Android 5.1 and smartphones Android One, plans Motorola to take over the mobile world and predict the collapse of Samsung, waitress drones with humanoid robots and a futuristic hotel of the future.
Foreword
I know one planet, there lives such a gentleman with a purple face. He never smelled a flower in his entire life. Never looked at a star. He never loved anyone. And he never did anything. He is busy with only one thing: he adds the numbers. And from morning to night he repeats one thing: 'I am a serious man! I'm a serious man! ' – just like you. And it swells with pride. But in reality he is not a man. He's a mushroom.
Antoine de Saint-Exupery. A little prince
As a child, life is full of amazing discoveries and real miracles. Each new day will definitely bring some surprises, and you never know what exactly will happen to you tomorrow. Perhaps this is why children are always ready for the impossible and will never give up on an undertaking just because it is difficult. Someone believes that they will grow up and become an astronaut. And someone – that will meet a real wizard or find a door to a fairyland. In all this, children do not see anything impossible, and only one thing may seem really incredible – that their adult life will be as ordinary and gray as the life of many other people.
With age, outlook on life changes. Once again, discovering that the cherished childhood dream is just a banal fantasy that will never come true, people stop dreaming. Once again, not calculating the strength and again stumbling on the way to the goal, they begin to be afraid to aim at the impossible. And they hide behind logical arguments or light cynicism, as if behind a shield, thus insuring themselves against possible falls and new disappointments. As if not realizing that any fall is just the price of success. And if you want to learn to skate or ride a bike, then you can't do without falls.
Someone will say that wisdom simply comes over the years. Alas, this is not the case. It is guaranteed that over the years only old age comes, which is often accompanied by fatigue and a feeling of disappointment, but the location of the rest of the guests will have to be achieved or earned. And to do this, having spent all your life on the couch and never daring to go in pursuit of your dream, definitely will not work.
Any person is faced with a choice more than once – to try to fulfill his dream, taking on an almost impossible, at first glance, business, or silently step aside, deciding not to risk it. Most, considering the chances of success, will prefer the second option. They will loudly declare that respectable people do not need all these nonsense, and they don’t need to make themselves a laughingstock, falling off their bicycle in front of everyone, over and over again, they don’t need it for nothing. But deep down, they will regret it for a long time. And often – to grin maliciously, seeing how failures are those who chose to go the other way. As if someone else's failure justifies their cowardice or cowardice.
Meanwhile, there are very few truly impossible things in the world. And very often it is enough just not to be afraid to take the first step, and then the circumstances themselves will develop in such a way as to help a person achieve his goal. There are more than enough good opportunities and unimaginable coincidences of circumstances in life – just to notice them, you first need to leave the house. An example of this is the entire history of mankind, which consists entirely of the impossible. Of course, Columbus was lucky more than once. And if everything had been a little different, he would simply never have reached America. But it is much more important that he was able to believe in his dream and embark on this crazy journey. Otherwise, the good wind and good mood of the aborigines in any case would be useless.
Ubuntu Phone
The whole history of mankind is a pursuit of the impossible, and, moreover, it is often successful. There is no logic here: if a person had always obeyed logic, he would still be living in caves and would not have come off the Earth.
Clifford Simak, 'Mirage'
The mobile version of the Ubuntu OS is an example of a crazy dream. Who in their right mind would seriously try to challenge Android and iOS? The chances of winning this fight are simply ludicrous, most analysts will confidently say that you shouldn't even try. After all, statistics is a stubborn thing, and you can't argue with it. Among the thousands of such startups, only a few are successful.
 |
Offtopic: facts and rumors about Ubuntu Phone |
The trouble is that these same smart analysts once said the same about devices on iOS and Android. In the heyday of Symbian and the golden years of Nokia, the very appearance of these operating systems already looked completely ridiculous. And the plans Apple and Google, which were not even close to being associated with mobile phones, to throw a glove in the face of the Finnish giant looked downright ridiculous. Exactly what Ubuntu plans look like now.
For a long time, nothing was heard about Canonical's creation. At some point, it began to seem that the company had given up, deciding to let the development of its mobile OS take its course. But judging by the latest news, this is not the case. Recently, they, together with the Spanish phone manufacturer BQ, announced the Aquarius E4.5 smartphone, which will be sold at once from three Spanish telecom operators.
[iframe url = '// www.youtube.com/embed/TShKZLeZzWE' width = '640 ″ height =' 360 ″ scrolling = 'no' frameborder = '0 ″ marginheight =' 0 ']
Nothing is known about the price of the smartphone yet, but it will obviously be a budget solution.
The expected characteristics of the device are as follows:
- Screen size 4.5 inches, resolution 960×540
Quad-core processor MediaTek, 1.3 GHz
RAM – 1 GB
Main camera – 8 MP
This phone is unlikely to be interesting on its own. In the same way, the first Android smartphone called HTC Dream did not amaze the imagination. But the most important thing about the first smartphone on the new OS is that it exists at all. This is already a success that not all empty dreamers can boast of.
[iframe url = '// www.youtube.com/embed/mPbNbdhoGS4 ″ width =' 640 ″ height = '360 ″ scrolling =' no 'frameborder =' 0 ″ marginheight = '0']
I don't know what Canonical will end up with. Moreover, the situation is now completely not in their favor. But I am sincerely sympathetic to the attempt itself. And I really think any nonzero chance is worth grabbing at.
Link to news
Declaration of intent
Fantasy (Greek φαντασία – 'imagination') is a situation presented by an individual or a group that does not correspond to reality, but expresses their desires.
Wikipedia
Someone will reproach me for being too naive, but in my opinion, taking on the impossible is the only correct decision. Unless, of course, this is exactly the impossible that you really really want to do. And if you are ready to go to the end, no matter how many times you have to fall and get up again. But shouting about your plans in advance at every intersection is somewhat strange. And the success of such an undertaking is not particularly conducive. Of course, the first step in itself is worth a lot. But it is still better to be proud of real achievements, not imaginary ones. And, as the famous proverb advises, don't shout 'gop' until you've jumped over. After all, there is a significant difference between the concepts of 'dream' and 'fantasy' and it is clearly not worth confusing them.
This is if we talk about people. But in large companies it is accepted differently. Here the announcement often gets more attention than the device itself. And the announcement of intentions affects the stock price more than their implementation. Perhaps this is correct – I am very far from the world of big business and I will not undertake to judge. But for an outside observer, such things sometimes look, to put it mildly, funny … if not, stupid and funny.
An example is the recent announcement by director Motorola Rick Osterloh. According to him, Samsung will soon face the fate of Nokia and Blackberry, but his company, on the contrary, has every chance to break into the leaders.
Let me remind you that until recently the fate of Nokia with Blackberry risked to repeat itself Motorola. And it is still alive solely due to a good set of patents, which attracted the attention of Google several years ago, and a well-known brand that the company recently coveted Lenovo. It must be admitted that after the merger with Lenovo, Moto's business really went smoothly and in the last quarter the company sold 10 million smartphones, which is 118% more than in the same period last year. And this growth is unlikely to stop in the near future – at least because of the expansion of the sales geography. But we are not talking so much about success as about correcting the fatal consequences of past mistakes, when Motorola without a fight gave the markets of many countries to rivals, focusing primarily on the United States. Is there any reason for pride? And for special optimism?
 |
Review Motorola MOTO X 2014 (XT1092) |
For now Motorola is still a ghost company. Specialized publications often write about her, journalists admire her, and the whole mobile world speaks about her innovative ideas (like the Moto Maker service). But for ordinary buyers, all these achievements, discoveries and devices do not seem to exist. When A-brands repeat something like this, then everyone will loudly admire this idea and consider it a real breakthrough. For example, the same iPhone with a bamboo back cover will definitely become a 'bomb', but a similar decision in Moto X worries only inveterate 'geeks'. How in this situation in Motorola are going to outplay Samsung, I'm not very clear. Here, at least by some miracle, be able to win back your old positions.
However, the company's management has its own answer to this: “Every seven years those who were at the top lose their place. We're going to ride the next wave like this and prove to people that they don't have to pay $ 600 for a top smartphone. '
When a fan of the brand says something like that, it's understandable. But when a high-ranking executive is at least strange. Maybe I, too, can use the Mayan calendar and fortune telling on the coffee grounds and calculate when exactly the death of Samsung will come? And then submit a project of your own phone, which will immediately automatically become a new one iPhone? It seems to me that this is not the way to help accomplish the impossible.
And to say that there is no point in overpaying for a top-end smartphone is completely ridiculous. Firstly, here Motorola America is clearly not discovered. On flagships, the light did not converge like a wedge, the market is full of interesting solutions for much less money. And a lot of people use them with pleasure. And secondly, what difference does it make whether this makes a practical sense or not? Designer clothes will last no longer than Chinese jeans, and few people can determine the cost and purity of the same diamonds by eye. However, people buy it all. And they will obviously buy in the future. And the motto in itself is 'our smartphone is not worse than iPhone, but it costs 3 times cheaper' to approach the results of Samsung or Apple and will not come close.
Link to news
This also includes the statements of the president of Google for Work. In a recent interview, he said that Google expects to significantly squeeze Microsoft in the office suite market, winning 80% of the market from Microsoft Office.
It's not that I admire MS Office that much or find it truly irreplaceable. Yes, and nothing eternal in this world happens, you can't argue with that either. So it may well be that Google will actually manage to take 80% of that market – around the same time that Windows Phone will take 80% of the mobile market.
In the meantime, it's easier for a company to announce another revolution than to actually make one. Which is extremely sad.
Link to news
Most of all in this regard, I like the position Apple. Instead of talking a lot and beautifully, prescribing the success of the future iPhone or iPad, the company just silently works on a new product. And when the time comes, they show it to the public, year after year, breaking the required applause.
However, in recent years, the company has not gone as smoothly as before. It turns out to be less and less surprising with something at the presentation. Firstly, because of the heap of leaks, thanks to which all interested parties have complete information about the device long before its presentation. Secondly, due to the fact that the company settled down, matured and stopped trying to jump over its head. Needless to say, the chances of falling are so dramatically reduced. Just take off, carefully crawling on the floor for the rest of your life, too, will not work.
The company symbol remains iPhone. And he is still doing very well. One can argue for a long time how revolutionary the change is to increase the screen diagonal or the ability to install a third-party keyboard, which Android supports almost from the moment of birth. But each iPhone turns out to be different from the previous one, and the audience loves it.
But with iPad things are not the best. It seems that the company has no idea in which direction to further develop the tablet. And buyers demand not only bread, but also spectacles. And they refuse to change one tablet to another similar one. Moreover, the tablets at Apple are really excellent and there is practically no practical sense to change last year's model to a new one.
According to KGI Securities analysts, next year sales iPad will fall by 30%, which is very noticeable. As for rumors about a new iPad with a 12 'screen, KGI Securities doubts that the number with an increased screen diagonal will roll a second time. Most likely, the new tablet will really come out quite successful, but you shouldn't expect any 'WOW-effect' from it.
In order to capture the imagination of buyers, you need to be able to dream yourself. And childishly believe in this dream. Then both adults and respectable people will also remember what it means to be a curious child, and will gladly give a lot of money for your product. Steve Jobs could do it, but Tim Cook clearly does not.
Link to news
And there are times when the company itself understands that it has nothing to surprise users with. Because of this, seemingly important announcements remain in the shadows. For example, the other day Google introduced a new version Android under number 5.1. And at the same time new models of the series of devices Android One, which will work on it. Only few learned about it.
Link to news
Let me remind you that the announcement of Android 4.1 was significant for the 'robot' and caused a lot of discussions on the network. But Android 5.1 went almost unnoticed. The company did not even really explain what exactly is new in this version of the OS.
Judging by the unofficial screenshots, a slightly redesigned 'curtain' of the notification bar and a built-in application for analyzing battery consumption.
Link to news
We were born to make a fairy tale come true!
– This is too much! He complained. Surely the poor innocent nerd cannot live his life in peace and quiet!
– And life in general is a restless thing, – Snusmumrik remarked enthusiastically.Tove Jansson. Wizard hat
Do you think that everything that is needed in the products of large companies is there and that the times of revolutions are long gone? Nevertheless, there are still many people and companies in the world who have not forgotten how to dream. And making their dreams come true.
How do you like, for example, a cafe in Singapore where flying drones work instead of waiters? Who will serve drinks and snacks flying right over the heads of visitors? Each of them will be able to serve two glasses of beer, one pizza or two glasses of wine.
I do not know if this is the first such cafe. But something tells me that in any case there are very few of them. Many dreamed of doing something like this, and there is nothing technically impossible in this for a long time. But most people refuse to notice anything that even slightly disturbs their usual picture of the world. And they have long forgotten how to truly wonder and rejoice at unfamiliar things. This means that they are not able to surprise others with anything. The world for them is a long-proven theorem, in which there is no room for new variables. Boring, like a fifth grade geometry course.
The cafe will open this year. I have no idea how good the cuisine is, but I would definitely go to it at least once. Even taking into account the risk of being doused with beer due to a careless drone.
Link to news
However, the cafe with waitress drones pales in comparison to the project of a Japanese hotel, where humanoid robots will become the main service personnel. Think this plot is from some silly Japanese anime? Not at all, this is a very real hotel, which will open this summer.
True, at first there will be only 10 robots in it, of which only three are humanoid. And at first there will be relatively few rooms – only 72. Later, the second floor will be opened, and the number of rooms will double.
The robots will act as administrators, taking orders and accommodating guests by number. Each of them will know several languages at once, which will come in handy for tourists. After the check-in is completed, the robot porter will escort the guest to the allocated number and at the same time help to carry the luggage.
The functions of robots do not end there. Some robots will clean the room, others will bring clean bedding, and still others will prepare fresh coffee for the visitor. They can be controlled from special tablets.
And there will be no shortage of other progressive technologies in the hotel. For example, it will use solar energy to minimize the cost of electricity, and the temperature in the rooms will be automatically controlled, depending on the body temperature of the people living in it.
Accommodation prices surprise even more staff. This is $ 60 per night in a single room and $ 153 per night in a triple room. I think that prices could be raised three times, and there would be no end to those who want to visit the hotel. Especially in Japan, where the prices, as far as I understand, are much higher than ours. But, apparently, the dreams of the hotel owners extend a little further than momentary profits.
Those who dream of living in such a hotel, but do not have the opportunity to travel to Japan, should not despair – the company plans to open 1,000 such hotels around the world. And there, you see, their colleagues will catch up.
Link to news
Extracurricular reading:
- Thor Heyerdahl. Travel to 'Kon-Tiki'
- 5 lessons from people who were not afraid of change
