August 30, 2010 Breaking Away From The iPhone

   

I have two iPhones in the family and have been a deep, iPhone user for the last two years. In November my obligation to AT&T is up and I am pondering a big question, do I go back into Apple and AT&T for another 2 years with two new phones or do I move back to Verizon on the Droid. This is a unique problem that at the root comes down to applicable functionality that we use on the phone and has very little to do with a device that makes phone calls. So I am going to break it down and over the next few months up to Nov/Holiday Season post more about this.

In the smartphone world there are two main players. The iPhone and the Android Phones. There is a dark horse coming in the late Fall with the new Windows 7 Phone. I will focus mainly in this post on the Apple and Android battle because I have too many outstanding questions about the Windows 7 Phone that won't be answered until Microsoft opens wide about it's new device.

You can hit Google and find all the comparisons between Android and Apple that you can consume. Here's one from PCWorld - http://www.pcworld.com/zoom?id=199844&page=1&zoomIdx=1

What you will see on these comparison is a high level, nuts and bolts checklist comparison. So what? What does that mean to a regular, everyday user and what do those options mean to me? Do some of these marketing aspects mean anything at all?

Networks

My decision to consider looking at the Droid series is because of AT&T. The cell service here in the Twin Cities of Minnesota is mediocre. For a major metropolitan area, I can take you to 4 spots within the metro that are complete dead zones of about a 1/4 mile each. If you are on the phone as you drive into these zones, say goodbye to the call. Another major frustration point is the downtown performance. I can be in my office in the heart of downtown Minneapolis. I am on the 6th floor. My iPhone 3GS, and it did it on my 3G, it will show full cell bars, 3G service, and I will not be able to get on the Internet, make phone calls consistently, receive calls, and forget about browsing the Internet. There are others in my office that have an iPhone and 3G enables iPads and they have the same problems. But the guys with Droids or Verizon phones, they are just fine, even in the middle of the building and in the elevators. This is unacceptable for AT&T not to be able to service a downtown area. 

For AT&T's credit, I take vacations in remote areas of Minnesota and southern Canada. AT&T does have service in all those places I have been to where Verizon did not in some cases. The funny thing is that my last trip to the Canadian border, 50 miles from the nearest city, I have full bars on the Edge data network and my iPhone performed faster than in my office in downtown Minneapolis. Funny and Sad.

Hardware

The driving hardware is comparable between the two. Basically the same with a few subtleties. There is no real night and day, blow you away that one is 'faster' than the other. They both have large amounts of storage, the iPhone goes with static, built in memory. The Android has a little smaller built in amount but gives the freedom to add more with microSD cards. 

The cameras are pretty much the same. Yes they are the same, I am not going to get into the myth that more megapixels mean better pictures.

They both that 720p video.

They both have the bluetooth, wi-fi, gps, and a camera flash. 

So when it comes to power and hardware features, it's a wash. Anyone who says that one is better than the other, generally is a fan boy of one or the other. At the end of the day, both phones will be capable to do what you all want from a smartphone.

Usability

Switching a device that I have invested 2 years of paid apps, accessories, and usage routine is a big deal if the device you move to doesn't perform to the expectations. The hard part is you can't make that determination from a 10 minute hands on demo in the store. You need to know how it stores videos, how do you load music, where do I get apps, how do I back it up, does it have similar apps that I am used to?

On a regular basis I use these apps on my iPhone - Flickr, Twitter, Photoshop, Mail (4 accounts), Calendar (synced with Google), Angry Birds, AccuWeather, Weather Channel, Apple Remote, iPod, Pandora, Evernote, and a few others. Now, most of those have Android versions. But how good are they? That's the stickler, I am used to one way and I can't see how it is on the other. If it was the reverse and I was thinking about going to the iPhone from Android, I would have the same reservations because I am used to one way.

Going one step farther back is the maintenance of the smartphones.

Apple is a limiting company. What you see is what you get. Freedom to use and expand the device beyond the original design is not acceptable to Apple. They hate that. However, on their side, it's a very effective way to do software design. The same design across all platforms, what a concept. Android is not that way, they have at least 3 OS builds out in the wild and the carriers are skinning and making their own release versions as well. The downside with that is the carriers now are making the Android like a new PC, full of useless, performance killing Bloatware that you may or may not be able to remove. Apple doesn't do that. 

With Apple you have iTunes and the upcoming Windows 7 Phone is Zune, as the central tools to get applications, load music, movies, backups, protection. With Android there is no central store, you can get apps from many places, and load music without a central store. With someone who has spent many hours building playlists, use the iTunes Genius lists extensively, converted movies to iPhone format in addition to having a 160GB iPod as well, it's hard to break out from that for a new device.

What needs to happen

There are a few things that will make or break it with the iPhone. If Verizon confirms that they will be getting the iPhone next year I will wait and dump AT&T and goto Verizon on the iPhone.... no question. Apple will be releasing the iPhone 5 around June of next year, each previous new versions were in June. Apple will need to open up big time about what they have in store for the iPhone. If they don't, people like me will dump them for Droid in droves. Apple needs to throw out the vision. If they stay tight lipped and think they are the leaders, they soon won't be.

Right now I am leaning that I will be getting two new iPhone 4 around Thanksgiving time and going in with AT&T for another 2 years. But then again, Windows 7 Phone could shock and awe and blow both out of the water. However, I am in the cloud with Google and so are family and friends and with Windows 7 Phone it's Windows Live based and I will not switch off Google. Microsoft doesn't have the cloud in the user's best interest, Google does and they have it right (except for the Verizon/Google Net Neutrality Deal they pushed).

Time will tell, information is king. 

End of Line.

Posted in: Android,Apple Inc,iPhone,Microsoft,Technology