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Epic vs Fascinate vs Captivate vs Vibrant – Samsung Galaxy S Phones Compared

September 8, 2010 By NotLost Leave a Comment

The Samsung Galaxy S Phones are proving to be a hit with a lot of consumers, but there is still a lot of confusion as to which phone is on what carrier and what features they have.

This video should clear it all up for you:

Here is the quick version if you’re curious:

  • Epic 4G -- Sprint
  • Fascinate -- Verizon
  • Captivate -- AT&T
  • Vibrant -- T-Mobile

All have 4″ Super AMOLED Screens, 1 GHZ Cortex A8 Hummingbird Processors, 512 MB of RAM,  5MP Cameras, and run Android (2.1) with Samsung’s Touchwiz interface on top of Android.

The Epic 4G has the most features by far.  It is the only one with a dedicated slide-out qwerty keyboard, front facing camera for video chat (via qik), and 4G capabilities.

The Fascinate and Epic 4G both can serve as wireless hotspots for up to 5 devices.

The Captivate and Vibrant don’t have flash on their cameras while the Fascinate and Epic 4G both feature single LED flash.

Filed Under: Android Tagged With: at&t, captivate, epic 4g, fascinate, galaxy s, Samsung, sprint, super amoled, T Mobile, verizon, vibrant

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

Best Android Phone – The Droids You’re Looking For

August 27, 2010 By NotLost Leave a Comment

Best Android Phone

With so many different Android phones on the market now, picking the best of them can be a bit of a challenge.

I’m throwing this little guide together to help you determine the best Android phone and I’ll even separate it by carrier so if you would like to remain with your current cell phone provider, I’ll give you the best Android powered phone they’ve got.

Best Android Phone For Verizon

Winner:  Droid X

Runner Ups: Droid 2 / Droid Incredible

Deciding on a winner for Verizon Wireless was the hardest of all the cell phone providers in this list.  Quite simply, they have the strongest lineup of Android phones on the market right now.

We ultimately settled on the gigantic Droid X as the winner in this showdown.  Sporting a 1GHZ processor, 24GB of memory (expandable to 40GB), and a huge 4.3” screen, it exudes power an excess.   The phone has been out for over a month and Verizon is still having trouble keeping these things in stock (last I checked there was a two week waiting period to get one).

If you’d like something a little smaller, the Droid Incredible is a great phone itself and the Droid 2 is the phone you want if you’re want a dedicated slide out qwerty keyboard (all of these phones feature 1GHZ processors and at least 16GB of memory).

Best Android Phone For Sprint

Winner: Samsung Epic 4G (overall winner)

Runner Up: HTC EVO 4G

This was an extremely tight race as both phones seem to have taken the “everything but the kitchen sink” approach to building a phone.

These two phones are currently the only two 4G phones you can get so if 4G is important to you, the Epic 4G and EVO 4G are what you’ll be choosing between.  We gave the nod to the Epic 4G as our winner in this race since it features better battery life, a Super AMOLED screen (though at 4” it’s smaller the the EVO’s 4.3”), and twice as much memory.   The Epic 4G will set you back $50 more than the EVO so if you’re on a budget get the EVO but otherwise we think most people will be better served by Samsung’s Epic.   If I had to pick an overall winner, the Epic 4G would be my choice.

Best Android Phone For AT&T

Winner: Samsung Captivate

Runner Up: HTC Aria

The AT&T lineup of Android powered phones is the weakest among the four major carriers and it makes sense since AT&T is still the exclusive provider of the iPhone.   Fortunately, with the Samsung Captivate, AT&T users finally have a phone that I’d label as acceptable.  If the Captivate is out of your price range, the diminutive HTC Aria is a decent choice as well.

Best Android Phone For T-Mobile

Winner: Samsung Galaxy S Vibrant

Runner Up: Garminfone

You may remember that T-mobile was the provider chosen to sell the Google Nexus One.  While it was a great phone (and is enjoying it’s life as the official Android Developers phone), it’s no longer available for purchase from T-Mobile or through Google (unless you’re a developer).

Fortunately, the Samsung Vibrant is a good alternative (part of the Galaxy S series of smartphones).   It has a beautiful  4” Super AMOLED screen, 16GB of built in memory, and a fast 1GHZ processor.

If you’re really into GPS (we love GPS), then the T-Mobile Garminfone is a rather unique smartphone as it offers the best GPS navigation of any phone on the market though specs are a little weaker than most current generation Android phones.

Filed Under: Android Tagged With: at&t, best android phone, best smartphone, droid 2, droid incredible, droid x, garminfone, htc aria, htc evo 4g, samsung captivate, samsung epic 4g, samsung vibrant, sprint, tmobile, verizon

BlackBerry Torch 9800 Review

August 3, 2010 By NotLost 1 Comment

Apparently RIM and it’s iconic Blackberry brand aren’t quite ready to concede the Smartphone market to Apple and Google.

Yes, I’m well aware that Blackberry is still the leader in smartphones, but a recent survey revealed that 50% of it’s users are planning on switching to a different Smarthphone (most wanting either an iPhone or Android powered device).

However, the new Blackberry Torch 9800 for AT&T revealed today just might keep some of those once loyal “Crackberry” users from jumping ship.

The Blackberry Torch does its best to meld the best of Blackberry with the best of iPhone/Android features.

First of all, it still looks a lot like an iconic Blackberry. However, instead of making your choose between a keyboard or touchscreen, now you can have both! It features a slide up dedicated qwerty keyboard that Blackberry users have raved about for years and a full capacitive touchscreen that other smartphone users have come to know and love.

Blackberry Torch 9800

It also is the first Blackberry device to run the new Blackberry OS 6 with it’s ultra fast Webkit based browser (it’s about freakin’ time!), Blackberry App World 2.0, social networking integration, and a revamped interface.

It also has specs that are generally on par with your favorite Android and iPhone smartphones.

It comes with 4GB of memory and supports up to 32GB with a microSD card slot. (Total max capacity 36GB)

It also has a 5MP camera with flash but no front facing camera for video chat.

The touchscreen is just a bit small at 3.2″ and has a 480 x 360 resolution.

The processor has sufficient power for Blackberry OS 6 but the 624MHz processor probably isn’t going to impress anyone in the world where a 1GHZ processor has become the defacto standard

All in all, the Blackberry Torch 9800 is a much needed flashship phone for RIM which has been leaking market share to Apple and Android like a sieve. If you’re a Blackberry fan looking to upgrade, this is almost certainly the one you’ll want to get.

It’s available on AT&T for $200 with a 2 year contract.

Filed Under: Blackberry Tagged With: at&t, blackberry, blackberry torch 9800, blackberry torch review, RIM

List of 4G Phones, Devices, and Smartphones Available

July 13, 2010 By NotLost Leave a Comment

Thought I’d get started on making a list of 4G phones available for each cell phone carrier (U.S. carriers only).

4G is also called LTE or WiMax depending on who you talk to but they all refer to the same thing.

Right now it’s a short list which makes this easy for me.

Sprint 4G Phones (coverage area)

HTC EVO 4G – The one and only 4G phone on the market in the U.S. as I’m writing this.   Coverage is still pretty limited but if you’re in an area with 4G coverage, then get this phone! (It still works on 3G networks of course, it’s just not as fast).   Sprint is having a hard time keeping these phones in stock, but if you want a 4G phone, go down to your local Sprint store or Best Buy (they have the white one) and they’ll hook you up.

Samsung Epic 4G – This phone is scheduled to launch later this year and is slated to become the second 4G phone in Sprint’s lineup.   A specific date and pricing have yet to be released – as far as specs go, so far we know it will have a 4 inch screen, Android, a physical slide out keyboard, a VGA front facing camera,  a 5MP rear camera, and 16GB of storage space

Verizon 4G  Phones (Verizon’s 4G network is called LTE – “Long Term Evolution”)

None – No, not even the ballyhooed Droid X has a 4G/LTE antenna.   Verizon is launching their LTE network in November 2010, expect 4G phones to follow shortly after.

AT&T 4G Phones (AT&T Also uses LTE Technology for 4G)

None – AT&T is planning on launching their LTE network in 2011/2012.  Expect the next iPhone (the real iPhone 4g?) to have an these antennas next June.

T-Mobile 4G Phones

None – Not sure when to expect an LTE network from T-Mobile as they’re lagging behind in this area or if they’ll survive long enough as a phone carrier in the U.S. to even build one.

As you can see, despite a lot of talk about 4G and LTE networks, they’re still a long way from being ubiquitous and widespread and only one carrier in the United States even has 4G technology commercially available.

Expect to see a lot of updates to this list around Christmas 2010 and into 2011, but for now if you want a 4G phone, the HTC EVO 4G Phone is your only choice.

Filed Under: Smartphones Tagged With: 3g, 4g phones, at&t, htc evo 4g, list of 4g phones, long term evolution, lte, samsung epic 4g, sprint, T Mobile, verizon, wimax

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

Best Cell Phones Available For Each Carrier

June 12, 2010 By NotLost Leave a Comment

Updated 6/28/10

While some would like to crown one phone as the king, it’s really tough to do when you consider that phones will be judged based not only on the quality of the phone, but also on the phone carrier who provides service.

So in this short post, I’ll cover what I think are the best phones for the four major carriers in the U.S.   Keep in mind this list will probably be totally out of date in 6 months so keep in mind the post date when you’re reading this article.

Best Phone on Verizon Wireless

While the Motorola Droid was the gold standard on Verizon Wireless, the next round of Droid phones has blown it out of the water.  The Droid X, in my opinion is the best Verizon phone and the Droid 2 is a good second choice and your best choice if you still want a dedicated hardware keyboard (honestly, you probably won’t use it much as the on screen keyboad is really cool especially since you can run Swype).  Android 2.2 will be coming to both soon (should ship standard on the Droid 2) which will make your phone faster and add a few cool new features.

AT&T

No surprise here – the winner by a long shot on AT&T is the iPhone 4.   It’s better in just about every way over it’s predecessor and if you can tolerate AT&T as your cell phone carrier, you’ll want to make the iPhone 4 your phone – don’t bother with the 3GS – it’s obsolete.   No Android phone on AT&T is worth your money at this point.

Best Phone On Sprint

evo 4g, iphone 4, droid incredible, nexus oneIn years past, picking Sprint as your carrier meant cheaper service than you’d get with AT&T or Verizon Wireless but their phone selection was inferior to that of their competition.  That’s no longer the case.   The HTC EVO 4G is one of the best smartphones on the market right now and boasts and absolutely enormous screen, and HD video camera, and screaming fast 1GHZ Snapdragon processor, you no longer have to get an inferior phone to get service with Sprint (and their $69.99 unlimited everything plan is a great deal though the EVO 4G does require an additional $10/month to be added to your plan).

Best Phone on T-Mobile

Even though the new Garminfone is kinda cool especially for GPS-centric people like me, the Google Nexus One still slaps its ass and calls it Sally.  It’s the phone Google built to feature it’s Android OS and it’s fast, and always the first phone to get the latest Android OS updates .

Conclusion

So there you have it – one website’s opinion on the best smartphones available for each carrier.  As usual, expect this list to change frequently as new phones are being released all the time.

Think I omitted a worthy contender to the throne?  Want to put in your two cents?  Post in the comments below and let me hear it.

Filed Under: Android, Smartphones, iPhone Tagged With: at&t, best phone, droid 2, droid incredible, droid x, htc evo 4g, iphone 4, motorola droid, nexus one, sprint, tmobile, verizon

HTC EVO 4G Vs Apple iPhone 4

June 11, 2010 By NotLost 1 Comment

Dangerous as it may be to try to make a fair comparison between the HTC EVO 4G exclusive to Sprint and Apple iPhone 4 from exclusive to AT&T, I’m gonna give it a whirl.

Now lets be honest here -- these are both impressive phones in their own right.

Display

This comparison seems like the biggest “apples” to oranges comparison.  The EVO 4G has a gigantic 4.3 inch 800 x 480 screen.  That may not sound much bigger than the industry standard 3.5 inch but trust me, once you hold it in your hand and play with it, going back to a regular sized screen seems constrained.   It’s big and pretty.

The iPhone 4 uses their new “retina display” which packs 960 x 640 resolution into a 3.5 inch screen.   It’s a great looking display and everything is ultra crisp.  It is, however ,smaller.

Speed

Both phones boast fast processors.  The EVO 4G has a 1GHZ Snapdragon processor inside whereas the iPhone 4 has Apple’s own 1GHZ A4 Processor.   Having enough power to run all your apps without the OS grinding to a halt shouldn’t be a problem on either phone.

Data

EVO vs iPhone 4

HTC EVO 4G (top left) - iPhone 4 (bottom right)

While many people in the tech community christened the new iPhone, the iPhone 4G, the new model (the iPhone 4) is still a 3G phone which makes sense since AT&T’s 4G network isn’t expected to go live until 2012.

The EVO 4G, on the other hand, is a 4G phone (though some would say not true 4G yet) and while it’s only available in a limited number of cities right now, it’s blazing fast where it is available.  When 4G isn’t available, it uses 3G so in many areas speeds will be comparable.

One thing to note is that AT&T has just changed their data plan from “unlimited” to 2GB whereas the data plan on Sprint is not only cheaper, but still “unlimited.”

Video Conferencing

Both phones have a front facing camera for video conferencing and a back facing camera for taking pictures.     The EVO has a 1.3 megapixel camera for video chat and uses the Qik system.  The iPhone has a VGA (640x480) camera and uses their new FaceTime standard for chat (since Apple has made it an open standard, expect it to be available on Android in the coming months).

I’d say the FaceTime system is a bit more elegant than Qik, but FaceTime is unfortunately Wi-Fi only right now whereas Qik has no such limitations, only requiring you be in a 3G service area.

Camera

While Apple finally added an LED flash to their camera and upgraded it to a 5 megapixel camera, they’re still trailing the EVO 4G which has an 8 megapixel camera with dual LED flash.  Both can record 720p HD video.

Battery

Apple claims to have really stepped up and improved the battery life of the notoriously power hungry iPhone by installing a bigger battery in an ever slimmer phone and now claims 7 hour talk time on 3G or 40 hours of audio playback -- if those are even close to accurate, that’s a pretty big step up.

The EVO 4G also has some drabacks in the battery department.  That big Snapdragon processor and huge 4.3 inch display suck up juice pretty quickly as well.

Then again, with the EVO 4G you can simply buy an upgraded battery whereas as you probably know with iPhones, the sealed internal battery is not user replaceable -- you’re stuck with what you got.

Operating System

For many, this phone comparison will come down to an Android vs iOS comparison (iOS 4.0 is the new official name for the iPhone OS 4 since the operating system runs on more than just iPhones, namely iPods and iPads).

While both have their advantages, I’d say in many ways, it’s a win/win -- either way you’re getting a sweet operating system.

The Apple App store boasts far more apps with at well over 200,000 compared to the 75,000 or so available in the Android Market.  However, you can find apps that do just about everything for BOTH operating systems.

Froyo 2.2 (which will be on the EVO 4G soon -- currently it runs 2.1 Eclair) and iOS 4.0 are both very capable of providing an excellent user experience.

Games

One of the new additions the iPhone 4 has that the EVO 4G does not have is a gyroscope.  Gaming on the iPhone is still the best of all cell phones and Apple raised the bar with their new Gyroscope.  Games are certainly available for both, but the iPhone does it better and has more.

Carrier

Even if you’re undecided up to this point, this final comparison may be where you make up your mind.   The iPhone is exclusive to AT&T (in the United States, anyway), and the EVO 4G is exclusive to Sprint.

I won’t claim to know which one is better in all areas, but I can tell you I have been a past customer of both carriers and while I had Sprint for about 5 yrs, I was only an AT&T customer for 6 months before I just couldn’t take it anymore and terminated my contract early due to them having dead spots in my city and where I lived happened to be one of them.

Getting a reliable carrier is critical as these phones aren’t much fun is you can only use them in your house or apt when you have a wi-fi connection.  It’s still a cell phone after all and you’ll probably still make and occasional phone call or two with it.

The decision is up to you.   And just to be fair to AT&T, my brother has an iPhone and where he lives (Minneapolis), he hasn’t told me of any significant problems using his phone as he pleases.

Filed Under: Android, iPhone Tagged With: Android, apple iphone 4, at&t, evo vs iphone, htc evo 4g, ios 4.0, iphone 4, retina display, sprint, wimax

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