Personally I like the functionality and the fun an iPhone can provide. But when it comes to functionality I think it may be better to go for a Blackberry. A third option are the phones offered by several different manufacturers with the Android operating system by Google. Although the Android store is not as extensive as the Apps store from Apple it does give you other options.
My search for a new cell phone has revealed many options are available for phone types of which I am leaning towards an Android based phone. For the carrier I am looking at few phones are available. However once you know the specs and the technology they use it opens up a whole new dimension of choice. I have identified several phones in which I like however, was shocked to find out the phones I did like varied in versions of software from new depending on the manufacturer. My thought was, that similar to new product development a certain minimum standard would have existed in the latest iterations of these phones similar to that of an OS like Windows 7.0 or Snow Leopard from Apple.
After reading reviews of several sites and investigating each phone I am interested in I have found that the latest versions of these phones do not come with the same level OS as I thought. They range from version 1.5 . 2.1. for Android. Also, when looking at the specs the Android OS version is difficult to find. It seems the Androidsphere chosen by developers are not necessarily the latest and greatest. Wouldn’t choosing different versions of the OS in which to develop would limit the diversification of the application? Might that also not limit the number of manufacturers that your application would work on?
I have seen a lot of reported complaints for the iPhone 4 ranging from poor reception to a yellowish tint on the screen. Could this be another product rushed to market without proper testing ? In the case of Apple this seems unlikely but in a rush to release the 4th generation phone especially with strong competition from Google & HTC, Sony/Ericsson, Nokia, RIM etc. the bar for smart phones has been raised.
Do the carriers even offer 4G services, and if so will it live upto the hype that phones are capable of, will it make enterprise communication easier for say mobile enterprise applications such as collaboration and CRM, how much will the service be, is it significantly different from 3GS service, will there a standardization on an OS from Android depending on manufacturer, how would you know the difference from a service point of view are all questions that may need to be answered before the networks and service catch upto the hardware. A correction here noted by one of our readers – I was not sure that service providers offered 4G services or not. However, the phone is a 4th generation not the network service provided. The iPhone 4 is still a 3G phone.
To Blackberry or to iPhone that is the question…to which I still have no idea after all the research with the different phones I have looked at. Seems I have more questions than some of the answers available. Any thoughts of user experience by phone would be helpful. Particularly the iPhone, BB, HTC, Google/Android, Sony Experia X10 phone experiences I am looking for. Feel free to leave a comment or send me something on www.twitter.com/eval_source or [email protected]
