Xiaomi boss snaps back at Jony Ive's iPhone rival 'theft' swipe The boss of Chinese Android mobile firm, Xiaomi, has smacked back at Apple designer Jony Ive's remarks about "iPhone-inspired" smartphones, telling him to try the phones before he slags them off. Lin Bin wants Ive sent to the sin bin after he appeared to claim that Xiaomi had nicked Apple's mobe designs. "Xiaomi is a very …
“I think it’s really straightforward: it really is theft, and it’s lazy and I don’t think it’s OK at all,” he raged. He later admitted he had maybe been “a little bit harsh” and claimed his comments made him look “perhaps a little bit bitter”.
In other words the hoi paloi of Apple Marketing had told him his comments were not very fruity and he calmed down the vitriol. Yet, that is what they say in Cupertino about any non-Fruit Loop hardware.
TBF - most of the modern smart phone designs haven't really been a game changer. IN fact, most smartphones have gone backwards in the prime use, ie, a phone. Battery life being at the forefront. They all still use a traditional style of icons and all the BS about rounded corners, or a single 'Home' button - I mean COME ON. What utter tripe and rubbish.
As much as it pains me to say, the Windows phone 8 (7.5? I never used it) home screen with the use of tiles is probably the main differentiator at first glance. (I use vanilla Android btw)
Personally, unless someone releases a smartphone on legs that follows me around like a little mini-butler, they are all mostly just a portal to accesssing online stuff, listening to off-line music, and making and receiving a call. Everything else is just friperry.
Personally, the holy grail for me is just:
Battery Life and a removable battery. (All of you!)
Extendable storage. (WHat is your problem google and apple? Really?)
Robustness. (meh)
Reliability. (meh 2)
Easily mounted on ANY computer. (I mean Android - sometimes it PAINS ME just how hard it can be to mount you, a LInux based computer, on another Linux based computer. )
Decent audio file player. (Microsoft, do you ever, EVER use your own products? That media player would have been crap in a pre Napster world. I mean this is soo ridculous it is just NOT FUNNY)
If companies went on about their computer design to the same extent about their phones then they would be a laughing stock.
Is this a rant? I didn't mean it to be. I suppose it is.
Meh 3.
@m0rt
When was the last time you changed a battery or a memory card in a phone?
most people i know who complain of these things being non replaceable on iDevices bought the cheapest crappiest memory cards and batteries from ebay for their phones and then complain when they are crap and don't work properly. Then they put loads of junk they never use on the memory card and boast about how much stuff they have on it but never use. Its like they don't understand that everything is at worst a net connection away!! Not so great on a plane but then 8GB+ is enough music for most people on any flight.
When I have a removable battery? A couple of times. My Palm Pixi and my windows phone I certainly did.
As for memory cards - I don't need to replace, but then I want to be able to move a card from more than one device. But the point is the ability to do so.
But then if you are happy with what you have, then i am genuinely happy for you. I, however, do not think I am making an unreasonable request of the manufacturers.
I used to be angry with the Daily Heil. To be honest, I still am a little bit, but after thinking though my hatred,the realisation was that it is the people that buy the paper and read it, every day, without so much as a WTF, nodding at every article and agreeing with it all that really gets me stirred up.
I would LOVE for the new iPhone to be rid of it's accursed wart with the raised glass for the rear camera, and a nice smooth back. I'd happily trade the 0.5mm or whatever it is to not only improve the looks, but also give Apple a little more space for a slightly more capacious battery. It may only be an hour's difference, but someone will appreciate it and every little helps.
My point, of course, is that if people didn't keep lusting over thinness, they could have the larger battery , negating the need (for most people I suspect) for a removable one. The memory card is of course just a money maker for Apple. It could easily go next to the SIM card or have it's own slot, but I'm not too fussed about that one.
Most Androids don't have SD slots now either; I don't think it's only about upsell. Those pesky Microsoft patents appear also to be a concern...
... which is also presumably why even the Lumia 630-level of Windows Phone still has expandable memory. They also have removable batteries and are exceedingly cheap. So if anybody really prioritises those things, there's the device for you.
The worlds best designers do not copy...
They are inspired by'
They are influenced by,
They channel ,
They reinterpret
They Homage
They, Oh alright they Rip Off whatever they can get away with, whilst convincing their bosses it's new and innovative..
I defy anyone to come up with a single Apple i-nnovation that did not previously exist in a competitors product.
I was with you until you got to the audio player bit. Not on my list.
Back in the day I'd have added a cellular modem complete with VT100 emulation & workable keyboard. My old Nokia Communicator brick did that. And it had rounded corners!
Now I would add Bluetooth with remote SIM - the built-in hands-free phone in my car is much easier on the ear than any hand-portable I've ever used.
Ive's has got quite a cheek, over the decades Apple has also 'stolen' a number of ideas, certainly on the software front.
Oh and Ive's your new tubular Mac pro is SHITE.
You need to get out of the lab and go visit Dyson to see what great vacuum cleaners many of your products make, go do some research on how quickly your new products jam up with fluff and high speed impacted dust particles, just because air flows quickly does NOT always make it a good thing.
You can avoid putting a square in the middle of the home button, you can avoid having the glass floating above the metal part.
When putting together a powerbank (i.e external battery) you might also want to avoid copying exactly the side of a magic trackpad.
Every single smartphone bar the BB Passport are a rectangle, but only the Xiami ones are difficult to distinguish from the Apple products. Even for an Apple user.
Nobody can avoid being inspired by others but what Xiaomi is doing is blatant copy.
You shouldn't need tools or someone with additional knowledge to change a battery! Let me put it this way - would you buy a TV with a remote that needs tools or a skilled person to change the battery? What about a torch (flashlight for the Leftpondians)? Probably not, so why let mobile phome manufacturers off the hook for really crappy design?
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