iPhone/Android/iPad oh my!

[chadizzy1]

iPhone/Android

So, what do people think of the future of phones? I'm an Apple fanboy, I'll be the first to admit it, but the Android does look so damn cool. What does everyone think about the next wave of phones?

iPad

I'll admit, I'm intrigued. I'll probably buy one, day one of the sale. Overnight campout, everything. It just sounds cool, and I don't know anything about it other than rumors.

Anyone looking forward to 27 January?

[Veganpunk]

I'm happy with the iphone I have.

[daruckis]

my brother just got a droid and i am really jealous of it. the apps are sweet, but i mean, the iphones apps are sweet too. the real star of the show is the android operating system. its too expensive for me, though he did say he knows someone who got a sprint hero on the android OS and it does mostly the same stuff and its way cheaper. plus sprints got 4g internet now, so i might be looking into that. theres also the droid eris, 100 bucks cheaper than the droid, still on verizon, only thing its missing is the slideout keyboard, but the on screen one works much better anyway. the droids slide keyboard feels bunched together and hard to type with.

[adm]

Im an Apple fanboy too......although i use a blackberry as a phone right now.

I was about to get an iPhone, but I know for a fact there'll be a new version out in May which will have a 5MP camera, so I'll wait for that release now.

As for the iSlate/iTablet......not sure yet. I'll have to see what the feature set is next week, then make a decision.....although I'm probably kidding myself here and will most likely buy one anyway (I bought the original Apple Newton waaaaaaay back in the early 90s when it was released.)

[RedMacGregor]

I'm typing this on a macbook pro, so I don't hate apple, but....

i have an android (G1) and will upgrade to a nexus one soon.

apps are usually free. even the good apps. the google/gmail integration is completely awesome, no more worrying about copying contacts over, it just uses my gmail address book natively. wife and I share calendars and dates she posts shows up on my phone instantly and vice/versa.

the camera is a little weak, but the nexus one fixes that, 5mp camera with a flash. Extensible storage is nice too, can use multiple sd-micro cards if you run outta room.

having a real keyboard is awesome too, but the virtual keyboard is on par with the iPhone.

I don't have to use AT&T for my provider if i don't want to, and moving to another provider doesn't mean rooting or jailbreaking my phone like it does with the iPhone.

If you want a nice tool, get an android. If you want a cool toy and want to be one of the mindless masses, get an iPhone.

[truthwolf1]

Dont trust myself with nice things because they drop on hard surfaces, sometimes in toilets, get lost because of kids and I never use the phone for anything other then phone calls and reading other peoples texts.

All I want is something that a car can run over, has a long battery life/good reception and a high pitched fire alarm sound I can engage when I lose it in the house.

[sgreger1]

Google fanboi here.

So you know my answer.

I will follow google faithfully untill the day it eventually becomes self aware and dominates the world.


As for the tablets, I think these readers are strangely remniscent of Star Trek, and I like it, but they are too expensive. Also, first couple generations always suck on new things so i'll probably wait a while but definately plan on getting one.

[daruckis]

Dont trust myself with nice things because they drop on hard surfaces, sometimes in toilets, get lost because of kids and I never use the phone for anything other then phone calls and reading other peoples texts.

All I want is something that a car can run over, has a long battery life/good reception and a high pitched fire alarm sound I can engage when I lose it in the house.

helio ocean is for you then.

[RRK]

I am mostly interested in the new iPhone software. I won't be buying a tablet for a couple of generations unless someone gets it for me but I do think it is possible that this could mark the beginning of a new definition for personal computer. The Droid does look like a good phone but I totally disagree with the suggestion that the iPhone is a toy and the Droid is a tool. If I was a true fanboy I would use the word tool in a different way but I stopped fighting that fight almost 10 years ago. I like the Droid because I know that it will force Apple to one up them and that kind of competition will be a win for everyone. Technology is cool. :!:

[Ainkor]

We are a 3 iPhone family (My 3gs, my wifes 3gs and my oldest sons 3g). Heck, even my 13 year old has an iPod Touch. as far as the iPhone, I love them. I manage about 200 people and in many ways, it has made my work life much better. Show me any other cellphone/PDA that allows me to do this scenario:

Check a stores schedule via drop box (app)

Check last nights performance numbers for 10 stores via an emailed 100k cell spreadsheet

Remote connect to a store and provide on the spot coaching for hourly performance while being 100 miles away

Track notes going back almost two years

Play Civilization on the go

Share my 3g signal with multiple laptops on the fly when our tech guy forgets to bring a wireless router

Check our customer service survey results on the fly as needed

(yes, this was all in one morning, heck, most mornings!)

Now, in all fairness, Android is hot. It is pushing other mobile computer devices to the next level, and that's how it should be. I have a top of the line Windows Mobile phone too, but its not even close. While Windows Mobile (WM) and Android have similar apps, they are not even close to the polish that the iPhone or even the iPod Touch have.

Here is a side by side comparison:

Email - All of them have it, but Apple does Exchange Active Sync better than WM does! Android is ok, but exchange activesync is spotty and requires a 3rd party program, which is still buggy as hell. Our VP always has problems with forwarding emails and reading attachments.

Web Browsing - The iPhone is hands down a better browser, no questions asked

Games - Don't even go there. iPhone owns here

Logmein - It's on the iPhone and WM, but WM's sucks balls and the only remote access solution on Android is VNC. Random open ports on a router are a big no no to be considered PCI compliant (Credit cards).

3g - AT&T is at about 2m on downloads where I am which is about twice as fast as Verizon

Business documents - Incredibly enough, Apple does Word, Excel and Powerpoint better than WM. It did cost me $10, but hell, try to look at a reasonably complex spreadsheet on a WM phone and its a joke. In all fairness to Android, it has the same app for office documents but until the Droid came out, it was just too slow.

Our VP has a Droid and yes, sometimes I do lust at it, the iPhone is a better business class phone for a mobile professional, hands down. This is one area that I consider myself a pro at.

I am in no way a fanboy, I am a business professional that needs a device that compliments the fast paced environment that I work in. I have high hopes for Android and with a few more revisions and as their app selections fills out, it will improve I am sure. Until the day I can get exactly what i need from it, I won't consider it.

Oh, and all you iPhone users, jailbreak your device. It's incredible what can be done once you do that. It turns it from a great device into a complete mobile office that can do some pretty far out things.

[RedMacGregor]

above post is not a good review of android.. 2nd hand references?

android is made to be used with gmail. it does what it was mean to do better than anything else.

[Ainkor]

above post is not a good review of android.. 2nd hand references?

android is made to be used with gmail. it does what it was mean to do better than anything else.

Oh I agree. I haven't used an Android phone for more than a few minutes here and there. If they didn't cost so much off contract I would for sure buy one. In fact, I bought a G1 when they first came out but couldn't justify to my wife why I spent over $400 on a phone :P

I'm sure that it is a cool device and while I can't give a comprehensive review, my opinions are based on my handling of the Driod. I constantly hear from our VP "Wow, is that for Driod too?" There are things that an iPhone does better, in my opinion, and our VP's.

Once Android matures a bit, I am sure that it will be on par with the iPhone, but even as almost every single review says (either directly or in a round about way) Android 2.1 is not as polished as the 3.1 version of the iPhone software. Hell, the voice input for all fields for Android 2.1 is just about the most kick ass new tech I've seen.

Trust me, if money were no option, I would own a N1 along side my 3gs and my Touch Pro 2. I just love mobile tech that much.

[adm]

I'm typing this on a macbook pro, so I don't hate apple, but....

i have an android (G1) and will upgrade to a nexus one soon.

apps are usually free. even the good apps. the google/gmail integration is completely awesome, no more worrying about copying contacts over, it just uses my gmail address book natively. wife and I share calendars and dates she posts shows up on my phone instantly and vice/versa.

the camera is a little weak, but the nexus one fixes that, 5mp camera with a flash. Extensible storage is nice too, can use multiple sd-micro cards if you run outta room.

having a real keyboard is awesome too, but the virtual keyboard is on par with the iPhone.

I don't have to use AT&T for my provider if i don't want to, and moving to another provider doesn't mean rooting or jailbreaking my phone like it does with the iPhone.

If you want a nice tool, get an android. If you want a cool toy and want to be one of the mindless masses, get an iPhone.

I disagree. Partly - due to my location and needs.

The iPhone is available on the major three networks in the UK: O2, Vodafone and Orange, so you're not stuck with a network you don't like.

As for mail, I don't use gmail, so that's no issue - but i DO have to use MS Exchange for Corporate mail, and iPhone integrates perfectly with that, as well as with my Mobile Me account for personal mail. I guess this point all depends on whether or not you use gmail/exchange/mobile me etc....

As for the apps, free doesn't mean good! To be honest, i'd rather pay developers to do something well, and iPhone/iPod Touch apps are well polished and conform to certain guidelines. While i am a fan of open source in concept, i find that in practice it means that a lot of stuff just doesn't go through proper quality control.

As for the phone hardware itself, I just prefer the look and feel of the Apple products. They do a great job, and from what I've seen so far, the N1 is behind the curve here. In fact, all other handsets are behind the curve, but that's pretty much the same in the laptop/desktop arena with Apple vs. other lesser computers (my opinion only - but Apple does do hardware aesthetics and ergonomics really well)

Extensible storage is a superb thing to have and iPhone falls down here. Lack of removable battery is another issue, but I have the same thing on my Macbook Pro and in practice it hasn't been a bad thing.

But - I still haven't bought an iPhone myself - or an Android phone for that matter as I find that the best tool of all for what I need to do is still the blackberry - even with it's horrible UI and crappy screen. It just gets the mail/phone/calendar/tasks thing done as part of a corporate network.

I am very tempted though and will most likely switch to iPhone at the next release in May. I have never really used camera phones as I have a 12MP full frame dSLR for my photography needs, but the camera modules in cellphones are now getting to the point that they are almost usable (in my opinion). Not as a real camera replacement, but as an "aways there" option. Now when the software gets to the point that they can do proper OCR successfully, then for me that would be a killer app.

[RedMacGregor]

i didn't say the apps were good because they were free, i said the good apps were largely free..


I've lived with a G1, Blackberry, iPhone, all of 'em. The G1 has been going for a year and a half, it's got the longest usable lifespan of any "smartphone" type device i've ever used, and still continues to impress me...

iPhone users sure are militant & defensive tho.. I'd rather have a usable tool than be a hipster doofus.

[daruckis]

alls i gotta know, is if theres a star trek tng tricorder app on the iphone. because my brother has that shit on his droid and i was totally geeked on it.