Monday, October 12, 2009

Windows Phone

OK.  The 4+ year old PDA2K phone I have here is getting rather long in the tooth and Laz' and Damien's phones (both newer than mine) are also starting to show signs of age, so we're looking for new handsets.  I like the idea of a hard keyboard, but I really don't know that it is something that's a requirement - I use it when I'm in a vehicle that someone else is driving and I need to reply to emails, however as this rarely happens (and I have a tablet that I can use in that situation, though it is obviously a bit bigger), I don't know if I can add this to the "must have" list.  Laz and Damien are both in the "don't need, nice, but not necessary" camp with this feature.

So that leaves us looking around for the most appropriate handset for our needs.  When Laz asked me last week what the best Windows phone was and I replied "iPhone 3GS 32 GB" he almost fell off his chair.  There's a few things that he and Damien dislike about the iPhone (not the least of which being the requirement for running iTunes, and I totally agree with this), but I don't know if they are as bad as the things we don't like with Windows Phone.  iPhones connect to Exchange accounts easier than Windows Phone handsets do.  They run enough of the apps we need (email, web browser, WiFiFoFum, GPS (it is cut down in the iPhone to Google Maps only right now, though TomTom and a few others are making their way over to iPhone).  Damien thinks the iPhone is big and heavy - well, in reality, it isn't much bigger and heavier than any current Windows phone device and smaller and lighter than a number of them.

Handset
Model

Height
(mm)

Width
(mm)

Depth
(mm)

Weight
(g)

Screen
Size "

Screen
Res px

Down
Up

Comments
i-mate PDA2K
125.0
71.6
18.7
210
3.5
240
320
57.6K
28.8K
WM 2003 SE
Keyboard
HTC HD2
120.5
67.0
11.0
157
4.3
480
800
7.2M
2M
WM 6.5
Samsung Omnia II
118.0
60.0
11.9
117
3.7
480
800
7.2M
5.76M
WM 6.5
HTC Dream
117.7
55.7
17.1
158
3.2
320
480
7.2M
2M
Android
Keyboard
Nokia N97
117.2
55.3
15.9
150
3.5
640
360
3.6M
?
S60 5th Edn
Keyboard
HTC Touch Pro2
116.0
59.2
16.7
178
3.6
480
800
7.2M
2M
WM 6.1
Keyboard
iPhone 3GS
115.5
62.1
12.3
135
3.5
480
320
7.2M
384K
iPhone OS 3.1
HTC Touch HD
115.0
62.8
12.0
147
3.8
480
800
7.2M
2M
WM 6.1
Motorola Cliq
114.0
58
15.6
163
3.2
320
480
7.2M
?
Android 1.5
Keyboard
Nokia N97 Mini
113.0
52.5
14.2
138
3.2
640
320
3.6M
?
S60 5th Edn
Symbian 9.4
HTC Hero
112.0
56.2
14.4
135
3.2
320
480
7.2M
2M
Android
Nokia N900
110.9
59.8
19.6
181
3.5
800
480
10M
2M
Maemo 5 on Linux
Keyboard
HTC Touch Cruise
110.0
58.0
15.5
130
2.8
240
320
3.6M
384K
WM 6
Sony/Ericsson Xperia X1
110.0
53.0
16.7
145
3.0
480
800
7.2M
2M
WM 6.1
Keyboard
Sony/Ericsson Xperia X2
110.0
54.0
16.0
155
3.0
480
800
7.2M
2M
WM 6.5
Keyboard
HTC Tattoo
106.0
55.2
14
113
2.8
240
320
7.2M
384K
Android 1.6
Nokia 6710 Navigator
104.8
50.5
14.9
117
2.6
240
320
10M
2M
S60 3.2
Symbian 9.3
HTC Touch Diamond
102.0
51.0
11.4
110
2.8
480
640
7.2M
384K
WM 6.1

The one big issue with the iPhone (aside from iTunes) is the lack of proper multitasking.  Now, this is a similar issue to that which the pre-OSX Apple Mac OS suffered from.  The thing with the iPhone is that it is built on a similar kernel to that which OSX is built on - BSD.  So I *know* it can multitask properly.  And I also *know* that it is a small, portable device, therefore if I multitask, I don't expect amazing performance if I keep apps open I don't need.  I manage to control myself quite acceptably with my WinMo devices, so why don't I have that opportunity on an iPhone without jailbreaking it?  Ridiculous.

The problem with this is that right now when I run WiFiFoFum to perform a basic site survey for a client, on a Windows Mobile device I can receive a call and WiFiFoFum continues to run happily in the background scanning for networks.  On an iPhone, the incoming call will result in WiFiFoFum saving its state and pausing, allow the call to happen, and then I need to restart WiFiFoFum after the call, with no network detection taking place whilst WiFiFoFum wasn't the front and only running non-Apple application.  That's ridiculous.  That's shortsighted.  That's something only Apple could do and then promote it (successfully) as a feature!  :)

Also, on Windows phone 6.5, the Today screen shows all of the information that's relevant - missed calls, received text messages and emails, upcoming appointments and so on.  On an iPhone I need to actually go in and look for this information - I've not seen an app that does for iPhone what the default Today screen does in Windows phone - so if anyone out there knows of an app that will do this, this will make me and a number of our clients happy!  :)

Regards,

The Outspoken Wookie

2 comments:

stryqx said...

I'm looking forward to the Nokia N900 - preferrably a WCDMA 850 capable one - to compare with an iPhone 3GS. They're similar specs hardware-wise and Nokia's Maemo operating system definitely multitasks.

Yan Herndon said...

I played with a palm Pre today. This had the real QWERTY keyboard.
Very nice.
Internet speed was good. touchscreen felt good and worked well. very stylish and clean OS.
If it would run Connectwise Mobile I'd get one.
I want to try the one without a real keyboard and see how well the touch works on that one.
Never will I buy an iPhone. no asshat is telling me what I can and cant install.