Not a fair comparison.

This 'Calculator' takes a very specific sub-set of criteria for business that benefits certain phones and waters down the differences between others. For example, I have tried every phone one this page and only Android phones have the business email and over the air Outlook synchronization capabilities that works for my small business. Also, although Blackberry web browsers are full HTML, their rendering is terrible and not on the same level as any of the others - not even close - but it is compared as equal here. Please should just move on and not consider this comparison. Instead, go out and try them. I think all vendors allow for 30 day trial periods.

in reference to: http://www.infoworld.com/mobile-calculator (view on Google Sidewiki)

Verizon Mimics Star Wars in its Latest Ad

Playing on the Lucasfilm licensed ‘Droid’ name,  Verizon Wireless has released a new commercial that mimics the beginning of The Empire Strikes Back.  In the beginning of the movie, probe ‘droids’ are dropped from the under-belly of a Star Destroyer.  The droids in the movie look very similar to the ones in the Verizon Droid commercial, drop-launch the same, fly they same, and crash-land the same.  The droids were in search of Luke and the rebels in the movie.  I guess Verizon is in search of buyers?

I initially thought the ad was over the top and a lost opportunity, but now I think it is fun.

Here is the video:

Apple is Following the Same Path with the iPhone as they did with Personal Computer

There is a tremendous amount of talk on the Internet about net neutrality and mobile phone platform openness.  Google has found the weak link in the chain of Apple and the iPhone’s armor – and it is vulnerability that Apple has always had and could be the source of its loss in market share if it doesn’t change its ways.

Apple has always tried to control their platforms.  In the desktop computers of the 1980’s and 1990’s they controlled pretty much all the hardware that went into their computers while Microsoft’s Windows embraced a much more open environment that could accommodate a much broader range of computer hardware.  Limiting the hardware allowed Apple to provide a controlled environment that promoted less crashes by allowing for a more thoroughly tested platform while Windows systems were known for performance issues and frequent crashing.  But Windows largely won that battle – over 90% of personal computers were running Windows and less than 10% were running Apple’s Macintosh for a long long time.

The open x86/Windows platform allowed for greater competition in the hardware space which brought down pricing and allowed for more people to afford personal computers.  It also allowed buyers to cater their PC’s to their budget and enthusiasm level.  In the end, through their purchasing, buyers said loud and clear that they preferred to have choice through Windows over the potentially superior experience of Apple’s Macintosh.  Microsoft used their openness to develop a standard that they controlled for many years.  I understand that Bill Gates has said that Microsoft’s secret to success is in controlling the standard, not creating a superior product – and I think he is right.

Bringing all of this forward to 2007 and Apple introduces the iPhone which is a smash hit.  There is no one that can deny how important the device is to the telecommunications industry and the progression of the mobile Internet over the past 2 years.  But Apple has not learned their lesson – at least they have not shown it.  Google, with the introduction of their ‘open’ Android platform is about to be launched on many phones, by many manufactures, on many networks.  Like Windows, many manufactures can now build phones around a single operating system  that Google is giving away for free.  Further, the operating system allows for much more customization/personalization and it allows hardware vendors to create professional oriented phones, entertainment oriented phones, phones that are geared towards teenagers, etc., also promoting innovative competition.

Google’s Android platform is positioned to become the standard in the mobile phone space, like Windows is/was, leaving the iPhone in the dust, like Windows did to the Macintosh.

The only thing that might save Apple are its applications.  They have a big head start in the number of applications and because the number of iPhones out there is so great, developers will continue to flock to their platform.  That being said, Google’s Android platform represents a much smaller percentage of the number of phones out there yet it has 1/10th or so the number of applications already which shows the desire of developers to capitalize on the platform, even with a relatively miniscule number of buyers for their software.

The parallels between Google’s Android and Applie’s iPhone and Microsoft’s Windows and Apple’s Macintosh couldn’t be more clear.  It will be exciting to see how Apple faces the challenge this time.  So far they have mostly opted to keep tight control of their platform (see Apple’s rejection of Google Voice, Google Latitude, etc.).

We shall see…

Two and a Half Weeks with T-Mobile and MyTouch 3G

Let me set the tone for this review.  I am a big Google services user.  Mail, Calendar, Voice, Docs – I use them all and depend on them for my business.  I am coming from Verizon’s Blackberry Storm which I thought was the worst phone I have ever had relative to what the competition was at the time.  I was a strong Blackberry supporter but after the horrible Blackberry Storm experience I decided to take advantage of the great trial periods that exist in the mobile phone industry.

The Good:
* Great Google services integration (email, calendar, contacts, etc.)
* Good call quality
* Good form factor (appearance and feel)
* Good web browsing experience
* Many applications keep the phone feeling new

The Bad:
* Bluetooth doesn’t work consistently
* The phone is underpowered for my use
* Network speed is not very fast
* Audio pauses periodically when playing music

Bottom Line:
I highly recommend the MyTouch 3G for people who want a smart-phone with strong Google services support and a good phone, but who are not interested in a lot of applications.  I think it is probably the best looking and feeling phone of its type out there and there is definitely something to be said for it fitting in a pocket comfortably.  Near-future Android phones will include more memory and the Motorola Sholes will supposedly have a more powerful processor.  If you can wait a few months, I would.  I really wanted it to be THE PHONE for me but  the MyTocuh 3G is underpowered for my use.

MyTouch 3G and Google Services
A big factor in deciding to try the MyTouch 3G phone is its strong support of Google’s services by way of Google’s mobile operating system, Android.  This support is not limited to just the MyTouch 3G but there really aren’t any other Android phones out yet (except for the older G1).

Support for Google Services is the most appealing thing about the phone.  My email, calendar, contacts, and voicemail are all synced up.  The calendar and contacts were instantly updated on the phone when entered on a webpage.  I was actually shocked at how quickly that sync happened.  Email was pretty quick, but not as quick as on my Blackberry though it was acceptable.  The Google Voice application is not very fast but it is really a moot point since I receive notifications through email anyway.

All in all I REALLY like the Google integration and wouldn’t be surprised if I settle on an Android phone for that reason.  Blackberry support is weak by comparison and as far as I can tell, so is Apple’s on the iPhone.  I would choose an iPhone if its Google support was better.

MyTouch 3G and T-Mobile – The Good
Call quality on the MyTouch 3G was good and I had strong phone reception every where I went.  In my testing I had better coverage than with Verizon on my Blackberry, which I was surprised about. 

I was also impressed with the web browser.  Coming from a Blackbery, I was pleasantly surprised at the richness of the Internet experience and am happy to report that the pages ALWAYS loaded.  Out of the multiple Blackberries I owned, it was always a crap shoot whether a web page would load up – including web pages that had worked earlier in the same day.

There are a ton of applications in the application store and they offer rich experiences that make most of the Blackberry programs look like they were designed for the Atari 2600 in an XBox world.  Having so many applications really keeps the phone new feeling as there is always something new to look at.  I subscribed to the Androlib.com rss feed of new applications and was overwhelmed on a daily basis by the sheer volume of new applications and had to unsubscribe after about a week.

Typing was way WAY better than the Blackberry Storm (most of the time, see The Bad section).  I had few errors and could type reasonably quickly.  The way the display adjusts during keyboard input keeps things from being too confusing as well.  What I mean is, when using onscreen keyboards a lot of the screen real estate is taken up by the keyboard and it becomes easy to get lost in what text field is being used or to move to a different text field.  This was an annoyance on the Blackberry Storm but is less so on the MyTouch 3G.

The look and the feel of the MyTouch 3G is sexy!  The phone is small, it is sleek, but everything on the screen is clear and readable.  I know I am over-using the Storm as a comparison, but I picked it up and it looked like something Fred Flintstone should be using by comparison.  I like having the combination of touch screen navigation and the trackball too.

MyTouch 3G and T-Mobile – The Bad
There are two major downsides to the MyTouch 3G, one that is curable and one that is not. 

The curable one is its unfinished Bluetooth.  I am able to connect (pair) it to my car’s Bluetooth, but it does not maintain the pairing.  Basically, every time I get back into my car I have to reconfigure the connection which is not practical in my line of business.  This also affects audio over Bluetooth.  I spoke with T-Mobile and they said that this is a known problem and that it will be fixed in the next update.

The incurable problem is that as far as I can tell the MyTouch 3G is underpowered which may be due to a weak processor or low memory, which is what I suspect.  Once I had been using the phone for a while and I had 3 widgets (desktop programs that provide a constant stream of information, like weather information, Twitter tweets or Facebook info.) the phone became bogged down and typing became too slow to be reasonable and I missed phone calls because the phone would not respond to the answer button when I pressed it.  While I fully accept that these phones have limitations, I feel that the limitations are reached way too quickly on the MyTouch 3G.

Other mostly minor problems include:
* Inconsistent audio playback: The audio seems to pause when the network is being accessed, though I am not positive on this point.
* Slow network connectivity: I am not in a 3G area but my WiFi connection seemed about as fast as the standard over-the-phone connection speed, which was disappointing, and when I WAS in a 3G area it didn’t seem any faster either.  It is not scientific but I tested my WiFi connection speed using one of the online testers and it came in 2-3 times faster than a dial-up modem which is not impressive.
* Slow picture taking: I missed a lot of really great pictures because of the time it takes to focus and actually take the picture once the button is pressed.  This seems to be a common problem with these phones though.  Color was off on about 1/4 of the shots and the picture was fairly sharp.

Conclusion
Overall the MyTocuh is underpowered for my use.  I do highly recommend it for people who want a phone with strong Google services support and and a good phone, but who are not interested in a lot of applications.  I think it is probably the best looking and feeling phone of its type out there and there is definitely something to be said for it fitting in a pocket comfortably.

Near-future Android phones will include more memory and the Motorola Sholes will supposedly have a more powerful processor.  If you can wait a few months, I would.  I also suspect this phone will be $50 or free by Christmas time to be competitive at that time.  This is pure speculation based on the large number of superior Android phones set for release in the coming months.

I am going to return the MyTouch 3G and try the Palm Pre next. 

Sprint’s $70 Unlimited Mobile Calling Plan is a DOWNGRADE! – and is out to defeat Google Voice

The Internet is abuzz about Sprint’s Any Mobile, Anytime plan and according to numerous articles Sprint consumers will be automatically ‘upgraded’ to this new plan which I think is a downgrade in disguise.

In case you are not familiar with the plan, for $69.00/month we can call anyone on any mobile network and are provided unlimited data services - SMS, Internet, etc.  Every article I have read asks if this is a game changer for mobile operators.  I am here to say it is not and that Sprint is using calling plan trickery.

Here lies the problem.  You only get 450 minutes of anytime minutes which will be counted when calling land lines, and presumably to and from your Google Voice number.  That means, if you call non-mobile phone numbers more than 22.5 minutes a day on average Monday-Friday, you will go over your minutes and be charged $0.45/minute.  Yikes!  Anyone with a semi-talkative mom, grandma, or any mobile-phoneless friend will get a big big bill.

On a personal level, I have been experimenting a lot with Google Voice and this new plan seems to have been carefully designed to neutralize it. 

Free SMS = No advantage for Google Voice
Free Mobile to Mobile on all networks = Google Voice is not included and actually becomes an unattractive option because calls through Google Voice will count towards the 450 minutes.

I was considering Sprint because they have the Pre and the HTC Hero coming out, but if they ‘upgrade’ everyone to this new plan and get rid of their $99/month Simply Everything plan, they will lose my potential business. 

Google Voice Just Rocked My World!

I just noticed that Google Voice added SMS to Email functionality.  What I mean is, SMS messages sent to my Google Voice account show up in my email mailbox and I can reply to them from my email application and never have to use an SMS client.

I have been testing out SMS on a MyTouch 3G and the Google Voice application is lacking in push SMS so sometimes I don't receive SMS messages for, well - I never receive them unless I open the Google Voice application.  But now I get them as fast as email.  Awesome!

What is even better is that the SMS fees charged by wireless providers, which were the most expensive cost per bit of data on the planet, are now obsolete - or at least will be when Google Voice rolls out to the masses.

This is a big slap in the face to the wireless carriers that just INCREASED their fees for SMS charges and have been raking the people over the coals for years.

Way to go Google!!!!!!!

Is Gmail Ready for Business? - Fortune Brainstorm Tech

CNNMoney.com recently published the article questioning whether Gmail is ready for business (see link below).

I think the question for a frustrated company becomes: Where will we go for more reliable email delivery? 

I don't think that there is as robust of a solution out there that provides superior reliability.

I rely heavily on Google's services and the Gmail outage set me back significantly as I was unable to deliver the services that I promised as they are sent via email - but I am not about to switch.  There is nowhere to go.  And hosting my own email will be far less reliable than Google doing it.

Questioning managed services in the cloud because of a two hour or so outage of Gmail is a little over the top for me, but it is a question being thrown around quite a bit due to the outage.  Sure it was down for millions of users – but if those same users weren’t using Gmail, the likelihood that they would have been collectively without their email for even longer periods over the past year if using in-house or some other provider is very high.

The Article
Is Gmail Ready for Business? - Fortune Brainstorm Tech

iPhone, Android and Storm hurt RIM's subscriber growth - Android, blackberry storm, iPhone - Techworld

The article below shows that I am not alone in my severe dissatisfaction with Blackberry and the Blackberry Storm in general.  Take heed Research in Motion.  I’ve liked you’all for a while, just not right now.

THE ARTICLES (click on excerpts):
TechWorld
“BlackBerry maker, RIM, just reported it's first drop in subscriber growth since 2006 back when they were in patent litigation. RIM likely has the iPhone, and to a lesser degree, Google's Android phones to thank. But while RIM might point the finger at Apple or Google, there's more fingers in that hand pointing back at themselves. The failure of the Storm.”

And here is another article from GADGET LAB (click on excerpt)
“But even though BlackBerries have been adding gee-whiz features like multimedia playback and touchscreens, the devices still seem like a mishmash of undercooked ideas. Here are five things RIM needs to fix if it wants to maintain its lead.”

Goodbye Blackberry! - Hello Android, Pre, or iPhone!

Last December (2008) I jumped on the opportunity to be one of the first to get a brand new beautiful Blackberry Storm.  It was my fourth Blackberry to date and the second in the same year.  I fell in love with its bright beautiful screen that displayed amazing pictures of my daughter and boasted to all my family and friends about how chock full of awesomeness the Storm was - for about the first week.  I spent the next 8-9 months checking various websites for any news of operating system upgrades, even unofficial ones, because the majority of the functions on the phone had problems.  A ton of them still do.


About a week and a half ago I decided that it was time to try something different.  My dedication to Blackberry was lost.  I have a heavy reliance on Google's services (Apps, Voice, Email, etc.) and I evaluated my phone choices based in large part on their integration with Google's services.  My research concluded in 3 possible platforms: Android, WebOS (Palm Pre), and the iPhone.


I decided that because I am so entrenched in Google's services that I would try their Android platform first.  I received the MyTouch 3G yesterday and let me say that it has simply blown me away in terms of the operating system's elegance and richness.  If using Android and MyTouch 3G is like having the construction equipment and manpower to build a high-rise building at my fingertips, the Blackberry and its software (all recent hardware/software versions, not just the Storm) is like having a box of Lincoln logs or Legos in the hands of a 3 year old (nothing against you Lego, I think you are awesome).


I can't say that the MyTouch 3G is perfect, it is not - but it is light years ahead of anything Blackberry has and I am embarrassed to have been salivating at the Blackberry scraps of sub-par applications and functions due to the Blackberry's overall significantly inferior platform.  


Sorry Blackberry, it is time to jump ship and move from the stone-age to the modern age.  And to Verizon Wireless, shame on you for letting the Blackberry Storm come to market.


Follow me Blackberry users... the vast majority of you won't be sorry, I PROMISE.