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The Samsung Galaxy S III: The First Smartphone Designed Entirely By Lawyers

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Re: The Samsung Galaxy S III: The First Smartphone Designed Entirely By Lawyers

#91
post #88
post #83

Interesting theory but I'm not convinced the nuances of the Samsung/Apple case support it. I'm also not sold that Apple has had enough success with the legal actions against Samsung to spur such a major hardware design change especially when Samsung is simultaneously announcing a Siri clone that uses a highly derivative UI. You would have to believe Samsung is a total mess to accept they forgot to tell the software g…

With legal actions, Apple managed to delay the sale of some of Samsung's devices in Europe for months, immediately after release. Given the rapid releases we see these days, that means a lot of money lost. For the size, take a look at the Samsung Galaxy family. You have a lot of products for any size and taste. Yes, not all of them are full-featured, but you have to take into account battery size.

That's a dangerous tack to be taking. Samsung is big enough to patent a lot of things and do precisely the same thing to Apple.

Re: The Samsung Galaxy S III: The First Smartphone Designed Entirely By Lawyers

#92
post #9

Honestly. The hardware is fine. The problem with android is still the software and only the software. I'll take my handset in pink polka dots if it can finally scroll smoothly everywhere and not constantly annoy me with bugs in almost every single basic feature. Instead they keep on shoving out bigger screens, faster CPU's every year - and the only UX issue ever being addressed is the camera finally snapping pics in…

Performance / UI fluidity issues - that hasn't been true since long time now, especially so since ICS. Only hardcore apple enthusiasts and the ignorant keep repeating that (and Windows viruses) ;)

that hasn't been true since long time now, especially so since ICS

That's plain out wrong. I'm on a Galaxy Nexus with ICS.

Scrolling and responsiveness are still major issues.

In 2012 I expect my phone to respond instantly and scroll smoothly, in all but the most extra-ordinary situations. iOS demonstrates how it's done.

On Android ICS my touches still incur a random lag that prevents me from tapping "by muscle memory" like on an iOS device. And I did spend multiple days removing all bloat, running the absolute minimum of background apps (JuiceDefender and a tool for the LED).

Likewise most apps can't even scroll a text list smoothly for whatever reason (lack of hardware acceleration perhaps, but as a user I shouldn't even have to think about this).

If you know any Android device that will survive a head-to-head comparison with an iOS device then I'd be curious to hear about it. I've bought the last two supposed high-end androids (Galaxy S, now Galaxy Nexus) and while there has been a noticeable improvement (largely due to the ridiculous CPUs that we get now) the overall situation is still a joke.

Re: The Samsung Galaxy S III: The First Smartphone Designed Entirely By Lawyers

#93
post #9

Honestly. The hardware is fine. The problem with android is still the software and only the software. I'll take my handset in pink polka dots if it can finally scroll smoothly everywhere and not constantly annoy me with bugs in almost every single basic feature. Instead they keep on shoving out bigger screens, faster CPU's every year - and the only UX issue ever being addressed is the camera finally snapping pics in…

Seriously - try a Nokia windows phone if you want something that just works.

Re: The Samsung Galaxy S III: The First Smartphone Designed Entirely By Lawyers

#94

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My Galaxy Nexus runs stock ICS and has fluidity issues, FWIW, and I'm not an Apple enthusiast. In particular, I've noticed problems switching in and out of the camera app, problems with the contact picture pop up, and with the music player.

You are fooling yourself if you think the iPhone is always smooth all the time, every device experiences hiccups at times. Android used to be worse at this but has come a long way with 4.0.

You are fooling yourself if you think the iPhone is always smooth all the time, every device experiences hiccups at times.

When I read such claims I can't help but wonder, have you even used an iOS device recently?

It's a night/day difference for the constant touch-lag alone. On iOS the screen "sticks" to your finger, on android it runs noticeably behind and even the simplest screens choke.

I can't remember having ever experienced an unexplained "hiccup" on iOS. An app may take a second to open/close/switch. When something loads then there might even be a brief pause. But these are very rare and expected.

That's a fundamental difference to android where random, unpredictable chokes are the norm.

Re: The Samsung Galaxy S III: The First Smartphone Designed Entirely By Lawyers

#95
post #3

I'd have to disagree about it being an ugly design. What was ugly was the hack of putting squares around every icon, when those icons were designed to live on their own, not in a square. That's what was ugly. I'm happy to see the squares gone and the design conform to the standard Android design guidelines. The dock of icons going away is also good. If I'm looking in the applications list it's because I'm looking for…

Indeed, and actually, I like it (and I'm not one prone to like Android handset design). Especially in that shot with the three generations side by side. The first two mimic an iPhone 3G and an iPhone 4, and it shows, while the SIII really stands on its own (that's coming from someone who downright LOVES the iPhone 4 design). I wish they would have let go the metal on the side and went for a bit straighter lines on the long sides to make it feel more balanced, but really, it's fine.

Re: The Samsung Galaxy S III: The First Smartphone Designed Entirely By Lawyers

#96
post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

because the JooJoo was announced BEFORE THE iPad http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/JooJoo That combination of features is not unique.

Many of the features listed apply, but certainly not all of them. Again, it is an "and" relationship: Apple claims ownership on all of those features combined . Here's a JooJoo's home screen: http://www9.pcmag.com/media/images/224043-joojoo-home-screen... The JooJoo does not include three of these items: the "square icons" on the home screen, the dock of, again, "square icons", and the "metallic surround framing the…

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Re: The Samsung Galaxy S III: The First Smartphone Designed Entirely By Lawyers

#97
post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

because the JooJoo was announced BEFORE THE iPad http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/JooJoo That combination of features is not unique.

Many of the features listed apply, but certainly not all of them. Again, it is an "and" relationship: Apple claims ownership on all of those features combined . Here's a JooJoo's home screen: http://www9.pcmag.com/media/images/224043-joojoo-home-screen... The JooJoo does not include three of these items: the "square icons" on the home screen, the dock of, again, "square icons", and the "metallic surround framing the…

Anyone who truly believes Samsung wasn't just ripping off Apple's product (hardware/software) need only look at the Phone App's icon here http://cdn3.sbnation.com/imported_assets/844649/2011-04-19ap... (Link from the parent).

Re: The Samsung Galaxy S III: The First Smartphone Designed Entirely By Lawyers

#98
post #9

Honestly. The hardware is fine. The problem with android is still the software and only the software. I'll take my handset in pink polka dots if it can finally scroll smoothly everywhere and not constantly annoy me with bugs in almost every single basic feature. Instead they keep on shoving out bigger screens, faster CPU's every year - and the only UX issue ever being addressed is the camera finally snapping pics in…

Performance / UI fluidity issues - that hasn't been true since long time now, especially so since ICS. Only hardcore apple enthusiasts and the ignorant keep repeating that (and Windows viruses) ;)

Only 5% of all android devices out there have ICS (http://developer.android.com/resources/dashboard/platform-ve...). Even if you are correct that ICS has no fluidity issues at all, that means 95% of android devices out there have these issues.

Re: The Samsung Galaxy S III: The First Smartphone Designed Entirely By Lawyers

#99
post #92

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Performance / UI fluidity issues - that hasn't been true since long time now, especially so since ICS. Only hardcore apple enthusiasts and the ignorant keep repeating that (and Windows viruses) ;)

that hasn't been true since long time now, especially so since ICS That's plain out wrong. I'm on a Galaxy Nexus with ICS. Scrolling and responsiveness are still major issues. In 2012 I expect my phone to respond instantly and scroll smoothly, in all but the most extra-ordinary situations. iOS demonstrates how it's done. On Android ICS my touches still incur a random lag that prevents me from tapping "by muscle memor…

I seriously don't know what you are complaining about. Bought my GNex straight from Google and it is hardware accelerated, is stock Android, had no bloat ware at all, all apps scroll butter smooth and there is no random lag or jerkiness. And I am not alone in liking GNex over the iPhone.

Re: The Samsung Galaxy S III: The First Smartphone Designed Entirely By Lawyers

#100
post #71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>Why would anyone do the work to innovate.. This is a very weak defense of the patent system. Innovation happened before patents existed, and would continue to exist without them.

Patents have been around for centuries and they exist to provide incentive for people to advance society. Sure innovation might continue without them, but likely at a much slower rate. I'm not a fan of the current state of the patent system, but patents do have their place.

False. Innovation would speed up by magnitudes because we'd finally be able to do incremental development off each other's discoveries. It would foster a society where exchange of information would be a given, instead of suing each other over what amounts to a piece of paper.

Oh, and if you'd take a look at the history of patents, then you'd realize that since their inception, they have done all but progressed innovation. One of the most famous examples would be the steam engine, which - "thanks" to Watt's patent on it - remained basically unimproved for three decades, despite the existence of obvious solutions (which also were patented, by other people). After the patent expired, innovation on the steam engine surged, and its efficiency improved by factors of 10 over the following years.

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