The MOTO Zombie

Motorola has been the pioneer of it's industry. It holds the credit for manufacturing the first ever walkie-talkie. It has seen immense success with devices like the MOTO RAZR which sold millions world wide. After a few management mishaps Motorola seems to be back on track. Well, most of this rejuvenation is a result of the fact that Motorola is now on the Android band wagon and the leadership of Mr. Sanjay Jha.

The very fact that Motorola is in direct competition to Apple Inc. in mobile phones and tablets shows how it's back in the game. It's done a great job with devices like the Atrix and XOOM this year. The Atrix is a very impressive device which works on Froyo though has MOTO-Blur atop. In terms of hardware it is a geeks dream. With a 4-inch display, dual-core processor,  finger-print reader, two cameras and 1 GB memory, the Atrix is now an industry benchmark. The Android OS has a very unique experience on the Atrix and hence it is the best Android device out there.

Motorola XOOM is certainly a great device with a lot of potential but kinda falls short or I must honestly say lags far behind the experience on an iPad.

This is the part where I explain why I called Motorola a zombie. This analogy is to emphasize on the fact that Motorola does come up with some very functional devices but does not have the utopian ease of use in them. That's primarily because they do not make their own software, so unlike Apple. Just like a Zombie moves around but has no soul. Nokia is a similar company that ditched it's famous (read infamous) symbian platform and has tied up with Microsoft. Let's just hope it's not a zombie and makes effective use of the features of Windows Phone 7, especially hardware acceleration. Samsung certainly does a better job than Motorola in developing custom UI, or custom OS if I may. However, they suck at supply-chain management and bringing their products into stores at the right time. Nevertheless, Samsung has to be commended for undergoing complete redesign of it's Galaxy Tab 10.1 after the launch of the iPad 2. It is now the slimmest and lightest tablet on the planet. Can't wait to see how Honecomb fairs on this beauty! RIM deserves praise for sticking to it's platform and of course adapting QNX for the playbook. The best part is that the playbook is gonna 'play' Android apps. How cool is that?

Coming back to the MOTO (Motto) of this post. Motorola is assumably in the race but has to buckle up. It does a good job with operator collaborations implying wise choice of AT&T. Though has a long way to go to enable a seamless experience on it's devices, it does seem to be on right path.

XOOM vs iPad 2

Okay, I know this is a very clichéd topic but having used both the devices extensively, I couldn't resist myself from writing about them. I purchased the Motorola XOOM 3G version in the first week it was launched. Luckily, there was no restocking-fee and i could return it with a full-refund. Please read on to know why I returned.

Interface / User-Experience

The revamped UI of honeycomb (XOOM) is pretty impressive and sometimes very useful too. But the overall user-experience is incomparable to that of the iOS counterpart. The widgets are very helpful and the choice of customization of the interface is something which the iPad lacks. The lack of physical buttons might look beneficial at first but it actually reduces the real-estate of the display. Honeycomb has three touch-screen buttons 

on the display instead of physical buttons.

Hardware

The Motorola XOOM is a 4G enabled devices. However, after purchase the XOOM has to be returned to Motorola to incorporate the 4G hardware, when it becomes available, without any charge. It has a dual-core processor and 1GB memory. Also, it has 32GB on-board and is expandable. It also has a display larger than the iPad at 10 inches. The display on the iPad is definitely sharper and has better color balance. The XOOM beats the iPad 2 comprehensively in the hardware sector. The common features include two cameras, Wi-Fi, etc. I never understood why a tablet needs a back camera. Imagine how awkward it would look if you held a 10" tablet trying to take a video, even if it's HD. The XOOM has an 8MP rear camera which was absolutely unnecessary and increases the production cost. Instead, they should have increased the quality of the front-facing camera.


iPad 2 Tech Specs
XOOM Tech Specs

Apps

There has never been a debate over which of the applications platform is better. The App store has 300,000 apps whereas the Android Market has 100,000 apps. Well, that is not a criterion for a comparison here as all these are not designed for a tablet. The iOS app store has 65,000 apps specifically designed for the iPad but there are fewer than 100 apps. Still it is not just the numbers that matter, the quality and usability of apps is hands-down better on the iPad. From productivity apps to games every app looks and feels much better on the iPad. More tablet-friendly apps have to be developed for the Android Market for Android tablets to compete with the iPad.

Flash

Adobe Flash has always been a deal-breaker (probably the only deal-breaker) for iOS devices. Personally, I do not even consider it so. Almost every major website has an alternative iOS version or an app. It is only the pirated websites that have flash as a streaming standard that cannot be accessed on an iPad. Well, Apple is doing a good job by boycotting Adobe and trying to make HTML 5 as a standard. It is also indirectly partially curbing  piracy as a result. 

Now coming to performance of Flash on the XOOM. After the recent update, flash certainly works on honeycomb. Do not ask me if it crashes or if it's any buggy because you are not going to get an answer you wished for. It currently supports up to 720p video.

Conclusion

The Motorola XOOM is undoubtedly the best competition the iPad has but honestly Android has a long way to go to beat the intuitiveness and functionality of the iPad. The restrictions and closed approach of Apple Inc. is actually beneficial to an average user than the openness of the Android platform. The iOS is a more finished and polished operating system. So anybody looking for a tablet, my advice is to get an iPad 2. Trust me ;)

Dear Soumyadip Choudhury, why do you hate Apple?

This is a very obvious response to this blog post from an avid admirer of Apple Inc. and its products. I personally have been very disgusted by this post and the hatred it has caused towards Apple Inc. over the internet. I am trying to be as polite as possible :) ( The smiley is intended to re-emphasize politeness)

Dear Soumyadip

I totally agree with your frustration over the delay of the launch of the latest Apple products in India. But this has very valid reasons. Firstly, India is not the only country in the list. Secondly, It is NOT UNETHICAL for a company to launch products in markets which have good selling potential. Just because Apple doesn't find India's market lucrative enough, it is not immoral on Apple's part and Apple or SJ are certainly not against India. Do you think a company like Apple would miss a market like India's if it thought it was profitable to launch products there? The reason you give for not owning even a single Apple product is respect? It is not true that Apple does not sell any of its latest products in India. Apple did partner with companies like HCL to sell iPods in India, which was not very successful, which is why it chose to delay the launch of certain products.

Coming to the prices of iPhone in India. Companies like Apple and many more sell mobile phones with the concept of 'subsidy'. A contract-free iPhone costs around $599, the reason it is being sold for $199 in the US is because it is subsidized by telecom operators like AT&T and Verizon. The same applies to the Indian market. The service providers ( Airtel and Vodafone ) have to be blamed for the sky-high, unaffordable prices.

Mac is a PC, true. But for a common man, PC is a device which runs Windows OS and that is the point and basis for the Mac VS PC commercials. PC is a generic word now, more generic to the Windows domain. Like how Googling is synonymous to searching on the internet, PC is to a windows machine.

No one can deny the fact that several devices have adapted the design and UI concepts from many Apple devices, be it tablets or mobile phones. Samsung did come up with its second iteration of the Galaxy Tab. But Why? Because it realized that 10.1 inches is a better form-factor than 7 inches and that is because of the tremendous success of the iPad. Just because Samsung launched its second tablet first does not make it a pioneer. Let's not forget, Apple started selling thousands of iPad 2s even before a single Galaxy Tab 10.1 was shipped.

The MacBook. Could there be a better design for a laptop? Hell no! There's nothing wrong with flaunting a device like that. I won't deny that it is not affordable to most people but is definitely worth every penny you  pay for it. When it comes to Macs, it is not the specs that matter. It is the hardware/software integration and overall experience that counts and no one does it better than Apple. 

Also, your blog post is not clear whether you are criticizing the tech by Apple ( by praising openness of Android and Linux ) or just have a problem with the delay of sale of awesome Apple products. No doubt about the success of Android. Remember, there are a ton of companies in the Open Handset Alliance and hence so many Android devices. Kudos to Apple as it competes with so many companies with just three devices, viz. iPhone, iPod, iPad.

Again, I share everybody's opinion over Apple not launching its products in India along with other major markets. Let's hope this changes soon.

Wishing SJ good health!

Kartheek Pathuri

(An ardent Apple fan)

Eye on Eye Fi !!

Well this is for all those shutterbugs who are in a relationship with their cameras and pictures and have experienced heart-break when they see the memory full sign at crucial times.

Eye-Fi memory cards. These simple SD memory cards which when pushed into an ordinary camera gives it the power of 'endless' memory. You read that right 'endless' memory as opposed to your slim SDHC cards! This is possible because of the fact that as soon as you click pictures, they are sent over the internet to be stored on your computer or photo sharing sites like picassa, flickr and even facebook! How does it do this? Simple, it has built-in Wi-Fi which uses your home (or any) Wi-Fi network and transfers the pictures and videos over to wherever you want you memories to be stored. There are 32 Wi-Fi networks that can be pre-configured into the card and it will make sure that whenever you enter one of these networks, the card will automatically make space for your new memories and clean the oldest and safely stored data, thereby providing a virtual endless memory.

What's more? It also automatically geo-tags your photos. This means when you see these pictures after a certain period you'll know exactly where they were taken. It uses Wi-Fi triangulation to achieve this. Wi-Fi-Triangulation is a technique that works by sniffing around for wireless networks in range, measuring their strength and comparing the results to a database. It does not connect or use these hotspots but merely sweeps for relevant data for comparision. The databases are maintained by a service provider (like Skyhook Wireless and Navizon) which periodically sweeps the area and catalogs new hotspots. This is a technology which is a competitor of the GPS (aweak one though) and is currently found in mobile devices like iPod Touch, iPhones and Windows Phones.

Surprisingly the price point of these cards is not too high. The price range starts from $49.99 for a 4 GB card and goes on till $149.99 for the 8 GB fully loaded pro version. The features vary over the four available variants and can be compared here.

Like almost all things, Internet is quite changing the face of photography too. A few years back, the camera companies dabbled with the idea of integrating networking in the point and shoots but the idea wasn’t accepted as expected. But Eye-Fi, a SD memory card with Wi-Fi, is coming close to achieving what the previous ideas couldn’t achieve. It’s one of the more innovative ways to make us store and share our memories and in the process bringing us closer and closer to The Net.

Name Game and Fame

It remains unsaid how important branding is for the sale of a product. Though many people might deny this, the marketing of a commodity is very vital for it's appeal and hence sale. It's strange that major manufacturers come up with such weird names that reducing the selling quotient drastically. A very good example is the Television market. Vizio XVT3D650SV. Oh come on, who would remember that? Even certain auto manufacturers like Acura have model names as RL, TL, MDX, RDX ,etc. Except RDX, the rest are boring ( I am sure RDX was a coincidence!). A name should be catchy, easy to remember and describe the product. Take the case of Apple. iPhone, iPod, iPad. They are such obvious names for the gadgets they represent, yet so appealing. Mac OSes are named after animals of the cat family (excluding the cat, Thank God!). This is what Apple does. Simple and elegant, be it their products or their marketing.  Not to forget the name Apple itself is ridiculous for a tech company, but the fame it has acquired all these years subside the stupidity of it's name and now 'Apple' is synonymous to cool and awesome and is the best prefix a gadget name can get. So for a company that cannot talk just with its innovation, adequate and apt branding is very important.

Now, Microsoft comes up with this fancy OS and what do they name it. Windows Phone 7. It's not that bad after all considering the fame of Windows 7 but is not that great a name either. OSes like Android, webOS are real good names. Google does a great job by naming every Android release with bakery items viz. froyo, gingerbread, honeycomb, etc which follow an alphabetical convention. Even Ubuntu / Canonical has some cool names for it's distros like jaunty jackalope, hardy heron, karmic koala, lucid lynx, etc. Motorola too comes up with very catchy names especially the four-letter ones. RAZR, ROKR, SLVR, CLIQ and XOOM are a few examples. On the internet, FaceBook, Twitter are perfect names for the services they provide. 

Name convention is sensible when it comes to branding. Putting an 'i' before a regular word makes it an Apple product. Alphabetical iterations for product release names like Android or Ubuntu. Omission of vowels to fit the four or five letter naming in case of Motorola products. Such conventions make it easy for the consumer to associate a product to the company and it's previous products.

Coming to captions. Following are some great examples:-

• MacBook Air: "Thinnovation", "World's thinnest notebook" 
• HP webOS: "Now available in S,M and L", in the context of Veer, Pre³ and TouchPad
• HTC ThunderBolt: "This isn't your dream phone. It's the one after that"
• Motorola Mobility: "Life Mpowered", the letter M as in the logo for Motorola Mobility

Other important parameters that add to the name game are company / product logos. Logos of companies like Apple, Motorola, HP, Dell, Samsung, LG, etc are ones that people are very familiar with and find immediate connection. Others like the logo of Nvidia (Click for logo), Snapdragon processor (Click for logo) are interesting.