iPhone Sucks and Apple are Bastards

[systm]

Just A couple of things, Think of it as food for thought.
Sprint IS rolling out what they are calling "4G" but it's really just a supplement to 3G called WIMAX. While down the road it will be faster, the speeds will be nice and the coverage will be substantial, don't expect that when the Evo launches. While that phone is quite sexy in terms of phones, it's just a hybrid love-child of the HD2 for Tmo and the Google Nexus One/HTC Desire.

3G is and still will be the way to go for the next few years. If you do plan on getting locked into a carriers two year-we-own-your-soul contract, there is nothing to worry about other then a high bill every month unless you have one of the aforementioned discounts.

The iPhone, while a quite nice phone, does what every other TRUE smart phone does. It was magical when it first came out, now it's just a one trick pony that is striving to stay on top. Android, RIM's BlackBerry and the soon to be released Windows 7 Phone(s) are going to be taking away from Apple's market share.

Android so far has taken a pretty good chunk out, and is only going to get better once Google is able to hit em where it hurts, Flash and a robust media capable release. Right now the biggest draw back for Android and all the releases are two fold. There is too much diversity when it comes to versions of the OS; Currently 1.5, 1.6, 2.0, & 2.1. The second problem is that while it is excellent at multitasking, Gmail sync, etc, it is a terrible media device. No real sync solution or excellent media player. It has one, but nothing on the level that is comparable to Apple's iDevices.

Sorry if that was a bit long, but there is a lot of information out there.

My Recomendation?
Nexus One for T-Mobile or AT&T @ www.google.com/phone
Wait for the N1 for Verizon to Hit
Wait for the yet unannounced HTC "Incredible"
Get the Motorola Droid
Wait for the EVO for Sprint, But do not op for 4G service unless in a 4G market.

If your abroad (Europe, Asia, etc. Not US)
HTC Desire if you want a larger screen and slimmer device
HTC Legend if you want a solid phone.
Nothing Agains RIM's BB but android is the way to go up till now. Nor am I against Apple's products. Snatched up a 2G 16GB iPhone on ebay and use it off and on via T-mobile. It's nice to have easy to use media player, but the lack of multitasking is a killer.

[mithrilG60]

Originally Posted by systm

The iPhone, while a quite nice phone, does what every other TRUE smart phone does. It was magical when it first came out, now it's just a one trick pony that is striving to stay on top. Android, RIM's BlackBerry and the soon to be released Windows 7 Phone(s) are going to be taking away from Apple's market share.

I would agree with this statement regarding Droid and Win7 based phones, but not regarding Blackberry. Of all the current smart phones on the market, BB is the least functional and is the only one I'd classify as a one trick pony. In fact I'd classify it as borderline obsolete and it will soon be a dying pony if RIM doesn't pull on their innovation panties and come up with a new device in very short order. Despite being essentially nothing more than an email enabled PDA, the BB has survived, basically unchanged, as the defacto smart phone for business applications since it was launched almost a decade ago for two simple reasons:

1) BES integration into MS Exchange
2) corporate inertia towards large scale changes

BB is only just starting to break into the consumer space, and is most failing against the iPhone (and now the Droid's) simply because as a platform it's too focused on business productivity. Since it's introduction it's been basically a glorified Palm Pilot that does over-the-air email/calendar/contacts sync'ing, everything else a smart phone does is a kludge or a hack or both on a BB....... and "everything else" is something which most non-business users care about on at least an equal footing with with email and calendar (probably more). Until RIM manages to innovate a new non-business consumer orientated phone they won't get significant market penetration outside their core area of strength, the corporate enterprise market.

Retaining the corporate market is going to become a major concern for RIM because of one technology: ActiveSync. A true push email/calendar/contacts integration system used to be the sole domain of BES, and it was that mechanism alone that made the BB the ubiquitous corporate device that it currently is. However now that ActiveSync is embedded in Exchange, and included in your Exchange licensing costs unlike BES which is a pricey add-on, it's child's play to set up a true push sync with any iPhone, Droid or Win7 phone. No longer are you tied to a BB if you want your corporate email/calendar/contact, and all the recent survey's I've seen have indicated roughly 7 of 10 current BB users are planning to switch to an iPhone or Droid when their current phone contract expires. When 70% of your customer base is saying they want to switch from your product at their next opportunity, you'd be well advised as a company to sit up and pay attention!

The iPhone, Droid and Win7 phones all have FAR better, more usable interface and RIM's attempt to implement a similar device (the Storm) were not well received because the accuracy of the touch screen was horrible. Similarly finding apps for a Blackberry, surfing the web, etc. are all extremely painful on a BB. While there are certainly hundreds of thousands of meaningless and trival apps for the iPhone there are still hundreds, if not thousands, of really good apps as well. The same be be the case with the Droid once there's been enough time for developers to build unique apps.