[early2bed]

Bloomberg came up with a list of smartphone features over the past 10 years and the smartphones that adopted them. It's a reminder of what flagship features Blackberry smartphones are missing over the past decade.

https://www.bloomberg.com/graphics/2017-apple-iphone8/

[yyz321]

Makes me want to get the iPhone 8.

[TCB on Z10]

A very pro-Apple article but I will forgive Bloomberg as they maintain a nice BB10 native app. In any case, I am glad BlackBerry kept a headphone jack and note iPhone may finally get a virtual home capability years after BB10.

BB, Still the One

[thurask]

Speaking of catch-up...

OLED screen: Q10 (2013)
Inductive charging: Z30 (2013)
Super-sharp "retina" screens: Z10 (2013) (I think)
LTE: Z10 (2013)
Fingerprint scanner: DTEK60 (2016)
Mobile payment: BBOS7 (2011)
AI assistant: Passport (2014)
Water resistant: DNF
64-bit CPU: Priv (2015)
Dual-lens camera: DNF
Pressure-sensitive screen: DNF
No headphone jack: DNF
Slim bezels and all-screen front: DNF
3D sensor: DNF

[bh7171]

Speaking of catch-up...

OLED screen: Q10 (2013)
Inductive charging: Z30 (2013)
Super-sharp "retina" screens: Z10 (2013) (I think)
LTE: Z10 (2013)
Fingerprint scanner: DTEK50 (2016)
Mobile payment: BBOS7 (2011)
AI assistant: Passport (2014)
Water resistant: DNF
64-bit CPU: Priv (2015)
Dual-lens camera: DNF
Pressure-sensitive screen: DNF
No headphone jack: DNF
Slim bezels and all-screen front: DNF
3D sensor: DNF

I believe you meant DTEK60 for fingerprint. The article is completely "pro" iPhone but there are tons so nothing new.

[thurask]

I believe you meant DTEK60 for fingerprint. The article is completely "pro" iPhone but there are tons so nothing new.

Yes, history is pro-iPhone.

[bh7171]

Could also note capacitive physical keyboard- Passport '14.

[Elephant_Canyon]

Could also note capacitive physical keyboard- Passport '14.

There are a lot of niche features that never gained any market penetration that also aren't listed by this article. For example, built-in projectors. Also, curved phones like the LG Flex.

[bobshine]

The article is pro iPhone but also reminds us that everything is about perception. The iPhone is successful, not because they bring features first, but because of execution (or the perception of execution).
How long had face recognition been available??? I remember I had that on my Dell XPS 10 years ago. But it was junk, slow and can easily be fooled by a picture.
Apparently Apple is a couple of years ahead and will bring 3D face recognition which is nearly, according to rumours, impossible to hack. Samsung is left playing the waiting game to see how Apple implements it and try to revert engineer it...
Execution. That's also what BB was missing. No home button is coming to iPhone, I had a glimpse of how it would work with a beta version on my iPad. I gotta admit that implementation is much better than on BB10.
Blackberry had lots of innovative ideas... but the fact that they were all plague with bugs and delays just killed them

[SoundChaser007]

FM radio? Only on blackberries!

Posted via CB10

[eshropshire]

FM radio? Only on blackberries!

Posted via CB10

Many phones have FM radios, the problem is most USA carriers have them disabled.

[TCB on Z10]

Many phones have FM radios

Maybe but none have sound like the stereo speakers in a Z30!


BB, Still the One

[BBPandy]

Maybe but none have sound like the stereo speakers in a Z30!


BB, Still the One

The Z30 did/does have great sound. I wish all phones had speakers like the Z30

Posted via CB10

[tangozulu]

Totally cherry picked Apple details then assumed theses were improvements.
Why us less more in the removal of a phone jack.
Only saved apple some production money and sold u more Bluetooth gear.

Posted via CB10

[bh7171]

And now their wireless charging will be different than all others in the name of licensing and a money grab. I am not sure at which point and release this is going to bite them but at some point I suspect it will. Apple is the former Whole Foods of the mobile world.

Posted via CB10

[vladi]

This guy haven't used a proper smart phone before iPhone but I don't blame him. Smartphone was very hard to find in US before iPhone.

UIQ/Symbian had an online app store in 2006 and maybe even before that - correction T610 had an app store in 2004
Sharp had displays without on screen frames in 2014
Sony Ericksson had made a waterproof phone over a decade ago
Sony Ericsson also had phone jack removed in order to sell you proprietary adapter well over a decade ago.
Siemens was the first one with 3 color display in late '90s, Nokia released 4000 something color display on a phone in 2000.
Phillips was the first one to have voice call feature in late '90s
Panasonic was the first one to give you an option to change color screen lighting in late '90s
Sony Ericsson was the first one with see-through display
Nokia has so many world's firsts that it's impossible to have it all pinned down in one message

But the real daddy of modern smartphone was Sony Clie PDA and engineering behind it. Everything you have on your phone now has shown up in Clie first most likely.

[vladi]

And I forgot one thing, while Nokia was the first one to have AMOLED screen on the phone Sony Ericsson has managed to bump it up to 3.3 inches in the best designed mobile package to date. Japan only Cybershot S001 is the best phone design to ever come out.

Adore this lavish slider cause it will never ever happen again

[Troy Tiscareno]

How long had face recognition been available??? I remember I had that on my Dell XPS 10 years ago. But it was junk, slow and can easily be fooled by a picture.
Apparently Apple is a couple of years ahead and will bring 3D face recognition which is nearly, according to rumours, impossible to hack. Samsung is left playing the waiting game to see how Apple implements it and try to revert engineer it...

I had facial recognition on my Nexus 4 back in 2012. But it was camera-only, so, yes, it could be fooled by a picture.

But Apple's technology isn't new - they're using a scanner to make a 3D "depth" map of your face and matching that with the camera, so that a flat picture won't work (a life-like mannequin might, though). I've had that in my laptop for several years already - it's part of Windows Hello requirements for facial unlocks - but Apple's innovation is reducing the size of the scanner and reducing the amount of power it needs. So, they didn't invent it, but they improved it for the smartphone application.

[Troy Tiscareno]

Maybe but none have sound like the stereo speakers in a Z30!

You must have forgotten the HTC One series phones.

[thurask]

So, they didn't invent it, but they improved it for the smartphone application.

And that's what they're good at. Doing it first doesn't bring as much press/spur as much copycatting as doing it right first.

[bobshine]

I had facial recognition on my Nexus 4 back in 2012. But it was camera-only, so, yes, it could be fooled by a picture.

But Apple's technology isn't new - they're using a scanner to make a 3D "depth" map of your face and matching that with the camera, so that a flat picture won't work (a life-like mannequin might, though). I've had that in my laptop for several years already - it's part of Windows Hello requirements for facial unlocks - but Apple's innovation is reducing the size of the scanner and reducing the amount of power it needs. So, they didn't invent it, but they improved it for the smartphone application.

The only thing we can do is wait and see... cause most analyst and leaks say that their technology (what Apple developed) is years ahead of anything in he market and can unlock in milliseconds (basically instantly) even in the dark.

Apple isn't known for bringing new technology to the market... but they are known to make huge improvements to them

[early2bed]

Apple really can't afford to test out half-baked technology because they only release one flagship handset per year to the tune of a hundred million units. I'm sure there are all sorts of features that they simply can't afford to bet the company on. You can bet that they will be shipping next month, though.

[MikeX74]

And that's what they're good at. Doing it first doesn't bring as much press/spur as much copycatting as doing it right first.

This, pretty much. The Motorola Atrix, if I remember correctly, was the first smartphone with a fingerprint sensor, but fingerprint sensors didn't become widespread until after Apple introduced theirs in the 5S. Ironically, theirs came(via acquisition) from the same company that made the Atrix's.

[bobshine]

Apple really can't afford to test out half-baked technology because they only release one flagship handset per year to the tune of a hundred million units. I'm sure there are all sorts of features that they simply can't afford to bet the company on. You can bet that they will be shipping next month, though.

Weil in marketing, market entry strategies like that are studied over and over. Apple is the master of perfecting technology. They spend huge and huge amounts of money on "perfection". Something doesn't work to their standard, they drop it.

So what's better
1-Spend a boat load of money in R&D and bring new features that are buggy
or
2-Spend a boat load of money perfecting technologies that already exist

[Troy Tiscareno]

Obviously Apple sets a high standard for itself and especially for its key product (the iPhone - it's primary cash cow), and given the rest of their business model, it makes sense. As I said, in the case of the facial unlock feature, it's more about size and battery life/current draw of existing tech - but that still takes a lot of development. Apple "wins" because they do it RIGHT first (much of the time), exactly as thurask said. Now, they don't always get it right first, but they usually pick one or two key features that are new to Apple and they make sure those features work really, really well - and that's what their userbase wants.