way that Apple has so far trailed in the time-line, is again dealing with text. More specifically this time text input. Android so far has multiple devices running "Swype", as well as varying implementations of "speech-to-text".
- "Swype" - Undoubtedly, Apple will release their own version of "Swype", and it will have a name surely preceded by an "i". This will be the smoothest, most accurate method you've ever used to drag a single (or multiple?!?) finger through what you want to say. I am stoked to see where they take it.
4 - iPhone 5 (tentative name) - This, will be nothing short of amazing. Though the iPhone 4 is undoubtedly the most amazing handheld device out there, apple has a way of out-doing itself every damn time! So, I've decided to think more like apple engineers. . . "The iPhone 4 is incredible. . . what would make it even more incredible?". So, here's a list of the features I think the new iPhone 5 hardware will have:
- 4G Networks - AT&T are planning to launch their 4G network mid-2011.Verizon hasn't announced just yet when they are launching theirs. Sprint was first, followed very closely by T-Mobile in launching their 4G Networks. The iPhone 5 will be a 4G capable phone, but is limited by the network it's on. This has been experienced time and time again by the consumer! AT&T's 3G network just doesn't cut it. This is the perfect opportunity for Apple to show the true beauty and speed of the iPhone's hardware - hop onto a 4G network. No wait, make that multiple 4G Networks.
~ Colten Lindsey
