So your in the market for a new phone, and you want to read email, listen to music, Update your Calender and use your favorite twitter application. In today's Smartphone market, you have options!
Android vs Iphone vs Windows Mobile: The 3 way Death Match!
| Author: David Shorb | Posted: 10/20/09 | ||
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So your in the market for a new phone, and you want to read email, listen to music, Update your Calender and use your favorite twitter application. In today's Smartphone market you have, options!
The Android OS is something that is going to be evolving over the next several years. It is currently on the HTC G1, HTC MyTouch. Motorola, Samsung, Nokia and several other phone Manufacturers will be releasing their own Android phone over the next several months and years, and it will be only one of two Smartphone OS's that will be on mulitple platforms.
The Android OS is very interesting, one that it is put out by Google, and two because it is open source. The Manufacturers have the option of customizing it to suit their needs. So Not all Android phones are equal. So we are going to stick with what I am using right now, and that is the HTC T-Mobile G1. It is a phone that in the 6 months i have owned it has done very good. It has a hard keyboard, it is of course touchscreen and it can do Wi-Fi.
One of the things i like about it the most, is that as I have mentioned before, most of the apps in the Android Market are Free, and the phone itself is very user friendly. The Really awesome part about this phone is that when you first turn it on, it has you sign into your Google acct (i.e. gmail, contacts, calendar) and it syncs everything! so no more spending hours updating your new phone with contacts from your old phone.....unless of course you haven't been updating your contacts in your gmail acct.
Which leads into a handy little tech tip! Since gmail is in the Cloud, that is to say not local to your harddrive, I would strongly encourage you to use the contacts in gmail to keep all those can't lose contacts in your gmail contacts. It will keep it handy, and if you do get the G1 or some other Android OS they will magically appear on your phone.
The Next Phone in our 3 way Death Match is the iPhone. If you need a phone that will sync nicely with your iTunes liberary, then this is the phone for you. This phone also does multi-touch, and is able to Sync your Google acct with email, contacts and with an app the calendar. The iTunes App Store does have some free apps, however most are apps you have to pay for. The biggest down side to the iPhone is that you are locked into (at the moment) AT&T Wireless Service, Unless you pay full price for the phone, and then jailbreak it (Which i wouldn't recommend, if no other reason than support issues.) You also have to use iTunes to sync all your media. Music, Movies, and Apps. The iPhone does have Wi-Fi and all the other things you would expect a Smartphone to have like a Camera for Video and Pictures on the fly.
The Next in this Death Match of the ages, is the Windows Mobile plateform. This is a SmartPhone OS that is going through some real growing pains right now. Microsoft was so focused on the PC plateform that they let Windows Mobile slip through the cracks for awhile. But not any longer, they have been working on the OS and have been making some great strides to make it competive again. They still have a long way to go, however I feel because of the OS being similar to its Big Brother Windows in that it can be on several different Smartphone plateforms. Which will make it the primary Compitiion for the Andriod OS.
As Touchscreen technology starts to become more common with phones and with the epic downsizing of the PC. There will be a lot of choice for the consummer. How is this technology going to benefit you the Single Parent. Well It will benifit you in several ways. Over the Next 5 to 10 years your kid(s) are going to be experiancing an integration of technology both in the home, and in the educational environment.
Since i own a HTC G1 i am going to use that as the example for the uses you could have for keeping everything running smoothly. There literally Hundreds of Productivity Apps, GTD (Getting Things Done), and other Apps that can keep you and your kids on time for all the activities they have in their, and your packed social calendar.
Speaking of your Calendar, Google Calendar is a great way to to sync up with what your kids have planned, School Events and other Family Oriented stuff. You can see everything at a glance, and even update your Calendar on the go. Another Feature of the Google Calendar is that you can share it with other people that have Google Calendar. So that way when you Update it, they get the update at the same time.
I would encourage you to check out the Android App Market, and the app markets for the other devices as well. I am sure you will find something that will help make things a bit easier to keep you and your family running smoothly.
I hope this helps in your quest to keep your family running smoothly, and helps you understand the new technology that is changing our world.
David Shorb is in his early 30's currently and resides in the Salt Lake City, UT area with his future wife. He is a avid tech geek, and Best Buy and RadioShack are like Toys R Us for him. David started his love affair with technology with an Apple IIe at the tender age of 5 yrs old.
You can also get other great Tech tips on my Blog Mind(Tech)nica!
