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Apple and Google have been at war for domination over the mobile segment since forever, and as any war goes, things start to get dirty at one point. This is exactly the case of the Nexus 6, Google’s most recent flagship phablet phone, which is said to have been sabotaged by Apple before it even hit the market.
Whether it was actually a sabotage, or an ingenious highly-strategic business decision is not clear. What is clear, though, is that the whole situation is bound to bring the Apple vs. Android war to a whole new level, as Google will definitely put up a fight.
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Nexus 6 escalated Apple vs Android war
How It All Started
Even though the Nexus 6 was bound to hit the market Q4 2014 – Q1 2015, Apple’s plan to cripple it dates all the way back to 2012, with the acquisition of a company called AuthenTec.
While it’s not uncommon for Apple to acquire companies every now and then, AuthenTec was not just any company, but rather one that would later on prove to be a crucial piece of the puzzle.
The company was specialized in mobile security and biometrics, the latter field being the main interest of Apple, as well as other companies, which were all looking to tap into a whole new world of mobile security: fingerprint scanners.
AuthenTec was far ahead other companies in the field, so when Apple purchased it, it essentially established itself as the leader in the field of mobile security by integrating AuthenTec’s technology into the iPhone 5S.
While previous attempts to use fingerprint scanning were made by other companies before, it was Apple that really made the technology popular by integrating it into the operating system seamlessly.
The Implications
With AuthenTec under Apple’s wing, all the other phone manufacturers had to resign with using other vendors, which proved to be problematic due to the lack of competitive products that could match AuthenTec’s.
It is with this premise in mind that Google opted not to include a fingerprint scanner at all in the Nexus 6. This will automatically put the Nexus 6 behind Apple’s current flagship models, the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus, both featuring the Touch ID fingerprint reading technology, but Google is still convinced on making the Nexus 6 a tough competitor for Apple.
Nexus 6 – Can It Step Up?
Apple is aware that it has the ball in its court, so it is making an extra effort to make the most of it. Aside from improving the Touch ID technology even more, it also made it a centerpiece of its upcoming payment system, Apple Pay.
Touch ID was available first in the iPhone 5S, but it was usable only to lock and unlock the phone via fingerprint; however, with its introduction in the iPhone 6 and the new iOS 8, Touch ID got better and more useful: it can now be used by third party apps as well, thus enhancing the usability and security of apps as well.
So, what does the Nexus 6 have to compensate? Truth be told, it has nothing. Nothing yet, at least, but Google is bound to eventually find a solution. Fellow teammate on the Android side, Samsung, is experimenting with a fingerprint reading technology that works quite well, so it might not be long before Google adopts it as well, and while the technology won’t make it in the Nexus 6, it will make it into the next model.
Conclusion
Even without fingerprint reading, the Nexus 6 is powerful and feature-rich, and is bound to be one serious competitor for the iPhone 6 Plus, proving that fingerprint reading is not absolutely essential yet. Your move should be Apple.
