It's only a beginning
by Volker Weber
Once in a while there is a category defining personal mobile device. The USRobotics Pilot, a.k.a. PalmPilot, was the first device which easily synced your contacts, calendars, notes and to-dos with your PC. The BlackBerry was the first always connected email device, the iPhone became the first always-on internet device.
I believe the PureView defines a new category. It's a video/audio recorder that works everywhere. In daylight, at night, in quiet surroundings, in concerts*. There is no compromise here. It won't have the same success as the other devices, because for Nokia and for Symbian, it's about two years late. But the camera and the audio recorder are way ahead. It won "Best News Mobile Handset" at Mobile World Congress for a reason. There is no competition.
Others will follow the same path. It's only a beginning.
*) Watch this video. It contains footage from a Samsung Galaxy Nexus.
Comments
Volker,
I agree with You that the PureView is ahead of its competitors regarding photo / audio and video capabilities.
But: I don't believe that this device really defines a new category. If You simply recap the advances in audio and video capabilities of smartphones - take the iPhone as an example - You can see big advances. There's a lot of capable smartphones out there, may be not that sophisticated, but they're constantly getting better.
IMHO, the category itself is the swiss knife "smartphone", comprising of
- a mobile phone capability
- an integrated browsing experience
- wide range of downloadable apps
- camera for photo (and video)
- voice recording capability
I think that the PureView won't reach the mass markets due to its (my subjective opinion) slightly awkward and chunky design (protrusion for optics), but I hope that some of the technology behind will be adopted in the market for improving the quality (e.g. the capability to implement virtual variable focal lengths).
I can't believe that the market is big enough for a special kind of device that is basically a smartphone. But future will show ;-)
I'm afraid there is no magic. If you want to build an iPhone with the capabilities of the PureView, it will not look like an iPhone. Sensor size dictates lens size. Compare the Canon G12 and the G1X.
If you want devices like the PureView, you have to fork the category. Nokia fans believe there will be a thin Windows 8 PureView. If there is, it won't have the same capabilities as the 808.
"the iPhone became the first always-on internet device"
Really?
I'm inclined to disagree.
It was perhaps the first 'something' but exactly what is very hard to define.
@Ben
I agree, the iPhone can be know for: the 1st next gen smartphone, with all touch next gen UI where everything is an App.
I would argue that the one thing that the iPhone did and which separated it from the existing competition at the time of it's introduction was the ecosystem around the phone, i.e. the iTunes integration and the App Store. Everything else was available more or less in terms of technology. Yes, maybe not in such slick design, but the technology was there. But do you remember what a hassle it was to find a Symbian app that would solve your problem? There were dozens of app catalogs, but to actually get listed there, the app developer had to do his own marketing. And neither of them had a good credibility, very few provided really useful ratings across the board.
Oliver and Ragnar, the iPhone launched in 2007 without apps. It still changed the landscape because it was always connected. Apple pioneered the App Store one year later in 2008.
Eben meiner Frau gezeigt - nur ein Kommentar:
"Wieso habe ich das nicht?"
Danke, Volker ;-)
Im Ernst, die kriegt nächstes Jahr ein WP PV. Darf auch dick sein.
