Which is better windows mobile or android os or iphone os?

[urlwolf]

FWIW Microsoft is apparently planning on going down the same road as Apple by only allowing you to install apps through their online store, citing "network security concerns" as the reason why.

that really sucks. Stallman's 'right to read' is becoming a reality.

I have a nexus one, I'm I'm happy with it. But I got it from google, I would not have paid ~600 eur that it will cost here. In fact, I have no need for it, and I may sell it...

[msj]

My experience with Windows Mobile over the years has been sub standard. The fact that Windows (Mobile) is sub standard may not come as a big surprise anyone. I have grown to dislike Windows Mobile with a passion. Windows Mobile based on Windows 7 code may be better. I can't comment on Droid, although it appears to be more functional and they have 20,000+ or so apps. I've never been a big Apple fan either but I have to say my iPhone experience has been outstanding. Both the OS and hardware too although I've managed to miss all the latest models, so I'd wait until June/July for the release of the iPhone 4 because the hardware and OS should be even better. On the positive side the application variety, usefulness and quality in general are phenomenal. Accessories for the iPhone are everywhere, for every thing you might want to do with your phone from the bedroom to lounge to your car or office and most at a reasonable in cost.

On the down side I dislike Apple's controlling and litigious approach to everything, including trademarks and application censorship. iTunes usability and performance sucks (it's a dog under Windows). Syncing is slow (maybe USB 3.0 will be faster. There are alternatives to managing your music and content that iTunes so you can always check those out too. Whilst there are so many cool 100,000+ apps that you can download and as many as your iPhone will store you can't test, use or access them because iTunes only allows you to access eleven or so pages of apps (approx 96 max) from the UI. Now if you really want to go rogue you could always jailbreak your iPhone to overcome so of the Apple dictated limitations but doing this raises other potential challenges.

The iPhone OS lacks multitasking (hard to believe in a FreeBSD derivative) but I believe this will be addressed in the next major OS release. From what I have seen from other professional reviews the screen display quality of the iPhone is currently unsurpassed by any other competing platform and it leads most reviewers choice overall. Currently with AT&T as the only carrier is another consideration. For me they're fine (not perfect) but choice and cost are definitely considerations versus other carriers and phone platforms too.

The gap is narrowing on the hardware and OS and Apple will need to offer more features and functionality going forward. Still the apps are they key to the market but currently the way iTunes and the iPhone OS are designed to work users can't take full advantage of them (I'm an app junkie). So a tough call, I have to say I love the iPhone despite its current draw backs, the apps are awesome (free or paid for) and the phone is truly a joy to work with personally and for business. Go test the platforms you are choosing from as much as you can before you drop the $$.

[Musubi]

Well if you jailbreak you can multitask and use another app store the cydia store - more apps for the iphone. Right now the iphone seems to be the best choice, really.
And from what've seen jailbreaking is banal. And another plus - I installed itunes without quicktime and other junk. Plus there are some alternatives to itunes, I'd like to tesxt out,  like the "videosoft ipod manager" 
http://www.4videosof...om/ipod-manager.html

And I'm sure there's an itunes alternative somewhere, I'll search for it more when I'll get  the iphone.


Oh and the iphone has the stanza which I can test out with
http://calibre-ebook.com/

[nite_monkey]

I guess I am too late since Musubi seems to be set on the iphone. But for the other people who may still be looking at phones to buy, I give you my input.

In my opinion, a "good" phone is one that you can customize to make your own (not talking about the billion and one accessories the iphone has). You should be able to change the background on it, customize the ringtone, and the txt tone.

If you have to jailbreak the iphone just to make it a "good" phone, then I have to ask, why do you want the iphone? Because it is fast and stable? Sure, that is a good reason to buy the iphone. But let me say this: the reason the iphone is so fast and stable, is because it is the only one of it's kind. Apple is the only one who makes the os that it uses, and they are the only one who makes the phone itself. Google and MS just make the os that their phones use. That is why android and winmo phones are not as stable.

Now going to the original topic of what phone to buy, I wouldn't go with the hd2, since MS is about to royally screw over the windows phone experience with their new OS (that in my opinion is NOT windows mobile). I also wouldn't go with the iphone, since it isn't (based on my definition) a "good" phone(out of the box). I would however go with either an android phone (it is a "good" phone right out of the box) or maybe the palm pre/pixi. Though, the only reason I would go with the pre/pixi is if you planned on doing a ton of multi tasking. That is what the pre/pixi's os is best at. If major multi tasking isn't what you are looking for, the android is better.

Now before you go off and say that I am biased towards the android phone, I would just like to point this out: I currently use the LG Incite which runs windows mobile 6.1 (6.5 upgradable via COOKED roms only). I will however say that yes, I am indeed biased against the iphone because I don't want a phone that I can't customize unless I have to do something major to it first. Also from what my brother said, (he used to have an iphone, until he ditched it because he hated it also) everytime you update the iphone, you have to reload everything you put on it.( I am not 100% sure on that, so don't quote me or my brother on that part)

So in the end, I wouldn't go with a windows phone right now, because MS is fixing to release a completely new os  which will make all current winmo phones outdated and useless.(though in my opinion MS' new os is not windows mobile at all)
If you DON'T want to do much customizing, and have someone else do all your major choices for you, you can go with the iphone.
If you wan't a slightly less stable and speedy phone, but with a large app database and ten times more customizing capabilities, then go with an android phone.
Or last, but not least if you want a phone that you can still customize, still has a fairly decent amount of apps on it, and you can multi task the crap out of it, go with the Palm pre/pixi.

I hope what I have said has helped someone out in their phone buying choice.
Though I would like to state that before someone decides to complain at me for anything that I have said, know that you don't have to listen to anything I have just said. I am not the one that is going to be using the phone.

[Musubi]

I listened, and for anyone else who may be listening here's what I reply in defense of the iphone:

The fact that the iphone is the only one of it's kind is an asset. It's like a console. Think about it, why  can a console, which theoretically has lower parameters than a computer, run games smoother, and sometimes with better graphics? Because it's os is optimized for the machine, so it uses  100% of it. I remember when I used firefox,  it took almost 1gb of ram!. Now I use pale moon (an optimized for windows mod) and it takes about half of that, or even less (200mb ram).

Jailbreaking is easy, and since the iphone is popular there always will be hacks for it. If you have the right os, jailbreaking takes about 5 minutes, and that's it. You don't have to do it anymore. (Well the iphone 3gs currently has a jailbreaking defense which resets the jailbreak after a reboot or something like that, but I've read they're working on that. )
(But all the previous iphones can receive a permanent jailbreak if their os is pre 3.12 )


Because the iphone is more popular, there will always be more more apps for it, because it's pop.

It's like the ps2 of the phone world, the xbox might have better graphics, but it wasn't so popular back then. It had a brand just like the iphone has now. (Well, the other thing is that now the ps3 is at the end of the food chain, but that's because they've changed their philosophy and microsoft actually did a few smart things).

Plus, the iphone, due  to the ipod touch being marketed as a gaming console has great gaming potential, and there most probably will be many emulators/games for it.
I want a ds emulator on the iphone...

[JavaJones]

I'm not sure what the speed, stability, and multi-tasking comments re: Android are based on. From my (admittedly limited and partly anecdotal) experience, the only thing "faster" about the iPhone is some of the UI interaction, and that's by a slight margin and comes down IMO more to the polish of the OS itself, rather than actual *performance*. After all, several newer Android phones have higher specs than the iPhone, so I'd wager in raw computation they'd win. Multitasking they seem fine at. How exactly does the Palm Pre/Pixi beat Android there?

For my part I will probably never get an iPhone, regardless of the possibilities for jailbreaking. It may be easy but I don't want to have to be dealing with the kinks of "alternatives" that are neither supported nor desired by the manufacturer of my phone. Sure, there are other apps that work besides iTunes for music management, but Apple can decide one day that they won't work anymore and at *best* I have to wait for the developer of my app of choice to update it, and at worst it will never work again and I have to switch to iTunes, which I abhor. Same with jailbreaking. It may be easy and "permanent" in some cases, but overall it's a tenuous position that could easily end sooner than later.

I have 2 friends who recently bought iPhones and they're definitely happy with them, I will say that. They're great phones for a certain audience. One of them has downloaded a grand total of 1 app - an electronic level (that he bought for use in mounting *my* TV) - and other than that he is a very basic user and just thinks it's a nice phone. Even he has some complaints though, for example the auto-lock behavior and quirkyness of the slide-to-unlock function. My other friend is a bigger app junkie, mostly games, and she's thrilled with the thing, but I think a big part of that is driven by how much she hated her other phone and how much she can now do with apps at all. And that's something I think you see a lot - people who only ever had basic phones before and now buy the iPhone and equate that with being able to do more than basic stuff. Of course *any* smartphone allows you to do a lot more than you could with a basic phone, and one of these people upgrading to Android would probably be just as impressed.

Anyway, I'm still on a Motorola Q9C, WinMo 6.1, and biding my time until my contract is up and a really outstanding Android phone comes out on Verizon. Droid almost made me spring for it, hehe. But I knew it was really the first generation of the truly iPhone-comparable Android phones, and I want to see the market develop a bit more from that initial breakthrough. Some really interesting phones where shown recently at CTIA...

- Oshyan

[Musubi]

If I gonna buy an android phone only the htc desire/ google nexus one (basically the same thing)(htc desire is basically a google nexus one european version). I mean it can record 720p...

[nite_monkey]

Multitasking they seem fine at. How exactly does the Palm Pre/Pixi beat Android there?

-JavaJones (March 29, 2010, 01:47 PM)

the pre and pixi has a card system where each app you open up gets it's own card, and then you just slide your finger up and it reveals all the current apps you have open, and you can scroll through them and close any that you are done with. You can also switch between the apps very easily. there are tons of youtube videos about the pre/pixi that demonstrate it.

[JavaJones]

Yeah, the WebOS card system is pretty slick. That doesn't really make it better at *multitasking* though, it makes it better at task switching... theoretically. But Android has a built-in task switcher, as well as several apps that extend it to similar levels, e.g. basic: http://www.androidap....com/t/task-switcher and a clone of the card approach in dev here: http://www.androlib....162-taskos-pDzE.aspx

I'd actually be interested in seeing *benchmarks* of which handles multitasking better...

- Oshyan

[kcswitzer]

- Listening to mp3s - audiobooks to be precise
- Taking pictures and movies
- Writing a lot of writing using www.evernote.com
- Managing my daily tasks using www.rememberthemilk.com
- Writing emails
- reading books (pdf)
- reviewing notes with anki
http://ichi2.net/anki/403

- Read pdfs

-Musubi (February 16, 2010, 03:36 AM)

I know you mentioned that you preferred iphone os, win mobile, or android... however did you consider the blackberry os? I was in the same situation as you and got the Blackberry Bold 9700 because I wanted to wait for the next gen iphone coming around summer time.  I'm actually very impressed with this... As per your requirements:
- Listening to mp3s - audiobooks to be precise: no problem at all, easy to sync media and playlists
- Taking pictures and movies: decent camera quality altho still behind nexus one of course
- Writing a lot of writing using www.evernote.com : there is an evernote app plus plenty of alternative apps for note taking... i find teh tactile keyboard allows me to type much more freely, naturally, and accurately than the touch screen (especially without those iphone's suggestions)
- Managing my daily tasks using www.rememberthemilk.com : one of my main reasons why i went with the BB was the great free opensource app available ... bbrtm.. better than Milksync
- Writing emails: It's a Blackberry! Best email management and push email experience... great if you have multiple accounts... it requires a few extra taps on the iphone.. also, I like the centralized message inbox that gathers all messages even from certain messaging apps...
- reading books (pdf): ok.. if you don't mind teh smaller screen
- reviewing notes with anki : still looking for a free flashcard learning app... but i guess you can always use teh mobile web version
- playing multiplayer games with ur girlfriend: err.... no comment

Multi-tasking is pretty good... I didn't have any issues with lag yet.... i just don't like that you have to click the menu then close.. wish there was a shortcut key (unless if I'm mistaken).
Battery life isn't great but better than the iPhone... it is at least replaceable as is the flash memory... unlike the iphone.

Bonus: for all FARR users they have an app that does a watered down version of searching mobile sites called Beyond411... so you have quick text lookups for your (predefined) needs.

Note: I had to exchange it in for a new keyboard because it squeaked... just test it thoroughly before buying.

Although surfing isn't bad on the native browser or Opera mini it still isnt' the iPhone or Android webkit browsers... it just isn't as fun and intuitive navigation but still good enough for my purposes.

Honestly, if you can I'd wait until the next gen phones come out this summer so that it may reduce the risk of buyer's remorse

Good luck!

[Deozaan]

Not that the current trends should necessarily affect any individual's decision, but I found this article interesting:

Android phones may be outselling the iPhone in the US for the first time, according to new NPD data. In the first quarter of the year, Google-based phones like the Motorola Droid and HTC Droid Eris helped bump Android up to 28 percent of the market where Apple's phone mustered just 21 percent. RIM's BlackBerries were relatively safe but dropped to 36 percent, down 6 percent.

-http://www.electronista.com/articles/10/05/10/apple.allegedly.slipping.to.3rd.place/

Apparently Apple is in 3rd place when it comes to SmartPhone OS usage.

And I also recently found out that iPhones are good for something after all: Android has been ported to the iPhone.

Full Disclosure: I have an Android phone which I love (I've never liked cell phones until I got my G1) and I despise Apple. I tried to be diplomatic about it in the beginning of this post but gave in at the end. I'm not sorry!