24 September 2008

gPhone or iPhone?





It's time for me to finally replace my trusty Sony Ericsson t610 and these are the two options I'm considering.

I've put off getting an iPhone because I was waiting for the 3G but even now that it's out my fears of switching to at&t still stand. I've heard from friends how awful at&t is in so many ways so I'm reluctant to switch. And then, along comes the G1 from T-Mobile - my wireless carrier!

I see that Crazy Bob has a gPhone already. The quality of the photos from the camera looks great, but the camera is not a major concern for me.

I'm curious to hear any opinions one way or the other.

Update: Is it just me, or are these statements about Google products not competing with Apple products a bit ridiculous? How else are these products to be viewed?

Just as with Google's Chrome browser, the G1 phone press releases state that it's not being positioned to compete with Apple products. I find this statement ludicrous. How can these items not compete with Apple products? This is like saying I have created a new car that gets 100mpg but the car is not competing with GM or Ford. Perception is reality. Just as I'm looking for a new phone, many people are looking for a new car and most logical people will compare and contrast some vehicles just as I'm comparing and contrasting the iPhone with the G1.

To date, the iPhone is one of the few mobile devices that touts Google services. Also, offering the Amazon music store app is in direct competition with Apple's iTunes integration for the iPhone. Additionally, the Android Market is a direct point of competition with Apple's App Store.

Wayne has pointed out a good comparison of the G1 with the iPhone if you're interested. I've read much about the G1 lately and I must say that the iPhone still has many small advantages over it, though I'm sure in time the playing field will be leveled further. After all, this is the first generation for the very first Android-based mobile phone.

Update 2: As much as I am a fan of Apple products and have been since 1990, the evictions of competing applications from the App Store is disconcerting to say the least. When I first heard that Apple was actively going after enterprise customers, I began to wonder if this the beginning of the end for the Apple we know and love. Going so far as to tell owners of rejected apps that the rejection itself is under NDA is definitely stepping over the line. Leave it to the corporate lawyers to fuck up everything. I've gotta say that this has left a very bad taste in my mouth.

6 comments:

  1. Android uses a fair amount of Apache code, and will soon be open source. That's enough for me.

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  2. That's a good point and actually part of my thought process. I guess I should have mentioned that.

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  3. apache? ugh...that's enough for me to go with iPhone.

    Have you seen this side by side comparison:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ONZzwCBDVA

    Seeing the touch screen response is enough for me to stay away from Android...for now. Hey! I've got that sort of response on my Treo 680 now!

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  4. Yes, I've already seen the side-by-side comparison. IMO, the touch screen response time is neglegible and, honestly, not my number one concern. Not having owned an iPhone yet, I have no point of comparison.

    FWIW, I'm thinking of getting one of each and comparing them myself.

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  5. Here's a good comparison of the iPhone 3G and the G1:

    http://www.appleinsider.com/articles/08/09/25/breakdown_android_g1_iphone_share_little_in_common.html

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  6. Thanks for the URL, Wayne. I've updated the blog entry with this URL because the writeup is a good one.

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