Verizon has finally gotten what could a be a viable iPhone replacement. A phone running the latest version of Google’s Andorid OS and a growing supply of applitions.
I haven’t got my hands on one yet, but I’ve read a few reviews that state it stands up quite well in head to head comparisons with the iPhone. The biggest complaint I’ve heard is that the iPhone has a much deeper pool of applications available. Not suprising, but I expect the number of Android apps to grow quickly.
Verizon is also pushing its much wider 3G coverage heavily, but it’s still not a GSM network. That topic has been discussed here, and I’m sure it will again, but I’m still a fan of GSM networks. It is my opinion that Verizon is going to have to bite that bullet sooner or later.
The Droid phone and its OS have another advantage, open source. The iPhone is locked down tight by Apple. It controls your apps, what they can do, and how much data you can transfer over the cell phone network. An Android based phone, with a SIM slot, is much more flexible.
Filed under: Android, Apple, cell phone tech, Gadget, Google, iPhone, Operating Systems, Smart Phone | Tagged: Android, Apple, cell phone, Gadget, Google, iPhone, Operating System, PDA, Smart Phone |
Urbin Technology 
The bugs I’ve seen in the last few upgrades to iTunes and the 3GS software have come close to breaking the iPhone as a music player, in my opinion. Unfortunately, the iPhone may have hit the plateau where every change just makes it worse, so another smartphone is welcome.
The iPhone’s never quite reached the functionality offered by the Treo 650; the strongest suit of the iPhone has been its beautiful screen and very solid mapping application. So any new smartphone is good news.
I don’t have problems with my iPhone as a music player, but then I don’t sync music & movies, I manage that manually using iTunes.
I do sync podcasts, and I’ve noticed some problems with iTunes about that. I moved my ‘my documents’ directory tree to a different drive and iTunes can’t handle the drive change. It’s complaining that it can’t find the old podcast files. Same path, just a different drive letter. Not a big problem, but apparently beyond the ken of the programming geniuses at Apple.