10 Things That May Make Google’s Android Better Than Apple’s iPhone
by Jody Mitoma on September 23, 2008 at 2:09 am
The iPhone is one phenomenal piece of hardware. You can do almost anything with this cellphone that you could with a computer. In fact, you could do more, and it’s portable. It’s a darn computer the size of your hand. Apple did a marvelous job with their iPhone, and has made the product even better with the release of their second-generation iPhone; the iPhone 3G.
But, is there a better cellphone available out there? Personally, I say no. But what about the coming weeks? Personally, I don’t think so, but it is very possible that one cellphone announced by T-Mobile will do fairly well, too. Then again, I’m almost positive that it will not be any competition for Apple’s iPhone lineup.
Google’s Android will definitely take quite a hefty chunk of the cellphone industry in its own hands as new cellphones providing the Android platform are announced in the coming months. But will the Android platform make things difficult for Apple? Well, you could never know until its happened, but like I said, I highly doubt it’ll cause that much ruckus.
Here’s a list of ten things that just may make Google’s Android platform better than Apple’s mobile version of Mac OS X (which can be found on their iPhone, and iPhone 3G products).
1. Instant messaging – Google has a chance to add powerful, and useful instant messaging abilities to their platform, and frankly, they would be stupid not to. Apple failed to do so with the release of their 2.0 firmware, as well as their 2.1 firmware releases. In fact, Apple failed to do so from the start, which was a no-no on their part. Instant messaging is a biggy, and to have that ability on your cellphone, at any time, nearly anywhere, would be a huge success. In fact, that’d be one thing I’d look into if I were looking to buy a new cellphone. Apple’s push notification ability may come to server better instant messaging abilities, but as of yet, nothing worthy enough. IM+ is great and all, but there can definitely be better.
2. Video Recording – Apple definitely failed the big one on this one. The iPhone comes with a camera, albeit a shitty one, but a camera none-the-less. So why no video recording abilities, dude? Yes, I know you jailbreaking techies probably have video recording abilities with third-party, unofficially supported apps, but Apple has yet to make anything like this official, which is also a no-no on their part. If Google allows for video recording capabilities in their cellphone platform, this will only be another plus side to lineups of devices handling the Android operating system.
3. Camera Quality – Lets face it, the iPhone camera is nothing special. I’ll admit, it’s not that bad, but there is definitely room for improvement. A lot of improvement. I mean, the darn thing comes with a 2.1 megapixel camera. Hell, the first-generation iPhone came with a 2.1 megapixel camera. What makes me ponder most, is why Apple didn’t feel the need to up the megapixels to at least 3.0 for their second-generation release. It would of added a lot of hype to the product, and would of probably made them a few hundred-thousand more sales. The lineup of Android platformed cellphones will, without a doubt, have more than 2.1 megapixels of digital quality. I can almost guarantee that.
Keep on reading for the rest of the list.
4. Carrier Selection – Owning an iPhone in America, you are stuck with AT&T. In Canada, you are stuck with Rogers. Not much choice, right? That’s plainly Apple’s fault. They decided to stick with solely one provider in America, and in doing so, I think they’ve lost at least a couple hundred-thousand sells. Android cellphones will most likely be purchasable through almost all available carriers in your country.
5. Physical Keyboard – I’ll admit it, I like the on-board touch-screen keyboard, but that isn’t for everyone. The G1, which is armed with Google’s Android platform, has a physical keyboard, which slides inwards and outwards upon command. This pretty much the best way you can go. It isn’t always in the way, and if you need it, it’s there. The iPhone, as we all know, is touch-screen only, and in fact only has four buttons on the entire device (Home, Power, Volume Up/Down).
6. Linux – If you are a Linux-lover, then Android is for you. Personally, I like Apple’s mobile Mac OS X. It’s the best mobile operating I’ve seen yet. But like I said, if you prefer Linux over Mac OS X, then Android just may be the lineup of phones for you.
7. Stereo Bluetooth – The iPhone doesn’t have it. Yes, the device supports it, as there is a bluetooth chip within the body of the iPhone itself, but Apple has yet to effectively support the feature within any of its updated firmwares. Why? Nobody knows. Maybe it’ll come in the near future. Maybe it won’t.
8. SMS Multimedia Messaging – Personally, I wouldn’t use SMS as a form of sending media, however there may be some of you out there who would like to. If this is you, it is probable that you should go the Android-route.
9. Flash/Java support – You knew it was coming. The iPhone, for some frichen reason, does not support Java, or better yet, Flash. Flash is big. Hell, Flash is huge. If the iPhone supported Flash, who knows what kind of applications and games would be out right now. It’d be simply amazing. But that doesn’t matter, because Flash and Java are not supported on the iPhone, and it doesn’t look like Apple is looking into releasing its support any time soon.
10. Opened/Closed Source – There are many people that do not like Apple’s closed ecosystem. Google’s product is based on an open source model which allows more transparency into the worksings of the system. There will be much more choice when it comes to E-mail apps, web browsers, and the likes. With the iPhone, you are stuck with one – and only one.
The main ideas from this post were taken from the source provided
below, but I’ve gaven my own opinions to each iPhone flaw listed above.
To close it all off, here’s a video of Google Android:
(via Computer World)
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Posted in Hardware Related, Product Comparison, Top #'s, iPhone 3G
October 5th, 2008 at 8:53 pm
Apple is going to get killed by Google, if Google is smart. My company (a large corporation) often writes internally used software on small devices. We could definitely envision buying a few thousand Androids to put apps on them, but how could we do this with an iPhone?
Personally, I own an iPod Touch, and it is a miraculous device. It’s a lot nicer looking than the ugly Android, and I don’t need to sign up with a cell provider (I’m cheap and dislike cell phones, so I use a pay-as-you-go). The interface is nearly perfect. As much as I love my Touch, I hate Apple’s complete control. I’ll jump ship if someone else makes a WiFi device similar to this, but opened up.
October 5th, 2008 at 9:22 pm
In-house software can be distributed to other iPhones/Touches through the use of ad-hoc mobile provisioning. It’s not quite the simple copy-A-to-B formula, as each provisioned copy must be compiled with a provisioning profile tailored to each device by its Unique Device Idenfitier, but it’s entirely possible.
Yeah, I’d like the iPhone to be more open — who wouldn’t? — but it’s Apple’s ball game. Plus, I have to admit, I had high hopes for Android, but the G1 kinda disappoints, to be honest. I wish it hadn’t, because I really wanted to see a solid contender to the iPhone, but right now, Android’s just not there yet.
October 5th, 2008 at 11:40 pm
Lets home Samsung, LG, or Motorola (see Android Podium story here) can bring something a little more high-end to the table in these next few months.