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iPhone 4 vs Droid X – Best Smartphone Showdown

September 8, 2010 By NotLost Leave a Comment

In this video we compare two of the best smartphones on the market right now, the Motorola Droid X and the Apple iPhone 4.  See how they stack up to one another.

Display

The iPhone 4 has a much smaller screen at just 3.5 inches, but has a much higher resolution.  The iPhone 4 screen really does look tiny when sitting next to a Droid X with its 4.3 inch screen but the “retina display” on the iPhone 4 looks a lot better and is brighter.

Processor

Both phones have blazing fast 1GHZ processors though the iPhone 4 uses Apple’s own A4 processor while the Droid X uses a Texas Instruments OMAP processor.   It’s tough to say which is truly faster, but both pack plenty of power for running all your favorite apps.

Storage / Memory

Both phones have 512 MB of RAM.  The Droid X comes with 24GB of storage space and is expandable to 40GB.  The iPhone 4 comes in two versions, a 16GB and 32GB version, though neither is user upgradeable.

Battery

Battery life on both phones is excellent.  I’ll admit I was surprised that the Droid X does as well as it does considering the monsterous 4.3″ screen, but it actually outperforms the iPhone 4 though both should last you through the day and you shouldn’t need to keep your charger in your pocket unless you’re using the GPS navigation or watching movies all day long.

Camera

From a specs comparison, the Droid X has the better camera with its 8MP dual LED flash camera, but in real world testing, the iPhone 4 with its 5MP single LED flash camera performs better though both are very close.  The iPhone 4 also features a front facing camera for using video chat via Facetime while the Droid X has no such functionality.

Operating System

The iPhone 4 runs Apple’s own iOS (formerly iPhone  OS) while the Droid X runs Google Android 2.2

Network

The Droid X is a Verizon exclusive while the iPhone 4 is an AT&T exclusive.

Price

Droid X $200 w/ 2 yr contract
iPhone 4 16GB Verision $200 w/ 2 yr contract ($300 for 32GB version)

Other

Both phones have a few extra features you simply can’t find on the other.  For example, the Droid X has HDMI out, can function as a mobile hotspot for up to 5 devices and supports Flash 10.1 for playing videos and multi-media websites.

The iPhone 4 has a built in gyroscope making it a vastly superior device if you like to play games on your phone and the seamless integration with iTunes is great for music buffs.

Overall Winner

I’m not going to declare a winner as both phones have their strong points so pick the one you like the best.  Go to both the AT&T store and Verizon store before making your decision and play around with one -- that should help you make the decision.

Filed Under: Android, iPhone Tagged With: Android, apple, at&t, droid x vs iphone 4, ios, iphone 4, motorola droid x, Smartphone, verizon, video

When Will Verizon Get The iPhone 4?

August 9, 2010 By NotLost Leave a Comment

It seems like every couple of months there is a rumor saying that Verizon will be getting the iPhone soon.   Then it turns out to be hogwash.

However, lately it seems like more and more evidence is mounting that Verizon will indeed be getting the iPhone in the early parts of 2011.

As far as evidence goes, the first comes from a report from Bloomberg saying that Verizon would be releasing and iPhone in January of 2011.  Most of the time reports come from bloggers, not credible news sources.

Now it’s looking like there’s some physical evidence that these devices could become a reality with a recent report saying Apple has ordered millions of CDMA chips from Qualcomm.   CDMA is the technology used by Verizon Wireless (and Sprint) while the current iPhone 4 and all models before it have relied on GSM technology which is the technology used by AT&T (and T-Mobile and the rest of the world).

It’s far from a sure thing and I wouldn’t hold my breath or start waiting in line at your Verizon store for the iPhone 4 to make an appearance but it sure seems like there a little more to this story than just a rumor.

If I learn any new evidence, I’ll be sure to post it here for you.

Update August 16th:  Here’s a new report that seems to hint that the iPhone 4 may be ready for field testing on Verizon.

The iPhone 4 Coming To Verizon Soon???

Filed Under: iPhone Tagged With: apple, cdma, Iphone, iphone 4, qualcomm, verizon

The White iPhone 4 Will Finally Start Shipping… Just Not Yet

July 16, 2010 By NotLost Leave a Comment

If you’ve been waiting with baited breath for the release of the elusive white iPhone 4, then your wait is almost over.  Steve Jobs announced today that the white iPhone 4 will start shipping at the end of July.

Update 7/23: The white iPhone 4 is proving to be a bit of unicorn (i.e. it doesn’t exist) – Apple is now saying that it has been delayed again although now they’re being quite vague about when it will ship saying only that it will ship sometime later this year.   While speculation is running rampant as to why with folks claiming that they’re having production issues and others saying that they want to fix the antenna issue before shipping them.  No matter the reason though, it’s a disappointing day for those anxiously awaiting the mythical white iPhone 4.

White iPhone 4

Filed Under: iPhone Tagged With: apple, shipping date, white iphone 4

iPhone 4 Repair Guide – Shattered iPhone Screen Repair

July 6, 2010 By NotLost Leave a Comment

So you’ve gone and done it, you broke your iPhone 4?

Well, you’re probably not SOL even if what you did isn’t under warranty (as long as it’s not wet, if you dropped it in the toilet bowl, then yeah, you’re screwed).

iPhone 4 Repair

iPhone 4 Repair Guide - Photo Courtesy iFixit

But if you broke the front screen, shattered the back screen, need to fix the camera, or just want to replace the battery on your iPhone 4, these can all be done from the comfort of your home all for a lot less than the cost of replacing your iPhone 4 ($599 for the 16GB or $699 for the 32GB version).

If you’re handy with a screwdriver, tweezers, and paperclip, then check out this do it yourself iPhone 4 repair guide.

If you’d rather leave it to people who know what they’re doing (this is what I would do), here are a couple places to check out:

If you need replacement parts for your iPhone, I’d recommend eBay or Amazon (I use Amazon almost exclusively these days but there are some parts that Amazon just doesn’t have)

Filed Under: iPhone Tagged With: apple, broke iphone 4 screen, broken iphone, broken iphone 4, guide, iphone 4 repair, replace iphone 4 battery, shattered iphone 4, shattered iphone screen, tips

How To Fix Your iPhone 4 Antenna Issues – Simple To Elaborate Solutions

July 1, 2010 By NotLost Leave a Comment

As you’re probably well aware, the much ballyhooed iPhone 4 isn’t without it’s share of issues.  It shatters far too easily for a cell phone, scratches, and hates left handed people.

Keep in mind the antenna issue doesn’t seem to be present on all phones, but it certainly does appear on a lot of them.  I was using my friend’s iPhone 4 last night and despite my finest efforts of deliberately trying to put my fingers in the correct places to get the reception to drop, I got nothin’… not even a measily 1 bar drop.

However, if you are expereiencing these problems, here are some solutions you could try.

Scotch Tape

This is the simplest and  cheapest of the solutions and many have said it works so if you don’t mind putting a little bit of clear Scotch Tape on your phone, this could fix you up for less than a penny.   Just put a small strip of tape over the little black strip on the bottom left hand corner of the phone.  The theory is that it will stop your skin from shorting out the antenna.

Get A Bumper

The standard Apple response has been to either get an iPhone case (the $30 bumper) or that there is no problem.  While

Vapor4

The Vapor4 is an aluminum case that can solve not only the antenna issue, but will also make it a lot tougher to shatter your phone if you opt for the carbon fiber back plate ($100).

Magellan Toughcase

If you want to make your iPhone 4 nie invulnerable and waterproof to boot, then Magellan has the solution for you – the Magellan Toughcase.  Though it costs as much as the phone ($199), and is targeted towards those who want to use their iPhone like they would a rugged outdoor GPS unit, it will certainly fix those pesky little screen shattering and antenna issues.   It also improves GPS accuracy and gives you even more battery life (has a built in 1840mAh battery built in) so you do get quite a bit for all that cash.

If none of these solutions satisfy you, you could join the class action lawsuit, or take advantage of the 30 day return policy offered by Apple and AT&T and return the damn phone.

Filed Under: iPhone Tagged With: apple, class action lawsuit, Gps, iphone 4, iphone 4 antenna, iphone 4 recall petition, iphone bumper, issues, magellan toughcase, scotch tape, steve jobs, vapor4

iPhone 4 vs Droid X – Best Smartphone Showdown

June 28, 2010 By NotLost Leave a Comment

Droid X vs iPhone 4

When the original Motorola Droid was launched in 2009, it was really the only worthy competitor the iPhone had.  These days there are plenty of smartphones on the market many of them quite good but the title of best smartphone really comes down to three phones – the Droid X, iPhone 4, and EVO 4G.

I’ve already done an iPhone 4 vs HTC EVO 4G post so I won’t rehash that here, instead we’ll do a rundown of how the Droid X and iPhone 4 stack up against each other.

iPhone 4 vs Droid X

Processor

Both phones are fast… really fast!  The Droid X features a Texas Instruments OMAP 1GHZ processor while the iPhone 4 features an Apple A4 1GHZ chip.

Display

One of the most obvious differences in the two phones is right here.  Apple’s iPhone 4 has a 3.5” screen (small by current smartphone standards) but it uses their new “retina display” technology at 960×640 resolution which results in a gorgeous display.  The Droid X, on the other hand, with its 4.3” screen makes the iPhone 4 look puny and while the display is good looking and sharp, it does run at a mere 854×480 resolution.

Memory

The iPhone 4 comes with either 16GB of memory ($199 with 2/yr contract) or 32GB of memory ($299 with 2/yr contract).  The Droid X comes with 24GB of memory, but it can be upgraded by the user to 40GB of memory.

RAM

Both the iPhone 4 and Droid X have 512 MB of RAM.

Camera

I’ll say this now before we compare specs – in real world testing, pictures look to be of nearly equal quality.  That being said, the Droid X has an 8MP camera with a dual LED flash while the iPhone 4 has a 5MP camera with single LED flash.

OS / Apps

The iPhone 4 runs IOS 4 while the Droid X will initially ship with Android 2.1 (will be updated to 2.2 shortly thereafter).

Which OS you choose is really up to you.  You are granted a lot more freedom to do what you want with Android while the user experience is better with IOS 4.

As far as apps go, the Apple App store has over 225,000 apps while the Android Market has about 75,000 apps.  For all intents and purposes, even though there is a large app discrepancy, at this point it’s a wash as to which is better – both have a ton of apps and if you want to do something with your phone, you probably can find an app for that on either marketplace.

One thing which isn’t in question here is gaming – gaming is vastly superior on the iPhone – there are more and better games available for the iPhone.

Carrier

For many, this will be the deciding factor. One is exclusive to the carrier many consider to be the best in America (Droid X – Verizon Wireless) and the other is on the carrier many consider to be the worst (iPhone 4 – AT&T).   This is really up to you – some people don’t have problems with AT&T, some do.  Where I currently live AT&T was hopelessly bad – Verizon has awesome coverage – in my hometown, neither is very good.  Both companies have an evil streak, but Verizon does consistently score better than AT&T in just about every category.

One thing to keep in mind, both networks will let you test their network for 30 days before you are locked into two years with them.  You can return your phone if you’re unhappy within 30 days with no penalty.  My recommendation is to test it out and make sure it works to your liking before you’re stuck for 2 years.

Other

Each has a bunch of features you won’t find on the other.

The iPhone 4 has Facetime and a front facing camera for video chat.  The Droid X has no such application and no front facing camera.  It also has a gyroscope, which as best I can tell has no practical purpose other than to make playing games even more awesome on the iPhone.

The Droid X has true multi-tasking (the iPhone has quasi-multi-tasking), HDMI outputs, wi-fi tethering and soon will be able to display Adobe Flash.

Conclusion

Declaring a winner is really not easy here and really it comes down to preference.  Plus I don’t feel like starting a flame war here on this blog.  Anything involving Apple products seems to bring out people who feel like any slight on Apple is akin to saying Hitler tried to do us all a favor or that Jesus had it coming.  Yeah, it’s that bad and I’m not falling into that trip.

Here’s the bottom line – they’re both spectacular phones.  Get the one you like better – go play with each of them at the store before you buy.

iphone 4 vs droid x

Motorola Droid X Vs Apple iPhone 4

Filed Under: Android, iPhone Tagged With: Android, android 2.2, android market, app store, apple, at&t, best smartphone, droid x, droid x vs iphone 4, ios, ios 4, iphone 4, iphone 4 vs droid x, memory, processors, ram, screen size, verizon

Known Apple iPhone 4 Issues

June 25, 2010 By NotLost 1 Comment

This really shouldn’t surprise anyone, as every iteration of the Jesus Phone has had issues, but some of these just seem weird.  On the bright side, most of them are easily fixed, by buying an iPhone condom (Available from Apple for $30).

Here are the big ones:

1) It shatters… like glass

Let’s be honest here, not even the magical Steve Jobs in all his infinite wisdom can stop glass from doing what glass does… it shatters with enough impact (even bulletproof glass does).  Of course, most smartphones have issues like this, especially those that opt for glass as the iPhone does.  However, I still can’t figure out why it has glass on both sides -- that’s just asking for trouble.

2) Scratches

One of the reasons to use glass over plastic is that it’s more scratch resistant.  However, that doesn’t make it scratch proof, even the special hardened glass (Gorilla Glass)  used on the iPhone 4.

3) That funky antenna

Good ol Steve made a big deal about how the  exterior metal band around the iPhone 4 and how it was some kind of technological breakthrough.  As it turns out, that means that holding the phone by the metal part of the phone makes the phone drop calls.   Hmm, maybe that’s why no one else used this “revolutionary” antenna before…

Now, like I said -- those are all easily fixed and not necessarily dealbreakers -- just buy a case for it and you shouldn’t have any problems.

4) Yellow Spots

This one is probably the least annoying one long term as it goes away (supposedly) after you use it for a while, but many people are reporting that the phone has yellow spots on the “retina display” which Apple has said is a residue from the manufacturing process.

Have any other issues for your iPhone 4 that I missed or anything you’d like to add?

Filed Under: iPhone Tagged With: antenna, apple, Iphone, iphone 4 issues, problems, Scratches, shattered glass, yellow spots

Lost My iPhone – How To Track A Stolen iPhone

June 18, 2010 By NotLost Leave a Comment

Have you lost your iPhone or are you worried it was stolen?

For most cell phone owners unless you were proactive and installed tracking software on the phone prior to it going MIA, you were pretty much SOL (apparently, it’s use as many acronyms as possible day – LOL – okay, I’m done, promise).

However, since you have an iPhone, you’re different and there is a solution available to you to track a stolen iPhone.  Apple just added the “Find My iPhone” App to the App Store.

So let’s talk about how it works and what it costs.

The “Find my iPhone” App is an app you install on a friend’s iPhone or iPod Touch (since obviously, you don’t have yours to install it on) – if you’re without friends, go visit Starbucks or any upscale bar – you’ll find plenty of iPhones there and maybe you can beg and plead them to let you use their phone to find yours.

Anyway, the App is free to download, but it does require a MobileMe membership which is $99/yr (60 day free trial available if you’re planning on losing your iPhone in the next 60 days) – kind of steep if that’s all you plan on using your membership for, but MobileMe actualy does a bunch of things.

Once the app is installed, you can remotely login to you phone, track it to find out where it is, and should it become clear you’re not likely to get it back, remotely wipe all the data.  To be able to remotely wipe data is a big deal as far as I’m concerned since I have a ton of personal information on my phone.

So there you have it, if you’ve lost your iPhone and don’t have any tracking software already installed, there’s still hope (as long as you have a MobileMe membership).

Filed Under: iPhone Tagged With: app store, apple, find my iphone, Iphone, lost iphone, lost my iphone, mobileme, never lose your iphone, stolen iphone, tracking a stolen iphone

Apple iOS 4 vs Google Android 2.2 – Best Smartphone Operating System

June 17, 2010 By NotLost 1 Comment

Android vs iOS – Which is the Best Smartphone OS?

A lot has been made about the new iPhone 4 and I’ve already talked about the specs of their new phone vs other top of the line Android phones so in this comparision, we’re going to take the core operating systems as they’re critical to the user experience.

For the purpose of this review we’ll specifically cover Apple iOS 4.0 and Google Android 2.2 “Froyo” even though very few have actually had their hands on both although that’ll change soon with over the air 2.2 updates coming soon for many Android phone users and the new iOS 4.0 coming standard on the iPhone 4 and being pushed as an update for current iPhone users soon.

Now I know that there are plenty of other smartphone operating systems like Symbian, Blackberry OS, WebOS, and Windows Phone 7, but at the moment the race to create the best mobile phone OS is a two horse race and Google and Apple are far ahead of the competition – even the extremely well funded Windows Phone 7.

Keep in mind that in some cases I’ll be comparing software that runs on each OS and not just the OS itself, but as far as I’m concerned, the software running on each platform is really part of the OS experience.

Ease of Use

Which operating system is more intuitive and easier to use?  To me both of them are easy, but then again I love gadget.  On the other hand, my grandmother couldn’t use either one (I have a Motorola Droid, my brother has an iPhone – we did test this out on a real grandmother).    The casual user will probably find both to be rather intuitive although I think there is a slightly higher learning curve with Android.

I certainly appreciate that I’m able to heavily customize the look and feel Android OS (although it can require rooting the phone), but I don’t think that matters much to the average, casual user.

iOS I think does provide a slightly better user experience, especially to non-tech people, but to be honest, you’re not going to suffer with a difficult to use OS if you pick Android.

Openness

There’s no denying it – iOS is only available on the iPhone and iPad – period.  On the other hand, Android is available on over 100 different phones..  The Android Operating system is open source while iOS is owned and controlled by Apple.    There are pros and cons to each so I’ll let you decide which you prefer, if you have any preference (some don’t care, which is just fine).

Battery

While phone makers tout bigger batteries and low power mobile processors – battery life is still largely dependent on how well the operating system uses power.   iOS 4.0 is probably going to be the winner here although I haven’t seen the real world performance yet so comparing the theoretical battery length to real world data available for Android phones isn’t a fair fight as the real world results are almost always lower than what the manufacturer claims for battery life.

Multitasking

iOS 4.0 finally brings multi-tasking to the iPhone.  Now you can listen to Pandora in the background and send a text at the same time – hooray!  Android has been able to multi-task for a while.  If you have a high end and current model of either an iPhone or Android phone, multi-tasking is probably a draw.  However, all Android phones can do this – older iPhones won’t be getting multi-tasking.

Keyboard

Even Google has admitted that the software keyboard on Android could use some work – I’m not going to disagree.  iOS has a much better software keyboard than any Google Android phone.  However, you can download the Swype keyboard app for Android which is really, really cool and is the absolute fastest way to type on a smartphone (the current guiness world record for sending a text the fastest was set using this program) – it’s not currently available for the iPhone (not sure if it ever will be).

Search

As a company that really sets the bar for search, you’d expect Android to slap the iPhone’s ass and call it Sally when it comes to searching… and you’d be right.  Search on Android phones is far better and voice search is quite good.  The iPhone has some catching up to do here.

Browser

Up until the latest update of the Android operating system, this was a draw as both are based on Webkit (Safari and Chrome both use the technology for their desktop versions as well).

Now, however, with the ability to display the Internet in all it’s glory – Adobe Flash and all – Android Browser is now the clear winner in mobile phone browsers while Safari will remain behind until Apple either supports flash or the entire Internet works with HTML 5 (don’t hold your breath, it’s gonna takes years – many, many years).

Ads

For many this is a reason to grown – mobile ads.   As a marketer (that’s my day job and how I pay the bills), being able to do advertising to users of each operating system is really important as it’s the next advertising frontier and it allows many apps you love and get for free to stay that way – free.

Apple has launched its new iAds system while on Android primarily has AdMob (now owned by Google).  From an openness standpoint, Admob is much, much better as iAds is proprietary to Apple.

As an advertising, I don’t like the direction Apple is going, but from a consumer standpoint it remains to be seen which is better.

Apps

At some point in the nuclear arms race to have the most apps, you reach a point of diminishing returns just as you did in the real mccoy where both sides had more than enough bombs to obliterate the other many times over.   That seems to be the point we’ve reached in with the Android Market and the Apple App Store.

Both have some really cool apps you can’t get on the other and while the App Store has over 200,000 apps compared to the 75,000 or so Android has, how many different to-do lists, alarm clocks, and calculator do you really need?

Games

In this case, iOS really has Android beat.  Gaming on an iPhone is far superior – there are more games available and the experience is far better – Android really hasn’t matured as a mobile gaming platform yet.

Navigation

Again, this is really a comparison of software and not core OS functionality.   For navigation it really depends on what you want.  With Android you get free Google Maps Navigation – with the iPhone you get many more navigation options, including a couple free options.  The free iPhone GPS navigation apps really don’t hold a candle to Google Maps Navigation, but the paid apps like Navigon MobileNavigator and TomTom for the iPhone are still better than what you can get for Android… unless you get the Garminfone.

Confused yet?   Let me clear it up for you.   For the absolute best GPS navigation on a phone, get an iPhone and buy the MobileNavigator OR a Garminfone but remember the Garminfone is really underpowered compared to other Smartphones and runs and outdated version of Android… 1.6.

If you want really good navigation and don’t want to pay extra, get any Android 1.6 or later phone (which is pretty much every current Android phone on the market now and includes all the best ones like the Droid, Droid X, Droid Shadow, HTC EVO 4G, Nexus One, and Droid Incredible)

Tethering

Both operating systems have tethering capabilities, but considering that Android 2.2 allows you to turn your phone into a Wi-Fi hotspot (for free, just be careful of data usage) and on the iPhone, you still have to physically tether it and pay an extra monthly fee to AT&T AND you can’t tether an iPhone to an iPad, I’m going to give Android the nod for better smartphone tethering.

Choice

With the iPhone, your choices are black and white – pick the color you want.  With Android and the now dozens of phones available, you get more choice in your use experience.  Do you want a model with a dedicated keyboard, no problem – prefer a huge screen, check – need one that is navigation focusedApple iOS 4 vs Google Android Froyo - Best Smartphone OS Showdown, they’ve got your covered.   While the amount of choices offered is certainly a double edged sword as Google can’t as tightly control the user experience as Apple, having the option of any phone carrier and a lot of different phones is a nice problem to have as far as I’m concerned.

For example, I wanted a dedicated keyboard on my phone so I got one even though I mostly use the on screen one.

Conclusion

My intension here isn’t to declare a winner like so many others.  It really comes down to preference and BOTH are great operating systems and in many ways they’re too close to call and each has areas where it is clearly superior.

Filed Under: Android, iPhone Tagged With: android 2.2, apple, froyo, Google, ios 4, iphone 4, multi-tasking, os, smartphone operating system

Apple iPhone 4 Review – The Good The Bad The Ugly

June 10, 2010 By NotLost 1 Comment

Starting June 15th you can reserve yourself a brand new iPhone 4 from Apple’s website, and you’ll be able to buy them starting June 24th.   So before that day comes, I thought I’d post my thoughts on the new iPhone 4 and cover the good, the bad, and yes, the ugly.

There’s certainly more good than bad, but enough with the introductory jibber-jabber, let’s get started.

The Good

There is a lot to like in this phone which really is no surprise – the nuclear arms race really escalated under Apple and the iPhone 4 brings some nifty goodies to the table.

Retina Display

I’ll admit I am a little jealous my phone doesn’t have anything like this.  Samsung just said the retina display really isn’t any better than their AMOLED displays, but my eyes tell me different.  It looks great and I want one.   It has 960 x 640 resolution on a 3.5 inch screen.  Remember when your 15″ computer monitor only had an 800 x 600 screen?   LCD screen technology sure has come a long way.

Fast Fast Fast

As expected, and just like the iPad, the iPhone 4 features the A4 processor – Apple’s own 1GZ low power chip.   It brings the best of both world’s to the table – long battery life (up to 7hrs of talk time or 40hrs of audio playback – that’s amazing!) and blazing fast performance and now that you’re finally getting multi-tasking, you’ll need all the power you can get.

FaceTime

apple iphone 4 - facetime retina display 1ghz a4 processor and gyroscopeI’ll be honest about FaceTime – Apple’s video phone call feature… to me it’s more novelty than every day practical.  Maybe history will prove me wrong, but people have been trying to get people to use video phones for the past 25 years and it’s never really caught on.  The fact that it’s Wi-Fi only is both a good thing and bad thing.  It’s a good thing that it will make the user experience much better and we know Apple is freakishly anal about ease of use, and Wi-Fi gives the end user the best shot at getting it.  However, not being able to use it over 3G is disappointing because it limits where you can use the application.

Sure, I think this feature will be useful for people who travel a lot for work and spend a lot of time in hotel rooms, but keep in mind that to use it, both people need shiny new iPhone 4s (for the moment at least), but for everyday calls, it simply won’t get used.

I think it’s more akin to an application like Google Sky Map – really cool and fun to play with but not something you really end up using all that often.

Gyroscope

While Apple computers aren’t know for their prowess in the gaming arena, when it comes to playing games on a smartphone, the undisputed leader is the iPhone.  With their latest creation, a gyroscope has been added which will only improve upon what you can do to play games on the phone.

The Bad

Durability

While Apple went out of their way to talk about how their new steel is so strong and their glass is so much harder and durable than plastic, reality is showing that the iPhone is living in a glass house.  Don’t throw stones at it and you sure as heck don’t want to drop it now that it has glass on BOTH sides, not just the display side.   Make sure you buy the protective case or you could have a very expensive paperweight in your possession as glass breakage is not covered under the iPhone warranty.

Tethering

While I know some people are eagerly awaiting the arrival of tethering in the new iPhone OS (which has been renamed iOS 4.0), it still sucks compared to what you get with Android 2.2 (Wifi Tethering with 8 Hotspots – no additional fee as long as you don’t go over your data limit).  You’ll get charged $20 a month just for the privilege of using it with AT&T and guess what, you can’t tether your iPhone to your iPad.   Bummer.

The Ugly

In the United States, your options as far a carriers are as follows: AT&T

As a past AT&T customer myself (back when they were still called Cingular), I can attest to the miserable customer service and poor coverage in many areas.   I know it absolutely guarantees I won’t be buying one and will instead stick to Android phones.

And AT&T just recently announced the end of it’s unlimited data plans and is instead imposing a 2GB monthly limit before your start getting overages – it likely won’t immediately effect the casual user, but heavy users could be in for a hefty bill at the end of the month if they’re not careful.

Bottom Line

While I wouldn’t call the iPhone 4 revolutionary even though Steve Jobs tells me so, it’s certainly a nice upgrade and will certainly keep engineers and designers up late at night trying to design an even better Android phone (though I the EVO 4G is extremely impressive if you can handle sub-par battery life and the huge form factor of it’s big screen).

Filed Under: iPhone Tagged With: a4, apple, at&t, Battery Life, durabilty, facetime, gyroscope, iphone 4, processor, retina display, review, tethering
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