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Smart phones: Which one is right for you in 2011?

• 24/04/11
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Smart phones: Which one is right for you?

There are a number of smart phones on the market today and it’s all getting very confusing for the non-techie consumer. Don’t worry, Digital Delirium is here to give you some straight talk and tips on these versatile devices.

Some of the choices are:

Apple                                      iPhone 3GS or 4

Google Android                        Droid

Blackberry                               Torch

Window Phone                         HTC HD7

HP (Palm                                 Pré 2

Quite a list is it not?

All these different smart phone operating systems and hardware have their individual strengths and weaknesses. What I’m going to do is give a quick outline of what I see as the pros and cons of each. Hopefully by doing this I will give you a better idea on which smartphone might suit your individual needs.

Apple iPhone

The daddy of them all is Apple’s iPhone. You can get an iPhone 3GS for $49* (two year AT&T contract.) You can also now get the iPhone 4 on the Verizon network. The iPhone has an easy to use interface and thousands of great Apps. It’s easy for the new smart phone user to operate. The main problem with it is that you are tied to what Apple wants to give to the user, and its integration with Windows software and Window’s Office is not fantastic; on the other hand it is a great phone for those who do not need Windows based software.

Google Android

Android has just exploded on the scene over the past year. It has Google behind its development, plus it has loads of different hardware manufactures producing some great phones for this open operating system. I chose the Droid phone to highlight the kind of hardware that is available for this particular operating system. The Droid has had some excellent reviews plus the ads are really cool and make the phone look sexy and user friendly. However, it is a much more techie operating system compared to the iPhone. Like the iPhone it offers a lot of great apps but getting them on the phone is not easy and in general are not as polished as the iPhone’s apps. The integration with Windows and Window’s Offices is not particularly that hot either. However, if you are using Google Gmail and or any of Google’s online tools the integration is fantastic. One of the major attractive things about Android is that you can get hardware with a physical keyboard. For those who do not like touch screen texting this is a big plus.

Blackberry

A very establish operating system and hardware with a great following plus a physical keyboard. However, Blackberry has recently tried to produce non-physical keyboard hardware, which have not been that successful. In general it the preferred tool of use for the professional who relies on mobile texting. Compared to the iPhone and Android it just hasn’t got a large library of apps to brag about; I don’t really see changing any time soon. The latest hardware from Blackberry has been slightly disappointing. If you have an IT department behind you, integration with Windows and Window’s Office will be fine if not frustration may set in. The general security of the operating system is said to be excellent compared to the Android. However, this is a debatable point.

Windows Phone

This is the new boy on the block. It’s got some great reviews and the hardware looks really nice. The integration with Windows and Windows’s Office is almost guaranteed. If your life revolves around Microsoft’s Outlook this might be the smartphone for you. However, there are problems; this is a very new smartphone operating system and Windows seem to have found it very hard to adapt to the need for speed and are constantly updating operating system. Apps are also a big question. Will the development community really want to support three operating systems?

There are still a number of big questions around this new smart phone’s operating system. It has Microsoft behind it but despite this in the last two or three years it has not achieved a sizable market share. Will Microsoft really keep investing heavily into this part of its product range? We must ask, will this phone even be around in the next couple of years?

HP Palm

It could be argued that Palm started the path to the modern smartphone with its wide range of PDA’s. Palm was the first company to offer a creditable alternative to the iPhone. Unfortunately its hardware was slightly slower and really had trouble getting its online system running for developers. When the product was lunched it didn’t have very many apps available for new customers. It also is the one smart phone that consistently breaks. Palm still uses a styles with some of its phones which tend to break with over use. If you are fan of texting this is not the phone for you.

Because of these factors it wasn’t the enormous success that Palm needed. It has potential because of its technology, so HP decided to buy the company. I know a couple of people who bought Palm’s Pré 1 and love it. The phone seems to integrate well with Windows and Windows Office. The Pré 2 which will be available in the summer of 2011 is said to include more powerful hardware and operating system. However all the questions connected to the Windows Phone apply to the HP Palm.

Conclusion

As you can see there are a number of excellent choices in the area of smart phones. Hopefully I have given you enough general information which will allow you to make the right choice for your personal situation. You may want to ask yourself what features are most important to you and then go play around with the phones. Have fun and see you next month!

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