I am a Verizon subscriber, and considering an upgrade. Do I go with the Andriod? Or, do I wait until January for the iPhone? I would love to hear from you if you own either or both of these as to what you perceive their advantages to be, especially if you compared the two before buying.
Thomas F. Lebens
In my opinion I would wait. In addition to seeing what iPhone 4 will be like on Verizon, there is also the Windows Phone 7 option coming out in November on multiple carriers with multiple phones. If you use SharePoint in your office, this will be a big hit. Although I am quite doubting it will be as good as iPhone 4, it might be worth checking out. As for Android, it seems to be getting better and better, but I still don't think it holds a candle to iPhone 4.
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If you're leaning toward an iPhone I would definitely agree and wait for the Verizon version.
That said two things prevent me from wanting an iPhone:
I'm probably in a minority. I don't use Microsoft products at home or at work. I only use Macs occasionally at work. For me I need a phone that doesn't ever require being tethered to a computer for any reason.
I don't have either, but I do frequently setup both to work with our corporate email, calendar, contacts, etc.
I'm trying to figure out a way to convince work I need a Droid 2. After all we just made the switch to Google Apps so I should know first hand how that works in Android :)
I do really like how the Exchange Account setup works exceptionally well with Google Apps accounts so Calendar, Email, Contact synchronization for the iPhone is a snap.
I was just comparing the Droid X and Droid 2 this morning and one feature they both had I really liked was you can use either as mobile 3G hotspot and support 5 wifi devices. Which would be handy if you had a laptop, iPad or iPod touch or any combination of the three and you weren't in wifi hotspot . You wouldn't need to buy a MiFi and extra data plan to do the same thing or shell out the extra cash for a 3G iPad and extra data plan. I should note I didn't really research it so I guess additional charges could apply if you use it as mobile hotspot, but I don't think so.
I now have an iPad and a Blackberry and am waiting to see about the iPhone or Android. However, I have an observation to make about the iPad verses Blackberry. When the iPad is disconnected, I can read email, but I cannot write email and "send" it for later transmission when I am connected., and I cannot move email to folders when I am disconnected -- both generate an error message. I can do both of these things with the Blackberry, and it syncs up when I connect again.
Does the iPhone have the same limitation? Does the Android? This is a very significant issue, as I can get a lot done on the Blackberry on the airplane, or when the battery is too low for radio use, but I am dead in the water with the iPad under these circumstances (at least until they put WiFi on more airplanes).
Both my iPad and Blackberry are connected through Exchange (or BES). This would be true if I got an iPhone or an Android.
Any insights would be greatly appreciated.
Hi Tom,
I just ran a test on my IPone by putting it into airplane mode. I was able to send emails and reply to them with out a problem. When I took it out of airplane mode, it sends the messages. The thing I could not do was "Move" messages or "Delete" them while disconnected. So this is definately something to consider. I would still lean towards the IPhone, but I might be biased since I love mine so much.
I would bet that the new Windows Phone 7 has offline support like the Blackberry, but I am not certain on that.
Good Luck with your decision,
My iPad is a WiFi edition. I wonder if the functionality is any different on the 3G version, i.e., I wonder if it is more like the iPhone.
I like the UI, but being able to triage emails into folders while offline for later review would be missed if I could not do that.
Thomas:
I use AT&T - not important in this note. I have 10 cell phones on one account and another 10 phones that I switch in and out of service, depending on the country I travel. One of my active phones is an Android. None are iPhones. There, a base for my answer. My answer - use an Android phone. This is where the world is moving.
Rick May
I think Andriod is a very nice platform. However, I wouldn't be so certain that the world is moving to it exclusively. While it is a great system and is growing wildly, it is not without problems. There are lots of issues with the platform having too many types of hardware which makes it difficult for developers to trust that their apps are going to work. This problem also makes it frustrating for end users. They also need to figure out how to get the Andriod updates out more quickly and consistently to all of the devices. Having lots of versions of the OS in the wild also makes things difficult for developers as well. Apple has huge advantages in this regard. Also, with Microsoft's phone platform coming online, there is going to be more competition in the marketplace. I think the long term success of all of these phones is going to depend on how easy it is for developers to make money on their platform. Each of them have their strengths right now, but I imagine that they will all slowly converge and features won't matter as much. It will end up coming down to phones and apps. Apple also has a huge advantage with the success of the iPad. The Android tablets are coming, but with them are more challenges of lots of types of hardware. Only time will tell and as of right now, i think it is too early to make broad generalizations about which way the world is going.
Anyway, this is my 2 cents :-)
An intewresting article re: iPhone and Android
http://technolog.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2010/11/01/5389935-iphone-is-no-1-phone-while-android-is-no-1-os
Great Article! I have wondered what the diversity in Android products will do to its developers. Speaking from experience with Windows Mobile development, it was a nightmare. Writing apps was painful if you wanted your app to work on all devices. The trouble was it was difficult know how an app would work or act on all devices since there were so many different form factors and screen sizes. The major thing we see happening in the iPhone app store is that a single person or very small teams of developers can build some great apps. When developers start having to support all of the different screen sizes, it becomes much more difficult as the amount of work involved goes up. Trying to make an app like on a small screen might require a completely different user interface then an app on a large screen. I think small shops will choose just not to support all devices which will lead to customer frustration. If I buy an iPhone, I know all the apps I hear about will work on it. As the Android market continues to fragment with more and more devices, this same conclusion most likely won't be true. Android could very well end up being as problematic as Windows Mobile was. I think Microsoft was smart to limit the hardware that can be used with their new Windows Phone 7 OS. Time will tell what is the most important and what will end up dominating the market.
Tom,
The Andoid, I have an X does que up the email deletes and folder moves until reconnected to the world. As for the dilema of choosing Iphone over Android, Trudie and I have ipads, I have an imac with dual operating systems (Snow Leopard and Windows) and have the Droid. Real potential issue for me on the iphone is the following. The ipad is great, and I assume the iphone would be very similar in how it interfaces to the world, but as something more than a novice user of computers I keep running into little, i want to force it to do this or store something this way, issues on the ipad. I overlook it, because all the other andoid pads I have seen just don't cut the mustard compared to the ipad and it seems will be this way for some time into the future. However with the phone I like the ability to use some things as default as the phone came, and then have apps with an interface which allows me to mess up my phone to my hearts content if I'm not carefull, but allow me to do what I want to do with other things.
My 2 cents. Good luck
Ty
So, I have now had the Samsung Focus Windows Phone 7 for almost a month and I must admit I really like it. I was pretty addicted to my iPhone and I wasn't certain that the change was something I would stick with. I saw and played with early versions of the Windows Phone and I wasn't impressed. Coupling that with the way Microsoft had lagged in the market and the horrible experience I had with Windows Mobile, i didn't have much hope.
Live TilesTo my surprise, I have not missed my iPhone at all. Now, when I look at the iPhone UI it actually feels antiquated. I absolutely love the live tiles on the windows phone. Android had active desktop content before Windows and now I don't see how Apple's next major release won't have it. Live content on the main screen of your phone is extremely useful.
KeyboardThe on screen soft keyboard is the best I have used. I love the way it works, the always on screen comma and period, and the word suggestion feature is truly helpful. I was quite surprised that they could actually one up the iPhone soft keyboard experience.
EmailEmail, the original topic of this conversation is absolutely phenomenal on the Windows Phone. It is by far better than any other mobile email I have ever experience. Microsoft really hit it out of the park with this one. It does a much better job than the iPhone in rendering HTML email, its productivity features are far better as you can manage all email, contact, and calendar information offline with it syncing the next time you connect.
CalendaringThe calendar/scheduling is very nice and I feel it is better also. It works well, has a better UI, and it is easier to use. Once of my favorite features is that the lock screen shows me a list of all of my upcoming appointments at all times.
Office IntegrationThe office integration is also excellent. I have used this a ton and believe it or not, it is useful to be able to edit an excel document from your phone while out of the office. The OneNote integration/synchronization through SkyDrive is very cool. This is nothing new as Evernote has been doing this for a long time. However, I love OneNote and I finally have it everywhere I go.
Social IntegrationThe social integration of the Windows Phone is awesome! I think they nailed this and I love it. It certainly does simplify my life by making it easier to stay in contact and up-to-date with what is going on in my social circles.
Back ButtonI was surprised by this feature. When I first heard they were putting a back button on the phone, I thought it was kind of lame. Boy was I wrong on this assumption. The back button makes navigating the phone so much quicker. It really decreases my need for multi-tasking for most applications and it is slick. One of the things I always hated about the iPhone experience is that when I am in email and I click on a link, it takes 2 clicks to get back to reading the email. The back button solves this and it is fast.
Things I missDon't get me wrong, the new Windows Phone is not perfect and there is a lot of room for improvement. I certainly miss Copy/Paste (Feature Coming in January). I really miss visual voicemail and I was shocked and disappointed to find out it wasn't available (Rumored to be coming in an update). There is still no Pandora App and I do miss that. I am sure a Zune pass would eliminate that need, but I am not sure I want the extra expense. There are not as many apps although this has not been a problem for me. Everything I use is available.
The list of the things I miss is very short and this certainly shocks me. Other people I know that have made the switch have had similar experiences. I certainly think the new Windows phone is worth looking at and I feel it has a great chance of competing in due time.
Thanks Ty for this. I guess it comes down to the degree to which I want control verses consistency?
Thanks Justin -- even though you are arguably off topic, I think you get a pass because the Window's phone was not even out when I first posed the question.
This is a great rundown.
Do you know if you can move files into folders while disconnected on the Windows Phone? (One of my issues with the iPhone is that it will not let you sort your email into folders unless you are connected -- in the past I have spent an hour on the plane sorting through e-mails in my inbox, and then having the phone connect and send all of the updates back to the server when I land. This is if great value, and I would loose it when the iPhone.)
I just put my phone in Air Plane Mode and I was able to move email to folders, I was able to delete email, I was able to create new email. When I connected back to the network, my exchange account was updated with the changes I made on my phone. So, the answer is yes, you will have full email capabilities when offline. This goes for contacts, calendar, and notes as well.
The Windows Phone is definately worth checking out.