Choosing a smartphone part 3

Choosing a Smartphone, Part 3: Android vs. iPhone

In our third part of the “Choosing a Smartphone” series, we’re going to take on the 300lb gorilla that is the iPhone. I fully expect that our readers will get a little hot under the collar about this one.
In our first post, we incurred the ire of the Windows Loyal, our last post made the Palmaniacs get their torches and pitchforks, and this time, we’re going to anger quite possibly everyone! We’ll call the iPhone platform a Smartphone OS, which offends many. For the iPhone loyal–and I don’t want to spoil the surprise ending, but–we’re going to say that Android is a viable alternative to the iPhone. Shocking, I know, but this is an Android blog.

We’re going to structure this post a little different, too. We’ll cover iPhone OS 3.1.3, but there are essentially two classes of devices running it: iPhone 3GS’s and iPod Touch 3rd Gen’s, and other outdated hardware. Apple’s hardware is at least as important as the OS, because their older hardware provides a distinctly different experience from new hardware. Then there’s a third variable, the ever-present “what’s next” factor with Apple. By taking a look at each situation, we’ll try to cover iPhone vs. Android buying decisions pretty comprehensively. Also, for the sake of space, I won’t cover individual apps on either platform in detail, but will focus on the core OS. Let’s start with an overview of iPhone OS 3.




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