The dangers of joining the iphone party

This post is thanks to the meeting with an iphone enthusiast over the weekend. Now this iphone enthusiast isn’t from India and has been using an iphone for some time alongwith his Mac. While checking out the cool interface of the iphone we casually started to compare the features of his iphone with the HTC Windows Mobile we were carrying.
iphone this is more relevant as airtel and vodaphone are planning to come out with iphone 3G soon in India (for airtel the launch is fixed on Aug 22nd)… while the pricing is not yet disclosed, i would assume that they may cost around 30K in India. and the irony is that in India there isn’t a single 3g network and the ones most likely to get are the govt. carriers like BSNL :)
What follows below are some discoveries we made in that friendly comparison:
iphone has cooler interface than Windows Mobile. Agree. One of us has tried to include a iphone shell (iPhonz) on Win Mobile but the quality of that shell was really bad and the phone had to be rebooted.. i am now running a skin that emulates the slide to unlock feature..
we all agreed that apple is a control freak and iphone is a marvel of their work! you can’t get any app on the phone if you don’t buy it off the apple store without jailbreaking the iphone (voids the warranty!!).. meaning thereby you have to pay for every app you install on iphone.. windows mobile comes with numerous applications developed by the community and are available for Free (a good site to get this freeware: http://www.1800pocketpc.com/)..
the commercial applications that you develop for iphone have to be hosted on the apple store and they keep a cut off your IP.. no such bull crap for windows mobile… you get to keep the money on what you developed..
the iphone is going to come out in 1 or max 2 versions… very limited choice.. HTC Touch Diamondi.e. if i wanted a qwerty keyboard i can’t do anything or a slider keyboard.. windows mobile does offer you that option from multiple vendors.
the iphone is really maimed on the following accounts:
  1. no copy paste of contents  (e.g. email/ SMS text) or files from one location to another (how can one NOT have this??)
  2. no bluetooth transfer of anything i.e. mp3, images, videos
  3. can’t use iphone as wireless modem for your PC.. hence you can’t share your internet with your own PC..
  4. the camera is a simple 2 MP and can’t record video
  5. no Java support (thereby a lot of existing apps won’t work)
  6. the battery is locked inside the phone.. changing the same means getting to the apple store…
  7. Can’t send MMS.. imagine this!!
  8. no FM radio
  9. can’t use MP3 files as ringtones..
  10. can’t use ipod as external storage device to carry documents, pictures etc.
  11. there are no expansion slots available apart from built in memory..
  12. no flash or silverlight support
  13. no office apps installed… i.e. u can’t read documents on iphone or quickly revise your presentation
  14. if you are a coporate customer you don’t any security features like remote wipe if ur phone gets stolen or any corporate management server to manage mobile devices..
Well it is upto you to buy into the hype or be intelligent and make an informed choice..
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Comments

Anonymous said…
One of us has tried to include a iphone shell (iPhonz) on Win Mobile but the quality of that shell was really bad and the phone had to be rebooted

Not rebooted, I had to format the phone which meant that it was wiped clean & then had to set it up again, configure it, restore backups of text messages & contacts, install rest of the apps again, all in all it took a bit over 4 hours!!

No I abstain from all iPhone interface emulators etc., that phone & everything like it is work of devil! ;)
Anonymous said…
And also, thanks for the link to softwares for windows mobile. I've been using WM6Software & Freeware PocketPC/ so far. :)
David Sasaki said…
http://www.macrumors.com/2008/08/20/openclip-org-offers-copy-and-paste-for-iphone-across-apps/

:)
Anonymous said…
Please discourage anyone who wants to buy a iPhone.
Anonymous said…
iphone really sucks! esp at 31K..
some additional problems with iphone:
1. only 2MP camera..
2.no video recording with camera
3.can't use any other SIM
4.iTunes lockin and having to pay for every program i download (heck i didn't do it for Windows & they expect us to pay for mobile phone)...
and jailbreaking the iphone, voids the warranty..
i am sooo f*** up with this crazy and blatant money making tactic by apple! they are the worse company ever and not suited for indians looking for value for money...
Anonymous said…
it's not that you have to pay for every soft you download.. there are many free applications on the appstore, just open iTunes and see by yourself
Abhinav Rastogi said…
Hey there.. We met at the Delhi Blogger Meet... Nice blog you got here!!

I agree with every word you have written. iPhone sucks.. BIG time. I like all other Apple products, but somehow iPhone and MacBook Air just don't seem to cut it.

But in this age of cut-throat competition, I think companies do have to be blatant (as anonymous commented). You could quote the example of Microsoft shutting down XP (no pun intended)and making new games as Vista-only to promote Vista.

This is a truly debatable topic!!

Do check out my blog, and please link to it if you may. Thanks in advance!!
Anonymous said…
1. no copy paste of contents (e.g. email/ SMS text) or files from one location to another (how can one NOT have this??)

I have yet to need this function, I can see a lot of people want it but I never copy and paste on my phone.

2. no bluetooth transfer of anything i.e. mp3, images, videos

you mean the bluetooth of images\videos you get in when your in a pub and it's either an advert or shit porn?

3. can’t use iphone as wireless modem for your PC.. hence you can’t share your internet with your own PC..

Why would you need it these days, wifi hot spots all over the country.

4. the camera is a simple 2 MP and can’t record video

Its the iPhone not the iCamera. Besides the camera on this phone, whilst it doesn't have zoom or video, is far better than the last 3 windows mobiles I have had. The pictures always took 5 seconds to capture and would be blurry. The iPhone takes the photo when you click the button, not 5 days later.

5. no Java support (thereby a lot of existing apps won’t work)

Like what?

6. the battery is locked inside the phone.. changing the same means getting to the apple store…

Why would I want to? I get 2 days life out of my iPhone. Enough for me, whereas my Windows Mobile 6.1 ran for 1 day only. That's why I needed a spare battery!

7. Can’t send MMS.. imagine this!!

Functionality can always be added, and this is missed I admit. But e-mailing the photo is a good second alernative FOR THE MOMENT.
8. no FM radio

No but I have 8GB of MY music to listen to.

9. can’t use MP3 files as ringtones..

No, but convert it to AAC and bang your done.

10. can’t use ipod as external storage device to carry documents, pictures etc.

Lies. I use mine as an external drive too.

11. there are no expansion slots available apart from built in memory..

It has 8GB! thats more than I ever need on a PHONE!

12. no flash or silverlight support

Hasn't restricted me yet. And support can be added.

13. no office apps installed… i.e. u can’t read documents on iphone or quickly revise your presentation

Got an app that does exactly that.

14. if you are a coporate customer you don’t any security features like remote wipe if ur phone gets stolen or any corporate management server to manage mobile devices..

Yes but if you put a password on and they get it wrong it wipes the handset

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