I've reached that time in my life, much like everyone else does in their lives, in which I need a new god damned phone.
Actually, I don't
need a new phone, per se, but I want one really bad.
Really.
Bad.
So, this is where you suck-a-ducks come in. I have narrowed my choices to two (2) completely rational (irrational) choices based on my criteria of consumer whoredom.
1. The Apple iPhone - I know, I can already hear most of your arguments against it, but I don't give a shit. I think it's pretty, I'm a shallow person, and I care what people think about me. I like to touch things, and I like screens that I can also touch. However, I hate the fact it doesn't have any sort of instant messenger application (I mean, really, how hard would it be to put some fucking iChat on there?) and I hate that it doesn't have a browser capable of flash (but does any phone have this?).
2.
BlackBerry 8800 - I don't really know much about this phone, other than it has way more numbers (8800 of them!) than almost any other phone out there. I recognize the BlackBerry name and I feel like I need to be spending the maximum amount of taxpayer dollars (in the military, so you pay my wage. HA!) on my consumer electronics. The things that draw me to this device are the windows portable things, the instant messaging applications, and the keyboard.
Now, while I have given only two options to the phones I would like, feel free to post suggestions (also pictures, I like the pretty) as long as they are somewhat similar to the two phones I posted. I currently use AT&T for my provider, and I will be keeping it that way. Don't try to sway me, I will murder you.
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iPhone: What you get in the box is what you get. It's stylish, "hip", and an iPod.
Blackberry: There is a ton of functionality and programs and add-ons for blackberries to do whatever. They are the enterprise wireless office of phones.
I use an OLD blackberry and it's nice for my work. No real complaints other than it's old and I don't have an upgrade choice at the moment.
Me, I pretty much just need a basic phone that also plays MP3's, so I get by fine with my old Sony Ericsson W800I.
In terms of what I use it for, it's basically something that I can easily browse the internet and chat with my wife and friends while I'm at work. MP3 functionality isn't that big of a deal, I just want something I can surf the internet with ease, which is why I picked the two I did in the first place.
The iPod aspect of the iPhone is a nice feature, though, since some asshole on my boat stole my 30gig recently.
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The most important of questions...
Edit: I'm a big 'Berry fan, and yet, I find myself holding out for the next version of the iPhone. The next rev should bring 3G data network and GPS, as well as (finally) the iPhone SDK.
It also had most of the iPhone's features, now that I come to think of it. The P-series is still around and I heartily endorse them.
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Internet mostly. MP3 sort of. Camera sort of.
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Yeah I saw your reply, hence my edit up above. If you can wait another month or two and have your heart set on the iPhone, the wait will be well-worth it.
I'd also recommend a Blackberry curve over an 8800. I've used both, and the Curve's keyboard and formfactor are 100% better.
Also ask yourself, what is more important, bigger screen, or hardware keyboard. if you want the bigger screen, iPhone. If you want hardware keyboard, get the Curve
I also have the HTC Touch and absolutely love it. It kills any other Windows Mobile phone before it. I'd recommend the HTC touch, with the Curve/iPhone in second/third depending on your prefrences.
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Relating to the OP; free Skype and Live Messenger are a bonus too (although that is down to the operator really, but the phone allows it). Dedicated camera buttons, 5 Megapixel camera, three touch sensitive keys on the screen, and a motion sensor for viewing pics etc.
I had gotten tired of Nokias, the N~ series has been pretty buggy. I prefer the way Sony phones "handle" these days. The Walkman phones are utterly awesome too.
However, if the iPhone is what you want, this will not be for you.
Similar to the iPhone; I had a go on that LG Viewty, very very nice, nearly got one myself, but I prefer at least a few buttons on my mobile!
They're so fucking sweet. Too bad I don't need a new phone.
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It also seems a lot bigger than the regular Blackberry, but that might be because it's, well, curved.
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In terms of being able to surf the actual internet (as opposed to those information things that individual carriers have set to them) as I understand it the iPhone is easier to use in this regard. If I remember correctly it's plugins and whatnot aren't as robust as blackberries in regard to flash so your web browsing will be easier but not as complete on an iPhone.
But oh how I love my Sony Ericson phones, it's like the only divsion of Sony that makes good priced products.
Satans..... hints.....
I noticed you mentioned portable Windows as a reason that you are looking at a Blackberry, so you should probably know that Blackberry devices do not run Windows Mobile; they use a proprietary Blackberry OS. There are still quite a few third party applications available for the Blackberry OS, but not as many as there are for Windows Mobile.
You have certainly picked two good phones if your most desired features are good web browsing and good instant messaging, though both phones excel over each other in one of these two features instead of one of them being the clear winner in both categories. In other words, while the Blackberry has a decent browser and can use the free Opera Mini (which is quite good), the iPhone is going to be a better web browsing device because it has a larger screen and a really good browser. On the other hand, a tactile keyboard is always going to be better than a touchscreen for messaging if you want to be able to keep a conversation going at a good speed. My friends usually do not notice that I am IMing from my Curve until they ask or view my profile because I am typing fast enough that they can't tell.
I should probably mention that I use a third party IM app for my Blackberry called JiveTalk because I found the built-in apps pretty feature-sparse. It cost me $30, but it is a really robust application that supports a lot of different instant messengers and has nifty features like file transfer support. There is a version of JiveTalk available for free for the iPhone, but I am not sure how good it is and the fact that the iPhone lacks a real keyboard probably hampers it a bit.
Ultimately, the iPhone is a better portable media device while a Blackberry is a better portable messaging device. The features of both phones overlap a lot (both are capable of playing music and video, both have web browsers, both have email applications, both can instant message with the right applications, both have cameras, both can use Google Maps, both can get visual voicemail, etc. etc. etc.) but in general, the iPhone does a better job with media features while the Blackberry does a better job with messaging features.
Hope that helps.
Edit: By the way, the Curve is about the same height as the 8800, less wide and very, very slightly thicker. I compared mine to a RAZR and it seems to be about the same thickness (RAZR closed of course) and not too much bigger than the RAZR overall. Definitely just as pocketable as an iPhone is.
Edit the second: Blackberries also do not support flash, and while it is certainly possible to view Youtube on them, it is a bitch and a half and you end up with really, really sub-par video and audio quality.
That said, I will definitely give the Curve a look-see now because of what you said, and it's a bit cheaper so I can get one sooner (my wife is making me wait a month right now, A MONTH!).
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I have a Pearl (8100) and it's very nice. Phone size is smaller than the 8800 and the predictive text is easy to get used to. It does have internet capability with the Blackberry browser (pretty handicapped) and Opera Mini (robust but a little on the slow side). It's pretty much an 8800 on a diet with a camera.
And they are also working to integrate flash into the Blackberry OS. It's a ways off, but they say it's coming.
Ok, the SDK is going to be out in February, and there is no way in hell that Apple would come out with anything incompatible with the current iPhone systems. iPhone/Touch is going to be a big, big software platform, and they aren't about to fragment their market. All current iPhones and Touches will have 3rd party apps running on them by March. Also, the new Google Maps app will have the ability to locate you with varying degrees of accuracy. It isn't GPS, but it is great for doing a search like "Denny's restaurants near me" or something like that. As for 3G nothing has been announced so We Shall See.
I fucking know how you feel.
Do you think with the advent of the SDK there will be instant messaging apps? This is pretty much the tipping point for me. It may be a stupid question, but whatev.
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Truly, anything is possible. The Apollo IM app for jailbroken iPhones is pretty awesome, so hopefully something comparable will be available once the SDK is released.
That said, I don't have an iPhone, only an iPod Touch, and I love it. I'd personally never buy an iPhone, but having the multimedia and internet features is pretty awesome. My Touch hasn't left my side since I got it. It's taken a lot of will-power to not jailbreak it... the only thing that's kept me from doing it has been that it was a holiday gift and is custom engraved, so I don't want to cause any issues.
or Brawl. 4854.6102.3895 Name: NU..
It just feels so well engineered, and if it is anything like the old V3, it has a decent menu, and is fairly open (as far as phones go)
Yep, there are already a few for jailbroken phones. Apollo has already been mentioned and is pretty great software. The only think you have to realize is that the iPhone uses a version of EDGE that does NOT allow a call to come through if you are on the internet. So that means no idling on AIM while on EDGE for me. Using a wifi connection, this isn't an issue.
I imagine that once the SDK hits, all the jailbreaking devs will be able to port their apps pretty easily. I am still cautious about hoping for too much from the official SDK. I have a feeling most iPhone users will only be able to download apps that are approved by Apple, the reason obviously being so that users continue to have a very Apple experience instead of their phones crashing all the time because some schmuck didn't optimize his program well.
Sony doesn't have anything to do with the development of these phones, they just market it. Erricson does the actual R&D.
IM stuff is coming soon in February along with all the other applications.
Also, iphone post.
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Anyone know what would happen if a new revision of the iPhones came out tomorrow and I went to exchange for the new one? I'm well within the 2-week limit, and I know there's the restocking fee; but would I just be able to have them swap the SIM cards on the phones and saunter off into the sunset? Or would I have to deal with AT&T?
I've never owned a 'smartphone' before, but I love this thing so so so so much. I highly suggest it. It does everything I want and 100's of other things I didn't know it could do .
They may announce a new phone tomorrow but if it still needs the ok from the FCC (like last Mac World announcement) it would hit the shelves in mid 2008.
It was a tossup for me between the 8310 and the iPhone, but the fact AT&T wouldn't let me sign a 2 year extension (I've had my current contract for about 15 months) to get the special 100 dollar deal I was all like fuck it and got the iPhone. I love it so far, and with the SDK just around the corner it will be money well spent.
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Welcome to the cool club. I say that jokingly. I don't know how cool you are. Wait is that an iPhone in your pocket? You're cool.
Man, this thing has made work go by so awesomely quick. Normally, I find a room (coincidentally, the only two others that know of this secret place left just the other day) and sit in there all bored, but now I sit in there and surf the nets. So cool.
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Copy and paste hasn't been added yet has it, or the horizontal keyboard for email?
Is deleting large numbers of emails still a huge time-consuming pain?
I've decided that I can live without push email, and every 15(?) minutes is probably acceptable. Any idea how much battery drain is caused by that fast interval? What about frequently, manually checking it like every 5?
Is the period key still on a separate keyboard screen?
Can you still not add photos from your email, to your library?
No and no.
I really have no need for this since I run all of my email accounts through one imap'd gmail account. Mass deletions / archiving are taken care of when I'm at a desktop.
Yeah, but just double tap the spacebar. It drops a period and space right in there.
Never tried...
That's the phone I use got one last late August and I absolutely love it. Probabally not what your looking for but for general use and mp3 it's awesome, also very stylish and quite affordable
Apple *really* doesn't want you saving things to the phone. That opens the OS up to malicious code that can be hidden in the images. Heck, the jailbreakme.com site uses a malformed TIF image (I think) to crash Safari to get the jailbreak code to run. When you sync images from within iTunes the images are "optimized" before they're moved onto the iPod. My assumption is "optimize" means "we're scanning this file for anything odd about it before we let you stick it on your device."
I'm pissed about copy n paste too, considering it was on the Newton. Thankfully there are options for sending certain bits of information between apps. For instance if someone emails me their phone number, you can just tap the number inside the email to dial it.
And webpages. Very handy.