iPhone, Blackberry, or Google Phone ?
In mid February, my iPhone contract runs out - I am therefore starting to think about what I will do. Anybody who knows me (in the real world) will know I have not been the biggest fan of the iPhone for quite some time;
My main issues with the iPhone are;
- The O2 network in the UK is pretty poor
- The unlimited data plan is expensive
- Battery life is pathetic - I have to charge my iPhone 3G every night
- The camera is very poor
- The handset is fragile - I am on my second 3G handset; wireless has broken on both of them
- Google Mail only supports push by simulating Microsoft Exchange
- Apple rule their walled garden like Nazis
It's not all doom and gloom though;
- The iPhone user interface is still much better than anything else on the market
- iTunes integration is naturally very, very good
- The various Twitter and Facebook applications are very good
The decision over what to do comes down to a few observations of what I use a phone for these days - having owned an iPhone for the last 18 months, the novelty of being able to run all manner of crap on my phone has pretty much gone; I would rather have a phone that does a few core things well. I would like a phone that has the following;
- Good battery life
- An inexpensive data plan
- Good email client
- Good task list application
- Good SMS client
- Good camera
- Good social network client (Twitter and Facebook)
I'm seriously considering a Blackberry. If I switch to Vodaphone it will be a third cheaper than an iPhone each month, the handset will be free, the camera will be better, and it will have a keyboard! Of course the elephant in the room at the moment is the new Google Phone, which is being introduced at 7pm GMT this evening if the media is to be believed. It's interesting because Android (the Google mobile operating system) appears to be the first good open platform for mobile devices.
What to do... what to do...
