An Android User’s Take On Yesterday’s iPhone News

Good article. I'm growing weary with any kind of Apple/Android fanboy-ism. I find this rapid leap forward of mobile technology fascinating and I'm really excited with all the possibilities Apple and Android bring to the table. If nothing else, it's an embarrassment of riches, IMO.

I love what Apple is doing and the growth of Android. The sad part is whichever phone I choose to get next will be "obsolete" 30 seconds after I purchase it...Hmm, just like computers.

There's plenty of room for both. They both offer similar and different elements that distinguish the two from each other. I'm all for this. I don't want to see iPhone copycats.

Thank you Apple and Android for raising the bar for mobile phones. Now if only AT&T could do the same thing for their network (reconnecting to their former slogan in the process). Fingers crossed on the latter statement, though.

 

While the Phone was a groundbreaking product, other companies have stepped up with some excellent devices to compete with it. However, the iPhone will always have a strong cult-like following. You may have left the cult, but the true believers will continue to buy anything that has the "i" in front of it in the belief that it must be the greatest thing ever created by man. Were Steve Jobs to announce the iToilet, thousands of people would camp out in front of Home Depot to buy one regardless of the price and be thankful for the opportunity to do so.

 

Yes, this is a good article, pretty balanced and fair. Thanks SteveW.

One point mentioned is, in the future better and better screens will come along (better than the iPhone 4). Actually, I think the screen wars, in respect to resolution, are over with the advent of the iPhone 4. There is a limit beyond which the human eye cannot mark the improvement. Once you hit the the limit of resolution and contrast, that is about it. Steve Jobs made a good point of this yesterday.

He made the same point in regard to the camera system too. Most improvements above 5 Mpixels are lost due to the lens types in the camera, and you have reached the limits of old 35mm films too. Eye acuity is a complicated mechanism, but well understood. It is simply not just pixels. I appreciate Apple for making this very real, engineering sound point, instead of selling pixels for pixels sake.

So maybe bigger screens will come (and hence bigger phones), or 3D screens (and hence wearing special eyeglasses) will be next, but other than that (oh 14 million colors, but Apple is already there), the resolution wars are over. Perhaps a color kindle like screen would be nice...

I'm sure HTC (android) will follow Apple's lead on the screen, and the screen pixel wars will be dead.

 

I have formed my opinion on the iphone due to one fact only...tmobile doesn't have it. For those that don't know me, I work for tmobile. Now don't get me wrong I am not saying I just like phones that tmobile offers, but if you knew how belligerent some customers can be finding ways to get out of their contracts so they can get an iphone, and I am one of the many hard working people who have to put up with that. Part of my frustration to be completely honest though is also that having seen the iphone and having an ipod touch, I can see that it is a great experience, and if tmobile had the thing I would sell it and who knows maybe even own one. I also don't like the fact that people blindly love the iphone just because it's an iphone. I ask people what they like about it, they say it's got apps, it's a touch screen, then I mention the android market has apps, and also is a touch screen, their robot response is, well it's an iphone all my friends have one. I have always been skeptical of anything not just cell phones that "everybody" has to have. At the end of the day the only reason why I am biased and can't really stand the iphone is that I have lost hundreds of customers that have had more than 5 years of tenure to ATT, where they are going to pay more, not get any better service, just so they can show their friends that they are just like them. Here's hoping that the iphone comes to tmobile in the near future, but I am not holding my breath.
:cheers::cheers:

 

From me it was very much a "non-event" as it didn't really bring anything new to the table in terms of phones. Actually, all the differences in the iPhones are minor. True, it now has a LED flash and a front-facing camera, but my (2007) Nokia N95 had those (as well as 3G and GPS) . I wonder why these features weren't included in the original iPhone? The technology was there at the time. I have the feeling Apple leaves them out on purpose so they have something new to announce in future releases

As for screen resolution, this new iPhone does have a nice screen, but there's always a tradeoff between screen and battery life. Also since Apple doesn't make screens and relies on the same 3rd party suppliers as the rest of the phone makers, I would assume there is or will be other phones with the same or similar resolution

 

Well cheers to your honesty. Sexy certainly sells. In regards to brand names both Google and Apple certainly have both. It is a no brainer why on the back of all Android phones I see the stamp 'powered by Google' or some such phrase. The carriers/phone mgfr are really betting on Google's value helps them counter Apple.

Google is admired for being young, hip, innovative,and writing cool and good software. And they do. How many times have I heard that they 'will take over the world'. And Apple is considered the same. I think the herding mentality can be applied to both Google and Apple equally. And I am very certain that Verizon (Tmobile) are counting on that very heavily.

I think working at Tmobile, one just needs to sell with that branding. It is not fluffy BS, it is a good company, and one that can hold its own to Apple.

Believe it or not, I am not an Apple Fanboy, if that means a mindless herd follower. But I do admire good engineering,and with some style thrown in...it gets to me.

Certainly, on this forum we can count many WA'er's that change phones as often as clothes just for the most silly reasons, like it feels better in my hand, or has one or two better features...all of which probably dumbfound our spouses or friends who say, 'but your old phone made calls didn't it?'

I agree there is some herd mentallity , but not always. Perhaps some like to have the same phone as their friend, or maybe they like the iPhone because it matches their iTunes library really well...and don't care to spend the time it takes to interface with friends and thier libraries. My relative had to have a BB. Why? Because BBmessenger is so 'cool'; he can sms his friends for free, and most all have BB. But, I ask, you can't sms me with it or a lot of people. No problem, he pays for an sms package too. what is the point of that?, having sms and BBM?

Isn't that the same as saying the original iphone could email photos to each other, but not via MMS? The iPhoners didn't care, but they had eventually admit that not all have iphones (or smartphones). BTW, there is an app now called LuCid, that is like BBM for Android, iPhone and BB. Cool. Unfortunately, Apple and Android have approved the appl, but RIM has dragged their feet approving LuCid for months now... go figure.

Remember the moto V3? A very nice metal, slim phone. I really liked it. But the OS was really bad. Really bad. Lacking in so much compared to Nokia. But it sold like hotcakes.

Both Google and Apple have pushed phones to new heights, and feed off of each other. Why some like one over the other, is like trying to decide who one falls in love with...very little logic always applies...and many of the WA readers here are guilty of that!

Many phones are missing features that others have. Why did it take years for Nokia to get Quad band GSM? And why do they still not offer a 5 band global phone for USA users? When looking at the Nexus One, being very interested in it, why would I have switched to it (it being so much better than my iPhone, some would say), when it didn't have applications for NYtimes or WSJ at that time?

It is satisfying to see the momentum of edge cutting phones originating from the USA once again. I kind of wish Google and Apple were not battling each other. While these titans fight, they may both lose.

The new iPhone had enough new exciting features to excite many to upgrade, whether there is enough to switch to an iPhone, is hard to say. I know that not enough attracts many to switch to Android.

My advice to Tmobileman is to sell hard on the Google angle. But you are not going to get eveyone; nor is everyone going to want an iPhone or any Apple product.

Sorry for the ramble

 

BBM is not SMS, BBM uses data only. From my perspective that is the best thing that I had when traveling overseas; due to the data compression it uses minimal data, I was able to keep in touch with friends and family from overseas regulary. If I were to use SMS, it would have been 50cents to send one text

The group chat feature of BBM is phenomenal and useful as well and to the best of my knowledge there are no other platforms that support group chat at this point.

There has been a number of unsuccessful attempts by third parties to have a cross functional chat, todate the most promising was cnected but users reported it to be buggy across all platforms. LuCid has not yet completed testing for all BBs and released a final version. Here is a quote from their website "Blackberry Users - LuciD is currently in the final stages development for the Blackberry. We are trying to ensure that the program works on every Blackberry seamlessly. If you are interested in testing out the current version please contact us at info@lucidmessenger.com with your name and Blackberry model. "


BTW, LucID has terrible reviews in the Android Shop.


Steve, sorry to digress from the original topic but just wanted to clarify why BBM is so important to a BB owner.

 

Charlyee, I guess I should have used 'text' instead of SMS.

The iPhone group chat application(s) work with data also, not sms. LuciD would be cross platform when it is finally approved by BlackBerry. The iPhone and Android users are anxiously waiting. LuciD works very well on the iPhone models

But you missed my point.

 

tmobileman, sorry to hear your customers get belligerent if they can not get out of contract just to get an IPhone, kudos to you and your co-workers who have had to and will continue to have to put up with them. :cheers:

IMHO, I think with At&T's single-minded focus on the iPhone, they have fallen behind on the SmartPhone offerings and T-Mobile, Verizon, and Sprint are doing better and better. Unfortunately for me, AT&T is the only GSM provider in my area with great coverage and I have to stay with them.

For the record I do not want an iPhone, inspite of being eligible all three times, I will just remain uniquely un-cool. :biggrin:

No, I did not miss your point, I was merely giving a BB owner's viewpoint why your relative had to have BBM chat and that I agree with him 100%.

 

Ditto, I didn't understand the appeal when it first came out at all. Did you read the article debunking the "so many pixels the human I can't see them" claim? Anyway, I think the iphone has brought nothing new this time around. They aren't the latest and greatest. But they will still have the cult buyers.

 

I love the iPhone, but it is not for everyone, I appreciate that. But I beginning to think that the only true (or most passionate) Fanboy is the anti-iPhone group. I guess it is the order of things: yin|yang, matter|antimatter, Superman|Bizarro Superman!

Regarding the resolution issue, here is Discover magazine's rebuke on the article you mention. Apple's claim is pretty much on target for the average person. Having a profession career in such matters, I agree with Discover (I'm sure you wouldn't believe me). Actually it is more complicated than even Discover discusses, which makes Jobs' claim even more accurate.

It is a pretty safe bet that those things 'that were nothing new' in the iPhone will appear on other phones shortly. Well, perhaps not the built quality, which is a hallmark of Apple products in general. And I'm sure Android will push Apple to add features that are popular (or niche popular) and were left out.

There are a lot of very good smartphones out there, that make phones from 5 years ago and beyond, pretty simple.

We are rapidly approaching owning a device similar to a Star Trek 'Tricorder'

 

I don't doubt you I have no reason to don't worry. And I only skimmed the article debunkng it and didn't look into it any further. What I meant was when it first came out there were already devices doing what it could and more. What Apple did was make a user friendly UI. But when it comes to phone geeks and the latest and greatest that didn't make the iPhone beat out the other options out there....modified or not... but I won't argue the build quality.

I just want my MOTO krzr sized flip device that has a 10 meg camera hd vid shooting, touch screen and keyboard mix, with projector capabilities with an available adjustable full size keyboard that can also be projected onto a surface because of obvious size restraints.... and the ability to sense life signs and chirping when I flip it open...lol...

That's another thing it is amazing how many devices and inventions started out as science fiction just to be turned into real things years later...

 

Beam me up Scotty!

Which is pretty much what Google is doing with Android for HTC and others. And people are going wild about it, as they did for the iPhone.

The iPhone 4 has enough new hardware additions for any iPhone geek to justify an upgrade, along with the software add ons:

Super high Res screen (better than iPad), 960 x 460, 16 Million colors
Gyroscope ( so 6-axis motion sensing, along with the accelerometer)
7 hour 3G talk time! That is amazing. 14 hours on 2G
WiFi n protocol, along with b/g standard, for faster links.
Video HD 720, with iMovie editing
Super thin, the thinnest, 9.3mm (0.37inches), 4.8 grams
Real metal, stainless steel wrapping, with hardened, helicopter grade glass on the front and back.

Who wouldn't want all of those (not just one or two) wrapped up in the next HTC Android?