Apple has announced the iPhone X, pitched as “the future of
the smartphone”. The iPhone X is Apple’s most distinctive smartphone I’ve seen
personally. Yes, it is a sophisticated piece of engineering, but the latest -
iPhone X - is far from being called a revolutionary device.
has announced the iPhone X, pitched as “the future of the
smartphone”. While the iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus are marginal improvements
over their predecessors, the iPhone X takes a giant leap both in terms of
design and the technology it offers. Apple is also asking a lot of money to get
the iPhone X, which starts at Rs 89,000 for the base version and goes up to Rs
102,000 for the top-end model.
The iPhone X is Apple’s most distinctive smartphone I’ve
seen personally. Yes, it is a sophisticated piece of engineering, but the
latest – iPhone X – is far from being called a revolutionary device. Rather,
I’d say the iPhone X brings in more of an evolution. The truth is, you can
already find many of these features on a number of smartphones – both from the
current-generation lot, and some even from the bygone era. I’ve made a list of
six such features that have existed for a while now.
OLED screens
Apple had been using a standard LCD panel for all of its
iPhones, and even the iPhone 8 and 8 Plus are still on the same display technology.
However, the iPhone X is the company’s first smartphone to use an OLED display.
But Samsung has been using AMOLED displays for many years. In fact Samsung’s
first smartphone with an AMOLED display was the original Galaxy device (also
known GT-I7500 in some countries), which came out in 2009. And the latest
Galaxy S8 and Note 8 also uses SAMOLED screens. In fact, Samsung’s subsidiary
Samsung Display is widely believed to be the sole supplier of OLED panels for
the new Apple iPhone X.
Bezel-less design
It was Sharp that actually kick
started the bezel-less smartphone trend with the release of the Aquos Crystal
in 2014. The popularity of edge-to-edge displays further soared with the Xiaomi
Mi Mix, which was announced last year. Ever since the launch of the Mi Mix, a
number of companies including LG, Samsung and Essential have tried to
incorporate slim bezels, without increasing the size of the smartphone. So the
iPhone X isn’t really the first smartphone to feature a bezel-less design.
Wireless charging
Apple has yet followed its
counterparts – again, this time with the release of the iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus
and iPhone X. All three iPhones feature wireless charging technology for the
first time. The technology has been around for a while now, but it never took
off. Attempts have been made in the past to popularise wireless charging, with
the release of Google Nexus 5, Nokia Lumia 1020 and Microsoft Lumia 950 and 950
XL.
In recent years, Samsung has also
adopted the wireless charging technology. Its high-end phones, be it the Galaxy
S8+ or Galaxy Note 8, support wireless charging. In fact, in India, Samsung has
added a free wireless charger with every purchase of the Galaxy Note 8, which
will go on sale in India on September 21. Apple may be late to the wireless
charging era – but it has better chances to make the wireless charging
technology widely popular.
Unlock the phone using your face
The iPhone X arrived with
something called ‘Face ID’, Apple’s new biometric unlocking mechanism. Face ID
is seen as a replacement of Touch ID, as it claims to be more secure and
accurate to unlock the phone. I’m ready to buy Apple’s claims, despite the
company’s failure to demonstrate the function properly during the iPhone X
presentation earlier this week.
Apple’s facial recognition system
may be more advanced and precise, but the general idea of unlocking the phone
using your face is not new. Google first added the facial recognition feature
into its Android-powered phones since the time it released Ice Cream Sandwich
way back in 2011. The feature was optional (it completely depends upon an OEM
to implement it), but many smartphones have been using the tech for a while
now.
Similarly, Microsoft Lumia 950 and
950 XL had built-in facial recognition abilities, thanks to Windows Hello. Then
there is Samsung, which made major advances to secure the smartphones with its
proprietary iris scanning technology. Samsung Galaxy Note 7 (now defunct) was
the first smartphone to use the company’s iris scanning technology that works
by identifying the patterns in your irises. The Galaxy S8 and Galaxy Note 8
also come with iris scanners and face recognition scanners.
Dual OIS cameras
With the latest iPhone X, Apple
added the dual optical image stabilization (OIS) in its rear cameras. However,
Samsung Galaxy Note 8 too has optical image stabilization (OIS) on both its
rear cameras. Technically, Samsung beat Apple by rolling out the feature first
in the market. For a consumer, it’s definitely a good news as the inclusion of
OIS on both rear cameras should result in more stable and sharper shots,
videos.
UI gestures reminds of webOS, BlackBerry 10 OS
Since there is no home button on
the iPhone X, the user interface around the screen makes use of gestures. Swipe
up from the bottom edge of the screen to go from your lock screen to home and
hold to go into multitasking. To access the Control Center, simply swipe down
from the top-right corner of the screen. The user interface has been
implemented well for an all-screen device – but it definitely reminds you of
webOS running on the Palm Pre, which was launched way back in 2009.
Similarly, BlackBerry had come up
with the idea of gestures when it launched the BlackBerry Z10, its first phone
to run BlackBerry 10 OS. Like the iPhone X, the Z10 had no home button on the
front.
