Here's a link to the article: http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2012/09/smartphone-hardware-experience/
I have to say that I agree - most of my friends & family really don't care about specs, but more about the features they always "think" they will use. Microsoft really pushed in that direction initially with the WP7 launch, and we can see that they are making a push in that direction again, both with the Surface as well as a unified ecosystem in terms of cross-device application availability.
It's funny running through the Android UI thread and seeing people bicker over something as simple as a date selector and also have a few screenshots show up of people's customized UI - a lot of them are very "Apple-esque" with widgets. Widgets are great, but I rarely used them on my Android handset when I had it - well, everything but quick-toggles. I realized that I'd much rather be in a fullscreen application than looking at a small widget on the "desktop." I prefer the cursory glance of the WP tiles over anything but the lack of a great appbase really hurts them. This is something Microsoft has really pushed, and you could see it last year when they were doing the challenges in terms of "time to information availability."
This month promises a smorgasbord of smartphone launches weve already seen shiny new handsets introduced by Samsung, Nokia, and Motorola. Apple and HTC are right around the corner. But for todays smartphone customer, most of these guys are going about it all wrong.
Smartphone makers continue to focus their product launches on one thing: hardware. Impressive specs, mediocre specs, processor specs, camera specs. A hundred names and numbers dutifully recited onstage or listed out in a press release and forgotten by their audience in a few weeks time.
Consumers, especially high-end consumers, continue to value hardware specifications and design but only when they work together with the software to deliver a superior experience, Gartner analyst Carolina Milanesi told Wired via e-mail. Technology for the sake of technology does not sell anymore.
Its not the hardware that matters so much these days; its the full experience the device provides. This is why Apple spends the bulk of its launch events and advertising budgets talking about user experiences instead of hardware specs. Given the choice between asking consumers to do the math on dots-per-inch resolution or simply imagining how sharp their kids photos will look on a Retina display, Apple chooses the latter.
Apples approach to advertising is different to most as it lets features such as Siri and FaceTime, as well as apps, bring the iPhone and iPad to life, Milanesi said. Doing this lets potential customers start to imagine themselves using the device, rather than trying to figure out what the battery-life numbers really mean.
A few years ago, the latest and greatest hardware made significant improvements over the last. Just look at the differences between, say, the iPhone 3GS and the iPhone 4, or the Samsung Galaxy S II and the original Galaxy S. Yes, the iPhone 4S and Galaxy S III improve on their older brethren, but the internal hardware upgrades are largely less perceptible to the casual user.
Another example: Most handsets are now based around a multi-core processor. But quad-core models dont necessarily outshine their dual-core counterparts. Same for camera tech the 5-megapixel camera on the iPhone 4 has remained competitive with many higher-specced shooters on newer handsets.
With statements like Motorola CEO Dennis Woodsides We believe that faster is fundamentally better during the launch of his companys three new 4G LTE Droid Razr handsets last week, its clear smartphone makers are still using individual hardware features to gain consumer favor.
Last week, Nokia and Microsoft introduced a pair of Windows Phone 8 devices that focus on high-end specs and emerging technologies to set themselves apart from the competition. The Nokia Lumia 920 and 820 contain such exclusive features as Qi wireless charging, NFC, and built-in optical image stabilization. Nokia emphasized these services and hardware like the Lumia 920′s 8-megapixel PureView camera to separate itself from competing Windows Phone handsets like the Samsung ATIV S.
Its hard to win over smartphone users, IHS analyst Wayne Lam told Wired. Apple has the first-mover advantage of making the terms and expectations of what a smartphone can do, and has very keenly done that.
But some competitors are catching on. With the Galaxy S III, Samsung tried to focus on software features such as its Siri-like S Voice and its NFC-based data-sharing system, S Beam. And although Nokia spent much of its latest launch event detailing the hardware, the company also focused on how the camera features and maps integrate for a seamless user experience through its Nokia Maps, Nokia Drive, and City Lens capabilities.
As in the tablet space, Amazon would make a worthy adversary for Apple if it debuted its own smartphone, since it can control the complete software and hardware experience from top to bottom. The company has shown with its Kindle Fire tablets that it places a heavy emphasis on useful software services rather than hardware features.
Overall, I think vendors are trying to move toward more of an Apple approach, said Gartner analyst Hugues de la Vergne. But at the end of the day, a lot of these guys are still traditional hardware players and are going to differentiate based off of improved hardware and technology.
I have to say that I agree - most of my friends & family really don't care about specs, but more about the features they always "think" they will use. Microsoft really pushed in that direction initially with the WP7 launch, and we can see that they are making a push in that direction again, both with the Surface as well as a unified ecosystem in terms of cross-device application availability.
It's funny running through the Android UI thread and seeing people bicker over something as simple as a date selector and also have a few screenshots show up of people's customized UI - a lot of them are very "Apple-esque" with widgets. Widgets are great, but I rarely used them on my Android handset when I had it - well, everything but quick-toggles. I realized that I'd much rather be in a fullscreen application than looking at a small widget on the "desktop." I prefer the cursory glance of the WP tiles over anything but the lack of a great appbase really hurts them. This is something Microsoft has really pushed, and you could see it last year when they were doing the challenges in terms of "time to information availability."