CNET says Apple playing catch up to Android now!

lol and it took them this long to reprt on it. Android's been far ahead of Apple for a while now. At least it's something.

 

Too subjective.

 

Battle of the Fanboys? That title is hilarious. Sounds like one for the big screen.

They were wrong though when they said Apple didn't do tethering. The iPhone does have tethering, but AT&T was the one who decided to block it and Apple is basically stuck in that regard.

I like this war though because it brings up such rivalry which I find entertaining. My prediction for the future is that Google will overtake Apple since it allows its OS on different manufacturer's hardware. This is just like how MS took over things with Windows.

 

I'm no fanboy of either. But realistically if the iPhone was on every carrier it would be no contest. I'd already have an iPhone instead of my Touch Pro. I have an iPod Touch 3G 64 and I'm buyin the Evo. But on another note the iPhone wouldve been old news alot sooner if it weren't for jailbreaking. It doesn't feel like an Apple product when it's jailbroke. And I like that

 

It's very easy to replace your sim card on an iPhone. Did you mean sd card?

 

...and when windows took over things they had a sub par ugly and largely inferior operating system. I can't say that for android. In fact android seems faster, more powerful and easier to use. There's no way Apple can compete with that, plus android being open. Game over.

 

The comments to to the article (the ones I could even read) are priceless!

 

Bottom line? Competition is good. I, for one, certainly appreciate the iPhone's existence. It helped to really push the cell phone manufacturers to create better UIs, more integrated functionality, and it made the all-touchscreen form factor take off. I think Android is doing a great job of cramming functionality in whilst maintaining a solid UI, something Windows Mobile failed at over the years. The open-source nature of the Android also makes it developer friendly, which is great for the rest of us.

I'm hoping WM7 pushes the game as well to keep the innovation coming, though it appears that Microsoft has neutered that phone and I'm not sure if it'll make a big splash or not.

Anyhow - I really hope that Apple puts something obnoxiously cool out for their next iPhone. Competition is good, and frankly I think that Google can certainly beat Apple in the speed by which they evolve their OS. Froyo looks awesome so far.

It's a cool time to be a gadget person.

 

I read CNET's stuff, and it's usually so pro-fruit that I can't take it seriously. This was different though, and it's mostly on the mark.

Google and Android are going to be tough to catch. Open systems with lots of smart minds trying to make it better will always beat a closed-system with fewer minds trying to operate under inherent limitations of the c-s.

MSFT and WPS7 are not going to matter. It's not just that WPS7 isn't in the space now. It's that MSFT chose not to bridge from WM6.5 to WPS7. MSFT was already losing share, but to tell the HD2 buyers no upgrade due to too many buttons on the phone, 1 extra to be exact, was just not wise. I think the HD2 would have sold a ton if it was upgradeable to WPS7. There are people who would have given MSFT a chance, but that's not going to happen now. And if they don't intro WPS7s at $199 or less, there's big trouble that they never planned for.

MSFT wanted WPS7 to be premium, and Apple will want upcoming versions of the iPhone to be premium as well, but the Evo's just the start of premium value for Android. They're both going to have plenty of problems selling phones for more than $199 going forward. That's the part I think the article didn't capture.

 

It is nice that you're able to replace the battery or SD card when you feel like it. But there are two problems with this.

If I'm not mistaken, doesn't the iPhone get better battery life than the Incredible? If Apple has taken the effort to increase battery life, then I think they get somewhat of a pass on making it internal.

Second, the SD card is useless for apps, whereas the iPhone you can use the full storage for ANYTHING. To me this definitely goes to Apple.

What I see here is that if it WORKS, then I'm willing to put up with the inconvenience of the storage/batter being built in. I'm hoping that Froyo is gonna fix this SD problem.

It was inevitable that Android OS would surpass the iPhone, Android is on all carriers. The iPhone continues to sell well with just 1 phone on 1 carrier. If the iPhone was on all carriers, it wouldn't even be a contest.

 

The title of this thread isn't really accurate. The CNET author of that article did not say Apple was playing catch up, he quoted a Newsweek blogger that said Apple was playing catch up. The author of the linked article didn't express much personal opinion beyond, "Maybe, or maybe that's just fanboy talk."

Don't get me wrong, that is definitely a positive article and I love to see it. I just don't want the author's intent to be misrepresented.

 

Batteries aren't just about how long they last. You have to factor in that all rechargeables lose efficiency and need replacement. User-replaceables win here, hands-down, no matter how efficient Apple's are.

Not certain iPhone on all carriers would be no contest. You have to take into account that Android on all carriers also means carriers can have different OEMs make different phones. Apple certainly would sell more phones if on all carriers, but I also think it would have been subject to more "iPhone Killer" development had the OEMs had to make phones directly against iPhone.

And storage on microSD is coming with Froyo and future Android releases. Once that happens, iPhone's only advantages are that it still has a larger App Store and that people really do like it's simplistic interface. Not sure that advantage will be as prominent because Android's allowing people to customize the phone in the way they want to. An iPhone simply can't do that because the Apple approach is "you'll like and accept our UI once you get used to it" rather than Android's "create more of the the look you want."

I think iPhone's been good because it helped consumers see smartphones as multi-function devices that don't have to be WinMo complicated. But inevitably iPhone will become more of a devotee product than ubiquitous like Android because that's not what closed-systems do best.

Think Android's grown so fast now? Wait until Froyo and future updates start hitting worldwide. And IMO, watch what happens when Nokia finally gives up on it's own OS and adopts Android (it's gonna happen!) and there's a huge upward spike in Android worldwide use.

 

I agree. I think eventually iPhone sales vs Android sales will mirror that of Mac sales vs PC sales. The iPhone will be more niche, although a very large and very profitable niche.

Is Nokia still in the game? I haven't seen a new phone from them in a long time. They used to own the mobile market.

 

People don't keep their cell phones longer than the battery losing efficiency anyways. So that is a subjective thing.

The iPhone being able to move such an incredible amount of phones on one carrier is a surefire no contest if it was on other carriers. There was a survey recently that said quite a big amount of Verizon customers would get one if they could.

Not only that, the iPhone is able to strip people from their contracts and sign up with ATT's crappy network. That is saying something.

Froyo claims to fix the microSD, but from early reports, I haven't seen this happening. I know that it'll happen eventually, but I haven't seen it yet.

As for the App store, an open system will probably win out, but as of right now its undeniable that Apple's App store not only has MORE apps, but the quality absolutely trounces Android Apps. I cannot tell you how much I hate Facebook Android app.

This may be my personal opinion, but from my experience, Android OS is still slow, even with a Snapdragon. Scrolling, Panning, and Animations aren't as smooth as the iPhone OS. This was even addressed in the Anandtech review of the Droid Incredible, so its not just in my head.

Features between Android OS vs iPhone OS is subjective, but I can clearly see by just using both OSs that the iPhone is faster, smoother. This will only be exacerbated if the new iPhone gets the rumored A4 processor.

 

Nokia's still sells a lot of phones, just not in the US. Though I think Apple will avoid Nokia's OS blunders, it's an example of what happens when you have an OS that people drift away from in droves. I still think Nokia will have to jump on the Android wagon because Android's going to spread like wildfire internationally because it can be licensed for free.

Apple will become a huge niche product, and that's a good thing. That's where Apple excels. And undoubtedly just as in the computer environment, MSFT's OS constantly had to push to try to look as easy as MacOS. I think the Apple preference for exclusivity and control make niche the only thing they can do. I can't see all the carriers wanting iPhones but no real way to distinguish themselves since Apple will not let them do too much to the OS or apply overlays.

I guess I see the "eventual" part of all this as it's happening now because the exclusivity deal with ATT kept Apple from being first on 4G technology. Even worse, I think ATT will lag noticeably behind VZW until '12, and that will hurt Apple just as much.

Even though Wimax isn't fully ready, it has over a year to expand and mature. The 24M+ iPhoners out there are going to be really upset they can't do things on a zippy 4G even if that 4G isn't everywhere. ATT probably wouldn't have amped up it's 3G improvements had people in the major metro areas not pressured them too. Those are going to be the same people saying "my iPhone can't do what those other 4G phones can do even if they can't do it all the time."

I don't have actual sales, but when I visit the midwest, I don't see iPhones everywhere. I do on the coasts and in major cities. What I do see in the midwest is everyone with a phone and everyone with the best non-iPhone they can get. Again, Android's will take over that space by this time next year. Right now, still a lot of Razrs and non-smartphones that I see.

 

Anecdotal evidence is not the same thing as facts.

If I said, "Most people in my school have Android phones". Does this mean that Android phones are selling the best worldwide? No, it just means my schoolmates mostly have Android phones.

Although I do agree that ATT's network sucks and they need to make the jump to 4G if they want to stay relevant.

 

I live in Indianapolis, and I DO see iPhones everywhere. Maybe it's a demographic thing, but I would say a full third of people that I know have an iPhone.

 

Of course anecdotal is not the same as facts. But here in the NYC and Philly metro, I can not go more than 1-2 mins without seeing an iPhone. In the midwest, I can go for hours or even days. I don't need a weather report or log to tell me that in the winter when I visit the midwest that it's much colder than here in the NYC/Philly metro area either.

My point was just to illustrate that Apple sells millions, but it's in pockets not everywhere. I even pointed out that it was just an observation that seems to suggest that iPhones aren't huge everywhere. Just a smell test. I don't need to see mold on food if I can smell that it's bad.

I'm on ATT and have never even considered iPhone because of the network/cost/iPhone-limits combination. I really enjoy my iPods and think the UI and apps are near-perfect for that. And I see tons of iPods in the midwest. I can't go anywhere near hours or days without seeing iPods almost everywhere. And then I see a lot of those same people with some other non-iPhone.

Maybe they do sell more iPhones than I notice, but certainly not to the point of them being everywhere.

 

Estimated 50M iPhones in 80 countries since it was introduced in '07, with an undetermined number of those being upgrade purchases from iPhone original to current iPhone 3GS. Still not even 50% of the number of Moto Razrs sold. That's big, but they can't be everywhere.

 

I didn't say iPhones are everywhere, just that there are a lot of them.

 

I can't say MS hasnt put out some duds but when pressured Microsoft releases some of the best products in the industry.

When MS feels comfortable with itself, you get stuff like Windows ME. When MS feels pressured you get stuff like Windows 7, Server 2008 and Exchange 2010. Rock solid.