Larger technology companies seem to have more commonality in their products. This is probably not surprising: after all, if only a few giant companies develop smartphone operating systems, chances are they will get closer over time as companies borrow from each other, they continue to play lipfrog with innovation.
Like any giant company, it’s not uncommon for Apple to have features similar to those rolled out by competitors. But it is rarely a good idea to ignore it, even when it is created by a competitor (for example, a graphical user interface on a desktop computer).
This past week, Google held its annual I / O Developers Conference, where it showcased a ton of new devices and features for its products. And, as always, there were some people who mentioned that many people seem to have pulled directly from Apple products. So, due to the fair play, there are a few places where Apple might be able to take a clue from its biggest competitors.
Up to the right
The iPad is the undisputed leader in the tablet industry. No other company has been able to match Apple’s success in this category. But that doesn’t mean everyone else will stop trying. Google announced last week that it would launch its own Android-powered tablet in 2023 and gave a quick preview of the device.
The front camera of the Pixel tablet is on the right side.
Which, surprisingly, looks a lot like an iPad. That’s right, a tablet is a device that is basically all-screen – how different can it look?
However, there was one notable difference: the camera on the front of the Pixel tablet was in the middle. Long From the edge of the display and, from what Google has shown, the company initially seems to be pushing the idea that it is a landscape device. Here’s what Apple can do better: The iPad camera on the front is attached to one of the iPad’s smaller edges, which not only makes video conferencing calls a nuisance (wait, where am I looking again?) But also avoids experience with Face ID. The device where you seem to be constantly receiving the “Camera covered” message.
Apple is already selling covers that are designed to help the iPad into landscape mode and turn keyboards into laptops. Landscape is obviously the preferred adaptation for users, but apparently, the front camera has not yet received the message.
Talk to me
As Siri, Google Assistant, and Alexa all fight it, voice assistants remain a popular field for technology companies. Google’s recent updates have introduced a quick phrase option to improve the reliability and ease of talking to assistants, allowing you to choose a few commands that can be issued without the voice assistant waking up (such as “Hey Google” ), A look and talk feature that tells Google Assistant when you’re talking to it and thus when you pause or don’t remember the right word for something, the word awakening is not needed and better understood.
There will be improvements to Google Assistant that will help fill in the gaps in vocal commands.
These are all innovations that Siri can use very well. In particular, the Look & Talk feature seems to be one that Apple has all the ingredients for, at least on devices equipped with Face ID. And if the company plans to go into the “wireless speakers with screens” section of the voice assistant market, that feature will be a special boon there.
I’m a little more adept at quick phrases, if only because we’re all used to addressing our virtual assistants while talking to them, I appreciate that Google allows you to choose which phrases you want to hear. And Apple needs to improve the recognition of Siri’s suspended speech or forgotten words in question: there have been times when I’ve eagerly ended up playing the wrong song with an assistant – usually at a very loud volume – when I stumbled on my way through a title.
Found in translation
One of Google’s final announcements in the I / O presentation was its most ambitious. CEO Sundar Pichai has introduced a video featuring a new pair of augmented reality glasses বিশেষ specifically, a feature that can interpret a foreign language and display translations on a head-up display like real-life subtitles.
Apple hasn’t spent much time playing its AR ambitions over the last several years, but what it can still offer is a killer feature, especially when it comes to why people are willing to wear a pair of glasses over their face. An AR anchors its ambitions with an application both intended to keep you in the real world. And Highlighting the elements of accessibility that Apple likes to talk about, Google seems to have stolen some Cupertino lightning.
Google has introduced AR glasses that can translate languages in real-time.
Needless to say, Apple’s own Killer AR feature isn’t on its sleeve. It has been translated in a big way through its translation app, which was first introduced in iOS 14 But Google still has a long way to go in this area, so even if Apple introduced its own AR translation feature, it might still have a lot to offer.
Still, AR and VR are poised to be the next major battlefield for big technology, so this will hardly be the last time we see companies borrowing features from each other in a constant game of one-upmanship. And as long as this process makes the products better for the users, what is there to borrow a little from friends?