iPhone 4 or Samsung Galaxy S Vibrant (Bell)

[Alicia Sophia]

Secuity is alway a factor with an open system or free society...I would rather have the freedom to screw up than not have the choices...I am all grown up now and don't need a Nanny protecting me from myself..HOWEVER IF someone does not want to take chances they can just stick to the ATT or T Mobile or Verizon App Stores...SIMPLE!!! but they HAVE a choice...not to.
OK try these reasons without ROMs or rooting...for the everyday user....

1 Android can run multiple applications at the same time whether they are system apps or market apps
2 There are no "permissions or censoring for android apps...Any market app can be loaded
3 Paid Apps can be refunded.
4 Battery can be interchangeable
5 Memory can be expanded via SD cards
6 Information is actually visible on home screens...One can read FB,Twitter, News, by swiping screens all scrollable widgets
7 Major settings can be adjusted on home screen like BT, Sats,Wifi,syncing,GPS all toggled..on or off
8 No restriction to only pop up notifications like iPhone. Notification bar is available and active at all times.
9 Android allows you to CHOOSE your carrier And more importantly the hardware you find better for your application.
10 Android syncs ALL Social Applications to your contact list including pics FB, Twitter MySp...
11 Web experience is identical to desktop with Flash (great for stock trackers in real time)
12 The cost of the hardware varies and gain is selectable
13 There is a normal USB Port...
14 BT file transfer is easy and can be used to transfer any files
15 MAss Storage capability negates the need for Itunes as a central point to do ANYTHING with files.
Custom ROMs can be flashed which essentially gives one a whole new device and kills all bloatware and manufacture apps (unless you want to keep the)

There is more but there is a good start. These are things iPhone cannot do out of the box .People don; realize what they are MISSING when they buy an iPhone. They are "mesmerized" by the device (and or the "cache")as it is....However all These capabilities are important to me. Battery swapping is very important in order not to have to ration the use of one's devices all day long....Someone can put up a list of what Android cannot do..My Iphone 3GS barely made it to 2PM the week I used it.....

BTW ALL THIS can be accomplished WITHOUT HACKING the device in anyway....

[Asiah]

I actually do great things on my Android and not because I am in love with the device. For example, when the gas main in San Bruno county exploded, I am ABC7's website watching live streaming of the event as it occurs in real time. On my phone. Watching it with Flash.

Another example which I do constantly is to check weather sites like the JMA, NOAA, JWTC and so on. They have cyclone animations for typhoons and so on and its all done in Flash. I can't see these animations on any other mobile except on my Androids with Flash.

The question for people is, are you actually making good use of your device or are you just in love with your device?

[Colleen D]

Rather than go point by point, I'll try to encapsulate my take on the pluses and minuses of the platforms.

First, some corrections. You can in fact run third-party apps in the background in iOS 4, just not every type or unconditionally. I don't think an interchangeable battery is needed when you can get an external battery sled like a mophie Juice Pack; arguably, that's easier than a second battery. Also, there is most definitely censorship of apps. Skype and Google search on Verizon? Non-Market apps on AT&T? Google itself has yanked a few apps, too. The filtering might be much gentler than it is on Apple's side at times, but you also see carriers having control over the stock phone than you'd want.

Carrier choice isn't an iPhone problem -- it's an AT&T exclusivity problem. The OP has *five* carrier choices for the iPhone in Canada. Plus, even if it were an American, the Verizon model is due early 2011. Android choice is sometimes a red herring, since you have to switch carriers if you don't like what your existing provider offers, even if there's more than one Android phone on the network. A Sprint user will never get a Droid X.

There are definite advantages to Android in its stock form. The notification system is definitely better (note: Apple hired Palm's notification designer just a few months ago). Widgets on the home screen are nice. Mass storage is good for file transfers. And of course, there's fuller multitasking.

But it's not quite so cut and dry. Again, for a normal person -- no one who loads custom ROMs is normal -- the Android experience is increasingly defined by what the carrier allows you to do, not what Google has in the code. Not to mention that Google's experience with anything having to do with media (other than YouTube) simply sucks. There's no truly elegant way to load up on media, and even apps like DoubleTwist don't really fly. Local sync? What's local sync? Social networking and Gmail sync is awesome, but we've also seen a rash of complaints from people whose Android contact lists get polluted by all the Facebook contacts they didn't want to add. Microsoft does that better in WP7 because it can compare the Facebook list with your local contacts.

And no, Flash does not make it like the desktop. It just doesn't. Certain video won't play because it chokes the processor, many interactive elements won't work without a mouse, and the relatively slow Internet connection and processor can quickly make a speedy Nexus One slower than a iPhone 3GS because of all the large, CPU-heavy banner ads that suddenly appear. Having the option would be nice, but Adobe's current execution is poor.

Calling the iPhone's appeal just a matter of cachet (not cache, that's a hiding place for things) is pretty facile. It overlooks that, for many people, the iPhone is better simply for getting things done -- not fiddling with custom firmware or installing UI mods. I definitely think Apple needs to loosen up and keep building in more features into iOS, but when an iPhone user has more browser search choices than someone with a Fascinate or the upcoming Merge on Verizon, that's a pretty sad statement.

[DARIEN & BARBARA D]

What you're saying about Flash on mobile is outright ********. Do you actually use it? Its been updated a few times and frankly there is hardly a Flash website it won't work. In fact it works spectacularly well. With every update, it gets better with improved compatibility and speed. I can watch videos embedded off webpages with hardly a stutter.

Slow down? Do you know that Flash can be optionally turned off and made to work in demand? Just seems to me those "Youtube testers" turn it on deliberately all the time and that will cause the pages to slow down scrolling. In other words, you bend the experiment to produce the required results. That is dishonest. You can turn Flash on and off, and the scrolls will be at normal speed. which is pretty fast. The Flash video will be marked with a square and a green arrow and pressing it will initiate the flash content. If the Flash video happens to be one from Youtube, you have the option to redirect the video to the Youtube app, and the new Youtube app on Froyo is so much better than the one on iOS now, letting you read comments while viewing the video.

Again, choke on the processor? That's BS. Like I said, you can turn it on by demand simply by clicking the box. Flash ads won't interfere either because you will get blank spaces with arrows. HTLM5 itself chokes more on the processor than Flash. And I feel more confident of HTML5 speed on Android if Google has Chrome's browser engine on the Android browser.

Browser search choices? Why there is nothing stopping you from going to Bing or Yahoo dot com and do your search there. Oh, and you can find Baidu and Wolfram search widgets on the Android Market. BTW, Bing is available on all Verizon Androids, not just Fascinate and Merge. It's listed on the VCast market. That's not an Android issue if Microsoft made an exclusive deal with Verizon to make Bing only available for Verizon Androids.

Let me add that I got much better Browser choices with Android, with a more capable Opera Mini 5.1, Skyfire out for a long time now, Firefox in beta, and Opera Mobile slated soon. Browsers like Dolphin, with custom gesture creation and the ability to take and share any web page directly to any social site, are things you just don't have on iOS.

Truly no elegant way to load up media? That's pure crap. You can use Windows Media Player off your PC. You can use various sync software like Sony Ericsson's PC Suite or Samsung Kies depending on your brand of phone. Oh, and not the least, you can use WINAMP now. Android now got a cool Winamp app on mobile that syncs with Winamp on the PC.

Ont Facebook syncs, you have no idea that you can set filter options on your contacts. You can click off Facebook contacts for example. You can click on Facebook contacts to show with your main contacts list and then activate the filter that will show Facebook contacts with phone numbers only so only those with telephone numbers on your Facebook list can appear on your contacts list. You can view all Facebook contacts on a different and separate tab too. And you can do the same for Twitter, MySpace and GMail contacts. Oh, can you do that on your iOS now? One more thing about Android that it has over WP7; social networking services are modularly added. With WP7, adding social networking integration for a particular service has to be added by Microsoft. On Android, that service is added modularly through the app services provided by the social networking service. That's why Twitter for iOS, Blackberry or WP7 can't add Twitter contacts on your contact books, but Twitter for Android can.

[anaboveaveragejoe]

Love the phrase "out of the box" when comparing the iPhone to anything. There is almost nothing the iPhone can't do once Jailbroken. Jailbreaking takes about 1min with just a click and is legal. It's basically as normal as installing an app.

[a??? x]

[QUOTE=Aurelian;14102773]Rather than go point by point, I'll try to encapsulate my take on the pluses and minuses of the platforms.

First, some corrections. You can in fact run third-party apps in the background in iOS 4, just not every type or unconditionally. Which leaves a lot to be desired....


I don't think an interchangeable battery is needed when you can get an external battery sled like a mophie Juice Pack; arguably, that's easier than a second battery.
Nothing is easier than carrying an extra battery in on one's wallet and not making the device any bigger than it already is. (I never even use cases because they make the phone bulkier)

Also, there is most definitely censorship of apps. Skype and Google search on Verizon? Non-Market apps on AT&T? Google itself has yanked a few apps, too. The filtering might be much gentler than it is on Apple's side at times, but you also see carriers having control over the stock phone than you'd want.

The filtering is almost non existent and really only serves to disallow apps that require rooting. whihc most people won't use anyway. Verizon is as bad a Apple when it comes to control LOL
Google search is available on Verizon it is just not defaulted on the device....But all that can be changed. That asisde again that is a plus for Android. you can choose the hardware AND the carrier of your choice.

Carrier choice isn't an iPhone problem -- it's an AT&T exclusivity problem. The OP has *five* carrier choices for the iPhone in Canada. Plus, even if it were an American, the Verizon model is due early 2011. Android choice is sometimes a red herring, since you have to switch carriers if you don't like what your existing provider offers, even if there's more than one Android phone on the network. A Sprint user will never get a Droid X.

But he will get an EVO and a few other Andropid choices...more than just one. Choice of hardware is a good thing unless one really believes the iphone is the end all which is a pretty fair generalization of their user base.

There are definite advantages to Android in its stock form. The notification system is definitely better (note: Apple hired Palm's notification designer just a few months ago). Widgets on the home screen are nice. Mass storage is good for file transfers. And of course, there's fuller multitasking.

But it's not quite so cut and dry. Again, for a normal person -- no one who loads custom ROMs is normal -- the Android experience is increasingly defined by what the carrier allows you to do, not what Google has in the code.

I have not found that to be true. My phone is completely vanilla from ATT and even Samsung. I can do anything i want with it (and did). I am only limited by the Carrier when it comes to frequencies and reception. Before I cutomized my phone it was not all that ATT locked up. I don't have pay ATT for NAV I use free Google Nav (and could out of the box) I did not have to use ATT Mobile TV......ATT does not really have a whole lot on the device and everything can be removed without penalty or if you are not rooted, neatly tucked away

Not to mention that Google's experience with anything having to do with media (other than YouTube) simply sucks. There's no truly elegant way to load up on media, and even apps like DoubleTwist don't really fly.
Actually I can use Double Twist fine if I want an "iphone" kind of experience with syncing but after having an an Itouch for the past two years, don't find Itunes "elegant" by any stretch. I hated it on may levels. Media Monkey is fine for music, I use WINAMP AP player for music and it works as well as the PC APP...Video players work fine. I can watch hundreds of live (or recorded) TV feeds FREE using Flash TV. I would say Media is a very strong suit of the phone.


Local sync? What's local sync? Social networking and Gmail sync is awesome, but we've also seen a rash of complaints from people whose Android contact lists get polluted by all the Facebook contacts they didn't want to add. Microsoft does that better in WP7 because it can compare the Facebook list with your local contacts.

The people who are getting their Contacts "polluted' with Social medai contacts have not learned how to use their phone. LOL One can SELECT the contacts they want synced which is a good thing because their FB pictures sync to the Gmal contact. Yeah they can screw themselves if they don't uncheck a box and find their Gmail contact list loaded with 9000 "friends" LOL. There is a box that says ONLY sync GMAIL contacts....or a box that says download ALL FB contacts. I know. I made that mistake too..Android requires some reading....

And no, Flash does not make it like the desktop. It just doesn't. Certain video won't play because it chokes the processor, many interactive elements won't work without a mouse, and the relatively slow Internet connection and processor can quickly make a speedy Nexus One slower than a iPhone 3GS because of all the large, CPU-heavy banner ads that suddenly appear. Having the option would be nice, but Adobe's current execution is poor.

I could not disagree more....I would not own a web device without flash...Period. The sites I use for market tracking use flash...........the Mobile TV I watch is all in flash. I have not found a video it could not play on the net. I can go to the same sites on my 11 inch Dell AW with the phone right next to the PC and see the SAME things exactly. The stock browser is good enough. I tried a few others but the stock browser is a winner.

Calling the iPhone's appeal just a matter of cachet (not cache, that's a hiding place for things) is pretty facile. It overlooks that, for many people, the iPhone is better simply for getting things done -- not fiddling with custom firmware or installing UI mods. I definitely think Apple needs to loosen up and keep building in more features into iOS, but when an iPhone user has more browser search choices than someone with a Fascinate or the upcoming Merge on Verizon, that's a pretty sad statement.

Cachet......corrected. For many it is. When something becomes a fad it's time to buy stock...whether CROX, Hollister or Apple but if they go out of favor.....(see CROX)

Iphone is way better for those plug and play types where no reading or analytical thinking is required. its EASY..."pic a box" "plug it in and press "sync" I sync my apps and Data OTA with Appbrain on a shedule... and they are also backed up automatically on my SD card (and Dropbox online) on a schedule. My media is also synced online automatically though Photobucket and Picassa. Between Appbrain, mybackup pro and Titanium back up I am more than covered...Not to mention completely backing up my root and SD folder VIS USB to my notebook.

I used an itouch for two years because my N97 was klutzy on wifi and the applications were not as readily available but the reception was way better on the Nokia. I bought and sold two iphones and bought an Itouch and N97 and carried both around. I did not think 3G data was worth $750 a year for two phones.....
I am in Wifi areas 90% of the time.

So when ATT dropped their data plans on smart phones to $15 and I looked at Android.... I felt i had the best of the iPhone without the worst of the iphone.....and the best part is I don;t have to carry around an itouch for wifi anymore.

Android is not for everyone. Iphone won't be hurt at all. The only think that will hurt the iPhone is if it suddenly becomes the RZR of 2011....Many iphone users pride themselves in having the best technology has to offer. Apple has become a CACHET brand. Like Land Rovers , all the cool people in Hollywood use Macs and iphones...LOL... At some point those people are not going to want to be seen with a perceived 4 year old device. I don't think iphone will have the same luck Harley Davidson has had. At some point Apple needs to get away from those icon boxes and really allow some real informational home screens...and open up a little.

Well I think the OP has a good idea which way to go. Good information on both sides . Enough to make an informed decision...LOL

[cbdrumergirl]

Except if you compare it to a rooted Android device, then it does 'less'.

[Lindsey F]

Hey, T Bong:

Try to install a non-Market app on the Samsung Captivate using the factory ROM. Go ahead, I'll wait.

[N.S.Z]

The point is the only non-market apps I would install require rooting the phone, i cannot think of a non market app that replaces a "market" app in any tangible way for a non OS rooting app.

If that is the worse that can be said about android, I made the right choice,

[Shallbe]

Just how many non Market apps are there? In the Android Market, there's nothing stopping any developer uploading apps that are root scripts or ROMs. There is no point in having an alternative market because Android Market is pretty much like App Store + Cydia.

The only benefit, and its not really a true benefit, of non Market apps is when developers issue alphas or beta development software directly from their websites and early adopters want to play guinea pigs for them.