In reading my daily tech news I came across "10 Reasons Why iPhone 5 Doesn't Stand a Chance Against Motorola Droid Bionic" (via daringfireball.net).  It got me thinking, how many of these types of articles have been written over the past years comparing the latest Android superphone versus the current (or in this case future, unreleased) iPhone.  Not only that, but the points listed within said articles are often the same set of features that Android handsets have offered since inception.  But the best part of this type of article is the Apple vs. Android fight that goes on in the comments.

The article covers the basics, the Bionic has a bigger screen, HDMI output, SD card slot.  I've written a few times how I feel about bigger screens, as well as the fact that the bigger screen STILL does not carry a Retina Display PPI (pixels per inch).  Having used the iPhone 4 for over a year now it's hard for me to accept anything less.  I sorta get the HDMI output and why someone would want that, but honestly I've never heard someone say "Gee, good thing I have this HDMI output so that I can pull out my micro-HDMI to HDMI cable and plug in my phone to a TV and show you what's on it."  If you desperately need HDMI output for an iDevice, Apple does sell an adapter for iPhone 4 and iPad.  I also can see the benefit of an SD card slot as some Android handsets only come with a small amount of onboard memory (some as low as 2GB, but recent ones have reached 16GB).  Android handsets do not offer different onboard memory sizes so they have to supplement onboard storage with SD cards.  Not a disparagement, simply fact.

The article mentions the gimmicky WebTop capability in the Bionic that allows you, through a dock (not included), to use a sort of meta OS environment that's basically Chrome OS with Firefox instead of Chrome.  Again, my HDMI comments above apply here.  There's a nerdy section comparing the processors in both the phones which is basically devoid of any information outside of "it's better because it's newer".  Then a general section on "speed" which again lacks any real benchmark and lumps data speed and OS performance together.

One feature that the Bionic does have a leg up on is 4G LTE support.  Almost all information regarding the upcoming iPhone points to a lack of LTE.  T-Mobile, AT&T, and Sprint all have variants they are branding as 4G (either WiMax or HSPA+), however LTE will be the prevalent 4G technology once implemented by all carriers.  Verizon's network has been rapidly rolling out over the past months and AT&T has recently started their final testing in a few markets.  LTE has cable broadband equivalent speeds for wireless data and it's going to be nice when it's everywhere.

What a great segue into battery life!  The main complaint of the LTE devices out there right now is battery life.  The devices tend to run hotter and use more battery than their 3G-only brethren.  While the Bionic touts a "1735 mAh battery", industry reviews still peg the device requiring a daily charge for light to moderate use.  In contrast, using the iPhone 4 I can typically go at least 2 days, sometimes more.  The iPhone's legendary battery life is likely one of the reasons the new handset will not carry LTE radios.

An Android vs. Apple comparison wouldn't be complete if they didn't mention Flash support and Android's "openness".  Since Flash "enriches web experience" we must have it right?  The only time the lack of Flash has ever hindered me on the iPhone is when I can't get a restaurant menu.  Most sites detect what device you are using and switch to a mobile version (that doesn't use Flash to begin with).  I love hearing that Flash is a feature, when chances are any website you go to on your phone will be the mobile version.  As for open Android, malware certainly seems to be on the rise.

The battle rages on.  At the rate Android devices are released, hardware specs are almost always going to be above the iPhone simply because of its release cycle.  We need to stop looking at it quantitatively and begin to compare qualitatively.  How does the user experience compare between the devices?  Are Android users generally happy about their device or generally frustrated?  What about Apple's users?  Are the features that make Android "so much better" than iOS useful for the average user or is it just marketing?

Yes I own an iPhone and it's my primary device.  No I've never used an Android handset as a primary device.  I've demoed some Android hardware in stores and never gave it another look.  Call me biased!  All I know is that a fair amount of people I know have moved from Android to Apple, and not so many the other way.  It's not indoctrination, it's because the iPhone "just works."

When I finally realized that getting an iPhone was is my imminent future, I did as I normally do and began to gather information about the general Apple culture, info on all their products, and of course the best sites for updates to said information.  As you can imagine, there are a ton of sites dedicated to the iPhone specifically and the Apple company as a whole.  Throughout my parsing from these sites, references to "Gruber" kept popping up.  Not knowing who or what a "Gruber" was, I did a quick search and came upon John Gruber's site Daring Fireball (http://www.daringfireball.net) and quickly became a daily (if not more than daily) reader.

Gruber is a completely different breed of "blogger" (I hesitate to use this term, as he doesn't operate as such which I will explain later).  Your standard tech blogs have posts about rumors, upcoming products, and reviews.  Daring Fireball will contain links to these, however he typically adds a short couple of lines with what appears to be his "gut reaction", which are often on point and objective.  He also will write expanded articles based on topics that deserve more than a few lines, such as the iPhone 4 prototype mess and Antennagate, which are extremely in depth and well written.  The style of the site is simple and full of great information.  Daring Fireball does not allow comments, which Gruber had a great back and forth with Joe Wilcox back in June (Link: http://daringfireball.net/2010/06/whats_fair). ; From the same article, Gruber writes:

What makes DF an efficient and effective soapbox is exactly that it is not noisy. My goal is for not a single wasted word to appear anywhere on any page of the site.

This gets back to the main point as to why I respect John Gruber.  So many tech sites floating around are padded with garbage data, unfounded rumors and horrible commenters.  While I still frequent those sites, I have to parse through the fluff to get to the good info.  I know that as soon as I load DF, there will not be a single article on there that will waste my time.  Now I know many people like to classify Gruber as a Apple fanboy, he even gets attention from Fake Steve Jobs (Daniel Lyons) and most of the tech sites with that label.  Yes, he is Apple heavy, but not in a way that shoves Apple down your throat.  In fact, most of his insider Apple info is rock solid.  I've learned a lot from his site and honestly agree with about 90% of what he writes, which is hard to admit as I am known to have some strong opinions when it comes to technology.

I know I'm a no-name tech enthusiast and it's 99% likely John won't even read this blog, but I wanted to write about it because his site has provided me a totally different arena for technology news.  I appreciate his attention to detail and insider insight, as well as the passion in his writing.  It's hard to find on the internet but it's refreshing to see.

What a month it's been huh?  June 24, 2010: Judgment Day.  Steve Jobs released upon this world a redesigned iPhone, very different than the familiar 3G and 3GS form factor.  Little did he know, the flood gates to Antennagate were about to blow open and drown out the wondrous magical device that Jobsy promised.

I'm usually not an early adopter, I typically like to wait a bit after a major phone release before deciding on which to choose.  I know we wanted iPhones, and the iPhone product has been rock steady pretty much since it's inception in 2007.  I also was drawn to the new design of the iPhone 4, the curvy nonsense on the 3G and 3GS wasn't attractive to me at all.  So I took the plunge and pre-ordered for launch day.  My phone came (not without many billing fiascoes with AT&T, but that's a different story) and I've been using it as my primary mobile device since then.  Here's my take on my first month with my first iOS device.

Point 1: AT&T's service

OK, so the first complaint EVERYONE IN THE US has with the iPhone is AT&T.  I've seen the speedtest results from the major metros (SF, NY, etc.).  I understand that people can be frustrated with dropped calls and slow data in highly populated areas and somehow this gets blanketed to the 97% of the country that AT&T covers.  Maybe Raleigh/Durham just has a very strong AT&T infrastructure.  I can say this, while in my home area, I have yet to drop a call throughout this month.  Additionally, I have not experienced any data slowdowns and have had 3G coverage everywhere I've gone.  Granted I don't go to a lot of places outside the Triangle, but for what I use the phone for I'm completely satisfied.  My recent trip to Las Vegas did have some severe data slowdown issues in certain parts of The Strip, and I certainly made use of the "Mark the Spot" app.  I'm probably jinxing myself by writing this, but as far as my daily use goes there has been no difference between AT&T and Verizon's service.

Point 2: Death Grip

The iPhone 4 has a signal attenuation issue, it's been confirmed by various outlets and even Apple itself.  Am I aware of how I hold the phone when I'm using it?  Yes.  Does it ruin the experience for me and render the phone unusable?  No.  People made a mountain out of a molehill and got their free case/bumper out of it (I'll be getting one too, not sure if I'll use it however).  This is not a dealbreaker for me and again has not really affected the way I use it.

Point 3: iOS and it's "apps"

I'm digging iOS.  Much more than Windows Mobile, though I haven't used Android in order to compare.  I appreciate the attention to detail that was put into it (i.e. the .com button on the Safari keyboard) and it's extremely user friendly.  I'm finding that I'm not really using a large variety of apps and the app store seems to be full of garbage apps.  It's nice to say that you have 100,000 apps but if 60% are garbage it loses it's value.  The iPod app is absolutely excellent, a pleasure to use.  I can't wait to see iOS on other types of devices because it would certainly fit. 

Point 4: Camera

I took all my photos and video from my trip last week to Vegas on my iPhone.  Some came out really great, some not so great.  After all, it is a phone and not a point-and-shoot or DSLR replacement.  Here's some samples:

Bottom Line:

The iPhone 4 is the best phone I've used.  The form factor, the aesthetics, the display, the responsiveness of the touchscreen, everything.  Even if Consumer Reports won't recommend a buy, I will. 

I've got a full week under my belt with Apple's newest iDevice.  News broke today that the first (emphasis added) class action lawsuit is being brought against Apple in regards to the "death grip" antenna issues.  From the KCR website (http://www.kcrlegal.com/iPhone-reception-problems.aspx):>

Meanwhile, since we posted our inquiry on Monday, June 28, over 1250 people have responded. The overwhelming majority are experiencing problems with their iPhones and agree that Apple should be held accountable.

So let me get this straight.  Over 1250 people are saying their reception isn't so great with the iPhone 4.  Apple sold 1.7 million devices in the first weekend it was available.  The percentage of respondents is so low I can't even copy it from Windows Calculator (I mean I can, it's 7.352941176470588e-4, but who wants to see that?).  Why are people bothering with this frivolousness?  I'd even venture to say there's more actually defective units that were sold than the amount of people that are complaining about their signal loss.

Apple is a big company, people think that it's going to just roll over to a few squeaky wheels.  To say that the iPhone 4 is completely unusable as it was released is absurd.  I'm finding more and more places just in my daily use where I have more bars with AT&T than I did with Verizon, including inside buildings.  This kind of nonsense just appears to be the same Apple hate that happens every go around, it's always going to be something critically and traumatically wrong with anything that is released.

Don't get me wrong, if I cover the left side black band with my thumb my bars start to drop.  In my apartment.  Around town I don't have that issue and I can freely hold the phone however I wish without dropping calls or paralyzing my data connection.  I'm not going to put a bumper on my phone and I'm not putting a case on it.  I'm not dissatisfied with the service or the hardware.  I have my gripes about some minor things with iOS but I'll get used to it.

It's genuinely shocking to me the amount of fervor over "low signal strength."  Hasn't that been the major complaint of AT&T for years now?  It's no different now than it was when you bought your 3GS last year, and your 3G the year before, and your 2G the year before that.  AT&T and Apple both have a 30 day return policy, if it doesn't fit your needs, then return it.  I'd be interested to go into a few AT&T and Apple stores to see how many phones have been returned to date.  My guess is very very very few.

The Apple vs. the Internet soap opera continues......

Let's see if AT&T lives up to their reputation and if ol' Jobsy can impress me. Today I hopefully fought my last billing battle and have the iPhone 4 in my grubby mitts.

Sent from my iPhone

By this time next week I will be running my first iOS (and furthermore Apple) device.  As the delivery date quickly approaches, I keep thinking about how the iPhone 4 will change the way I use mobile devices.

I've been using Windows Mobile OS since version 5.0 on a Dell Axim X5 PDA.  My first smartphone was a Verizon (HTC built) XV6900 Windows Mobile 6 device.  Windows Mobile's interface, program compatability (along with it's lack of robust applications), and general usage is all I know.

I'm not concerned that I'll have to pick up on all the things that make iOS different from everything else.  I'm not concerned that I'll have to learn how to use a touchscreen again.  I'm concerned I will like iOS too much.  I've already got a stack of apps ready to sync with my new phone, something I was never really able to do short of a few .cab files on a storage card for any new WinMo device.  I've read about the ins and outs of the OS, how it works together and utilizes the apps.  Short of reading I've logged maybe a few minutes in my lifetime on any iOS device.  Things are definetly about to change.

I'll talk about this point more I'm sure once I get the iPhone in my hands.

 

Welcome to my inaugural posterous post. 

I decided to make the switch to AT&T mostly because of the hardware provided by Apple.  In a world of Incredibles, Droids and EVOs mobile hardware is advancing at a cheetah's pace.  When Gizmodo broke the iPhone 4 leak a couple months ago, the iPhone started to look viable for me.  Without even knowing the internal hardware, the design caught my eye more than any other iPhone to date.  Glass on front and back, the metal rim, the individual volume buttons.  It was something that was an iPhone but it wasn't.

Fast forward to pre-order day.  We all know what happened during the WWDC keynote so I won't rehash.  Starting early this morning on AT&T's website the pre-order process would hit different milestones and error out.  Our situation was more complex as we were porting in 2 numbers from Verizon on a new AT&T family plan.  Regardless, after a few failed attempts I gave up and went to the local AT&T store.

While there were a fair amount of people in the store, it wasn't overrun or shut down as earlier Internet reports stated.  The representative taking my order was friendly and all, but really didn't inform me exactly what was going on during each step.  Because of this, he ported my number instead of Karen's to the 16GB 3GS that she bought today.  This lead to an hour long call with AT&T and Verizon's provisioning groups to get my number back in Big Red's hands and off AT&T's network so I can continue to have service until my new iPhone 4 comes in.

Both parties were extremely nice and helpful.  The Verizon guy even gave the AT&T guy some guff over the new data plan set up and tried to tout the Incredible, which I felt was a bit unprofessional, but allowed a comedic break to the monotonous waiting.  When all was said and done, I got my number back, we walked away missing 2 hours of our life but got free activation on both phones.

Clearly AT&T was not prepared for the volume, either that or the volume was so high that it broke everything.  Being that they are already pushing back the delivery for my pre-order (to June 25-July 5), it's apparent no amount of preparation could have saved today's online disaster.  The store's computer system was spotty at best, ending up at the end of our visit being completely down and unable to process Karen's port.  Our representative called us back and set up the port once their systems came back up nearly 2 hours after we left the store.

Overall AT&T was very helpful on the customer service side, though it's frustrating to know that one simple question (Which number?) could've saved us an hour and a potential billing nightmare with Verizon.  I understand that this was likely his 130891374135780th order today but still, it's the simple things that can save all the time in the world.