Smartphone vs. Smartphone: The constant and on going battle.
With the recent announcement of Apple‘s iPhone 5C and 5S, Apple-enthusiasts around the world have marked their calendars for the pre-order date of Sept. 13, with the new phones officially being released on Sept. 20. However, Apple still hasn’t done enough to break that barrier between their smartphones and those that belong to the Droid fanbase. Even some Apple-lovers aren’t completely impressed with the newest announcements from the company.
According to Apple’s website and recent announcements, the two new phones are not entirely different from one another. The iPhone 5s is the newer version of the iPhone 5, similarly how the iPhone 4 upgraded to the iPhone 4s with the addition of Siri. However, the changes to this recent update are pretty basic: better camera, long battery life and a sleeker display. The iPhone 5S is also being offered in silver, space grey and gold.
Aside from this, the biggest change Apple announced is the addition of a fingerprint scanner in the smartphone, iPhone 5S. The home button will be equipped with this scanner, which will allow users to avoid entering a passcode or password to unlock their phones. Accoring to Apple’s website, “your fingerprint can also approve purchases from iTunes Store, the App Store and the iBooks Store, so you don’t have to enter your password.” This in itself is a pretty neat trick for all of the tech-lovers out there.
The smartphone, iPhone 5C is being released at the same time as the 5S. Although it lacks the fingerprint scanner that the 5S offers, the iPhone 5C has its other perks. The biggest difference is that the iPhone 5C will be offered in a variety of colors, including green, blue, yellow, pink and white, rather than the standard shades iPhone users are used to.
The biggest shock was the pricing on these new smartphones: the iPhone 5S will start at $199 for 16GB, while the iPhone 5C will start at a mere $99 for 16GB – a price drop most Apple-goers are far from used to.
Perhaps the biggest update Apple has released was iOS7, the new operating system featured on the new phones and available for download to all other phones on Sept. 18. The updated system features a completely new look for the phone, as well as features that were only previously available on jailbroken iPhones, including a swipe-up screen that has shortcuts to the flashlight and toggles wi-fi, airplane mode, Bluetooth and other features on and off easily.
“”iOS7 is the long awaited trip back to the drawing board,” said Michael Notarnicola, avid techn-analyst . “While a couple of the tricks up its sleeve were inspired by what jailbreakers have been doing since the beginning, it’s good to see that Apple is swallowing it’s pride this time around. Overall, iOS7 doesn’t just look and feel modern, it works modern.”
But are these changes enough for Apple to bring Droid lovers onto their side?
The biggest frontrunner in the Droid parade is the smartphone, Samsung Galaxy S4. This features many things similar to that in the iPhone, in theory. However, the Galaxy contains a much larger display, of which many people will argue contains a much crisper picture.
“I don’t think there is a comparison between the display on the Galaxy and iPhone,” said Marie Plark, a long-time Droid user. “The Galaxy is like a mini-tablet. It looks great, and it just functions so well.”
There’s a newer feature that the Galaxy S4 also offered, called Air Gesture. According to the Samsung site, “Wave your hand at the screen to accept calls with Air Gesture, read content by tilting your head or phone with Smart Scroll and preview content by barely touching the screen with Air View.”
When put to a test in a public poll on Facebook and Twitter, many people were split. When asked if they would rather purchase an iPhone 5S or the Galaxy 4S smartphones, 47 percent sided with Apple, 41 percent stayed loyal to Android and the remaining chose not to have a smartphone. These numbers suggest that even with the most recent Apple updates, the Apple versus Android debate is one that will be around for a long time.
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