Smart Phones: Please Stop Making Me Feel So Dumb. Part 2

So we have the very popular, easy to use, not so consumer friendly iPhone. Now im going to post a little about the Android. I personally love the Android platform, when used right it can be amazing. People ask “do you have an Android do you have a Droid?” I reply “no I have a phone that runs the Android Operating System”. The Android OS is pretty awesome, with so many customizable widgets, screens etc. Generally there are two manufactures of Android devices they are HTC and Motorola. The Android is easy to use, customizable; there are many FREE apps (Most of the apps are free). It’s made by Google so of course it works great with Gmail, has free navigation through Google maps, and the rest of Google’s toys. Androids are available through every wireless carrier and have many different specs. If you would like to buy one of these devices I suggest you check out the specs. A friend asked me “Get the Droid 2 or the HTC Incredible”. So for this post ill use this as a good example. After looking over the two I said get the incredible the only differences were the manufacturer and the Incredible has an 8.0 megapixel camera. Of course the Droid 2 has a slide out keyboard…but let’s face it, this is a touch screen world and keyboards are going the way of the 3.5 floppy. Both have 512MB RAM and 1GHz processors. The rooting/hacking community is geared toward the HTC phones to be honest with you. The phones both have 8 gig internal memory with microSD slots to expand the memory up to 32 gigs. Android devices also let you remove the battery to replace it with an extended life battery or even just replace a defective one. Okay, yeah I know lots of pros you want to know the cons. The battery life of many Android devices leaves something to wanted. I constantly charge my own device. Then again if you can put this thing down and stop playing with it then the battery might last a while. You can also install task killers to save battery life. It won’t sync with your ITunes but you can still put a hell of a lot of music on it. I’m trying not to be biased here but hell what can I say? The Androids are just as good if not better than the iPhone. You can’t get the same apps on the Android devices as you can get for your iPhone…but most developers are programming games that are compatible with both platforms. Bottom line, if you don’t want ATT’s service but you still want a phone capable of doing everything an iPhone does without the iTunes, but with Google integration and more customization Androids are for you.

So Androids and iPhones are covered what about Blackberries? Blackberries have been around before either the iPhone or Android. They are the staple of businesses and geek gurus and people who want email anywhere. RIM, the maker of Blackberries, has just released its OS6 platform its more iPhone/Android like. It’s pretty cool and would be amazing if it were released a year or two ago. Everyone that gets these devices loves the capability of the BlackBerry Messenger that’s cool but I can do the same thing with free programs…or hell who doesn’t have unlimited texting anymore? Blackberries are nice, they are slightly customizable and you can get a few good apps. They have a removable battery; have lots of different models for you to choose from and are reliable. Typically these phones are slower than the iPhone or an Android device and not all phones run the new OS. The saying “a little too late” comes to mind here. Personally, I see RIM going the way of Palm and have no doubt its only a matter of time until they are selling to someone. The last Blackberry I had was the Storm it was great when it first came out but just couldn’t hang with iPhones and other devices. Bottom line, a Blackberry is reliable, slightly customizable, a lot of businesses still use them, and it will play music, takes pictures and great with email. Though they are lacking in development are everything but cutting edge and in my opinion the company will be going out of business soon.

So there you have iPhones, Androids, and Blackberry, all smart phones that can make you feel dumb. I hope this post has given you a little clarity on the subject. When you get your next phone take this stuff into consideration techie, Trekie, or straight smart phones are here to stay so you might as well embrace them.

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