Tuesday, August 10, 2010

Giving Up on BlackBerry: iPhone vs. Android

It was one of those impromptu conversations that just took on a life of its own, covered a day, kept us from our jobs and provided some nice entertainment amongst friends.

What started as innocent banter with one of our last remaining friends still riding the Crack-Berry wave turned into a good-natured "sell me a smart phone" diatribe of facts, opinions, third-party analysis and more!

It all took place on the inauspicious date of August 5, 2010, very, very early in the morning (note: to protect real people, I've substituted real names for our nicknames... If you know our nicknames then we are SOL):


This is the original message:
------Original Message------
From: D=$$ To: Bucky Cc: Yoshi Cc: Rosco Cc: The Doc Cc: Big Red Cc: Lil' Red Subject: Give up on BB Elsom
Sent: Aug 5, 2010 12:20 AM
http://m.gizmodo.com/5604747/blackberry-torch-review (you need to read this in order to follow the immediate responses)

From Yoshi (12:59 AM)

I'm totally tweeting this.

From Bucky (7:23 am)

I already have yet there are more good reasons to be anti apple-wish att hadthe droid...Other than os memory issues the BBBold is a damn good phone.My next phone may be an iphone but I'm resisting the notion
From Rosco (8:53 am)

http://www.cnn.com/2010/TECH/mobile/08/04/blackberry.fans/index.html

From Bucky (9:44 am)

Totally = although this is everywhere in the news and most techy's know it already...but if you feel the need to Tweet by all means tweet away!

From Bucky (10:01 am)

Let's make an objective opinion on 2 phones.

1 - droid - version, cellular provider option, etc.
2 - iphone - versions available (3GS, 4)

Which is better and why?

I think both are better than the BB Overall - I have not used an droid so only research will tell me.

Looks like it's between the 4, and Incredible (if it's that close I'll stick with ATT)

D, you've had your 4 for awhile now - any negatives? Heard about the antenna issue that a case fixes, etc..

From Rosco (10:22 am)

My Droid rocks. While Sean has pointed out to me that I wouldn't be able to browse while talking on the phone, it has done everything I've asked it to do with speed and ease. Verizon's network in Oregon is better than Att's so if connectivity is an issue I'd seriously take that into consideration.
I went to the Droid from a Blackberry Tour. While I really liked the BB (email in particular,) it had limitations. Primarily in browsing, but also running multiple apps, screen size and app availabiltiy.

From Yoshi (10:29 am)

iPhone 4:
- screen resolution 4x better than 3G. Very noticeable
- hd video and 5 mp camera are very responsive especially in low light.
- Flash is nice addition.
- faster, slimmer, lighter (than 3GS) of note, the htc android devices are actually bigger than 3GS which is more screen size but totally personal preference
- os 4 alleviates a lot of functional issues such as multitasking, etc but I still can't attach a photo in an existing email or store documents - needs work but to run Pandora while MapMyRun is nice
- the front forward camera is VERY cool and performs great. I never have to guess where that damn camera button is again!
- antenna issue non-existent with a case and realistically for anyone with kids you want a case to protect the investment so for me it's a non-starter.

Furthermore, Tess has one without a case and she has no reception/connectivity issues but she is a righty!

They just came out with a prediction that Android phones will outpace iphones by 2012 but I question whether they are considering iPhone release to the other service providers in those numbers. They may be but I know a lot of people that are just waiting!!!

Hope that is helpful.

From Bucky (11:24 am)

Thanks for your responses guys...

So: Verizon - does it allow google maps now? They've locked down free working apps on their networks before - and for me although the network probably is still better - it doesn't affect me when I travel or stay in PDX.

Nod goes to Android OS Phones overall but may stick with ATT regardless...

What's with the attachment issues with the 4? You can't reply to an email and attach a photo? What do they want you to do instead? Start a new email and attach photo?

Hate all the expensive proprietary cabling/docking station BS

Do you guys use Mobile me or alternately sync with Outlook another way?

Can I at least view .pdf .docx, .xlsx files on the 4? Not a big deal if I can't store them...

Anyway - good hubbub. Thanks!

Anybody have T Mobile?

From Rosco (12:30 am)

Droid has had Google Maps since the first release.
No problem attaching to a reply.
Don't use MobileMe, but CompanionLink syncs all my data with no problem.
I've never used a cable or docking station.

From Bucky (1:11 pm)

Yah, the first smart phones (BB probably) for Verizon actually blocked Google Map GPS Usage - maybe they turned that off a long time ago.

What did you pay for CompanionLink? Did you get the pro version - that goes for $130!

Thanks again for the INFO!

From Rosco (1:29 pm)

I think it was $25

From Big Red (1:39 PM)

IMO, any discussion of Smart Phones should include the software you use to get content on off the phone (e.g. iTunes for iPhone). I haven't used an Android phone so I can't comment on the comparison, but I've always thought iTunes to be an amazing software application (the main reason I started using Apple products in the first place, replacing my multitude of previous mp3 players with an iPod and never looking back).

From Big Red (1:48 PM)

Also, I am able to sync with work Exchange server out of the box (no additional software). One feature I would have liked in this area is the ability to Sync with more than one provider. Once I started syncing with my Exchange server, I could only sync mail, contacts, and calendar with my work account (or disable sync for one or more of these items).
I would have liked to sync mail/calendar with my work account and contacts with my Gmail account, but this isn't possible.
Ideally I would like to sync mail with work, sync both Outlook and Google calendar events in a single unified calendar UI and contacts with Gmail. Regardless, more powerful/flexible Exchange sync functionality would be nice.

From Big Red (1:50 pm)

Can you at least view contact information while still talking on the phone? I don't find myself browsing much while talking, but many times, I've looked up someone's number or email and provided it to the person I was talking to.

From Bucky (1:54 PM)

I was just typing you an email on this subject – so apropos. Thankfully I don’t have to worry about an exchange server and do everything in house but have multiple accounts I want to sync at ONCE. Dustin/Sean – any issues syncing with Work/Home/Outlook anything regarding this subject?
Also, Chris just asked a good question, can you from your 4 look up a contact while talking on the phone? Ie 3 way calling feature?
Adding DustinWorkEmail & Brett (probably a bad idea on this one)

From Big Red (1:58 pm)

I know you can do this with iPhone (I have one, and do this a lot), but I don't know about Droid. Also, conference calling functionality iPhone has is pretty awesome. Speaker phone could/should be louder IMO.

From Yoshi (2:22pm)

The other day I looked up the fire situation for Jim while he babbled hysterically until I confirmed he should start running so that was nice.

And by no means is that a deal killer but more of a nice to have.

I've heard nice things about the android but my favorite comment was last year on a flight I sat next to a Google employee and noted her playing with an iPhone. I asked her if she had a chance to use Android and she pulled an Android phone out of her bag and simply said "everyone at google uses this." (pointing to the iPhone). Granted, Android devices have come a long way but the open source OS does provide some obstacles as Intel supports the iPhone but not any Android-based device.
There is also the flash issue which is a plus for the Android but there is too much weight behind 62 million iPhones (+ 4 million ipads) for that to continue unresolved.

From Big Red (2:28 pm)

Also, you can fix the iPhone 4 antenna issue with one of these:
http://i.i.com.com/cnwk.1d/i/tim/2010/07/20/Antenn-aid.png?tag=mncol;txt

From: Yoshi (2:27 PM)

I think chris' question was to Ross. There isn't an issue on the iPhone.
I have multiple email accounts and just sync calendars/contacts through outlook but I do know that I've had multiple calendars on there.
I keep waiting for the next OS update to include the camera icon in the email mode. This is a pain as you must start in photo/video in order to create an email with the attached file. A pain we live with.
From Bucky (2:52 pm)

So, is everybody doing the right thing by supporting Apple or will open source need our support now more than ever! – I’m with John Conner and supporting the resistance, Yet I may dabble in the enemy’s territory a bit…

Last year Google developers could have Microsoft Software on their PC’s – This year they can’t which is directly related to security.

LOLS on Jim


From Bucky (2:52PM)

Question redirected where intended as the Android OS Supports this – but thanks for the clarification. I need more reasons why I shouldn’t get the iPhone and it’s limitations so that is my current focus as I would rather. Really don’t want to switch to Verizon but haven’t ruled it out.
So far the only thing bothering me is the Multiple Account Sync functionality brought up by Red – I’m guessing Chris’s problem lies within Exchange. Chris, in the next few nights can you test this with your Comcast and gmail accounts?

From Big Red (3:05 PM)

Ok, I just re-acquainted myself with what I was trying to do and the current state of affairs on iPhone. It looks like they have improved this functionality with the iPhone 4 OS (I'm glad for this thread and glad I checked!!!):

Previous Problem (iPhone 3 OS): I wanted to sync with two Exchange accounts (Google also offers sync via Exchange); Google and my Outlook account via work. Previously, iPhone would only allow you to sync with one Exchange account. I can not comment on other use cases, this is what I wanted to do.

Current Functionality: Essentially, I just verified that I can do everything from my previous "ideal functionality" statement: I'm syncing Email with my work Exchange account, Contacts with my Google Exchange account, and Calendar with both (the two accounts appear as different colors in the unified Calendar UI).

Lovin it!

From: Bucky (3:24 PM)

Damn, I have no reason not to get an iPhone!

From Bucky (3:42 pm)

Here’s a way to fix the Gay rights issue:

From D-$$ (4:10 pm)

Elsom,

What Gough said! Work (exchange) and personal e-mail (Comcast)synch without any problems. Calendars too. I was holding out as long as I could hoping AT&T would have a decent Android phone to compete, but so far they only have 2 (and on old Android OS and not all functions capabilities of top Android phones). If AT&T would finally release the HTC Desire as rumored (Basically Google Nexus One) then they would have an option as good as the iPhone4.

If you want to change carriers then you should look at the current Android phones from Motorola and HTC. I think HTC might have the edge. Here site is great to compare current phones, and future releases. Detailed side by side comparisons. Here is a comparison of iPhone4, HTC Desire, and Droid X.

I never wanted to be an iPhone Homer like Yoshi, but it has been an awesome phone. No problems so far. No antenna issues at all and I didn’t have a case for the first month or so.

D

Thursday, June 17, 2010

World Cup 2010 - Week 1 Review

So in the midst of what has so far been a fairly predictable World Cup, today's Mexico-France result presented us with a good idea of how things will turn out for Group A (c'est la vis!) and Group B. It’s good to see smiles and laughs when it comes to the water cooler chat around the World Cup.

We have created a SideTweet of World Cup twitter feeds including CNN, FIFA, World Cup Bloggers and Team USA (surprisingly, not a lot of teams have officially adopted Twitter as a communications tool). You can visit this World Cup digest here.




For those of you who are relatively unsure of what the group play means to your chances of your team winning it all is, here is a quick run-down and with my predictions on how things will play out for those groups who are at least two games in (note, in group play the first tie-breaker is goal differential, goals scored vs. goals allowed):

Group A (Sean’s prediction – Mexico & Uruguay):
Mexico – Tie or win vs. Uruguay they are through
Uruguay – Tie or win vs. Mexico they are through
France – If Mexico vs. Uruguay is a tie, they are out, must beat South Africa by at least two goals and hope that Uruguay loses by 3 or more or Mexico loses by 2 or more
South Africa – Thanks for hosting…

Group B (Sean’s prediction – Argentina & South Korea):
Argentina – In It To Win It. Messi could take over the tourney…
South Korea – A win or tie against Nigeria should get them through…
Greece – Does anyone really think they are going to beat Argentina? Well, actually, they may if Argentina rests some of its stars. If Greece does pull it off, pressure is on South Korea!
Nigeria – Silly, silly red card. Another African nation’s hopes dashed…

Group C (Sean's prediction - still early but England and the USA):
USA PLAYS AT 7 AM PST TOMORROW MORNING, BE A FAN!!!!!! If you are interested in joining a small viewing party, email or call me!
And Algeria is totally going to dominate the rest of the tournament!!!

The rest of the groups only have one game on the books but more to come.