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I can't believe I'm saying this, but the iPhone is amazing (Long post)

I know you guys probably heard this a thousand times (and a forum search shows this) and what I'm about to say is probably very cliche, but the iPhone is a pretty amazing device.
Typically, I am a WM man (I currently own an HTC Touch Pro), and I've owned WM phones/devices for a long time now. I tried other OSes (Symbian, Palm OS), but ultimately, I prefer WM. When the iPhone first appeared, I disregarded it almost entirely because it's made by Apple. As someone familiar with Apple, I just didn't like them very much (largely due to their design philosophy).
Things didn't look like they were about to change. In fact, the next phones I was seriously looking at was the Toshiba TG01, Samsung Omnia HD i9810, and Samsung Omnia Pro B7610. Two of these are Windows Mobile and one is Symbian (which I was less likely to get anyway). The only major difference is that they aren't HTC (I want to move away from HTC because I exceedingly dislike Qualcomm).
However, something special happened yesterday: My friend invited me to lunch and he showed me his new iPhone 3GS. He allowed me to play with it.
In one word: Incredible!
As my intuition knew, I ended up not liking the design of the OS (I still prefer WM's design), but I couldn't really deny how well made the iPhone really is. More than anything else, I really have to compliment how extremely optimized it really is. Opening any software, going to the home screen, playing movies/music, and doing just about anything really was incredibly smooth. The entire time I was with my friend, I just gushed and gushed about this one aspect. The reason why is because it really is incredible how fast everything was.
The truth is that when compared side to side with my Touch Pro, the speed is really the same. However, a few things to note. First, everyone know how the iPhone seems to use "gradual transitions"? To elaborate, whenever you do anything, such as opening software or rotation, it is done in real time, and you can see the changes with your eyes. This is as opposed to WM where it is done immediately (for example, rotating with my TP results in an immediate change as opposed to you seeing the screen rotate on the iPhone).
This seems like a minor thing, but it has a large effect on perception. Notably, it makes you perceive it as being faster. When I counted down the seconds on the iPhone and WM, I noticed that opening programs and rotation are really done at the same speed, but the iPhone's gradual transition effects makes you perceive it as being faster, which is actually pretty nice.
Second thing and a very important point: My TP uses a custom ROM, which is why its speed was on par with that of the iPhone. If it had been using the stock ROM, I am positive that the iPhone would have crushed it in speed.
This seems like a moot point because I *can* use custom ROMs, but note that this forum and all of its custom ROMs are largely exclusive to HTC phones (with the sole exception of the Xperia...which was made by HTC anyway). What happens if I decide to use another WM phone (for example, the Samsung B7610)? Then I would have no choice but to remain with the stock ROM or at least hope someone would develop the stray ROM for the Samsung devices (such as the i900 on XDA).
At this point, I'm also willing to blame the speed issue on hardware. After all, the iPhone is about 72MHZ faster than my phone, and it also also has a dedicated graphics chip. On the other hand, I also have to take into consideration that it takes a custom, optimized ROM for my device to keep up with the stock ROM on a series of device which is notorious for being outdated (anyone remember the iPhone 2G)?
If anyone is wondering, am I thinking about switching to the dark side? Unfortunately, no. While the huge number of apps and the great speed is tantalizing, I am still the guy who frequently spends 4+ hours changing the ROMs on his phones (and tweaking it afterwards). I'm also the guy who frequently goes into the settings menu because he nitpicks about how each little thing on his phone works.
Can I switch to something that won't allow me that much customization? Speaking as someone who's about to change the ROM on his phone again, the answer appears to be a pretty clear 'no' as this point.
On, the other hand, while playing with the iPhone, I did find myself wishing that the Windows Mobile experience was as smooth, and great as with the iPhone, especially on stock ROMs. I also did find myself wondering what Windows Mobile 7 will be like (I can't wonder with WM6.5 because I'm using it now). But of course, what do people saying about wishing too much? It's useless.
Am I going mad?

I'd take an iphone over any WM device any day of the week, but I absolutely refuse to pay $70+ a month just to use it.

Exactly how many apps are there for windows mobile?
Until recently I assumed that WinMo>Symbian>Iphone.
Apparently that's wrong.

I was going to buy one with all the other sheep but decided to buy an ipod touch. Works great, but the first time I put it in my pocket and crouched down a bit later it nealy killed it!
Screen went a nice mix of colours and it totally stopped working. Quite a few plug ins to the computer and it came back to life.
There just to fragile and to big(iphone is thicker than the touch also), good girls phone or if you carry a handbag.
Glade I got the Jade not a problem so far.

thedigitel said:
I'd take an iphone over any WM device any day of the week, but I absolutely refuse to pay $70+ a month just to use it.
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Is that the AT&T contract you have to sign up for to get an iPhone? If that's the case, why not just buy the iPhone unlocked? It's expensive, but it cost about as much as any HTC phone I've seen.
charge1313 said:
Exactly how many apps are there for windows mobile?
Until recently I assumed that WinMo>Symbian>Iphone.
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Click to collapse
As of right now, the iPhone has roughly 50K-60K of apps while the last article detailing how many apps Windows Mobile seems to have stopped at 20K. Futhermore, the iPhone famously beaten Windows Mobile in reaching 25K apps, and I find it highly unlikely that Windows Mobile caught up.
Even from an outside perspective, though, it seems to me that the iPhone has an impressive number of apps, including a plethora of ones that Windows Mobile never seems to get (or is even capable of getting).
stu-k said:
I was going to buy one with all the other sheep but decided to buy an ipod touch. Works great, but the first time I put it in my pocket and crouched down a bit later it nealy killed it!
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Click to collapse
Well, the iPod Touch would make sense, but I would rather not have to carry two devices around. It seems better to me to have an all-in-one device in this case and, if nothing else, it would allow me to utilize the numerous phone-related apps in the app store.

I entirely agree.
My wife has a Gen 1 iphone, and I recently updated it to version 3 and unlocked and jailbreaked.
In the old days, WM had thousands of apps as one of its killer features.
I recently spent a few evenings installing apps on the wife's phone, and I was blown away. Not necessarily by the quality, but by the experience.
Everything is smooth, everything works, the user experience is "unchallenging".
I love tweaking, I love coding, I love spending MONTHS dissecting the WinMob OS to implement a tiny hack. But you know what? Why bother?!
I can't see myself giving up on WinMob - it's got momentum, and I can't be bothered to learn Objective C. I'm barely coping with C++ as it is.
But, to paraphrase Gauntlet, "WinMob [may be] about to die".
In defence of WinMob:
It's p*sses me off something crazy that when Gizmondo et all were reviewing the Palm Pre, multi tasking was one of the killer features. WinMob has had it FOREVER.
It's a good OS, it multitasks, it generally works, it can make calls and emails and whatnot.
But - the user experience is OLD.
And I think one of the most fundamental flaws is also one of the biggest strengths - WinMob runs on a hundred kinds of hardware. But the problem:
WinMob runs on a hundred kinds of hardware.
Some of those have graphic accelerators, some don't.
Some have dpads, some don't.
Some have 600mhz CPUs, some don't.
The iphone is a single homogeneous ecosystem.
Coders know they can anti-alias without trying to code to the lowest common denominator 200mhz phone with 16mb of ram. They know exactly what they're gonna get with an iphone. And that fact means they know the limitations, and how to pitch what they've got at the right performance considerations. They know what they're working on. The Human Interface spec is incredible, and incredibly helpful. Users expect an experience, naturally, because it feels natural. Apple encourages that, and coders have to honour it.
I think most of the iphone experience can and should be emulated on WinMob.
I'm not just talking about cloning Springboard and everything else. Yes, we can emulate this and that - our coders on XDA devs are incredible, and could do every bit of it.
But we need more: the experience of just being able to use the phone and expect it to work needs to be emulated.
I don't think the iphone is necessarily a better piece of hardware: I prefer my Touch HD. But clearly the user experience, the user interface paradigm, the reward of just being able to use the thing easily needs to be implemented - from the ground up.
I don't think this is going to happen on WinMob; I think the strength/limitations of a wide open platform means this probably can't happen. I think that like Win CE before it, WinMob will end up being relegated to a certain environment that has low expectations (eg Enterprise markets).
But if "Windows" devices are going to survive, I think the change has to happen at a much higher level. I can only hope that Pink or whatever is on the horizon for WinMob 7 is an integrated piece of hardware and user experience designed from the ground up to feel like it's the 21st century... using WinMob out of pity is going to get old, very very soon.
V

8525Smart said:
Well, the iPod Touch would make sense, but I would rather not have to carry two devices around. It seems better to me to have an all-in-one device in this case and, if nothing else, it would allow me to utilize the numerous phone-related apps in the app store.
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Have to agree, I hate carry around two devices. Hence no longer use Ipod touch on the go, just leave it at home in docking station, which its good for.
Use the Jade for music and a phone which fits on my pocket.
I find the istore apps mostly gimmicks anyways, which you pay for and never use.
A smaller tougher Iphone would be good

vijay555 said:
I entirely agree.
In defence of WinMob:
It's p*sses me off something crazy that when Gizmondo et all were reviewing the Palm Pre, multi tasking was one of the killer features. WinMob has had it FOREVER.
It's a good OS, it multitasks, it generally works, it can make calls and emails and whatnot.
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Click to collapse
Oh my God, yes, YES!
I can't count the number of times I had to defend WinMo against people who obviously never used it. The number of ridiculously comments I seen was ludicrous and often times seem as if the people saying it were just parroting common criticisms as opposed to their actual experience.
One guy I saw even suggested that receiving text/emails and switching between apps was impossible.
On the other hand, I agree with the rest of your post too (as is the subject of my topic). I think you really hit the nail on the head: Windows Mobile's biggest strength, its availability on multiple phones, is also its biggest weakness.
As an owner of a Fuze, an HTC phone with an accelerometer, the lack of accelero-meter WinMo apps makes it very apparent.
I do agree with you that Microsoft needs to do something, at the very least, about the user experience, but I really don't see how it can be done. The iPhone is able to achieve this because it is a software available on one hardware designed by Apple themselves. In order for Microsoft to achieve the same quality of apps or user experience, they would have to design Windows Mobile to take advantage of a particular hardware specification.
As of currently, the best Microsoft can probably achieve is to design Windows Mobile with the best optimization they can while maintaining good compatibility and appearance with a wide number of hardware.
stu-k said:
HI find the istore apps mostly gimmicks anyways, which you pay for and never use.
A smaller tougher Iphone would be good
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Click to collapse
That may be true, but to be fair, the Windows Mobile landscape isn't exactly clear of 'gimmicky' apps either. Some of them even inspired by iPhone equivalents.
HDWobble, anyone?

The 3GS is faster not because of the clock speed, but because the A8 Cortex beats the pants out of the (very long in the tooth) ARM11 in the TP (and TP2, why HTC, why?!!!).
http://www.anandtech.com/gadgets/showdoc.aspx?i=3595&p=4

This is going to see as an odd first post but i am a jailbroken and unlocked iphone user. I have been tinkering with the iphone the way you guys tinker with winmo for 2 years now. To the original poster, if you are such a tinkerer and want to tinker with something new a jailbroken iphone is for you.
Some of THE BEST apps for the iphone are not in the apple app store because apple would never allow it.
I myself am starting to look at the TP2 and winmo phones because i was REALLLLLLLLLLLLY looking forward to the Nokia N97 and that thing just let me down a ton. I have a HTC Hero coming to play with for a while but besides the widgets i don't see a whole lot different between the new TF3D 2 on the TP2 or the TD2 and the Hero.
There are tons of useful 3rd party jailbroken apps and hacks that you can do that make the iphone even THAT much more useable. For instance the 3rd party text messaging applications are w/o question better than the stock apple version however because how they are designed they would never be approved for the app store. Also, there is a hack app called "backgrounder" which allows me to run apps in the background and multi task.

jim_0068 said:
This is going to see as an odd first post but i am a jailbroken and unlocked iphone user. I have been tinkering with the iphone the way you guys tinker with winmo for 2 years now. To the original poster, if you are such a tinkerer and want to tinker with something new a jailbroken iphone is for you.
Some of THE BEST apps for the iphone are not in the apple app store because apple would never allow it.
I myself am starting to look at the TP2 and winmo phones because i was REALLLLLLLLLLLLY looking forward to the Nokia N97 and that thing just let me down a ton. I have a HTC Hero coming to play with for a while but besides the widgets i don't see a whole lot different between the new TF3D 2 on the TP2 or the TD2 and the Hero.
There are tons of useful 3rd party jailbroken apps and hacks that you can do that make the iphone even THAT much more useable. For instance the 3rd party text messaging applications are w/o question better than the stock apple version however because how they are designed they would never be approved for the app store. Also, there is a hack app called "backgrounder" which allows me to run apps in the background and multi task.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Holy crap are you talking about the iPhone? Is the backgrounder for the iPhone? Can I have more information on how this works?
Here is a more important question... will the backgrounder app allow 3rd party alarm applications to finally work on the iPhone?
Will the backgrounder also allow automatic profile scheduling?

poetryrocksalot said:
Holy crap are you talking about the iPhone? Is the backgrounder for the iPhone? Can I have more information on how this works?
Here is a more important question... will the backgrounder app allow 3rd party alarm applications to finally work on the iPhone?
Will the backgrounder also allow automatic profile scheduling?
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Click to collapse
yes. but Backgrounder is not compatible with the new 3.0 OS.
and on the 3G you do not exactly have lots of Ram to spare though. only ~34MB after a reset. and applications are not exactly light weight.
i believe profile scheduling is available through other means. but have not really looked into it. Performance really takes a nose dive when you start asking it to do extra stuff due to the lack of Ram.

crazy talk said:
yes. but Backgrounder is not compatible with the new 3.0 OS.
and on the 3G you do not exactly have lots of Ram to spare though. only ~34MB after a reset. and applications are not exactly light weight.
i believe profile scheduling is available through other means. but have not really looked into it. Performance really takes a nose dive when you start asking it to do extra stuff due to the lack of Ram.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Oh that's a shame... this app is useless then. I heard that Apple is considering the idea of having full support for background applications.
The problem is that:
1) Apple knows that not many people care about "background" applications.
2) Consumer common sense is distorted in that they don't understand the purpose of multi-task. They believe that multi-task is already on the iPhone because obviously, you can "exit the application into another application". This isn't the point, a true multitasking system requires A) background applications B) automation of background functions and C) the ability to switch tasks in the foreground of an application.
3) Apple knows that adding background applications will result in people complaining of slowness because 1) Alot of people still don't know what RAM is, not even my sister who is a 4+ year college student working on her masters and 2) Alot of people do not know how to manage a platform involving background applications and 3) average consumers would rather sacrifice functionality for ease-of-use.
I believe the emphasis of this multi-tasking is not a multi-tasking complaint. Idiots are prone to think that the iPhone already has multi-tasking; I've seem them argue about it. We need to add a mentality to people in which they learn that it isn't about multi-tasking, it's about background applications and how we need applications to function in the background.

Well the 3GS has double the ram and faster processor, hopefully they (third-parties) can find a way to make actual multi-tasking more plausible.

new beast in town
the android os is really taking shape and will soon be king. with so many different devices coming aboard this thing will be huge. the g1 now is awesome with just a little tweaking and those who don't want to tweak there are 2 more ota coming in the next 5 months.

nonzenze said:
The 3GS is faster not because of the clock speed, but because the A8 Cortex beats the pants out of the (very long in the tooth) ARM11 in the TP (and TP2, why HTC, why?!!!).
http://www.anandtech.com/gadgets/showdoc.aspx?i=3595&p=4
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Click to collapse
Hmm, very informative read, Thank you,
So the 3GS apparently has a superior CPU in more ways than one, which I'm not really surprised about. I did mentioned that I did not like HTC's choice of CPUs...which they're still using in their newest devices. Many other devices are already using the Cortex A8, so if it is the case that HTC is losing out due to the CPU, then that doesn't bode well for their future phones.
jim_0068 said:
To the original poster, if you are such a tinkerer and want to tinker with something new a jailbroken iphone is for you.
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Click to collapse
Yes, everything you said is true. A jailbroken iPhone is a very nice thing and probably does well for tinkerers. In fact, the 3GS that my friend let me used was jailbroken too.
However, truthfully, installing apps that lets me do new things wasn't what I was really referring to before. Instead, I was largely referring to the changing of ROMs/OS. I believe the iPhone has made some progress running Linux, but nothing else as far as I can see. WM Phone has so many different ROMs available and progress has been made on running Linux (including Android) too. This allows for much more customization, in my opinion as you get the benefit of software-based customization combined with ROM/OS-based.
Besides, it's pretty fun to be running Windows Mobile 6.5 while everyone else is still using Windows Mobile 6.1.

Guys, rumours are the Pink/Zune Phone will be a Win 7 derived device based on hardware designed by Microsoft.
If they pull that off, as they say, "I'd buy that for a dollar".
V

My opinion is that in order to be a solid competitor, Microsoft needs to limit the hardware choices for their platform. HTC does a great job at making devices for Windows Mobile. Microsoft needs to pair up with them to make their own phone. With the new Zune HD coming out featuring the nVidia Tegra chipset, it would make a wonderful platform to build the next generation WM phone from. The thing is, it should be the only phone featuring WM 7 Professsional. It will enable Microsoft to fine tune WM to use every bit of the phone's capabilities, leaving nothing to be desired. Much like they do with their PC OS's, there can be several versions of the main OS with steps in capabilities. Their Zune HD phone should be the candidate for WM7 Ultimate, which would feature smooth transitions and speed.
Edit: Just saw the post above mine. I need to read more!

vijay555 said:
Guys, rumours are the Pink/Zune Phone will be a Win 7 derived device based on hardware designed by Microsoft.
If they pull that off, as they say, "I'd buy that for a dollar".
V
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Rumors are a bit too little to get excited, in my opinion. The possibility of a true iPhone competitor by Microsoft sounds amazing, but it's a bit underwhelming at this point.
We have no knowledge of the OS, no knowledge of the important specs (CPU, RAM, multimedia capabilities, etc) aside from Tegra, and the little specs that is publicly available kind of sucks. 3.3in screen with 480x272 res? Call me picky, but I would have hoped for 3.5-3.7in with at least 640x480.
Still, I have not followed the news of the Zune HD, and it does, indeed, look pretty amazing. The Os does at least. The Zune HD's OS appears to work amazingly well; It is incredibly fast and smooth.

8525Smart said:
Rumors are a bit too little to get excited, in my opinion. The possibility of a true iPhone competitor by Microsoft sounds amazing, but it's a bit underwhelming at this point.
We have no knowledge of the OS, no knowledge of the important specs (CPU, RAM, multimedia capabilities, etc) aside from Tegra, and the little specs that is publicly available kind of sucks. 3.3in screen with 480x272 res? Call me picky, but I would have hoped for 3.5-3.7in with at least 640x480.
Still, I have not followed the news of the Zune HD, and it does, indeed, look pretty amazing. The Os does at least. The Zune HD's OS appears to work amazingly well; It is incredibly fast and smooth.
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Click to collapse
I really think the only company that can actually create a truly direct competitor to Apple and iPhone is Microsoft...it's the name and not the product.....
Apple had a bad rep back then and now they are doing good.
It seems like Microsoft is tagged after Apple jumped the boat to success.
We'll just have to wait for Microsoft to adopt Apple's precedent.
With Microsoft directly creating their own phone and not just an OS, we might actually get a true iPhone killer. Though Microsoft may have to revamp the entire OS and create their own line of OS totally unrelated to Windows Mobile.

Android tablets need work--alot of work...

Just returned from Xmas shopping and thought I was going to get some tablets for family members but found them to be frustratingly slow when compared to the iPad--which is what people are going to do, even though they shouldn't, they're going to. Google did announced that Android <2.2 is simply not ready for tablets and I couldn't agree more.
I have an iPad at home and the cheapest iPad competes successfully with the best tablets Android has, the Dell Streak and Samsung tab. Those tablets are <$600, so's the iPad. Unless there's a specific reason why you'd rather use an Android tablet when the screen is smaller and the whole tablet is overall slower, the choice is easily iPad.
I heard a shopper try to use one and comment how slow Android is. I showed him my Evo to tell him that Android's still in progress, it'll get faster. Unless you don't mind paying for $300 or less for frustration, (inexpensive) Android tablets are just not ready. I hear Honeycomb will have a tabler-optimized system.
** mind you, I'm a Phandroid so...

Couldn't agree more. The galaxy tab is an embarrassment. I tried using one in a store the other day and got 3 force closes in ten minutes, plus a jerky UI and ****house resolution.

I liked the Tab a lot, thought it was really great. Didn't have any issues with it when I played it with it. But I agree to an extent. Problem is, most Android tablets are made poorly. Archos is about the only one that has made decent tablets aside from Dell and Samsung. It could be better though, I'll say that. Right now Android is suited for mobile phones. For a good reason, it's a phone OS.

More reason to look forward to honeycomb. The flagship Google tablet should set the standard for android tablets.

tknz said:
More reason to look forward to honeycomb. The flagship Google tablet should set the standard for android tablets.
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Click to collapse
Yes! And they're going to kick butt. Apple optimized the iPhone's OS for three years before they brought out the iPad. Android is only about three years old, isn't it? I just hope that the crappy tablets out there now haven't damaged Android's rep.
Or Google should've just thrown ChromeOS on tablets. Chrome is basically what I use on my Ubuntu powered netbook. I rarely see the desktop anymore.

I have had a galaxy tab for about 27 days..I also have an ipad that i've had for awhile....I like the tab but it's going back tomarrow...Had 3 and all 3 had dead pixels..I think the screen is better than ipad and using the apps and playing with OS is peppy like my Vibrant but start browsing and it becomes sluggish...Some sites are much worst than others...The stock browser is by far the slowest thing ever..dolphin hd is better but still sluggish..I tried all browsers and disabling flash/plugins and different settings ...No matter what i try browsing is not smooth like my ipad...I hoped a fix came out or a ROM that would fix the laggy browsing but nothing yet....I really like the tab because of A: Android OS vs the boring basic ios4 and B: The screen is better than my ipad...While the ipad screen is very nice the tab is better and once samoled starts coming on them ohhh my!

Google had plenty of time to make the OS smooth, 2.3 is a big fail. I don't know what google has given to people but everyone believes that android will be the next big thing. Seems like we will never reach the promised land.
People had so much expectations about gingerbread, new UI, gpu accelerated graphics, the smoothness, new integration with social networking... Instead you get a 2.3 with a new keyboard and few little things people don't care.
After 2 yrs and some the OS still is not smooth, it lacks in visual appearance, the apps are crap. I don't know how much longer i'll stay with this OS. Everytime i get a new phone is always read the stickies, flash new roms rinse and repeat. I am so tired of this, i don't know how long is going to stay like this but is like google doesn't give two ****s about it.
I bought an ipad this past weekend, jailbroke it, and started installing apps and end of story. I have games that i have fun playing with and apps that doesn't look like crap. If iphone had 3g in tmobile i'd consider getting an iphone.

greenstuffs said:
After 2 yrs and some the OS still is not smooth, it lacks in visual appearance, the apps are crap. I don't know how much longer i'll stay with this OS. Everytime i get a new phone is always read the stickies, flash new roms rinse and repeat. I am so tired of this, i don't know how long is going to stay like this but google don't give two ****s about it.
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Click to collapse
It seems like you're the type that just wants their computer to work..[period]. This is not a criticism, you must just not be interested in hacking and modding your phone and why should you have to? There are so many choices out there, you don't have to use an Android phone--unless you were forced into using one.
Some of the apps are crap and some are are not but the choice is yours. The good apps filter to the top and bad ones never surface. I only choose apps that are four stars or better so my apps aren't crap--not to me at least. Don't you think that sort of freedom is nice? I do!
I, for one am glad that Google doesn't give two-****s about it ( I think they do ), it's an open source project and what you do with "your" phone is up to "you". We've never had this sort of freedom and I'm grateful we finally have it. But you don't have to try new ROMs or read any stickies if you don't enjoy it. I know Android phone users who have absolutely no plans to ever root their phone because they're happy with the way the carrier set it up for them--great!
I came from the Blackberry world and the only thing I could do with that was change the wallpaper and the size of the fonts *yawn*. RIM did everything for me and I had no clue what they were doing. Also, I've had Apple products, they magically patch things for me--what's going on? I'd like to know... Apple says, "no you don't--just use it, m'kay?" Microsoft does the same... No... Let's keep this open, I'm having a blast!

semperlux said:
It seems like you're the type that just wants their computer to work..[period]. This is not a criticism, you must just not be interested in hacking and modding your phone and why should you have to? There are so many choices out there, you don't have to use an Android phone--unless you were forced into using one.
Some of the apps are crap and some are are not but the choice is yours. The good apps filter to the top and bad ones never surface. I only choose apps that are four stars or better so my apps aren't crap--not to me at least. Don't you think that sort of freedom is nice? I do!
I, for one am glad that Google doesn't give two-****s about it ( I think they do ), it's an open source project and what you do with "your" phone is up to "you". We've never had this sort of freedom and I'm grateful we finally have it. But you don't have to try new ROMs or read any stickies if you don't enjoy it. I know Android phone users who have absolutely no plans to ever root their phone because they're happy with the way the carrier set it up for them--great!
I came from the Blackberry world and the only thing I could do with that was change the wallpaper and the size of the fonts *yawn*. RIM did everything for me and I had no clue what they were doing. Also, I've had Apple products, they magically patch things for me--what's going on? I'd like to know... Apple says, "no you don't--just use it, m'kay?" Microsoft does the same... No... Let's keep this open, I'm having a blast!
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Wow, well said mate, agreed except for Microsoft phones (WinMo), you can also buy them with the idea of tweaking, hacking, configuring everything to your liking, etc. in mind, unlike blackberry and apple.

XtriFe said:
Wow, well said mate, agreed except for Microsoft phones (WinMo), you can also buy them with the idea of tweaking, hacking, configuring everything to your liking, etc. in mind, unlike blackberry and apple.
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Oh? I didn't know that about WinMO. I think that to a point you can hack and mod anything you want. I've seen OS 7 running on an iPhone and thought that was impressive but have no idea if that's difficult or not. But that's not Apple's corporate philosophy where as AOSP, by definition will lends itself to extensive modification and is almost encouraged--man, I've dreamed of this.

greenstuffs said:
Google had plenty of time to make the OS smooth, 2.3 is a big fail. I don't know what google has given to people but everyone believes that android will be the next big thing. Seems like we will never reach the promised land.
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Click to collapse
Android is pretty big right now and still growing.
People had so much expectations about gingerbread, new UI, gpu accelerated graphics, the smoothness, new integration with social networking... Instead you get a 2.3 with a new keyboard and few little things people don't care.
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The UI has different elements from previous versions, but this isn't the first time this happened. This happens with other platforms all the time. Windows Phone 7 for not having Copy and paste off the bat, or any decent homebrew support. Apple with the lack of multitasking, or Blackberry with something actually new and specs that can rival current Android phones!
After 2 yrs and some the OS still is not smooth, it lacks in visual appearance, the apps are crap. I don't know how much longer i'll stay with this OS. Everytime i get a new phone is always read the stickies, flash new roms rinse and repeat. I am so tired of this, i don't know how long is going to stay like this but is like google doesn't give two ****s about it.
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It's not just google mind you, Google can only do so much. If you're gonna blame Google, then you have to blame Qualcomm, Samsung, TI, HTC, etc etc for making the phone and some of the drivers. And I don't know about you, but I didn't flash a new rom every day now. I just get a rom that's best for me, and if it needs updated, I update it. Same thing with stock roms. If Google didn't give 2 ****s about it, then why is Google still supporting Android as much as they are? I like the UI of Android a lot. Easy to customize and change, where as for the longest time in Ios and mostly still now, black background? Windows Phone 7, black background or a different color? For the apps, it's open source. That's what the reviews in the Marketplace are for. I've have good experiences with the apps.
I bought an ipad this past weekend, jailbroke it, and started installing apps and end of story. I have games that i have fun playing with and apps that doesn't look like crap. If iphone had 3g in tmobile i'd consider getting an iphone.
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Ios is also completely locked down in terms of development. Iphone 3g is also nothing compared to current Android phones now. An Arm11 v6 cpu, versus say an Arm Cortex a8? About 400-440mhz underclocked from 600mhz or so, versus even the Droid only being clocked at 550mhz, but having a huge advantage of better instruction sets and Adreno gpu? You obviously haven't done much homework either, Tmobile will support Iphone on their network, and there's even unlock codes in Cydia available. All you need to do, setup a plan with Tmobile, and get a Tmobile Sim card for that plan. It might now have the 3g network enabled, but there's your Iphone for you.
I'm not bad mouthing Apple, Iphone, Windows, Microsoft, WP7, or anything like that. But Apple has complete control over the Iphone and Ios(There isn't even an AT&T logo on the Iphone), WP7 is still young so we'll see how it turns out, and Android is still growing.

I would agree that the iPad is much more advanced. But the Galaxy Tab is pretty decent and I actually love the color nook. It is great for what it does...

Once released, Honeycomb should have a positve major impact on new futere Tablets.

semperlux said:
Just returned from Xmas shopping and thought I was going to get some tablets for family members but found them to be frustratingly slow when compared to the iPad--which is what people are going to do, even though they shouldn't, they're going to. Google did announced that Android <2.2 is simply not ready for tablets and I couldn't agree more.
I have an iPad at home and the cheapest iPad competes successfully with the best tablets Android has, the Dell Streak and Samsung tab. Those tablets are <$600, so's the iPad. Unless there's a specific reason why you'd rather use an Android tablet when the screen is smaller and the whole tablet is overall slower, the choice is easily iPad.
I heard a shopper try to use one and comment how slow Android is. I showed him my Evo to tell him that Android's still in progress, it'll get faster. Unless you don't mind paying for $300 or less for frustration, (inexpensive) Android tablets are just not ready. I hear Honeycomb will have a tabler-optimized system.
** mind you, I'm a Phandroid so...
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I completely disagree. You must not have done your homework well. Right now the best tablets are the tegra tablets. They own the ipad in every way possible and are receiving alot of development. As far as I know there are 4 out now: Toshiba Folio 100, Viewsonic G Tablet, Advent Vega, and the Elocity 7". I'm on the Viewsonic G Tablet, so far the rims developed by our Dev team are 1337! They can play flash, have full market, and are hella fast!

[Q] which is better iphone or android ?

Which OS is good, reliable and stable, android or iphone?

Honestly, they are both good, reliable and stable operating systems and each has their own strengths and weakness. Its really a question of personal preference. I prefer android and the open source nature of the system, and am not a fan of the highly proprietary apple brand. Both OS are good, but you have sooooo many more options when it comes to android over iOS, from the phones to apps and more.

iamsuper123 said:
Which OS is good, reliable and stable, android or iphone?
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Compelling question, sir. Let us consult the Magic 8 Ball, for reasoning necessary to arrive at the answer is far too complex for minds of a non-magical nature.

iamsuper123 said:
Which OS is good, reliable and stable, android or iphone?
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Are you trying to start a fight? Lol.
Sent from my LG-P999 using XDA App

Iphone to me one phone one operating system easy to make apps and games for compared to androids many operating system and most apps run on certain operating systems like netflix or Verizon with exclusive apps and games. But i love android open platform but for the phones that's locked android sucks stock roms are laggy.
Sent from my HTC Sensation 4G using XDA App

I have an HD2 running CyanogenMOD 7, an HTC Inspire 4G unrooted running Android 2.2.1 (FroYo) and an iPhone 4. I also have a Samsung Focus running Windows Phone 7.
Out of all of those the Androids (HD2 and Inspire) are the most fun to use. They work flawlessly and have more convenience features than my iPhone 4 or Focus. Nevertheless, my iPhone 4 is my main phone and is the primary phone I take with me all the time. The reason being is because it is the most reliable system ever created. The Androids, for me, work flawlessly, but are prone to issues from what I've observed from other people. And my Inspire, in the beginning, almost got me lost because of a screwy compass and non-functioning Google maps app (maybe due to GPS or lack of data signal). Since a subsequent update the Inspire has been flawless.
But I trust my iPhone 4. It may not have the convenience of a free voice guided nav like on the Androids, but I can manage fine with the maps system it does have. Nonetheless, I love Android and feel it is superb and would not be without it.
Decipher through that and see if I declared one over the other.

Both have their strengths although i think at the moment android has more strengths as Apple is playing catchup with the iphone5 and iOS 5. I like androids open source nature and its general layout is just 'cooler.' Most android users go on and on about fanboys but the truth is almost all iphone users are not fanboys, infact i didnt even know ABOUT android until mid 2010! That's how bad their marketing (and how good Apple's) was. Most have been duped by Apple's excellent marketing which they've done fantastically over here in Australia and don't realise there are other options.

Both. The choice between the two is simply personal preference.

pHyR3 said:
Both have their strengths although i think at the moment android has more strengths as Apple is playing catchup with the iphone5 and iOS 5. I like androids open source nature and its general layout is just 'cooler.' Most android users go on and on about fanboys but the truth is almost all iphone users are not fanboys, infact i didnt even know ABOUT android until mid 2010! That's how bad their marketing (and how good Apple's) was. Most have been duped by Apple's excellent marketing which they've done fantastically over here in Australia and don't realise there are other options.
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Click to collapse
Apple is all about brand name, android is about functionality features scailabilty, now Apple has seen what an Android can do they're trying to play catch up with IOS5 see how they treat their developers now. For example a few ebook developers had to go out of business because of all the fees Apple charges
Sent from my ADR6400L using XDA App

better overall experience def. android
apps/games are 1-2 yrs ahead in terms of innovation and smoothiness: iphone

Depends on what you like to do with your phone...if you like to explore your phone 360° in complete liberty i'll remand you to an android device...if you like apple style get an iphone
I prefer android devices.

My friends have had nothing but problems with their iPhones.
Buddy had 2 iPhone4's die out on him in a month (speaker, microphone and one just wouldn't hold a charge) and he's since upgraded to an Arc (android).
I believe it's personal preference, but if your buying a new phone then the iPhone just can't compete... Think about it, the iPhone4 is old technology. There are new insanely powerful and innovative Android devices released every other week...
Let me put it this way. Galaxy S vs Iphone4 is/was a toss up. Side by side reviewers often gave them ties or a slight edge one way or the other. The Galaxy S is over a year old and the new Android devices are lightyears ahead of it. If you read a review that DOESN'T say a phone like the Arc destroys, yes, destroys, the iPhone4 in every category then the reviewer is likely a fanboy/on the Apple payroll.
I'm sorry, but it's an old phone. Besides, the o/s are completely different styles. It's a lot like the original windows vs mac vs linux debate. Mac=iPhone, Android=Linux (literally)... Both excel at different tasks and each has a loyal fanbase... It's all preference without question in terms of OS. In terms of hardware I don't think there's a comparison with any new phone.

Neither, my friend. webOS is the better os.

Android......Anyday

I feel the iPhone is outdated with regard to hardware. I mean, the old galaxy s which came out before the iPhone4 is better than the iPhone 4, let alone all these new phones. People say gaming on apple devices is better. Never Understood how. I mean, it's the same games and the same developers and android gets all the more important and good games

I personally prefer Android, because I like the open source nature of the system. I love that there are so many Android device options out there now. However, I do have to admit that iPhone has that extra something that somehow android devices just haven't mastered yet. A touch response is like a .000000098 seconds faster in iPhone vs. Android phones, but I can tell there's that little bit of .000000098 seconds lag....lol. But bottom line--Android for me

As a lead support tech for a large company, I have to answer this question every time I respond to a smartphone issue, because the user always ask, should I have something else or will X product give me less trouble?
Really, it all comes down to personal preference. Some people only use a phone for a very limited set of tasks(email, phone, games), and in those cases it comes down to which hardware/cellular provider the user wants.
I like to use mine for any and everything as it helps me every minute of every day either at work or with personal stuff, and since I am a techie and like to tweak my device to my liking I prefer a rooted Android device.
Rooted HTC Thunderbolt

both os are good.but i prefer Android...iphone is nothing for me

In all seriousness, iPhone. A jailbroken iPhone 4 is really an incredible piece of hardware, and especially with iOS 5 the software is second to none. Compared to any Android phone, it has a more complete feature set and fewer bugs and problems. It's a more mature, more slick overall system.
That said, I use Android. I think Android is really, really awesome and there's some fantastic hardware out for it. And it's overall much cheaper to be an Android user on Sprint than an iOS user on AT&T and Verizon.

I like the Android the best, definitely
But then again i havent really used an iPhone, only my moms, lol.

Former Android users....

I was curious to hear from former Android users how you like WP7. Mainly what are your main gripes and what functions did you actually use that are no longer available. Also, are the tradeoffs worth it in the end and what features really *make* swapping worth it. I have loved android for a long time but I'm kind of wanting something new and have liked the wp7 interface from day one. Thanks!
Sent from my ThunderBolt using XDA App

Here goes:
Mainly what are your main gripes
No apps, and if there are apps they are over priced and crap alternatives to Android versions.
Homebrew is going to cost money.
I know its a phone and should mainly just be a phone, but there is nothing to do on it, I never leave my Android phone alone always playing with something but this I treat it like a nokia 3310 lol.
What functions did you actually use that are no longer available
I don't know what it is but there are some things missing but Mango is looking good but still not as good as Android and Ice Cream Sandwich will be coming out around the same time.
Are the tradeoffs worth it in the end and what features really *make* swapping worth it.
Only thing that is making me want to swap over is the Xbox Live thing other than that Android is far superior.
I have loved android for a long time but I'm kind of wanting something new and have liked the wp7 interface from day one.
I love Android also and also wanted to try something new but Windows Phone 7 isn't something new. Stick with Android and Launcher7 lol ^^

I think I'm fine with paying for my phone to be unlocked personally, one time fee for the latest beta builds forever? Honestly I don't know why HTC Samsung and Motorola aren't looking into this for android devices so they can make some extra $ and make us impatient (or reasonable people that don't like waiting for their craptastic skins) people happy.
I don't care much for Xbox live like I use to but I definitely like Zune pass (really its probably the top single feature that has me wanting wp7 as I use my phone for music a lot).
I love android but honestly, I'm tired of trying to throw on custom ROMs (its fun but tiring) on every phone I get trying to keep up with the updates. I think the only thing that is holding me to android at this point is the ability to wifi tether my phone to my tablet and the fact that mango phones are on their way (fall is only 2-3 months away so announcements should be made soon?)
So guys, is there some feature that I am missing that you really either miss from android or you really like that wp7 had when you made the swap?
Sent from my ThunderBolt using XDA App

i switched from my old Desire Z and X8 (both of em are still in use sometimes) to a 7 Pro.
so in my own personal opinion, a small "comparision":
1. UI & Customization
I like the UI of WP7 alot more, you can use Launcher7 on Android but it doesn't feel as good. Its smoother and a lot faster, mostly due to inability of "customization" but i really don't miss it. The tile system works surprisingly well, and yeah i don't have a lot to complain about.
No wallpapers, no app launchers etc. It's a locked phone pretty much. If you don't mind, well just don't care
If you want customization stay with Android, else both of em are good in their own ways -> personal preference.
2. Apps
For most people an important point. If you compare Android market to WP7 market, WP7 looses.. big time!
You are charged for almost every app (and a good bunch of em are overpriced!). While free apps, and sometimes test versions of the paid apps are good enough, its still nothing in comparision to Android.
If you want specific apps, check prices first! (i'd recommend it before buying the phone )
There are some social features integrated into WP7 but at the moment (Pre-Mango for me still), they aren't complete. The replacements for those features are at best mediocore, sometimes they shut off randomly etc. There might be some better apps for those, but since i don't use em very much, i havent searched for them.
Otherwise the quality of the apps and games i downloaded is really good, though some of em are missing. As i said, check before you buy the phone, if you didnt already.
3. Features:
Well again the points goes to Android. Bluetooth File Transfer, Tethering and stuff like that, you won't find it on any current WP7 phone (unless you are a Mango user, but i don't know if they implement some of those features). If you need it, well i wouldn't recommend buying a WP7 as of now.
Other than that, i don't really miss any important ones.
4. Final Thoughts:
Since i don't have the WP7 for too long forgive me if i missed or overexaggerated on somethings.
In the end i think, WP7 is a real good OS. While locked down very hard, it just works (just like the hated Apple). While it does feel kind of inferioer to Android (due to the lack of some importants features mostly), it really isn't. There are workarounds for everything, though they are complicated sometimes
With Mango.. well no, even now in MY opinion (which means only for my needs etc), i equal WP7 to Android. While i still use my Androids sometimes (mainly for tethering etc), i often see myself not missing those phones.
I'd recommend WP7 everytime, as well as Android. Just get some information on both, maybe if your friends have said phones, compare them ( or go to the store and do the same).
In the end it comes down to one's need and preference
If you want, you could wait for Mango devices. Though i guess they won't up the hardware too much, maybe add some features like Front Facing Camera and stuff like that, but that's it.
I hope i could help some

BartJJ said:
I was curious to hear from former Android users how you like WP7. Mainly what are your main gripes and what functions did you actually use that are no longer available. Also, are the tradeoffs worth it in the end and what features really *make* swapping worth it. I have loved android for a long time but I'm kind of wanting something new and have liked the wp7 interface from day one. Thanks!
Sent from my ThunderBolt using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This entire WP7 OS is simply beautiful and fluid. Rather than 95% of all other android devices, all WP7s are completely lag free while still having a very attractive and intuitive interface. I have 28k apps at my disposal and that means one for everything I would want. The WP7 community here is amazing and hacking / development itself isn't fragmented. I've owned 3 android devices and 2 iOS devices in the past and I'm honestly never looking back.

Android too me seems very slow and inconsistent. Running a Samsung Galaxy I often find when the thing lags, it lags to the extreme. The whole app-store mechanism I find a mess, especially because to much power is given to the app developers. More often then not, they abuse these powers which destroys your battery life.
I like the way WP7 is headed, and I like what Microsoft is doing to keep it a reliable platform. What I don't like however, is the update-procedure as it's very poorly performed. I'm not blaming any company in particular, but I do think updates needs to rolled out faster. Why do ISPs have to test every minor update?
Other then that, the WP7 UI is far superior, and app support is coming along well now. We just need a major bump and hopefully Nokia will spark this? I'm looking forward to purchasing a 2nd gen phone, namely a Nokia.

I went from iphone 3gs to blackberry torch to palm pre 2 to samsung focus to atrix 4g to iphone 4 and back to samsung focus and i love it.
The largest difference to me is that WP7 lacks customization. With android you will hardly ever find 2 phones that have the same ui and settings. All windows phones home screens look the same. I am ok w/ lack of apps. Honestly there is pretty much something for everything already. What would make me happy and never go back to android is being able to personalize the home screen. Maybe some transparent tiles and a wallpaper background for homescreen. that would be awesome.

I'll try to keep this succinct. I had an Evo 4G for the last year, then switched to an HTC Arrive a couple days ago.
Like:
-Most of the apps I used on Android are available on WP7
-As a Zune Pass subscriber, having that ecosystem on my phone is awesome
-It feels like for tasks I do often, I can do all of those tasks in a lot less time than it took on Android
-I primarily develop in .NET, so the dev tools are way friendlier to me than Android's.
Dislike:
-WP7 doesn't have anything that comes close to the awesomeness of Google Navigation
-I'm pretty heavily into the Google Voice ecosystem. Losing the tight integration there is annoying.
-As a Zune Pass subscriber, the lack of expandable storage is agonizing. I can never completely get rid of my Zune HD because it's still the device I have to go to if I want access to all of my music/podcasts.
-The Amazon Android App Market's free app of the day has spoiled me so badly on the pricing race-to-the-bottom front that I am finding it very hard to convince myself to buy any of the games on WP7.
Overall, I am having a good time so far. There is some functionality I am missing, but nothing that I'd consider a showstopper. I still have my Evo 4G, so I might end up switching between the two devices every couple months or so.

I just switched from a samsung mesmerize to a HTC TP7.
My first impression was WOW. I instantly liked the tp7. it's more responsive, it's faster, i can do stuff faster, and everything loads faster. Typing on the screen is more accurate and fixes my screw ups better.
As for apps, the android market has tons more, but in my experience 99.99999% of them are completely and totally useless and the ones that aren't useless i found to be lacking. There were a few that were good, but not many. So far the ones i've tried on WP7 actually seem to be of decent quality and i can find an app for everything i need so far. Some are still obviously in the early stages and need some more features but the app feels higher quality. Of course the windows marketplace has it's share of fart, burp and police light apps. (who downloads these stupid things?)
My ONLY complaint so far is the fact i can't do custom colors on the tiles. the stock colors frankly suck. I tried unlocking the phone and chevron doesn't find the phone at all so i'm wondering if this phone just isn't unlockable with that method. Not being able to do custom tile colors just seems like an obvious omission that should have been fixed allready.
Other than that i like this phone MUCH better, it's faster and doesn't hiccup as much as android did. The loss of customization sucks a bit but honestly, who really cares. I'd rather have the phone work well than be able to customize the wallpaper. The tile color though is killing me.

lots of very good points expressed already, and I agree with most.
However: wm6.5 was far superior to my android in all the little area's that I liked / wanted to tweak... which left me disappointed when I switched to android and frustrated with the infancy of the android based os / app wanting some of the simple things that I was used to on wm6.5.
Then I jump back to windows mobile (thinking it will be great to reg edit again) only to find... tile overlay with no access to the good stuff, and on top of that extremely limited in more ways than android... apps (android copycat) extremely limited and very high priced... I never needed apps to do what I wanted. windows already had it, I just needed to turn it on or off and or tweak it the way I wanted it. customize to no end.
Now I really like the smooth integrated feel, and I took a step down in hardware just to get the operating system. I am back to hacking a android wanna be like device just to get to the meat of the phone, so I can use the power of wm7. I think...

Morrisme said:
Now I really like the smooth integrated feel, and I took a step down in hardware just to get the operating system. I am back to hacking a android wanna be like device just to get to the meat of the phone, so I can use the power of wm7. I think...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's WP7 !

I think all we have to do is to wait a bit. My only problem is, that the application store is pretty empty(and overpriced), but hopefully it's gonna change.
What I see is, that Microsoft tries to copy Apple in terms of system optimisation, and simplicity, and so far I say it's successful.
I hope once the marketplace will be flooded with applications, there will be a serious filter on what apps they allow, and what they don't. The main criteria of selling on marketplace should be to have a perfectly smooth application on every windows based mobile, because what I see now is far away from that. Applications seem to just thrown together for wp7 in a day or 2.
Otherwise coming from android myself, I miss certain apps, or games, or functions, but the other hand I'm impressed by it's UI, and smoothness.
WP7 has potential, but it's time is not yet here. Once a great poet said in youtube comments: "Iphone is the past, Android is the present, WP7 is the future"

I came from evo 4g and I love it I got an arrive. Its so quick. And something no one mentioned battery life is great sure if I game for a while I will need a top off bit other then that a work day is no problem btw my work day is 12 hrs

There are some surprising holes in WP7 which I didn't expect compared to other OS.
1) No common Compass API - it's down to individual hardware manufacturers to supply drivers and they all implement it in a different way. So what works on an LG won't work on a Samsung or HTC. Really hinders the use of maps and star gazing apps etc. This is despite the compass being a mandatory part of MS' hardware spec. So much for MS' tight hardware platform control. And don't think about trying Mango - even if you have the compass working in NoDo it won't in the Mango Beta - and MS say it wont be availible until the OEMs release their final versions. The whole point of a Beta and RTM is so developers can test and adapt their software ready for launch - but with the compass augmented apps (one of the killer features of modern smartphones) they are screwed. We have a common API for GPS, why not Compass?
2) No PIN delay - even the most basic phone that offers Exchange support allows a configurable delay before the phone is PIN locked, or respects the delay imposed by an Exchange security policy. Everytime my screen goes off - I have to enter an 8 character password - despite the Exchange policy allowing a max 20 minute delay. Is this fixed in mango? Is this how MS works with MS?
..and relax...

Android marketing and the fragmentation argument

I just saw an ad on TV for an android device on one of the big us carriers (I forget which one) and it was really bad. It made me realize something I've never agreed with before: that indeed android fragmentation is a hinderence.
Hear me out. Obviously being an active xda member I'm pro-android, but most people with android devices aren't on xda and wont root or even use a different launcher. So that is why I realize carriers like Verizon or whoever have to show generic commercials with no or little focus on the actual operation system. Don't get me wrong, I'm not sticking up for the carriers, they are the ones that take forever to update android versions. But they don't have to. That's the "beauty" of android.
But this has never been more of an issue than right now, I argue. Android 4.2.x is excellent and beautiful. It is the first time an iPhone user could try android and actually feel like it could be in the same competition as iOS in terms of looks and general UI. Meanwhile only a very tiny percent of android users have the latest version.
So to bring it back around to the commercial I saw, which goes for pretty much all android commercials I've ever seen, they do not display android at all! Its always generic futuristic music and background fx and distractions. Meanwhile iOS always shows a closeup of the phone with a mere finger navigating the os.
The ironic thing is that android is better now! But carriers take months or a year to update so they can only advertise their ****ty versions of android which are always stale at the time so instead they just show the phone dancing to dubstep music in front of lightning. They should be showing how Google Now is already way better than siri, how the notification drop down was started by Android (taken by iOS) and is now beautiful and functional, and how the recents button has become essential, not just usable.
There should be a SHORT grace period for carriers to update to the newest version of Android. Only then will they realize that their biggest asset isn't their ability to have 20 different android phones, or their attempt at theming a ROM (sense, touchwiz), but you actually have the best operating system out now! You just don't have the latest version because you're a phone network company and not a software development company.
But I put the blame on android because surely they are able to have a bit more control over how the big carriers manipulate their os? Why wouldn't a company like Verizon want to display the freshest os and advertise that they have the newest version of android and will always be this first to update because they don't change a thing? They would advertise that if Google had some sort or mandate on update time periods. Then android wouldn't always be thought of as the poor mans iOS .
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus

The problem is, I don't think the average user - the one you're talking about - cares about "updates". They're just something annoying that happens and you have to restart your phone for a while. They don't care if it has the "newest" Android OS, just that it does what they want - this is the rest of my family feels, and even some of my friends who ARE interested in tech.
My dad couldn't give a crap if he has ICS or JB and wouldn't be able to tell the difference. If you put 4.2 in front of him, I doubt he could tell you the difference without spending half an hour hunting it down - and after that, I would question if the changes are anything he would actually care about. That kind of a user doesn't really WANT fast change - they care that things are familiar and easy to use, they don't want to have to re-learn parts of their phone in a few months - that's one thing I can give to iOS - as boring as it is, it's well, the same.
People have always said that one particular iteration of Android is when it's "finally ready to take on iOS". I think ICS is fine in that regard. iOS is so stylistically "stagnant" that Android really doesn't have to do much to match it. The advantage of iOS is that it's always the same, that it's not changing, that you can upgrade your phone hardware and still have everything work exactly the way you knew.
"Constantly updating" appeals to tech geeks who love learning new things and better ways to use them - and that's what the Nexus line is for - that's what flashing ROMs is for. People that want that find it.
Basically, your average Android phone shopper is Windows, not Linux. They're there because they want a phone that fits their needs and price-point - something Apple isn't offering. Sure, some people are Windows people for other reasons - but we're talking the average person who just wants a computer they can afford that "just works".
A good example is my mom - I just helped her buy a tablet. She was a little afraid of the idea of an Android tablet because she had no brand familiarity. She'd seen people using iPads to do what she wanted, and was worried because she'd never heard of ASUS and better knew Samsung as an appliance-maker. These ads, the most important thing they can do is just get people to recognise the name. There have been studies done on this, and it's true - getting people to know your brand's name is one of the best things you can do. That way, the "average Joe" goes into the store and thinks, "Hey, that's Samsung - I've heard of that" and the human brain tends to go, "I've heard of that, so it must be good" - true or not. They aren't looking at the specs and comparing, they're looking for a device they can trust. Trust starts with familiarity. The iPhone came from a company that already had name-recognition, but they grew that into a much larger market by using exclusivity and ease of use. It's like with liquor - people see an expensive liquor and assume that it must be a better liquor. Simply jacking up prices has totally worked for some brands to gain success. I'm not even kidding. People do this with expensive purses and jeans and crap, too - even if it's all made in the same exact Chinese factories.
Um.
Sorry for the novel.
tl;dr : Our brains are often illogical

sd0070 said:
Android 4.2.x is excellent and beautiful. It is the first time an iPhone user could try android and actually feel like it could be in the same competition as iOS in terms of looks and general UI.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Android has been able to compete in looks and general UI since 4.0 IMO, and easily since 2.2 with Sense. Smoothness is a completely different factor, but the actual look and feel of Android has been decent for a while. iOS isn't even a UI anymore, it's an app launcher and that is all. You can't do anything at all in iOS outside of the apps, which is frankly pathetic. iOS works as Apple wants it to, Android works like you want it to.

As a developer I do think Android fragmentation is a huge issue. I agree that Android 4.0+ is nice looking and has some very nice API's however developing Android applications that run consistently accross different devices is very difficult. I find more and more that a good portion of my code ends up being wrappers and reflection calls to support API's and classes not found in previous Android versions. For example, If I want to add media player lock-screen controls to my application it's not a problem in Android 4.0+ but the class isn't available in versions below 4.0. So, what am I supposed to do? Do I release a version to the play store and say my application supports lock screen controls ONLY if you run a specific version of Android? That certainly won't ecourage people to use the application. Just my opinion.

I agree it can be a problem for development.
However, I think it's reasonable to say, "this feature will only work on 4.0+" - people are used to that, if you have a Windows 98 machine still, I hope you're not expecting to be able to run everything a Windows 7 machine could, for example. I see things like designations requiring XP/Vista/7, et cetera on packages - I don't think it's unreasonable that at some point Android is the same - you can only reasonably support so far back because at some point it's just not worth your time.
If it's possible to implement below 4.0 and it's worth your time to make it happen - that's the cost of business to decide if it's worth it or not to support the older devices based on what your market looks like.