Apple or Android phones?

JAYk_2

bubblesmoney wrote: »

i would vote for android phones for

• value for money,
• consumer choice ... i mean actual choice of handsets / hardware / colour / memory / features / screens to suit every pocket and budget. by choice i dont mean black or white and 16gb or 32gb!
• customisabilty extending a lot beyond changing wallpapers !
• choice of handsets with variable features suiting different people and look/size suiting your needs rather than having a bog standard look
• usability as determined by the end user.
• other features like .... portable drive, camera, camcorder, media player with loads of formats (DiVX etc), swappable memory, swappable battery especially important if you go camping or travel a lot.
• full multitasking
• wireless tethering via wifi or bluetooth
• wireless hotspot option for use by multiple devices
• different profiles with the clik of a button for work, travel, etc
• web to device features, via browsers like google chrome / firefox.
• sat nav, see this months pcpro magazine which rated it the best across all 5 categories of tests. (it spanks tomtom!)
• google integration,
• enterprise features, like remote wipe
• augmented reality apps,
• pushmail (gmail, yahoo etc) works efficiently
• various messengers .... googletalk, yahoo, windows live messenger, skype, fring and loads of others, and you can download them from anywhere and not just from the android market. there are loads of other markets which have android apps. you can even download skype from the network providers like three (so that it doesnt count for data usage when used on 3g):T
• loads of very useful free apps, apps development increasing exponentially just in May it was 50,000 apps, 2months later in july it is 100,000 apps. Pocket lint had a article saying in the develpers world majority as per surveys think android is a better bet for the future even though the OS is just a few years old after launching on phones. But there are loads more apps available from other websites too which work just as fine.
• google goggles
• google voice
• google translation
• cool social life integration features like friendstream which integrates everything
• YOU DONT HAVE TO BUY AN APP FOR THAT, the free ones work fine!
• flash websites work!
• cloud synching allows synching with any device and not just one computer
• multitasking drop down notifications can be pulled down when needed and cleared when needed rather than being forced to clear restricted pop up notifications.
• toggle switches to control anything easily from home screens, rather than having to muddle through settings menus.
• choice of screens to suit every budget.
• cheaper monthly plans and cheaper phones
• more suppliers and competition will improve quality and decrease prices rather than a monopoly over pricing.

current limitations of android ...

• apps to internal memory ... but being sorted in froyo which newer phones will get but not all old phones unfortunately.
• wifi proxy access, few work arounds but i havent tried them
• lesser number of accessories
• would like to know the other shortfalls so that i can make better decisions come upgrade time!

what is my ideal phone ...
does everything including telling me next weeks winning lotto numbers! but if that isnt achievable then a weather proof smartphone will be a boon. if there cab be weather and drop proof cameras with lcd screens then why cant there be water proof, drop proof, dust proof smartphones?? come upgrade time i do hope a sturdy smart phone exists by then.

Well, looks like the HTC / Android phones is winning this one so far.

MrWasp

I've had an iPhone since day one and not used Android. I've always been able to do anything I want with it. I did Jailbreak it once to open it up to more apps but to be honest I only ever used one app. At least when there's a problem with either the OS or phone it's down to Apple. I remember when Android phones first launched there were problems and the hardware manufacturers and Google blamed each other. Apple are taking some stick regarding the signal issues at the moment but myself and friends aren't experiencing any problems so I think it's the media whipping things up.

N20Y1D

HTC

MrWasp wrote: »

Apple are taking some stick regarding the signal issues at the moment but myself and friends aren't experiencing any problems so I think it's the media whipping things up.

Its a hardware fault, you and your friends are obvioulsy lucky to have good coverage in your area.

http://blogs.consumerreports.org/electronics/2010/07/apple-iphone-4-antenna-issue-iphone4-problems-dropped-calls-lab-test-confirmed-problem-issues-signal-strength-att-network-gsm.html

Apple have made a mistake as hard as that may be to accept, it is the truth. It will be interesting to see how they dress it up at the press conference later today.

bubblesmoney

HTC

MrWasp wrote: »

I've had an iPhone since day one and not used Android. I've always been able to do anything I want with it. I did Jailbreak it once to open it up to more apps but to be honest I only ever used one app. At least when there's a problem with either the OS or phone it's down to Apple. I remember when Android phones first launched there were problems and the hardware manufacturers and Google blamed each other. Apple are taking some stick regarding the signal issues at the moment but myself and friends aren't experiencing any problems so I think it's the media whipping things up.

no its not the media, its because you dont understand the physics behind the design fault!

if the signal strength falls because of attenuation when you hold the phone by about 20-25dBm you may still get a signal is your signal strength is strong. by strong i dont mean the bars shown on your phone as it is fudged software, i mean the actual raw signal strength shown in diagnostic mode present on most phones by punching in some codes. this diagnostoc setting is even present on the iphone 3gs and older models but this diagnostic mode has been deleted from iphone4 software by apple! no prizes for guessing why!

if you live or use the phone in an area where the raw signal is low then you lose the signal. thats why some users dont face the problem because they only use the phone in good signal areas. the consumer reports organisation used the phones in their shielded lab where they are able to simulate all signal strengths that users experience and then test the phones in those settings and thats how they decided the iphone4 has the worst interference problems. but that shouldnt be a surprise to anyone because it has got a decades old external antenna when the external antenna design was binned decades ago by most other mobile manufacturers because of the WELL KNOWN interefence problem faced by external antennas. read wikipedia about external antenna interference problems. or read the gizmodo and anandtech links explaining antenna attenuation, links to which i have given in this and other threads.

jimbms

iPhone

Things like apps we always offer for free worldwide, it is only household gadgets etc that you pay for, the apps bit is just a hobby side for some of us here but we exploit it to blag stuff.

MrWasp

I'm not saying people aren't experiencing problems but I have 8 friends with iPhones that don't have a problem. If you try Googling HTC signal problems you'll see it's not just Apple phones that lose signal depending on how they are held.

A problem with an Apple, Sony or any other big brand name product is always going to generate more media interest. It's not the end of the world. If people aren't happy they can still get a refund for the next week.

Fifer

HTC

MrWasp wrote: »

I'm not saying people aren't experiencing problems but I have 8 friends with iPhones that don't have a problem.

Are they all iPhone 4 owners?

MrWasp

Yes iPhone4. The other poster said the area makes a difference. 3 got them on the day of release and no dropped signals. I've only had one a few days but it's been fine. If I do experience problems then I'll return it.

bubblesmoney

HTC

MrWasp wrote: »

I'm not saying people aren't experiencing problems but I have 8 friends with iPhones that don't have a problem. If you try Googling HTC signal problems you'll see it's not just Apple phones that lose signal depending on how they are held.

A problem with an Apple, Sony or any other big brand name product is always going to generate more media interest. It's not the end of the world. If people aren't happy they can still get a refund for the next week.

if you search mse forums you will find my thread too and my solution too or you could see my posts on xda forums

MrWasp

In fact if Apple do offer to swap units I probably will. Then when I buy next years model I know that whoever I sell it to won't experience any problems. It's not the first technology fault and it won't be the last. For about 10 years I used Motorola phones and just about everyone needed replacing within the first couple of months. They were always the types that either flipped or rotated to open. My advice to anyone who doesn't want hassle with new products is don't be an early adopter. Buy after faults come to light and have been fixed. There's always something going to come to light once millions of people have had a chance to use it.