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I don’t think they will. Especially after they’ve shown that they are willing to make the OS more functional and feature-packed with iOS7, instead of going down the road of cheap iPhones, though the latter is still possible. A premium segment for devices will always exist, and if Apple can continue to offer great hardware, and now even better software with iOS 7 (provided the final version can leave the currently reported beta issues behind), I don’t think they need to shift down to the low/mid-range spectrum.

But if they do, well, I’m not complaining.

about 8 hours ago on Windows Phone will take over IOS Sooner than Expected Globally 3 replies

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Well, having personally used the Xperia Z a fair bit, I don’t think its display compares to the HTC One’s. The Bravia engine is more a gimmick since it just improves quality in software, but the panels themselves seem to be run-of-the-mill in Sony’s case. Not a bad display, but below other top-end phones for sure (not counting the viewing angles, which are even poorer.)

about 8 hours ago on Sony's flagship Xperia Z finally arrives on a US carrier, available from T-Mobile in 'coming weeks' 2 recommends

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It’s not that the display and camera on Sony phones are poor, it’s just that they simply do not match other flagships. And in today’s competitive market, that is an issue that will bite Sony unless they do something about it, and also do something about matching competing devices in stuff like processor instead of always having last-gen ones in their flagships.

about 9 hours ago on Sony's flagship Xperia Z finally arrives on a US carrier, available from T-Mobile in 'coming weeks' 1 reply 2 recommends

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Xperia SP display is particularly washed out, especially when you tilt even a little bit. The Xperia Z display is much better, though yeah, not that comparable to the HTC One’s or the S4’s, or even the Nexus 4.

about 9 hours ago on Sony's flagship Xperia Z finally arrives on a US carrier, available from T-Mobile in 'coming weeks' 2 recommends

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I don’t see why this is a surprise. iOS cannot scale down to low/mid-range hardware (well, it probably can, but Apple isn’t doing that) and it’s pricey in countries without contracts, so WP and Android are currently the only options (BB10 is also idiotically expensive). I have no love for iOS nor WP (nor do I hate them, they just aren’t flexible enough for me compared to Android), but iOS will never have the worldwide market share that OS like WP can have, thanks to the variety of hardware and price points they can offer!

about 10 hours ago on Windows Phone will take over IOS Sooner than Expected Globally 1 reply 2 recommends

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Unless you want software updates, in that case don’t go with LG. There’s no telling when 4.2 will come for the Optimus G, nor if it will get a major update after that. More trust on Sony in that regard, even though their updates do take 6-7 months sometimes (again, better than LG. )

about 10 hours ago on Sony's flagship Xperia Z finally arrives on a US carrier, available from T-Mobile in 'coming weeks'

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Yeah. Every time I see their TV ad for the Xperia Z go “the best of Sony, in a smartphone,” I just can’t help but think that if this is the best of Sony when it comes to the display or camera, they really need to step up their game. Not to say it’s a bad phone, but it’s not exactly a great one either.

about 10 hours ago on Sony's flagship Xperia Z finally arrives on a US carrier, available from T-Mobile in 'coming weeks' 1 recommend

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It’s also a shame neither Google nor Apple are that great at supporting local payment methods, like here in India. They treat everything as a credit card, and not all the banks allow their cards to be used as a credit card/without entering the final Verified for Visa or Mastercard SecureCode passwords, meaning many of us can’t buy apps even if we want to. I wanted to buy Robird for Android, but I did not have access to a card that worked, so I had to wait till my Mom got a credit card, I use that now and pay her later on.

However, Microsoft has proper complete support for debit cards on Windows Phone: you enter your details, then you’re taken to a browser for password verification of your Visa/Mastercard after every purchase. This lets you use any and every debit card, but the issue arises that WP does not actually have that number of apps that one would buy as opposed to Android or iOS (though the situation seems to be improving rapidly.)

Both Google and Apple better do something to support payment methods according to the country, or many will be forced to pirate (because the morals of “can’t buy it? don’t use it” don’t work in the real world for most people), like I was for this app called Tweetings on Android (the developer wasn’t okay with that, so I bought the iPad version to make up for it as one of my cards works on iOS, later bought Android version as well.)

Now, I don’t say everyone is having card issues and not pirating just because they are cheap/don’t want to buy apps (two of my friends refuse to buy a single app, despite having access to credit cards of their own), but yeah, not everyone is pirating because they want to, it’s because they don’t see any other way when they go and try to use their debit cards that don’t work (according to a developer I talked to, this is a huge problem as they see a lot of failed transactions, etc.)

2 days ago on Developers Perspective: Why I Choose iOS Over Android

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There is certainly need for much more optimization and MUCH better battery life (the latter sucks so hard on stock Android it’s shameful). But yeah, not a visual overhaul, that surely isn’t required.

4 days ago on Android 5.0 KLP to come in October, optimized for older phones

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I’ll join you, multiplayer Snakes and Ladders! Roll the dice!

5 days ago on Xbox One 'may not work' in unsupported countries 1 reply 3 recommends

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Seems MS is doing everything it can for the developers and publishers, but not much for the users, who must persevere as MS “puts to motion plans that will bring good times in the future.”

5 days ago on Xbox One 'may not work' in unsupported countries 1 reply 3 recommends

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Is it just me, or does Damon look like Psycho from the Crysis games in that picture up top? Every time I see that picture, Crysis comes to my mind.

5 days ago on Watch this: New 'Elysium' trailer reveals a dark future run by machines

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Don’t count on it. Samsung has 32GB exclusives in the US, but the Indian version is 16GB only. But this is Nokia, so maybe there will be, but again, don’t count on it!

5 days ago on Nokia Lumia 925 review

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Same here. Heck, since the last few months I’ve gone back to listening to artists from before the 80s (Roy Orbison, Presley, etc). Those guys had this way of singing/ending lines in a trembling, quivery voice, something which just isn’t heard today, and something I’ve started practicing being interested in singing myself. I don’t know if singers don’t do it anymore, or whether the digital recording isn’t able to grab it that great, but today voices just don’t sound that great or touching (not generalizing), let alone the music.

6 days ago on Composer Hans Zimmer: 'music is not the ugly stepsister of cinematography anymore' 1 recommend

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Personally, I wasn’t too impressed with Crysis 2’s soundtrack. It was good, but nothing special (again, in my opinion). Actually, I was so depressed with how bad/different C2 turned out to be from the first game (poor plot, poor facial animation, limited gameplay, etc.) that I might have put the music into the “meh, that was horrible, too” category subconsciously, haha!

6 days ago on Composer Hans Zimmer: 'music is not the ugly stepsister of cinematography anymore'

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Yes, as far as I remember, his theme does playback in the beginning of the credits. But even if it doesn’t, then I guess Balfe isn’t half-bad either!

6 days ago on Composer Hans Zimmer: 'music is not the ugly stepsister of cinematography anymore'

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Haha, I love that game’s music as well. I sat through the end credits exactly because of it!

6 days ago on Composer Hans Zimmer: 'music is not the ugly stepsister of cinematography anymore'

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“…and how technology still hasn’t matched the evocative qualities of more traditional music.”

And we never will, as far as I’m concerned. It actually worries me how more and more people seem interested in only electronic music most of the time. Electronic music can be great (Vangelis’ scores are a good proof), but as evocative and heartfelt as traditional music/instruments? Probably never.

6 days ago on Composer Hans Zimmer: 'music is not the ugly stepsister of cinematography anymore' 1 reply

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So, toggles are in. A useful thing, something Apple fanboys argued against saying “Android needs them because it can’t manage things like Wi-Fi, GPS, data, etc very well,” failing to see that quick access to them is useful no matter what the battery life of the OS may be.

In my opinion, Apple has created a good mix of awesome to good to bad to worse, and while it doesn’t seem as refined as it should be (I’m sure they’ll work on that), I’ll leave judgement till I see it in action on my iPad. Sure, they were inspired by a lot of things, but it’s a good result.

7 days ago on Tracing iOS 7's influences: Apple remixes almost everyone in the industry 3 replies 2 recommends

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Having not read any superhero comics in my life, I’ve always been against this trend of showing the superhero brooding most of the time in the movie instead of being a superhero and showing us his powers and with these movies having too less action. Superman Returns had this problem, there was more talk than action, movies like Iron Man 2 were even worse (though IM2 was a piece of shit that should never have existed in the first place.)

I’m not saying the plot and story isn’t important, but really, it seems these days it’s too much about displaying the superhero’s human side and character. The Matrix was good in that regard, good mix of action and plot, and I hope Man of Steel has enough of him being Superman instead of just showing the emotional side of it all.

7 days ago on 'Man of Steel' review: finally, the Superman we deserve 1 reply 1 recommend

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I knew it, they always had that funny look on their faces when they said it.

7 days ago on Watch this: Apple's imperfect video about perfection 4 recommends

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I should ask you the same question. Why so serious? I was also trying to just poke fun at the existence of the article, by no means was I serious!

7 days ago on Watch this: Apple's imperfect video about perfection 8 recommends

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Er, for all the intelligence my friends and family said I had, I’m struggling to understand why this article was written. EXPLAIN!

7 days ago on Watch this: Apple's imperfect video about perfection 4 replies 21 recommends

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Just that this was a game with a mix of great gameplay and a great character (and some sleek graphics), we want more! and I want Battlefront too! Tough to be a fan of multiple games!

8 days ago on EA gets a chance to do parkour right with a new 'Mirror's Edge' game 1 reply 2 recommends

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Bring it on! Oh, and EA, try not to mess this up with your unique inputs to the developers, hard as that may be!

8 days ago on EA gets a chance to do parkour right with a new 'Mirror's Edge' game 8 recommends

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Yeah, both WP and iOS can provide much more flexible mutltiasking. Actually, Android itself isn’t actually unoptimized, it’s just that the combination of Java and a virtual machine at the core is responsible for the heavy load it puts on hardware and hence on battery life. I really think a core redesign will make Android’s battery much better as well, but a core redesign is exactly what they can’t afford now.

8 days ago on iOS7 is.....

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Actually, no, you don’t really need to do that. Also, while it’s great for battery, it’s ultimately too limiting for a user like me. Lastly, OS like Symbian and MeeGo etc prove that true multitasking is not that bad for battery, it’s just Android’s unoptimized core that does a bad job.

But yes, limiting it is good for battery and making sure no app does malicious things, but I’d like to have the option to choose instead of Apple and MS choosing for me. :)

8 days ago on iOS7 is..... 1 reply

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I wasn’t really counting iOS there, meant to add “barring iOS.” Though I don’t also count iOS since it does have a lot of limitations in place to save battery, such as lack of true multitasking or something like Android, so it’s a toss up!

8 days ago on Nokia releases 'Glance Screen' beta with double-tap to wake as Lumia 925 sales begin

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One guy I came across thought it’s confusing for the average user to see so many options in a sharing menu, so it shouldn’t be there. But the problem there is that us power/not-so-average users are being limited due to the lack of sensible sharing options. :/

8 days ago on iOS7: Still no equivalent of Defaults and Intents...