I was exaggerating to make the point that LG spends their time targeting and try to compete against Apple, while Apples seems to largely ignore that LG exists in the phone market. I think Apple pays a little more attention to Samsung but not a whole heck of a lot. Its customers are a largely a loyal crowd. There are less of us that play both sides of the fence. In the end we wind up with phones that are increasingly capable. So, after this Fall, months later we'll have phones that best the iPhone in some areas, and that's to be expected since that's the intent. It is my opinion that Apple doesn't pay their competition too much attention and instead focuses more on besting their own previous generation. That's not to say they're blind to what the public wants (cough, iPhone 6 Plus, cough). Soon, Apple will release the next iterations and LG, Samsung, and others will be focusing on how to, next Spring, best what Apple releases this Fall. It's good for us consumers, keeps things interesting and gives us increasingly capable devices.
I have a feeling that not a lot of people use manual mode on the phone. I know some do, but I have sneaking feeling that most don't. So, while it may result in some better pics, if most phone users (including G4 owners) don't use manual mode on their phone's camera that advantage may be lost on most owners. I do think the G4's camera is splendid but I don't think so good it's gonna pull anyone that was considering an S6 or iPhone 6 Plus away. It's just nice to have if you happen to have chosen the G4.
Apple pays a lot of attention to the competition. Where they were once innovators they are now copy cats. Their notification tray? The iPhone 6 plus is targeting note users. They thought wholeheartedly that no phone should be larger than 4 inches. And their last two phoned were all larger. I'm not saying that all other companies are original.... Far from it! But to say that Apple doesn't care about their competition is just silly. All they do is see their competition and copy. The same for Samsung, Sony, LG, etc. Hardly anyone is original anymore xD. It's a shame really. I really liked some of those standout phones from years past.
I think comparing to phones released in the same calendar year is reasonable or you could be comparing to all phones ever released.
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