#HackingWeek
Revolutionary New Sound Technology Allowing For
All-Screen Object
To Actually Exist
Preview: The Aquos (Crystal)
The Best Google Android Yet? How will Apple respond?
When was the last time you were excited about a device since the release of the first iPhone? As far as myself, I can recall a few HTCs and maybe the iPhone 4, but nothing major after that. So yes, it’s been a while.
Worry not, people are still out there cooking and teaming up to come up with some nice new technology for us to use.
The one we’ll be talking about here is one of them. This beautiful piece of hardware was introduced to the tech community on August 19th, 2014 and I’m eager to play my music on it. It’s called The Aquos and it’s coming soon. Who is the maker of this remarkable piece of hardware, let’s find out.
Let’s remember that, the Japanese folks, just like the Americans, are famous for surprising the world from time to time with very special hardware. Nintendo had the Wii, the Super Nintendo, the Game Boy, etcetera. Sony brought a few gems like the PlayStation, the PlayStation Portable and the Walkman. In America we have Apple which brought the iPod and is now enjoying success with its successors: the iPhone and iPad.
Americans brought computing to the masses through Windows, which at its peak was used by 99% of Earth’s computer users. Fast forward to today, we’re in the middle of a mass exodus from Microsoft to a shift onto Google and Apple’s ecosystems. People now spend their time on iOS, MacOS, Android or Chrome more than ever before. Windows 8 is a catastrophe we won’t elaborate here and Windows Phone is... let’s not even start.
Point is, things are continuously being created, there is no stopping to evolution. It’s all about cycles and history repeating itself. Our friends, the Japanese just broke a new milestone in tech again today. Not with the phone that recharges itself thru the air, (Because guess what, people are actually working on wireless charging too. It is not a matter of “if” but of “when” that will be released commercially), it’s the phone that has an edgeless-screen.
Check that, the screen creates sound from within, making it superfluous to create a whole physical structure above the screen. Sound vibrations are conducted directly through the glass.
If Apple made this, Tim Cook would probably come up with a nice catchy name for this “feature”. Something like Sound Within. And 2 months later bet that the trolls would run with “but does it have Sound Within?”.
The Aquos (Crystal)
Look at the top of the device. Not sure what comes to your mind the first time you see this, but personally I hear “HOT” and “ME WANT THIS NOW”.
This device is fresh, gorgeous and perhaps, very nice to hold. Can’t wait for that.
I can picture Steve Jobs presenting this exact same thing running iOS and call it “the new revolutionary and magical iPhone, the iPhone 7”.
(All you need to do would be removing the Aquos font at the bottom and turn that bezel all-black; and suddenly you get something that’s really super duper slick).
The screen is one with the edge. This is groundbreaking. There is no phone like this one before this one. Maybe, soon enough, the entire thing will just be the screen. Just a screen, no bezel. Buttons could be at the very bottom and/or on the sides. If Samsung wants to play smart, they might want to try that for they next device.
“SOON ENOUGH, WE’LL PROBABLY HAVE A SCREEN-ONLY DEVICE, WITHOUT ANY BEZEL”
Awesome! Right? So we pretty much said that it’s rare to come across a very exciting phone. But for some reason I’m feeling for this the same way I felt the first time the iPhone and the PSP were unveiled. OK I’m exaggerating a bit, but we’re close.
Personally I’ve been waiting for this because I never hold my ear against the phone. I mostly use headphones. So wasting the phone’s design because of something I know I don’t use felt frustrating. I knew this was possible to create given that someone would figure a way to create sound other than with an old-school speaker. I’ve always been bothered by bezels. See, in the end, things work out for all.
WHAT THE PRESS EXPERTS SAY
According to PC Mag fella Sascha Segan: “How classy and unique this phone feels. The Aquos Crystal actually feels crystalline, it’s just pretty, and pretty can be good”.
Dan Seiffert at The Verge says: “Sharp’s new phone for Sprint looks like something out of a sci-fi fantasy”.
I roll with that.
ABOUT THE MAKERS
So who is behind The Aquos. Is it Apple? Of course not, they wouldn't have their brand showing this way at the bottom.
It’s Sharp. Sharp is not just any random company. It’s one of the actual folks who build the iPhone’s screen, yes That iPhone. Apple usually calls them and say “can you make the iPhone’s screen for us”. By now, we can imagine they have the hardware expertise to sell their own product. And if Palo Alto trust them, I trust them. By the way, no shame, HTC started this way too, by making the Sidekick without taking credit for it.
Sharp thought the next step to grow their company was perhaps 1) build and distribute own best hardware ever 2) marry it with an already established operating system 3) Android 4) Profit???
“THEIR WEAPON OF CHOICE: HARDWARE”
SPECS
Let’s talk about specs, shall we. The Aquos phones come with solid features for this day and age. It is not the latest of the latest but the whole design makes for a very worthy piece of technology to own.
The Crystal has a crystal clear (pun intended) 720p 5-inch/12.7cm screen. It is powered by a 1.2GHz quad-core Snapdragon processor and 1.5GB of RAM. Front camera is 1.3 megapixel, the back one is and a 8 megapixel. Front is mentioned fist because this is the one I use mostly. Phone-makers haven’t caught on to that yet. #Selfie
The Crystal X, which is not slated for America just yet, is even better with a 1080p 5.5-inch screen and a 13 megapixel back camera. Will it be released here? It better be.
The Aquos is being shipped with stock Android 4.4.2. And if it also comes with a skin similar used by its fellow Android, the XiaoMi Mi4 it could get very interesting.
Unfortunately this Aquos Crystal cannot become my main phone because it only sports 8GB. This is just too low for me in this day and age, I record a lot of videos. My 64GB iPhone already feels more than cramped and I am actually hoping for Apple to finally bump it up to, at least, 128GB (I need even more) this year with the iPhone 6.
True, the phone allows for external storage. Kudos to them for that.
“THE WHOLE DESIGN MAKES FOR A VERY WORTHY PIECE OF TECHNOLOGY TO OWN.”
THE SOFTBANK FACTOR
Now, did you know that the Japanese just acquired a whole national wireless infrastructure in the US? Now with that trojan in place, they can distribute it to all Americans.
They just took over the actual control of the ship known currently as “Sprint”. This officially happened a couple of weeks ago when they fired former CEO Dan Hesse.
The old Sprint always used to come up with the weirdest things. Framilies, or, who even remembers that other catastrophe that was the DS looking phone? (Anyone can recall its name? I can’t.) You probably don’t know about this, unless you’re a hardcore member of sprintusers.com.
New management is in place and with that comes new values and new ways of doing things. Over, are the days where a phone cost a made-up price of $600–800 and is magically discounted if you sign up for a contract. Magenta changed the game.
Now, you can either grab the phone free on day one and pay $10 a month for 24 months; or you can pay the whole $150 upfront without ties with the carrier. Son really seems as he really wants to get these Aquos into everyone’s hands.
After that, unlimited usage is $60 per month. This plan is new too. Finally, launching new pricing was as easy as getting rid of one man, Dan. Sprint is slashing the fare to its all-you-can-eat/worry-less plan, which is great. Their family plan is less of a deal though. To hell data caps and shared data; don’t support that if you don’t want more of that. If you decide to use Sprint, get the solo. Taxes hopefully are included, making it a nice, neat, offer. It is always wiser to simplify things rather than spending a ludicrous amount of time fixing billing mistakes, huh Sprint?
Price war that is. Sprint actually undercuts T-Mobile’s offer by $20 per month. Tmo charges $80 per month for the same truly unlimited freedom at LTE speeds. To be fair, I must mention Metro PCS, which gets you unlimited use of Magenta’s infrastructure for also $60, taxes included. Not sure why they still waste their energy on multi-branding but that is your loophole entrance to get this offer. T-Mobile is indeed doing an amazing job and if Ilyad buys it, we’re in for an even better adventure. France has some of the best rules in the internet business and I’m sure they would bring a positive influence and knowledge to the US industry.
So wait, what? Sprint scored something nice? They kinda did… We have here what we would call almost without a doubt a Mu Editor’s Choice. We’ll confirm that in an actual review (I guess) if Mr Son and his partner Mr Claure send us a unit with the box signed by the both of them.
Are people talking about this? The tech folks obviously are. I’m pretty sure the XDA cats are already have a custom ROM up and running. Your feeds and channels are slowly catching up onto this news. It is one of those we call a “low-key major”. If you hear a big buzz about this when it is released, don’t be surprised. And if you don’t hear anything, …don’t be surprised either. Sprint is handling this after all. But the phone could sell very well worldwide regardless of what’s happening in America.
Hopefully Masayoshi is distancing himself as much as possible from previous management so he can make this succeed. He’s inheriting a dinosaur he must renew. I wouldn't be surprised if he phases out the name “Sprint” and consolidates ‘Softbank” under one coherent brand worldwide. The company “Sprint” has just a bad rep and resonates badly with most Americans. A new beginning needs to be marked somehow. Making one with the mother company would be a good start.
John Legere predicted that T-Mobile would overtake Sprint by the end of the year. Thing is, the yellow guys just came back from their basement with a game changer, The Aquos combined with a $60 unlimited plan. Their new ammunition could make it a little harder for John to achieve his goal, but he might just have even more rabbits in his hats to respond to that...
Source photos and more info: Official Site, The Verge, PC Mag.
