This week there’s a report about a new ad campaign from Nokia, comparing their new Lumia 2520 tablet against the iPad. So what did they complain about? Well, it seems that the Lumia has an attachable physical keyboard, but the iPad doesn’t. I’m serious.

Now this approach is nothing new. It’s reminiscent of Microsoft’s ads for the Surface tablet, which made a huge deal about being able use the keyboard that’s embedded in a cover in pictures rather than words. This happened at the same time that one model of the Surface shipped without the keyboard cover. Are you with me so far?

Of course, it’s well known that a number of third-party accessory makers, such as Logitech, do offer iPad keyboards embedded in attachable covers, so where’s the beef? If you need one, you can buy one. If you don’t, you save the money. The real issue is, of course, whether people want or need physical keyboards for tablets as standard issue. That depends on your needs, and I suppose if I wanted to do a lot of writing on an iPad, I’d spring for one of these accessories.

So much for one complaint.

Yet another is about productivity, since the Surface-derived tablets come with Microsoft Office, although the installed version resides in that peculiar universe where it only operates in the desktop layer. It pays lip service to touchscreens in a very awkward fashion. So, yes, you do get productivity apps, but ones that just aren’t suited to the product.

Now I realize Microsoft won’t accept Apple’s free iWork office suite as a genuine collection of productivity apps. Before you get to the features, iWork is optimized for tablets and smartphones, which means they take full advantage of the touchscreen, though nobody stops you from hooking up a regular keyboard. They also read and write Office files, and there’s a decent amount of compatibility. So unless you use the more advanced productivity and formatting features in Microsoft Office, you may be able to get away with using iWork.

And I won’t get into a certain billboard from Microsoft touting Excel on a Surface tablet, which failed to add seven numbers correctly, thus delivering a $500 mistake. Microsoft has, so far, not bothered to correct that error.

So much for the second complaint.

Now the Lumia does have an advantage, which is the promise that 80% of the battery charge process completes in an hour. All right, that’s a good thing, but what about the negatives? What about the fact that there aren’t that many apps for the Windows RT OS yet? What about the fact that the user interface has been roundly criticized as being unintuitive and poorly realized?

Just as important: Does the Lumia offer any material advantage over a Surface 2, aside from the speedier charging feature? Clearly the Surface has gone nowhere in sales, so it’s not at all certain that Nokia, which is closing a deal for Microsoft to take over that division, is going to fare any better.

Yes, I can understand why Nokia wants to convince you that the Lumia tablet is superior to the iPad, but the somewhat misleading ad fails to demonstrate that. It reminds me of those Surface versus iPad TV ads in which Microsoft deliberately reduced the size of Apple’s tablet to make it appear smaller.

The real issue is whether Microsoft can dig in its heels and some day make Windows RT tablets take off. That tact did work with the Xbox gaming console at the expense of billions of dollars of losses over the years. Even though the Xbox is making profits nowadays, those profits will probably never compensate for all the losses. The other question is whether gaming consoles are a via long-term product strategy. Yes, the Xbox One isn’t just a gaming machine; it embeds the sort of entertainment features that you find in an Apple TV, and there’s even a Blu-ray player. But if you’re not into gaming, paying $499.99 for an Xbox One would be overkill.

So where does that leave Apple?

Well, today’s Apple TV is not a gaming machine, but there is a new generation of gaming controllers that mate with an iPhone or a tablet. It would almost seem inevitable that you’ll be able to run the same games on an Apple TV, possibly a feature generation model with more powerful graphics capabilities. Even if Apple upped the price to $149, which is not something I’d expect, plus the cost of the controller, it would still put it way ahead of the Xbox One.

Today, however, you don’t compare the Xbox with an Apple TV. So I don’t expect Microsoft to run ads of that sort. Microsoft also won’t touch the gaming capabilities of an iPhone or an iPad, because it wouldn’t show off the Surface tablet, for which very few games are available. Without high sales, the app universe won’t offer the wealth of titles that Apple offers. That’s yet another inconvenient truth that neither Nokia nor Microsoft will dare mention in their ads.

Not long ago, Eric Schmidt, late of Apple’s board of directors and the present executive chairman at Google, made the silly claim, at a public event no less, than Android was more secure than iOS. Well, perhaps that was his profound belief, though it bought nothing but laughter from the audience. You could almost feel that Schmidt had become the politician who sticks to ridiculous talking points regardless of the facts.

Well, it appears that Schmidt is at it again, this time pretending that loads of iPhone users are rushing to move from iOS to Android. So he writes, “many of my iPhone friends are converting to Android. The latest high-end phones from Samsung (Galaxy S4), Motorola (Verizon Droid Ultra) and the Nexus 5 (for AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile) have better screens, are faster, and have a much more intuitive interface. They are a great Christmas present to an iPhone user!”

Or is that the equivalent of putting a brick in your Christmas stocking?

As with his bizarre comments about the Android security situation, Schmidt is imagining situations that don’t exist when it comes to the iPhone compared to his preferred handsets. Now I don’t dispute his contention that “many of his friends are converting to Android.” Perhaps he limits his association to people who aren’t using iPhones, or are leaving the platform for some reason. In the real world, several times as many people leave Android for the iPhone than vice versa.

While claims of a “much more intuitive interface” are subjective, it’s clear that the iPhone 5s is usually faster than the speediest high-end Android phones, such as the Samsung Galaxy S4. I’m sure many of you are aware of Samsung’s software trick, which hotrods (overclocks) the S4 processor when certain benchmark apps are run. Talk about cheating. What’s more, Android lags seriously on lesser hardware. Even on the fastest smartphones, screen movement proceeds in tiny jerks, rather than smoothly, as on almost any Apple mobile gadget.

The claim of “better screens” may be true if you consider display size. If you consider how, say, a Galaxy S4 works in sunlight, the answer is that it doesn’t. The AMOLED screen is totally washed out. At least the iPhone is visible. Not super bright by any means, but visible and usable.

Or maybe Schmidt has joined the editors of Consumer Reports in testing these things indoors. Maybe he just doesn’t get out much.

Now obviously what Schmidt says is meant as corporate spin. Google wants you to believe Android and Android handsets are superior to the iPhone. While Android sales trump the iPhone, no single model sells more than Apple. And 70% of those Android sales are for low-end crap, which doesn’t do much to show off the best the platform can deliver. Handset makers don’t make any profits from these sales either, although some businesses are merely happy to have decent cash flow I suppose.

In any case, Schmidt’s occasional flights of fancy are far tamer than what you’ve heard from outgoing Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer over the years. He dismissed the iPhone and the iPad as being, for all intents and purposes, irrelevant. But Microsoft hasn’t been able to do much with Windows Phone, and the Surface tablet has yet to find a market. Sure, Ballmer can gloat over the clear success of the Xbox One, and it does appear to be a credible upgrade for the company’s gaming console.

But Microsoft is still facing some strong headwinds in trying to keep Windows, Office and Windows Phone relevant. Apple’s decision to make the iWork office suite, and OS X Mavericks for that matter, free, has really put the screws to Microsoft. It’s not that the company can give away software that drives most of their income, although Microsoft Office will remain the standard bearer in businesses regardless of the purchase price. Here Google Docs is probably the most serious competitor, for many businesses have decided that they don’t need to pay a bundle for productivity apps. Regardless, Microsoft loses.

As to Google, I wonder just how much attention Android is earning these days. Having the number one mobile platform may sound really nice as a marketing talking point, but it has not delivered huge stacks of cash to the company. People who buy cheap Android handsets are not inclined to actually pay anything for apps, which doesn’t help developers, or enhance Google’s commission for sales from the Google Play store.

Even though distribution of the latest Android, 4.4 KitKat, is expanding, hundreds of millions of Android handsets and tablets will never receive that upgrade.

But I wonder if Schmidt cares. Besides, I expect he’s smart enough to know that his silly remarks about Android security and what makes the best mobile gadget stocking stuffer are nothing more than market speak. It’s not as if he is going to suddenly admit that Apple still has the better platform, and still earns far more profit than all those hundreds of millions of Android gadgets deliver to Google. I only wonder why anyone is taking him seriously, that’s all.

As I write this column, Apple is just starting to catch up on deliveries of the iPhone 5s. Online shipments are now promised within the three to five business days timeframe and the holiday season is still young. But that’s better than a week or two. Besides, you stand a chance of finding the one you want, even gold, at a local dealer if you just check around.

Now this isn’t unusual for an iPhone. The new model is almost always back ordered for a while, and supplies don’t catch up with demand for a couple of months. That’s supposed to be a good thing, but Apple’s ongoing iPhone success hasn’t stopped a very few tech pundits who want to spin the improvement in availability as something bad.

Really! It seems that this situation is being regarded as evidence a falloff in iPhone 5s demand, rather than production improvements. Fewer people want them, so they are more readily available. End of story. Of course, there’s really no evidence that such a thing is true, although it’s clear that the 5s is outselling the 5c. But is that a failure for the cheaper iPhone?

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Let me put my cards on the table first. I absolutely hate the term “phablet,” something that describes a swollen smartphone with a display that’s exceeds five inches, which appears to also function as a tiny tablet. However, the tech media has decided that the term is appropriate, so I’ll give them their due.

Certainly, there are loads of products that fill that space. Many of them, from Samsung and other companies, were no doubt designed with the philosophy that if you throw a bunch of darts in the air, some will find their target. So you have every conceivable size of smartphone and then some. No matter what size you prefer, there’s probably something to fill that need, although display size is just one spec among many.

Now it’s fair to say that I doubt that people petitioned Samsung and other companies asking them to make phablets. At the same time, folks who regard the smaller smartphones as offering insufficient screen real estate no doubt appreciate the larger sizes, even if there are notable tradeoffs. So, the logic goes, Apple is missing out on hundreds of millions of potential iPhone sales by not releasing them in more sizes.

Apple’s argument with the 4-inch iPhone 5 series is that it’s larger than the original iPhone, but still not so large as to inhibit one-handed operation. Sure, that size may be a bit much for people who have small hands, but the 5-inch Samsung Galaxy S4 and similar handsets are even less convenient. They are also tight fits in your wallet, and aren’t always suited to a small purse. But, as I said, people buy them nonetheless, and they seem satisfied. Reviewers like them too, but I wasn’t enamored of the Galaxy S4 as you readers know. The larger screen was nice and all, but there were too many shortcomings.

Samsung’s fatal flaw is choosing an AMOLED display, at least when it comes to the present state of the art perhaps. Now a related technology, OLED, is used for some really expensive smart TV sets, and they are well rated for picture quality assuming you can afford upwards of $9,000 for one. On the Samsung, the 5-inch display delivers a sharp, bright picture, but it totally washes out in sunlight. Sure, an iPhone dims noticeably, but still manages to be readable.

Aside from that very serious shortcoming, which has been overlooked by some tech reviewers as if it’s not important, the larger display will require more juice to power, meaning you need a larger battery or you have to put up with shorter battery life. There’s also the question of fragmentation. Aside from the fact that most Android smartphones and tablets cannot be updated to the latest and greatest OS, developers have to allow for loads of different display sizes, resolutions and aspect ratios. All told, there have to be compromises, which means that apps may not appear in the best light on some models.

For iOS, Apple has limited display configurations. There are two existing form factors for the iPhone and two for the iPad, which is with or without Retina displays. Even though the iPad mini is smaller than the iPad Air, the screen resolution is identical. The iPad 2 and the original iPad mini also share screen resolutions. So it’s either standard definition or high definition roughly speaking. Again, developers have an easier task to optimize their apps for best performance, and the most consistent look and feel.

So if Apple adds one or two larger iPhones, they would probably work out screen resolutions that were proportional to the existing iPhones. Perhaps twice as many pixels would be used for the rumored 4.9-inch model, assuming one ever appears. Rumors of an iPad Pro, at 12.9-inches or thereabouts, focus on yet a higher resolution, or just providing the same setup as the 9.7-inch model. The assumption might be that the reduced number of pixels per inch would be compensated for by the fact that you don’t hold it as close to your eyes.

At the end of the day, Apple CEO Tim Cook hasn’t denied that Apple is considering a larger iPhone. He talked of tradeoffs in quality and longevity, but that merely means that Apple would simply announce the problems have been resolved, and here’s their solution.

The latest rumors do make it seem as if the larger iPhone is indeed coming, perhaps by the fall of 2014. Again, it’s fair to assume that all sorts of iPhone and iPad configurations have been delivered in prototype form. It almost seems as if a company like Samsung will just release nearly everything that makes it to the prototype stage. Apple, however, will be far more circumspect about which products get the green light.

Besides, if an iPhone Maxi, or whatever it’s called, does see the light of day, perhaps it will be just another entrant in the lineup. It won’t replace the 4-inch iPhone 5 series, although 2014 will see the end of the 3.5-inch form factor, which presently survives in the iPhone 4S.