Thoughts on a Smartphone

‘We live in a world where we laugh when our friends slip and fall but are worried when our smartphone falls from our hands or is accidentally knocked down!’ – An anonymous quote posted on Facebook.

So what does that tell us?

Are we inhuman and insensitive? Well definitely not; it is just that that the sleek shining amalgam of plastic, rubber and polished metal is too valuable and fragile and that we are worried that a fall is all that takes for something to go horribly wrong with our smart phone.

The aim of this post written for a competition organised by the good folks at Indiblogger and Asus is to jot down a few points that one’s dream phone should have. The event is being run in synchronisation with the launch of the Asus Zenfone. I have been reading some reviews written by tech-bloggers who have received review units and everyone has good things to say about the phone and if the Sales Team at Asus gets the pricing right – I am sure we have a massive winner! Let us wait for the prices to be announced and go to the main post 🙂

Strength and Durability:
Remember those good old days when we got Nokia phones for Rs 501 bundled offer via Reliance – so many years back – well those phones still survive and run strong. Durability and strength are extremely important factors. When I pay upwards of Rs 10000 for a device – I expect a powerful and strong unit.

Battery Life:
I guess the i-phone and then Android as an OS kick-started a whole new product market – the portable chargers. How irritated we get when in the midst of a business call or a call with a loved one your phone battery dies! With the advancements in technology we expect devices that give us a solid usage time on a full-charge.

Features / Usability:
There was a time when the geeks carried a phone, a music-player, an e-reader, a handheld gaming console and a camera. Now everything gets plugged into one device, the evolution of an application marketplace has made developers go rich. Think Angry Birds the game that changed the fortunes of Rovio Inc. The point here is are users realizing that the more and more that they depend one single device for all their functions the amount of pressure they are putting on the core working components of the device and how they are reducing the life of the device that they use.

This is one side of the argument.

The other is an uncluttered world wherein as the line goes in The Lord of the Rings – ‘One ring to rule them all’ we now have ‘One device to fulfil all our needs.’ The future looks promising as we now have cut-throat competition among mobile-processor vendors to create the best value for money processors. The future indeed looks bright with octa core powered phones retailing for about INR Rs 12000. The prices should come down further!

Do not complicate the functionality of a device – Be it a five year old or a sixty year-old everyone should be able to use the phone with ease with a guided intuitive user-interface. Every phone should come pre-loaded with a user guide video built into it explaining every feature.

A Complete Package:
When I buy a product – I expect all the bells and whistles to come together in one neatly designed package. Do not burden me with buying additional headphones, OTG cables, chargers, screen guards, protective cases, etc, separately. As a consumer I want one complete package with everything neatly arranged labelled and packed with care. With online sales gaining prominence the onus is on the device manufacturer to ensure that products are packed in strong durable cases that can bear the brunt of travel and shipping.

Operating System Updates:
From Froyo, Gingerbread, Honeycomb, Icecream Sandwich, Jellybean to Kitkat and now Android-L. The iterations, variations, added features are mind-boggling. Same goes for iOS users as well. Windows Phone OS is relatively evolving at a slower pace though the latest iteration of the OS looks stunning. Plus good old Blackberry – shaken and stirred and recovering slowly. Point of the rambling point 🙂 – is that the device should receive over-the-air OS upgrades.

Buy-Back Offers:
Popularised by Apple to a fair degree of success a device buyback guarantee program is sure to work wonders among loyal buyers of high-tech products.

After-Sales Support:
This is where every Indian mobile brand – Micromax, Karbonn, Lava, Spice, Intex all lag behind. I hope Asus will ensure a strong dedicated support system in every major city and ensure that devices are serviced with care and returned on time.

I do not want supersonic powers, invisibility, see-through scanners on camera-lens, in-built Swiss-knives and all such boyish secret-agent fantasies on my phone. I want a strong, durable, well-designed product that will help me maintain work-life balance. I hope the Asus Zenfone series will offer me a perfect package and fulfil my dreams.

Go Asus!!! Go!!! We are waiting 🙂