So, since I haven’t carried an iPhone around with me for more than a week and I got an up and close look at the iPhone 4 today here’s my list of the pros and cons of iPhone 4 vs. the Sprint EVO or Verizon’s Incredible (the two best Android-based phones out there).
1. Screen quality. iPhone wins, but only slightly over the EVO.
2. Multitasking. All of them do it, but Apple’s system is a LOT easier to figure out and manage. That said, AT&T’s new data plan pricing has left a very bad taste in my mouth. I’m going to have to use the iPhone 4 for a month to see how much data I actually end up using now that I can do things like use Waze for traffic at the same time as playing music on Pandora, or watching live streaming videos from Ustream, etc. The iPhone should be miles ahead here, because of its superior OS, but is only slightly ahead because AT&T is dragging down the experience for me.
3. Battery life. HUGE win for the iPhone 4, which gives up to 40% longer talk times than the 3GS, which is already giving me at least 40% better battery life than the EVO.
4. Application choice and quality. A slight win for iPhone 4. Overall I like apps on the iPhone better and there definitely are more to choose from. 225,000 according to Steve Jobs today. But there are some apps on Android that are better. Google Voice and Google Maps are two of them, which are pretty dramatic. I keep getting complaints from developers about the Apple approval process, too.
5. Feel in pocket. iPhone 4 wins here. It’s thinner and since it’s glass on both sides more pocket compatible.
6. Voice quality. The EVO is a LOT better than the iPhone 3GS, but I wasn’t able to try it out today for a phone call, so we’ll need to wait until June 24th for that.
7. Sexiness. The iPhone 4 wins here big time.
8. Carriers. The iPhone 4 LOSES here big time. AT&T has dead zones where none exist on my routes around the San Francisco Bay Area on Sprint or Verizon.
9. Video and camera. The iPhone wins here by quite a bit. The focusing on the iPhone is better. The quality seems like it is better, but I’ll need to do a head-to-head after June 24th to really know that for sure. The video features are FAR superior on the iPhone, especially the new editing features. I will buy the iPhone for these features alone, so for a video geek like me these are a huge deal. My wife, though, uses the iPhone camera a lot more than I do (I have a pro camera, she doesn’t and she takes a lot of pictures of the kids), so it’ll be interesting to see what she does with this.
10. Video games. The iPhone is already ahead here by a long shot and with its new gyroscope we should see even more apps for the iPhone that are cool and now that Zynga is bringing its games to the iPhone Apple has widened its lead. Yeah, yeah, I’m sure all the haters will remind me it doesn’t play Flash games but, sorry, that train has left the station and isn’t coming back.
11. Tethering. The EVO lets you share your phone as a wifi hotspot and lets other devices use its data plan to get on the Internet. This is wildly cool and how I get my family’s iPads on the Internet when driving in the car. Apple didn’t say a thing about tethering today and I’m hearing rumors that the iPad won’t tether with the new iPhone. So, this is a major feature in the EVO camp. Plus, AT&T’s new data plan restrictions really bug me.
12. Synch and services. Here Android kicks Apple’s ass. The iPhone has to be physically plugged into a computer and connected to iPhone to synch it. With the EVO I never have connected it physically to a computer. I just entered my Gmail address and password and all my contacts, all of my calendar items, all of my email, and all of my applications just showed up. This is a MAJOR advantage to the Android system.
So, will I start using an iPhone again? Yes, but I have the luxury of being able to afford two devices and I’m definitely keeping the EVO if just for the tethering. If I could only afford one? I’d go with iPhone 4 over the EVO. Mostly because the OS is nicer to use (hard to explain all the ways this is so in a short post, so you’ll have to wait for a longer post after I get mine), the video features, and the battery life is dramatically better. But I totally understand why many of you will ignore those advantages because AT&T sucks so much. If voice quality is more important to you than all the toys, the nicer OS, or the video chat, then definitely go for the Sprint or the Verizon.
To the second part of this question. Does Nokia, MIcrosoft, or RIM have a chance to get into the game?
Well, let’s look at the strength’s of each company.
1. Nokia has a ton of market share in low-end markets. That still gives it a powerful voice brand to build off of. Will it matter in the high end game? I don’t think it will, but I’m sure I’ll have lots of Nokia employees telling me why it does.
2. Microsoft has the Xbox and their new phone is coming from the same team. Wired also explained how Microsoft’s Kin and a bunch of services give it a leg into the game. I don’t buy that horseradish, but I can see how many of you will.
3. RIM has the best keyboards and best integration with Microsoft Exchange (still). Corporate IT folks care about both of these. Even Mark Zuckerberg carries a Blackberry to do email on. Until Android matches the keyboard quality RIM is safe. The first Motorola Droid has a dreadful keyboard. Will the next one have a good enough keyboard to let RIM’ers switch? We’ll have to see.
Anyway, Apple is still on top of the mind share mountain and that’s a powerful place, indeed, to be. Look for Apple’s sales and profits to continue to go up. I’m buying three (one for Patrick, one for Maryam, and one for myself).
What do you think?
Scobleizer 
good points all and my concern, too, is the Network but Robert I am worried about all the Networks as I see mobile bandwidth as a huge problem going forward. these mobile devices are becoming more powerful than the Networks they are on and I don’t see a solution anytime soon.
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Thanks…I’ve been waiting…I like tethering and hate At&T
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For what it is worth: I don’t have to connect my iPhone to anything to sync calendars, contacts, or email, either. the only thing I have to connect for is syncing music and backing up (or updating) the OS. OTA sync via Mobile Me has worked great for me for months. I have a friend who does the whole Gmail thing and HE gets synced OTA as well, so I am not sure what you are talking about here.
Otherwise, I agree the new phone seems like it’ll be amazing. I hope that AT&T gets better (not holding breath) and I hope that call voice quality is better, too. I am definitely buying one the moment I am able.
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“Thanks to Google, Apple has been forced to innovate new features.”
Yep Apple never innovated or updated products pre Android.
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Nice roundup Robert. I for one was hoping for another carrier announcement, but the latest rumor is now that since AT&T is giving early 6-month upgrades that must mean something is coming down the road soon. As for wireless syncing, I'm guessing Apple is waiting until they get the iTunes Cloud and the data center up and running – something we have to wait for unfort.Was there any word if you could the front-faced camera at high res resolution in FaceTime? And is it true that FaceTime is going to be an open standard (and does this mean if could be ported over to Android phones)?
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RIM is riding on their corporate email laurels. There's been no innovation from them in years. I had a Blackberry 8330 for a year and a half. I liked it a lot for the first year, then I started getting jealous about what Android could do. When the time came for a new phone I didn't consider anything from RIM because, except for WiFi capability, none of their phones could do anything my 8330 couldn't. I got a Droid instead.
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I've been waiting for this to decide whether my next phone will be an iPhone or an android device with Froyo. FaceTime alone convinced me to go with the iPhone. I already use video chat significantly with friend and family, I can imagine the horrors of trying to give my dad tech support on how to get a video chat app going on an Android phone. FaceTime's implementation is incredibly easy that I doubt I'd have to teach him anything and that's a huge win.
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AT&T looks like the deciding factor for me. My iPad isn't 3G. I'm paying AT&T 120/mo and I can't get tethering or hotspot to boot? That's nuts. I posted this on Leo's IRC this afternoon and a lady in Sweden or somewhere like that couldn't believe I paid that much a month. She said she pays $35/mo for her iPhone. What? Why is the U.S. so much more than other countries? And if AT&T has too much traffic why don't they stop advertising and use that money for infrastructure? Well, I'll be paying as much for Sprint, but at least my iPad will always be connected. I agree the iPhone is better, sexier. In many ways I drool for it, but not so much better as to outweigh the network differences. To me it feels very lame, and gives me a bad taste that Steve went with AT&T over others for only one reason: money. I thank Apple for many things. My desktop experience is much more enjoyable and productive, but that move really leaves a bad taste. In this day and age we shouldn't have to make these limiting choices.
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While I love some of the features Apple announced, they didn't announce the one feature that might have kept me with the iPhone – another carrier. I'm sorry, but AT&T takes the “phone” out of iPhone! The funniest thing I heard at SXSW this year was in an elevator where a guy ended a iPhone call with, “Hello, Hello? F*ck”. Then turned to those of us in the car and said, “No iPhone conversation ever ends with 'goodbye' – they all end with, 'hello, hello'”.I feel his pain – it is a very real experience that takes the phone out of my iPhone much of the time.And then Apple made it easy for me to switch to another phone – to a real phone – they made the iPad. The iPad gives me the best of the iPhone and frees me up to buy a *real* cell phone. You know – one that let's you actually talk to people.A phone that doesn't randomly give me voice mails when the phone has never even rung (happens on BOTH my kids iPhones as well, so it isn't just me!)I'm probably going with the Sprint EVO. I just can't tolerate any more AT&T – I don't have the stomach for another two years with them.Rob
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How does the iPhone 4 stack up against the plethora of Android phones on the horizon: Shadow/Devour/Xtreme/Scorpion, from what you've heard about those?
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That's kinda like asking how a MacBook pro stacks up against the latest Dell, HP, etc laptops. Some may have better specs and unique features, but Apple's user experience is unbeatable.
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This whole EVO vs iPhone thing is so funny to me. It sounds like the 90's desktop wars all over again. Mac vs windows—speed bench tests. Google is the new Microsoft. Google's out Microsofted Microsoft.Anyway, back to the EVO vs iPhone4… while Google offers open source geek “freedom”, the basic user also wants freedom, but isn't as concerned with tinkering. They want an easy to use product that creates safe and somewhat contained freedom. People trust Apple's quality control, because they've proved themselves trustworthy by creating quality products. If Apple approves an app I know it's safe and I know that it meets a certain standard. The amount of apps available creates the freedom to choose what I want, but I get to choose from a contained variety. That's why I think Apple wins.But, I love the competition. It makes all of us the winner. I too wish Apple would ditch AT&T however—it's the only anchor I see weighing them down.
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The carriers certify every phone that gets on the network; so there is a huge QA gate every phone has to pass to go live on a major carrier. Take a look at how all basic ATT phones have the same UI; it’s impressive how much they control what goes on the phones. Same is true of all the other carriers.
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The carriers certify every phone that gets on the network; so there is a huge QA gate every phone has to pass to go live on a major carrier. Take a look at how all basic ATT phones have the same UI; it’s impressive how much they control what goes on the phones. Same is true of all the other carriers.
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David – user experience is subjective, and I personally prefer the Android user experience to that of the iPhone. UX aside, I am actually interested to see how the specs and features line up.
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Not very well, I’m afraid. None of the iPhone competitors have a built-in gyroscope, super-high density wide angle IPS screen, 802.11n WiFi, advanced antenna design, equivalent battery life, equal thinness, oleophobic screens coatings, 720p30 HD video recording, and pentaband coverage. Only some may have noise canceling mics and front-facing cameras. I understand the lag in software and UI but you’d think the competition could at least catch up on the hardware side…
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I just ditched RIM and ordered an Android Incredible. I already have an iTouch and an iPad, so I wanted an Android phone so I could use apps on both operating systems.I think Nokia and RIM are out of the picture. I predict that Microsoft will make some kind of a dent by the end of 2011.
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It's not a rumor about not being able to tether to iPad – AT&T confirmed it on their Facebook page in a reply to my query. They said tethering only works on devices able to share internet with USB, so wifi hotspot sharing is out unless Apple releases a dual-30 pin connector cable and allows iPad to get data that way.
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Interesting. You couldn't stand the Motorola Droid keyboard?? I MUCH prefer it over the Evo keyboard. Of course the biggest problem with Android keyboards is that non of them are really multitouch. If I touch down on one letter slightly before I touch up on the previous one. It completely screws your flow. Not so in the iOS
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HTC EVO 4G is much superior than any iPhone, that includes iPhone4 (the Fake 4).Lot of cheating going on at iPhone front. a) AAPL is trying to fool consumers into believing that iPhone4 is like EVO 4G, it's not. Evo 4G operates on 4G network, iPhone4 doesn't havey and can't operate on faster 4G network.iPhone4 is much slower than HTC EVO 4G. All these article writters don't want to hilight EVO 4G strong points.iPhone4 is not capable of hotspot at all, forget about connecting 8 laptops at the same time like HTC EVO 4G can.iPhone doesn't have HDMI outlet, EVO does have.HTC EVO 4G is faster than any phone out there on 3G/4G network, that includes any iPhone and incredible. I have seen this in many video reviews online.HTC EVO 4G can change battery just like that $7 to $10. iPhone can't, AAPL has to make $800 million yearly from their junk battery service.HTC EVO 4G is the super smartphone, iPhone4 is no where near. Thats a fact. Sprint also gives you unlimited data plan.So, why the biase towards iPhone and VZ?If a company comesup with better products and plan, the media needs to stop being biase and give credit where it's due. HTC EVO 4G and Sprint currently is the best combination.
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Oh, cool, glad to see there's Android fans! I'm also glad I have a better phone today. But I love how this HTC fanboy doesn't want to admit Android's problems, either. Ahh, fun.
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I’ve often wondered what phone/phones that Mark Zuckerberg carries. You said that he carries a BB for email. What other handsets does he use? I’m guessing an iPhone since it has the best mobile Facebook app by far.
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Actually, it wasn't for money. Verizon turned it down. Remember, Verizon is/was a complete control freak outfit, even worse than Jobs himself.
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Great write up Robert – A few quibbles though…1) Screen Quality = only slightly better that EVO? Come on Robert the EVO has worse ppi (217) than the Nexus One (252), the iPhone 4 is over a hundred pip more than the EVO.4) If anything should be better than iPhone apps it better be Googles Using them as an example mutes your point though. Point 2? Do users/consumers care about the few apps that haven't yet been accepted? Or even know about them? Probably not. Side question: Are developers making any money selling for Android? My impression is they're not.8) Totally location dependent. I can take you 10 miles from Mpls and get you Verizon, T-Mobile, and Sprint dead zones. Not just data but marginal voice.12) Not necessarily sure I agree. Apple's whole philosophy has bean all devices as remotes to a digital hub and I don't really have a problem with that. They did show/talk book syncing/bookmarking. Will be interesting to see what Apple does once their data center is open/functioning.
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Only one comment – about the syncing – the iPhone will sync contacts and calendars (as well as e-mail, of course!) with Google, if you set up your Gmail/Google Apps account as an ActiveSync account.I'm fairly sure it doesn't work quite as well as Android – I know there are some contacts fields that don't map correctly. But all-in-all, it works pretty well with Google's services.
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I think what people generally don't get is that Apple designs devices that do exactly what they say they do, but not necessarily any more (or any less). You may see more 'flexibility' on the Android side – which naturally comes with openness. It's the cathedral vs. bazaar.
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IPhone 4 is ahead for only a short time, I am sure lots of android devices will beat it soon at least in terms of specs. And I love how apple fanbois are talking about features now. They always said it is not features that decides how one buys a phone. Thanks to Google, Apple has been forced to innovate new features. Also I love how the hardware features like HDMI out is not considered important by fanbois because Apple does not have it. And in any case turn by turn navigation is far more important than having gyroscope or ifacetime or whatever to the average users anyway. And please dont compare hardware improvements in IPhone 4 to android 2.2, hardware stuff will be done by OEMs
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I wouldn't say RIM is out of the picture, not completely at least. For consumers, I'd say they're getting there VERY fast. They make GREAT keyboards. Noone can touch them there. And I think that combined with their business features will keep them a strong player for enterprise and a small market for other consumers.But I agree that I don't see how they're a significant player in consumer devices in 3-5 years. Their OS just sucks. We'll see what 6.0 brings, but I'm not holding my breath…
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AT&T is perfectly fine for most of the country. Verizon sucks in places too. San Francisco is definitely not indicative of the rest of the country. Thankfully.
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Don't oversee the new “bada” phones from Samsung! The new Wave is really great and there is more to come. also bada is an open system like android and Samsung is the world market leader in mobile phones.Tom
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I still believe Nokia can say a lot also in high-end devices, and wait for the N8. Apple is not my thing and I defintiely prefer Android to it.I just don't get why Americans are so carrier oriented: can't you just unlock your phone and use it on other networks? Anyway, I'd never spend €700 for an iPhone (prices here not official, but I bet it will be 699) when I can have a good N8 with tethering, multitasking, flash and all stuff I need for something around €400/450 (which is still a lot)!
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world market leader in mobile phones is Nokia, and Symbian is an open system too!
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Good analysis, lousy conclusion. Come on, Robert, it's Requirements Analysis 101. The iPhone with AT&T is like a fish out of water. The prettiest fish in the lake is not quite so gorgeous once you drain the lake. The most important component in the mobile phone equation is being able to make calls and use the data services flexibly, reliably, and cost-effectively. AT&T flunks all three tests when compared to Sprint, Verizon, and even T-Mobile in many areas of the country. No tethering, dropped calls, and metered data access gives any mobile device on the AT&T network three F's in my book. Buy a nice watch for your wife instead of a new iPhone. You'll both be happier.
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“AT&T flunks all three tests when compared to Sprint, Verizon, and even T-Mobile in many areas of the country.” That’s your opinion. PC Mag has another based on a 18 city survey just completed: http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2364263,00.asp As the article said, “The network’s dropouts couldn’t erase the fact that AT&T’s nationwide reach and relatively current technology deliver faster average 3G speeds than the competition.”
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Agreed – thankfully. I've been an AT&T customer since back in 2002 when it was AT&T Wireless.I can tell you this – In most of the places I end up, I get better coverage than VZW or Sprint. It truly is a “your mileage may vary” situation.I've also observed that my iPhone appears to drop more calls than any of my Blackberry devices ever did. On the same network. It's hard to tell which end dropped the call – but I think I've had more dropped calls on my iPhone in 2 or 3 months than I had with all of my Blackberry devices combined. Now, that's definitely not an analysis based on empirical data 😉
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Yeah, there is a reason they added more antennas in the iPhone 4 – the previous ones sucked!
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Yeah, there is a reason they added more antennas in the iPhone 4 – the previous ones sucked!
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Flavio: That's exactly it. It really is very enticing to get that $400 subsidy. And all you have to do is sign away your soul for two years 🙂
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What is VERIZON. are you people dumb, do you know what is the big difference between CDMA vs GSM, CDMA= Code division multiple access . code division ok sure that cool. but multiple access ???? wow thank you verizon for the lie. you can’t do no multitask on verizon why would i ever get something like that when we are always on the go. really think about it. your bestfriend is trying so hard to get to your new house. your internet is not working, beacuse you just move to you new house. You haven’t had the time to call the provider for your internet. what you do now your poor friend is going crazy tell you why did you move. you are like don’t worry. i have my cell to look it up . you go to google maps and give your best friend in the world directions at the same time you still talking to him on your cell. can you do that Code division multiple access aka VERIZON. i don’t think so hahahahah. ok take a good look and really people think about this one GSM = Global System for Mobile Communications: no game but that sound like something i been look for, read it again Global….. System….. for Mobile Communications….. global yes, i don’t only want to use my phone in u.s for what lol. Communications yes that what we all do and all want. i love gsm. this is why, GSM is the most popular standard for mobile telephony systems in the world. The GSM Association, its promoting industry trade organization of mobile phone carriers and manufacturers, estimates that 80% of the global mobile market uses the standard. GSM is used by over 4.3 billion people across more than 212 countries and territories. look at the fact people shit.
Worldwide: There is a special number that every GSM compatible device in the world can call in case of an emergency. That number is 112. But in CDMA, this cannot be implemented because of certain technological limitations.
GSM vs CDMA Worldwide Score: GSM scores. Goal count 3-2
Battery Life: GSM, being a relatively simpler technology, uses less amount of cell phone battery than CDMA.
GSM vs CDMA Battery Life Score: GSM scores. Goal count 4-2
Coverage: GSM and CDMA, both have similar network coverage areas. They are present almost everywhere. The service providers of both technologies are striving hard to cover whatever inches that are left.
GSM vs CDMA Coverage Score: Both score. Goal count 5-3
Speed: Both GSM and CDMA are rapidly improving their capabilities in this regard. Both have introduced 3G mobile phones in their fold. Both are competing to gain space in this area.
GSM vs CDMA Speed Score: Both score. Goal count 6-4
Building Penetration: Again, in initial days, both technologies couldn’t find building penetration, but after research in signaling systems, and through experience, service providers of both technologies have been able to give decent service to the mobile phones in buildings.
GSM vs CDMA Penetration Score: Both score. Goal count 7-5
GSM vs CDMA: Which is Better?
Both have their good qualities and bad qualities. GSM has some limitations where call quality is concerned, but GSM can be easily implemented and easily integrated into existing technology. Whereas, CDMA is little difficult to implement. By my estimation, GSM has an upper hand. So, the answer to the question, “GSM vs CDMA which is better?” is GSM.
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If your friend had an Android, he wouldn’t need directions. Androids have voice navigation. Slim chance this would ever happen anyway, since most people have GPS in their car anyway. I mean, you really expect someone to navigate you to their house? Print out the directions before you leave if you don’t have GPS.. like everyone else.
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If your friend had an Android, he wouldn’t need directions. Androids have voice navigation. Slim chance this would ever happen anyway, since most people have GPS in their car anyway. I mean, you really expect someone to navigate you to their house? Print out the directions before you leave if you don’t have GPS.. like everyone else.
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It’s easy to see that this blogger is used to the iPhone. So, he used the Evo for one week, and that’s his basis for judgment? That’s odd since it takes 1-2 months to not only figure out how to correctly use Android 2.1 and Sense 2.5, but how to maximize the experience. I would bet my life he had his background data enabled the entire week. I bet he had Wifi enabled as well. I bet he was auto-syncing gmail, facebook and twitter. I bet he didn’t have Taskiller, and even if he did, it most likely wasn’t configured correctly. There are dozens of ways to save battery life on Android devices. iPhone is a one trick pony, it doesn’t take much brains to conserve energy when apps can only be run one at a time – and although the 4 does “multi-task”, by Android standards it’s now a two-trick pony. Does it run multiple widgets and apps simultaneously? No, so it’s not multi-tasking anything. Playing Pandora (A joke by the way, compared to Android Online Radio), while surfing the web is not multitasking. A Hero could do that over a year ago. When I am in my car listening to Howard Stern on AOR, while getting the best turn-by-turn voice navigation I’ve ever experienced, while having my wife check my incoming e-mail or check a calendar appt, without closing anything out – THAT is multi-tasking and that DOES eat battery. So don’t compare battery when one phone isn’t really ever carrying out anything complicated. Spend three months with Evo and see if you want to pick that fossil back up. I committed when I made the switch and I can sit here and write for hours about all the things it does that iPhone couldn’t dare dream of.
You mention a plus of Evo as the ability to tether? Are you serious? The Eris can tether and that’s 1/10th as powerful as the Evo. Why not just get the Eris since all you mention is tethering and network. Save yourself $100 because you clearly aren’t educated on the abilities of Android. Try Speech-to-Text on Evo, then try it on iPhone 4. They aren’t in the same league.
Evo can take, render and upload multiple pictures and videos to Flikr or FB before iPhone 4 can even render ONE. Plus, the quality, speed, and capturing ability dwarfs the iPhone’s cameras. The fact you think iPhone’s slow, laggy, low-quality camera is even close to the current HTC’s is just insane.
Just because iPhone’s market has 250,000 apps, that makes it better? What about GOOD apps like Swype? AOR – can you listen to any radio station in America on iPhone 4? MP3 Download? File sharing? Home Replacements? aHome, Panda, Open Home, GDE? Cube transitions, launchers, fully editable home screens? How about a built in apps like Google Voice, and Google Talk? Flash Player? Internet without Flash is like a car with no wheels. Do a YouTube search on iPhone and get water-downed pathetic results. I get every result. Same goes for Google Search.
Does iPhone have a universal USB jack? No. HDMI jack? No.
16 Squares on 3 black screens is a “superior OS” according to this blogger, good luck.
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CBC Radio this morning said that Blackberries have a much larger market share than iPhones. Is that not true?
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CBC Radio this morning said that Blackberries have a much larger market share than iPhones. Is that not true?
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Great write up, but the syncing comment is a misleading one Robert: Unless a user has a deep Gmail and Google Calendar integration like you do, nothing is synced – and btw, Apple provides the same for a .me user. Secondly, it doesn't sync any of your content. You need to get an SD card reader to get music or pictures or video on or off the phone and once you want to do that, you'll need various programs to deal with the different type of media. So as much as I like my EVO (for different reasons than syncing), I'll happily plug my iPhone into my computer to transfer the 30GB's of content that I have on it, and only use one piece of software to do so. Even in the foreseeable future Android won't offer anything comparable, Apple integrates with their desktop programs seamlessly and Android simply doesn't offer anything comparable when it comes to media organization on a computer.
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Dude, you could not be more wrong. I can plug my Android phone into my computer using the same mini-USB cable that is used to charge it and just mount it as a USB drive. One click. All my media is available to copy/sync in either direction (or just play using the built-in media player in the OS). I use this feature all the time. No SD card reader, no proprietary cables, and most importantly, no bloated crapware (read iTunes) required.
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Dude, you could not be more wrong. I can plug my Android phone into my computer using the same mini-USB cable that is used to charge it and just mount it as a USB drive. One click. All my media is available to copy/sync in either direction (or just play using the built-in media player in the OS). I use this feature all the time. No SD card reader, no proprietary cables, and most importantly, no bloated crapware (read iTunes) required.
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Though “Beauty is in the eyes of beholder” but still how can some one like an android UI over iPhone.
Yes, there will be more android devices with better specifications but Apple is not sleeping either, not to mention that they are ones to show the future.
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Though “Beauty is in the eyes of beholder” but still how can some one like an android UI over iPhone.
Yes, there will be more android devices with better specifications but Apple is not sleeping either, not to mention that they are ones to show the future.
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David, couldn't agree more. There are some folks who will always want the doors wide open and are comfortable with greater “flexibility” due to temperament and technological acumen, but there are—it would seem—a lot more who want to purchase a product that out of the box does exactly what it was reported to do and emphasizes a clean, simplified user experience at the expense of greater flexibility.
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RIM has peaked with their value-add. Exchange 2010 has a rich set of ActiveSync policies and I know a lot of companies out there that have started to dabble into the iPhone Enterprise deployment kit. It's also one less server and licensing scheme to deal with.
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When the Froyo update comes out for the EVO, there will be no comparison. Android has leapfrogged the iPhone OS in capabilities and possibilities.
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I've had an iphone and now own an evo. Both have their pros/cons. The major advantage to me about the evo is the speed of the phone. I use the internet a lot on my mobile device and until you use the evo for some surfing you can't appreciate the difference in speed. On the iphone web surfing was so slow (on 3G or wifi) it was annoying. As for the bad battery life…it's actually not as bad as some of these reviews would have you believe.I still like apple products but although the iphone is sleeker and sexier, the evo wins hands down for me for speed alone.
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Even assuming we trusted everything PC Mag writes, that still leaves AT&T with two F's. And there's obviously more to the United States than the 18 cities covered in the PC Mag survey. So… I'll stick with awarding 3 F's.
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The universal jacks are amazing with Android phones. I ran into Best Buy for something else and chatted with a phone guy. He wanted to see my Nexus One but I was running low on juice. He whipped out a standard micro USB and we charged up as I showed off.Meanwhile, in iPhone land, a friend of mine goes to tech conferences and says she always brings an extra iPhone cord or two because everyone needs to charge up and she makes contacts by having the hard to get in the middle of nowhere iPhone cords.
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I know this is a bold statement…but this has got to be the most incoherent and useless rant I have ever witnessed on the Internet.
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Everything you have said in this post is wrong. Everything is synced, deep or not. If you are using those applications and choose to sync, they are synced. You don't need an SD card reader/adapter to get files on and off your computer!! That actually made me laugh!! How could you own an Evo and not know this!? As soon as you plug the USB cord in, you are prompted with a menu that takes up your whole screen giving you a choice to Charge only, Sync, or Mount as disk drive. Choose “Mount” to access the phone's directories from your computer. You can then drop and drag any file into any folder. Use your mouse or touch pad for that task. Usually I put my MP3's in the “Music” folder. This could also be done on the early Android phones a year ago. If you want to take jabs on media, how about this, you want to put your friends MP3's she got from iTunes on your iPhone. good luck! Your Evo will happily accept any file and find the album art and artist info for you instantly. So unfortunately for you, it looks like “only one piece of software” is one piece too much. Stop lying kid, you just got exposed.
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More .. I don't know about more … look at who is losing vs gaining market share.
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generally they ripped off features … but that is no different than any other company.
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“They generally rip off features?” Huh?? What did the original iPhone rip off? Do you even recall what cell phones were like before the iPhone? They single handedly advanced the cell phone industry light years with just one product.
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Umm, you might want to do a comparison again. Outside of IPS screen & 802.11n you're fairly far off. Battery life enhancements too must be tested, I'm not taking Jobs' word for this (again).
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Hmm, I suppose Apple never actually said the iPHONE would be capable of carrying on a PHONE call, so you are probably correct. 🙂
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What kind of Android's problem did you observed?
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I am a long time Blackberry user. I read lot of debate on HTC EVO and iPhone 4. I am very interested in purchase either device. The main reason is the front cam. Why? I am deaf and American Sign Language user. My friends will be using the front cam more often. Just like Rob Scoble granted a point to EVO for its voice quality. I suppose as a deaf person granted point to iPhone 4 for superb grapic display quality? hehe. What I am trying to tackling is the AT&T's new pricing plan. My concern is that that in near future the direction of AT&T and Apple's decision to make the FaceTime popular and put it on 3G network. The usage of video will go over the capped 2 GB. The data plan for me is becoming expensive. I would like to use Qik and Fring due to its interoperability. Right now, FaceTime will be on wifi and connect to iPhone 4 only although Steve Jobs said it is open standard. Deaf people have express their concern to AT&T and FCC on pricing issue in lieu of function equivalent. Sprint offers unlimited data which is appealing (http://www.sprintrelaystore.com). Also they offered a special pricing for deaf people to make it function equivalent which is a plus. AT%T does have a special plan for deaf people. (http://www.deafmac.org/blog/2010/att-iphone-tap…) But, it is not the best plan comparing to Sprint. Maybe someday I will have the luxury of afford two phones just like you, Rob Scoble. :)I only jump on the Apple bandwagon following the joneses because I know fanboy out there will focus on building a better app to cater my need as a deaf person. Although, with Android's openness, can they equal with what Apple have in lieu of accesibility issues?Hope you Android fanboys and Apple fanboys can help me clarify up my clouded thoughts on EVO and iPhone 🙂
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Go Evo. Qik on 4G is insanely good, the app is free on Android Market and AT&T will butt rape you on the bandwidth it eats up. If you think the network is bad now, wait until iPhone 4 comes out. Do you want to fall asleep on Qik, or leave it open mistakenly and get a bill for $40,000? Fring Skype also works great on Evo, and it's free. Chances are always better with open-source that developers will make apps suited to your needs.
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Also, Super AMOLED technology in Samsung Android phones is better than the IPS technology in the iPhone 4.
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Says who? Can they make 600,000 for the first day? Can they make them affordably? Do they offer a clear benefit to iPhone 4? Do you have pictures to demonstrate how much better that display is?
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I am thoroughly looking forward to the moment Apple announces their deal with Verizon only because there will be a mass exodus from AT&T. I think AT&T's network will improve leaps and bounds once it offloads a few million users.
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dc
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Its a shame people even consider the iPhone as something useful. They have been slightly glorified games consoles from the start. I have worked in IT for 20 years, working with some of the best technical minds and using the most developed systems, only one of these people uses an iPhone, but only wanted it due to apples amazing marketing as he knows nothing about it. Apple have always made second rate products, their user experience may be highly regarded among people who are less technical but seriously now, does anyone really think all the “features” apple advertise for their products actually matter? When will any of the said features actually be a benefit in a mobile device? The fact is, android and the open handset consortium are already technically better with their software development, yet dont lock things down as Apple would. If you all want to live apples way or not at all, then fair enough go for it, but for the rest of the more up to date world, that actually care about having a good, useable device, have a look at the HTC Desire or one of the other well made android phones. If you were to opt for the iPhone, good luck to you, im sure you`ll need it!
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May I also say, terrible review Robert. No information regarding the things that matter and the wrong decision in a lot of cases. Id go further into it, but im not sure you would appreciate the criticism
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