Android or IPhone

[Rustic23]

To start, AT&T will be the carrier. It is the only one that is reliable in our home area. Also, we still have 18 months to go on our contract, and 6,500 minutes worth or roll over.

I can upgrade my phone to IPhone 3gs 16 gig for $149, or wait till the new Iphone 4 comes out and upgrade DW's for $99 and switch numbers. Neither of us get that many calls so that works.

Now, the real question is get an IPhone or one of AT&T's new droid phones? I am not in any real hurry. I have looked on the web and it sounds like, although AT&T are bringing out Droid phones, they are smaller, not as powerful, and do not support the full android OS.

So, any thoughts?

[Rich_by_the_Bay]

I am a Mac fan but chose an Android (Sprint Hero).

iPhone is more elegant and consistent, but android gives you a wide choice of hardware, open access to the sim card and battery; plenty of apps for android even if there are more for iPhone (of which it seems like half are games or donkey fart ring tones). Android apps are more variable as to interface and quality but you can easily find virtually anything you need, often for free.

The Google synch thing is fantastic, and backup to the computer is easy. Mobile me does the same for iPhone and at least so far costs an add'l $100 per year.

I bought a low end set up to test Android and I like it. I will probably upgrade my hardware at the end of my subscription. If apple made the battery replaceable, mobileme for free, and a non-ATT carrier I might think twice just cause it's cooler.

Hope that helps.

[Rustic23]

Rich,
I have been looking at the Galaxy Captivate, which comes to AT@T Sunday. Looks like it is going to give Iphone a run.

[calmloki]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rich_in_Tampa ...... donkey fart ring tones .........

Go on....

[Rich_by_the_Bay]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rustic23 Rich, I have been looking at the Galaxy Captivate, which comes to AT@T Sunday. Looks like it is going to give Iphone a run.

Android is gaining on iPhone re: market share, but both are great products (though there is that AT&T thing - caveat emptor) but both are great products.

I bet the Consumer Report on the faulty antenna design will cause a little dip in iPhone sales but is not a show-stopper.

Let us know what you end up doing and how it works out.

[TromboneAl]

I find the apps on my iPod Touch surprisingly useful. For example, always having all my notes available (synced with GoogleDocs), a well-designed shopping and to-do list, quick car mileage data entry, audio to text web searching, etc. There are so many apps to choose from, that I can always find something that fits a particular need.

If Android doesn't have the same variety of apps available, I'd consider that a minus.

[Rustic23]

Apps are one area Iphone seems to have the lead, however, I don't think this will last long. First, and foremost Android is on all four major carriers. Second, the new Android phones appear to be comparable to the Iphone. Third, for me, I use several google apps, and these appear to be well done on Android, as you would expect as it is a google product itself.

As I do not have either systems, I really don't know what I don't know. I have seen the apps available for Android, and so far they seem to meet my needs. However, having talked to several Iphone owners, most of them say the same thing. 'I don't know how I ever got along without this thing!'

TAl,
Here is the address of the Android Market

Android.com - Market

If you get a chance it to browse it, it would be interesting to see which apps you value that are not available there. For me USAA's banking app was a primary and it is available on both.

[Rich_by_the_Bay]

Quote:

Originally Posted by TromboneAl If Android doesn't have the same variety of apps available, I'd consider that a minus.

My Sprint Hero Android has all the above. DW has an iPhone she loves. The only rare apps that are available on one but not the other have turned out to be available on Android only in our case so far. And there are lots of "me-too" apps -- e.g. Red Laser = savvy shopper.

But practically speaking, they both have so many thousands of apps immediately available that they seem comparable.

PS: By the way, Rustic's link is not really to the "Android Market." I believe that is a web site which lists and discusses representative apps selectively. The official Android Market is only available from the phone itself. The web site lacks thousands of apps compared to the official one. I wish there were a definitive web version for ease of lookup.

[Rustic23]

Thanks Rich. I thought there might be a difference. However, without the phone, there was not way to confirm that. I also have a feeling that for both systems there are a lot of apps that duplicate each other on the same system, and, I also figure there a a lot of apps that do not have real broad support. I'll just have to wait and see.

[Rich_by_the_Bay]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rustic23 Thanks Rich. I thought there might be a difference. However, without the phone, there was not way to confirm that. I also have a feeling that for both systems there are a lot of apps that duplicate each other on the same system, and, I also figure there a a lot of apps that do not have real broad support. I'll just have to wait and see.

Exactly. Really, how many hundreds/thousands of ring tones or memo pads or clocks or games or to-do lists do you really need ?

Either platform is great and has ample apps to download.

[Rustic23]

Yea, I see where Google has a new program that allows anyone to write apps with no programming. That may lead to some really cools apps, but it will lead to a awful lot of junk.

[Rich_by_the_Bay]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rustic23 Yea, I see where Google has a new program that allows anyone to write apps with no programming. That may lead to some really cools apps, but it will lead to a awful lot of junk.

Gotta link on that? Sounds like what I've been looking for.

[TromboneAl]

I didn't realize that Android had so many apps.

Quote:

it would be interesting to see which apps you value that are not available there.

Below are my apps. I tried perhaps 10 note apps and 15 metronome apps before I found the one's I liked (free). There were probably over 30 of each to choose from.

That was true of several others as well.

It looks like the yard sale app is available on android, but I didn't find a good Swedish-English dictionary (didn't look hard).

[Rustic23]

Rich,
App Inventor for Android

however, Google is treating it like Google Voice, or any other new service. It may be hard to get on.

[Nodak]

So far as I can tell the only thing the iPhone 4 has that the new Droid X doesn't is the front and back cameras.

[Katsmeow]

New iphone also has a much higher resolution screen. I do find that very nice to have.

[Rustic23]

Yes the IPhone 4 has a higher resolution screen but the new Samsung Galaxy has a very bright screen and is getting very good reviews when compared to the IPhone, and it is on all four major carriers. It should be an interesting year for the smart phone bussiness, as IPhone is really not the only game in town. I read on another site, that Samsung has sold a million Galaxy's and it has not gone on sale in the US yet.

[Rich_by_the_Bay]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rustic23 Yes the IPhone 4 has a higher resolution screen but the new Samsung Galaxy has a very bright screen and is getting very good reviews when compared to the IPhone, and it is on all four major carriers. It should be an interesting year for the smart phone bussiness, as IPhone is really not the only game in town. I read on another site, that Samsung has sold a million Galaxy's and it has not gone on sale in the US yet.

Be sure you check out the other top of the line Androids. I had a samsung briefly (a "Moment" - the entry level one with the sliding keyboard). It was fine but with Android, every carrier (except Google) puts their own "skin" on top of whatever version of Android it comes with, and that affects the user experience.

At that time the Samsung was an inferior experience compared to the HTC I ended up with. At least check a few out if possible -- even when the specs are the same, the interface may vary.

[Rustic23]

Unfortunately AT&T is the only carrier that gets good reception at our place. Verizon is OK, but there are places in the neighborhood it does not work. Also, I have about a year and a half left with them, and 6,000 roll over minutes! The Galaxy has received extremely good reviews. I have seen the first reviews and 'unboxing' videos for the Captivate. The only draw back that has been mentioned is AT&T will not let you add apps that do not come from the Adroid Market. I don't think that will be a problem, and if I find it is, well I will try and convince DW she needs an android phone and buy an IPhone, or wait two years and buy something else. I don't look at this as the last phone I will ever buy, but I do appreciate the input.

[Rustic23]

OK,
I picked up the Samsung Galaxy Captivate Saturday. The same phone as the T-Mobile Vibrant, and is also coming out on Verizon and Sprint, I just don't remember the name.

First impressions. The phone appears well built. It has a 4 inch display, and for my eyes I am glad it is not smaller. I had a little trouble getting it to work with my desktop computer, 64bit system, but It is syncing nicely now. AT&T furnishes no software for this phone. It is suppose to sync when plugged in. I had to download drivers.

So far, I have added about 15 apps to the phone. I have customized ringtones to people. There was a learning curve here. I could not find a way to get my ringtones into the ringtone directory. However, I found an app that would do that, and all is well. The USAA app works as advertised. Great integration with Google, as one would expect as android is their operating system.

This phone has swype input. The more I use it the more I am amazed how it works. I think it will become my primary input method. It seems I use a lot of passwords. I would like an option to see the password rather than ...... It does show the letter for a brief sec but if you are looking at the keyboard there is a lot of eye switching to catch it.

One area the phone falls down in, and it is being talked about online. There is something going on with the gps. It takes about a min. and 30sec to lock on, and then it is not a steady lock. Will not lock on inside at all. I have read there is a firmware/software fix coming.

I get the feeling there is still more I don't know than do but, overall the phone appears to be exactly what I expected, minus gps problem.

My son suggested an app 'EverNotes'. It looks like a neat idea. You make notes, voice, text, or photo. Save in an online account. They optical character read the pictures, I think turn voice to text, and then index all the notes. You can then search their content. He told me about taking a picture of a wine bottle at a friends house. The application read the label and later he searched for Pinot and it brought up the label.