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