LED Notification Light - The most underated feature on your smartphone?

I can't explain to you how much i LOVE the notification LED on my Samsung Galaxy Nexus.  So much so, I can't imagine buying a smartphone in the future that doesn't have this feature.

It started when I first jumped from Apple and my iPhone 3G to my first Android phone, the HTC Desire.  I'd never seen a notification LED before, but it didn't take long for me to realise how invaluable that little light is.

For the unitiated (iPhone users mainly), bascially you can set any notification to create a flashing alert on the little LED on the body of the phone.  Its a silent assassin compared to audio/vibrate alerts for email, SMS, DMs, mentions, comments, anything really.

The colour can also be controlled by RGB sliders to create allsorts of colourful effects and there are a few apps out there to really take control of the these notifications (Light Flow & Trackball Alert to name but two)

A couple of practical uses:

• You're in a meeting, phone is on slient/no vibrate but you want alerting...... LED light pops on. :)
• Sat at home on the sofa, don't wanna keep switching phone on to see if mails have come (and annoy wife constantly fiddling with phone for no reason)...... LED light pops on when mail arrives. :)

When Apple introduced iOS5 and their notification centre I thought this was an ideal opportunitiy to bring the notification LED to the iPhone.  But the iPhone 4S came and went and no LED.  Okay, maybe as the 4S was just a revamped iPhone 4 it would come later.  So I waited with anticipation of the redesigned iPhone 5 and iOS6.  But nope, still no notification LED.  Pity really, I would seriously consider an iPhone 5 if it had that little light. .....  Because I REALLY love the whole iOS/Apple delivery mechanism.  It is really that good to consider jumping. (but thats a whole other blog) :)

Some people can't understand why I get so excited about that little LED.  I don't know why, I just do, I love it.  After all, Blackberry have been doing it for years and thankfully the majority of good Android phones have it.

Also, the only thing that ever stopped me upgrading from the HTC Desire to a Samsung Galaxy S2 was the lack of a notification LED.  Crazy Eh?

Finally, I think Google have missed a trick by not including one on the Nexus 7 tablet too.  That would have been a nice touch.

Anyway, I love the little fella.  Long live notification LEDs.

Have we seen the last great Smartphone release?

Will we ever see another “WOW” flagship announcement?
How can the mobile phone hardware get any better than what’s already been released?

After last week’s particularly underwhelming iPhone 5 announcement, it got me thinking that I doubt we’ll ever see another flagship smartphone release that makes us (me) go WOW again.

I think it all started in the October 2011 when Apple released the iPhone 4S, that in itself was just a bump fix release of the iPhone 4 from the previous summer.

A month later, Samsung (along with Google) then released their latest ‘pure’ Android flagship, the Galaxy Nexus, which brought a larger 720p screen to the masses with its 4.65” display.

Then during 2012, HTC (One X), Samsung again (Galaxy S3), Nokia (Lumia 920) and Apple (iPhone 5) have all brought new ‘Flagships’ to market (or are about to).

But when you look at the hardware specs of all of these phones, there is nothing much between them all.

Hence my question, is that it?  

What more can anyone bring to the table other than evolutionary, rather than revolutionary flagship smartphones?

Lets look at the primary components in a little more detail.

CPU/GPU/RAM

I’ve bundled these together as I don’t think there's much point of pouring over the details.  Dual/Quad core, 1 to 2 gb of RAM and a decent GPU chip.  All of which will just keeping ticking over and numbers will bump with every new release.  Agreed?  I suppose the only people that what more and more from this combo are gamers, but that isn’t me.


SCREEN

Phone	Released	Screen Size	Screen Res	Screen DPI
iPhone 4	June 2010	3.5”	960 x 640	326 ppi
iPhone 4S	Oct 2011	3.5”	960 x 640	326 ppi
Galaxy Nexus	Nov 2011	4.65”	1280 x 720	316 ppi
HTC One X	April 2012	4.7”	1280 x 720	312 ppi
Samsung Galaxy S3	June 2012	4.8”	1280 x 720	306 ppi
Nokia Lumia 920	Q4 2012	4.5”	1280 x 768	332 ppi
iPhone 5	Sept 2012	4.0”	1136 x 640	326 ppi

It goes without saying that numbers and specs don’t always tell the true story.  For example, many argue that the HTC One X screen is ‘the’ best mobile phone display, others would say the iPhone.  And its more than just numbers when you consider how the screen is created; Pentile Matrix etc.

But when you see the list as above, what more can come from the manufacturers?

For example, what would you need 1080p for in 4.5”?

I think its a given that any screen in a future flagship phone will be pretty good. All of the above are testament to that.


CAMERA

Phone	Released	Camera Mega-Pixel
iPhone 4	June 2010	5MP
iPhone 4S	Oct 2011	8MP
Galaxy Nexus	Nov 2011	5MP
HTC One X	April 2012	8MP
Samsung Galaxy S3	June 2012	8MP
Nokia Lumia 920	Q4 2012	8.7MP
iPhone 5	Sept 2012	8MP

So in the space of a year, since the release of the highly regarded 8mp camera in the iPhone 4S, nothing much has changed.  The Galaxy S3 uses the same unit as does the new iPhone 5 (albeit a thinner version).  

There could be some mileage in the Nokia “PureView” technology: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nokia_808_PureView

But I think most manufacturers (and consumers) have agreed that a high quality 8MP is more than enough for their flagships.

And from experience, I can confirm that the 5MP camera in the Galaxy Nexus is on the poor side compared to say the iPhone 4S.


BATTERIES & THINNESS

This is my major bug-bear with smartphone manufacturers.  They seem to think that we all want the thinest of devices.  But all this comes at the expense of battery size.

For example, Apple shaved off a couple of mm between the iPhone 4S and 5, but left the battery the same.

Samsung are obssesed with it too, all at the expense of battery capacity.

Personally, i’d be quite happy to have a device half a centimetre thicker to get a much better battery.

Granted, you’d hope as technology advances, CPUs, Screens and the other components may well start to use less juice and give us more than 12 hours of use without having to leap for the charger.

Phone	Thickness	Battery Size
iPhone 4	9.3mm	1420 mAh
iPhone 4S	9.3mm	1430 mAh
Galaxy Nexus	8.95mm	1750 mAh (GSM)
HTC One X	8.9mm	1800 mAh
Samsung Galaxy S3	8.6mm	2100 mAh
Nokia Lumia 920	10.7mm	2000 mAh
iPhone 5	7.6mm	1400 mAh
Motorola RAZR	7.1mm	1780 mAh
Motorola RAZR Maxx	8.99mm	3300 mAh

I have purposely added the Motorola RAZR Android phone to show what can be done with just 2mm extra of thickness above the 'standard' model, virtually double the battery capacity.

I really don’t know why more manufacturers don’t consider this option.


The FUTURE

So if previous release schedules are followed, Google may release their latest ‘Nexus’ smartphone in the coming months.  It will no doubt showcase the latest version of Android (rumoured to be named Key Lime Pie), but what will the hardware comprise of?  

How could it top anything that has already been?

What would I want in it to replace my Galaxy Nexus (GN)?

8MP Camera (I’d be happy with the Galaxy S3 / iPhone 5 camera/sensor)
Notification LED Light (I can’t believe Apple still haven’t put this into the iPhone, its crucial to me)
Screen Size (i’d be happy with 4.5” ish, sometimes the 4.65” is a little on the larger size)
Screen Res (Would have to be 720p though)
Screen Quality (Well at least as good as the HTC One X and iPhone 5..... obviously)
CPU/GPU/RAM (Whatever the latest is, as I said above, i’m not a gamer, so not that bothered)
Battery (3000 mAh please)
Soft Buttons (not keen on physical buttons anymore being a GN owner)
Capacity I've had enough of having to micro-manage the space on my GN. 16gb is NOT enough. Next phone must have 16gb + SD Slot or 32gb. 500 mp3, 1 x Clockwork Mod backup, 1 x Titanium Backup set and you're virtually out of space. Not good enough. :(

* Notification LED has its own blog, its that important: 

http://zarch1972.blogspot.com/2012/09/led-notification-light-most-underated.html

As you can see, its hardly anything that hasn't already been released. Which is the whole point of this blog. But for me, it needs to be all in the right combination, picky eh?

Do you agree with the above? Have I missed anything?

Have we seen everything we are going to see hardware wise?

What technology is coming round the corner to WOW us all?

In the last few months, I come to realise that hardware is becoming more and more irrelevant when it comes to phones and tablets as they can just about already do everything we want them to do. Now, its all about content and the delivery thereof.

"Content is King"....... maybe that will be the title of my next Blog? :-)