This week we will look at some of the biggest product launches in 2012.
One of the gadgets that produced the biggest 'wow' in 2012 was Nikon's D800.
Nikon surprised everyone when it launched its DSLR fitted with a whopping 36 MP sensor. It
s predecessor the D700 had just a 12 MP sensor.
As they say all the proof of the pudding is in the eating. Yes, everyone went gaga over its performance, too. In the process, D800 became the first DSLR to challenge medium format cameras, which feature higher pixel count and bigger sensors.
Nikon's main rival Canon also launched a product to rival the D800. Canon's 5D Mark III had some wonderful features but Nikon stole the show with the pixel count. The 5D Mark III, the successor to one of the most successful cameras in the history of digital photography, the 5D Mark II, had just 24 MP sensor, bit of a disappointment for the Canon fans. Canon's product is no slouch as the company had concentrated on areas like the improvement of ISO performance, where Nikon had taken a lead with models like D3S. Canon did very well in the ISO department but Nikon stole the thunder with the headline-grabbing 36 MP sensor.
Ever since the launch of the original iPad, Apple used to treat its diehard fans with two iDevices a year. (Apart from the iPods, of course. They seem to be completely upstaged by their big brothers these days.) But, this year the company broke the trend and launched four devices: iPad (III), iPhone 5 iPad (IV) and iPad mini.
The iPad (III) had the 'retina' display as its main attention-grabbing feature with a slightly improved performance when compared to its predecessor, iPad II. It was a huge hit.
Then we saw the iPhone, which was always a trendsetter,following the trend unleashed by top Android devices: Apple was forced to abandon the original screen size of 3.5 inches and to increase the size to four inches. The internals, the make, the OS and the performance make the iPhone the leader even now. But the writing seems to be on the wall for Apple as the competition has less catching up to do with each update.
The much-anticipated iPad mini was flayed by the critics for not having the 'Retina' display. But the sleek device won enough plaudits as it was rated as the most wieldy premium tablet ever.
Perhaps the most surprising launch was iPad (IV). This is what the iPad (III) should always have been. It has bumped up internals along with the 'retina' display making the tablet blazing fast in performance.
Now, the real question is why the company launched it this year. Most critics believe that it was the model Apple has been preparing to launch early next year. They believe that Apple was forced to launch it to counter the threat from Microsoft's tablet Surface.
Apple still retains its place as the top makers of premium computers and may remain at that spot for few may years.
But its mobile devices seem to be facing real competition. Android devices with decent performances are popping up everywhere. More importantly, Apple's own innovativeness seems to have reached a plateau. Two of its apps, the Siri and Maps, put the company on the back foot, too. The company may have shown the door for those who are responsible for the 'half-cooked' apps but the number of exclusive features appearing magically on the iDevices has also come down. No wonder the shares of the company had a free fall.
That brings us to Microsoft's Surface tablets which were promoted as gadgets of the post-PC computing era. And as tablets they were expected to be different from the prominent tablets in the market now. While most of the existing tablets were for ‘consumption’ of media the Surface was expected to make us more ‘productive’.
There was some build up for the launch of the tablets. Although the concept has was very good and Microsoft deserves kudos for that but the product itself is not without its share of flaws. There are two versions of MS tablet: the Surface RT, which runs on the mobile version of the Windows 8 OS and full fledged version called Surface Pro, will have the Windows 8 OS. Surface Pro is yet to be launched.
The Surface RT got some favourable reviews initially but received criticism for the lack of apps. An incident that occurred a few weeks back may also have been an eye opener for Microsoft. The UK-based gaming company Rubicon which had put its app in the Microsoft’s store. The app, the company said,was never promoted by MS. The company in a scathing blog post said that it won't work with Microsoft. 'We've made the princely sum of £52,' from the MS store, said the company provocatively. This incident may force Microsoft to review its app store from the perspectives users as well as app makers. It seems all is well with the two companies now as the article was removed from the site and Rubicon has said that both the companies will 'iron out the problems'. Reviewers also say that while the other two major tablet platforms get apps accumulated,the app store of MS wears a deserted look.
Microsoft has not made Surface officially available in India. If we want one, we will have to go to eBay. The pricing seems to be on the higher side as well. The lower end Surface is priced at $499 but pricing in rupees starts from around Rs 40,000.
Another tablet that caught the imagination of the public is Google's 7" Nexus which was made by Asus. The product has been praised for the quality hardware, excellent software implementation and sweet pricing. The tablet carries a price tag of $199. In the case of Nexus too, pricing is extremely sour for India. It retails for just under Rs 20,000 here. The product takes on other successful 7 inch tablets like Kindle Fire and NookColour.
As far as black and white e-readers are concerned, Amazon’s Paperwhite won plenty of plaudits as one of the very best ever.
Another great launch of the year was Microsoft’s much-awaited OS upgrade for PCs—the Windows 8 (W8). According to reviewers it was a make or break update for the company. Initial reports say that it was neither a spectacular success, nor as blameworthy as one its earlier versions, Vista.
The best part of the Windows 8 release so far has been the upgrade offer. Windows users can download and install the Pro version of W8 for just Rs 1999. Reports say that even the users of pirated versions of the earlier OSes are allowed to upgrade to Windows 8 for the sum.
We will end with one of the most famous quotes in 2012 that is by Apple CEO Tim Cook after the company’s Maps application was found not up to the mark:
“At Apple, we strive to make world-class products that deliver the best experience possible to our customers. With the launch of our new Maps last week, we fell short on this commitment. We are extremely sorry for the frustration this has caused our customers and we are doing everything we can to make Maps better."
As they say all the proof of the pudding is in the eating. Yes, everyone went gaga over its performance, too. In the process, D800 became the first DSLR to challenge medium format cameras, which feature higher pixel count and bigger sensors.
Nikon's main rival Canon also launched a product to rival the D800. Canon's 5D Mark III had some wonderful features but Nikon stole the show with the pixel count. The 5D Mark III, the successor to one of the most successful cameras in the history of digital photography, the 5D Mark II, had just 24 MP sensor, bit of a disappointment for the Canon fans. Canon's product is no slouch as the company had concentrated on areas like the improvement of ISO performance, where Nikon had taken a lead with models like D3S. Canon did very well in the ISO department but Nikon stole the thunder with the headline-grabbing 36 MP sensor.
Ever since the launch of the original iPad, Apple used to treat its diehard fans with two iDevices a year. (Apart from the iPods, of course. They seem to be completely upstaged by their big brothers these days.) But, this year the company broke the trend and launched four devices: iPad (III), iPhone 5 iPad (IV) and iPad mini.
The iPad (III) had the 'retina' display as its main attention-grabbing feature with a slightly improved performance when compared to its predecessor, iPad II. It was a huge hit.
Then we saw the iPhone, which was always a trendsetter,following the trend unleashed by top Android devices: Apple was forced to abandon the original screen size of 3.5 inches and to increase the size to four inches. The internals, the make, the OS and the performance make the iPhone the leader even now. But the writing seems to be on the wall for Apple as the competition has less catching up to do with each update.
The much-anticipated iPad mini was flayed by the critics for not having the 'Retina' display. But the sleek device won enough plaudits as it was rated as the most wieldy premium tablet ever.
Perhaps the most surprising launch was iPad (IV). This is what the iPad (III) should always have been. It has bumped up internals along with the 'retina' display making the tablet blazing fast in performance.
Now, the real question is why the company launched it this year. Most critics believe that it was the model Apple has been preparing to launch early next year. They believe that Apple was forced to launch it to counter the threat from Microsoft's tablet Surface.
Apple still retains its place as the top makers of premium computers and may remain at that spot for few may years.
But its mobile devices seem to be facing real competition. Android devices with decent performances are popping up everywhere. More importantly, Apple's own innovativeness seems to have reached a plateau. Two of its apps, the Siri and Maps, put the company on the back foot, too. The company may have shown the door for those who are responsible for the 'half-cooked' apps but the number of exclusive features appearing magically on the iDevices has also come down. No wonder the shares of the company had a free fall.
That brings us to Microsoft's Surface tablets which were promoted as gadgets of the post-PC computing era. And as tablets they were expected to be different from the prominent tablets in the market now. While most of the existing tablets were for ‘consumption’ of media the Surface was expected to make us more ‘productive’.
There was some build up for the launch of the tablets. Although the concept has was very good and Microsoft deserves kudos for that but the product itself is not without its share of flaws. There are two versions of MS tablet: the Surface RT, which runs on the mobile version of the Windows 8 OS and full fledged version called Surface Pro, will have the Windows 8 OS. Surface Pro is yet to be launched.
The Surface RT got some favourable reviews initially but received criticism for the lack of apps. An incident that occurred a few weeks back may also have been an eye opener for Microsoft. The UK-based gaming company Rubicon which had put its app in the Microsoft’s store. The app, the company said,was never promoted by MS. The company in a scathing blog post said that it won't work with Microsoft. 'We've made the princely sum of £52,' from the MS store, said the company provocatively. This incident may force Microsoft to review its app store from the perspectives users as well as app makers. It seems all is well with the two companies now as the article was removed from the site and Rubicon has said that both the companies will 'iron out the problems'. Reviewers also say that while the other two major tablet platforms get apps accumulated,the app store of MS wears a deserted look.
Microsoft has not made Surface officially available in India. If we want one, we will have to go to eBay. The pricing seems to be on the higher side as well. The lower end Surface is priced at $499 but pricing in rupees starts from around Rs 40,000.
Another tablet that caught the imagination of the public is Google's 7" Nexus which was made by Asus. The product has been praised for the quality hardware, excellent software implementation and sweet pricing. The tablet carries a price tag of $199. In the case of Nexus too, pricing is extremely sour for India. It retails for just under Rs 20,000 here. The product takes on other successful 7 inch tablets like Kindle Fire and NookColour.
As far as black and white e-readers are concerned, Amazon’s Paperwhite won plenty of plaudits as one of the very best ever.
Another great launch of the year was Microsoft’s much-awaited OS upgrade for PCs—the Windows 8 (W8). According to reviewers it was a make or break update for the company. Initial reports say that it was neither a spectacular success, nor as blameworthy as one its earlier versions, Vista.
The best part of the Windows 8 release so far has been the upgrade offer. Windows users can download and install the Pro version of W8 for just Rs 1999. Reports say that even the users of pirated versions of the earlier OSes are allowed to upgrade to Windows 8 for the sum.
We will end with one of the most famous quotes in 2012 that is by Apple CEO Tim Cook after the company’s Maps application was found not up to the mark:
“At Apple, we strive to make world-class products that deliver the best experience possible to our customers. With the launch of our new Maps last week, we fell short on this commitment. We are extremely sorry for the frustration this has caused our customers and we are doing everything we can to make Maps better."
COURTESY : www.manoramaonline.com
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