Thread: New iPhone - It's Wonderful!

Daffy,

You're rather subjective saying Android phones haven't caught up with the iPhone.

Fortunately, by reading a selection of reviews here, people can decide for themselves.

If iPhones were streets ahead of the competition, Android phones wouldn't be selling they way they are, now would they?

Again: the sheer number of manufacturers and the options they can offer make it simple to come out with an Android handset that can do more than the iPhone 4, which seeks to be all things to all men, and covers only some of both.

People just need to look at any number of consumer reports and reviews before making their choice.

I'll continue to post them if I can keep up with the number of release announcements. There seems to be a new Android smartphone coming out almost every other day.

This isn't even up to date:

Android Smartphones / Google Android Smartphone Listings

But it should give you an idea of what the Fonz was getting at.

Originally Posted by harrybarracuda

You're rather subjective saying Android phones haven't caught up with the iPhone.

In diversity, certainly, but the way I see it, the same shoddy manufacturers that turned out phones with different OS previously, are doing the same now with Android.

HTC is the only company, so far, that actually seems to be placing an emphasis on design, and slightly more emphasis on quality and performance, but so far I am disappointed in the Motorola offerings, as well as those by the usual Taiwanese and Korean manufacturers.

When I say 'performance', I don't talk just specs (i.e. how 'fast' or how many 'megapixels', but rather in how well the individual features perform and deliver).

Originally Posted by harrybarracuda

If iPhones were streets ahead of the competition, Android phones wouldn't be selling they way they are, now would they?

Speaking for the USA, consumers on Verizon, Sprint or T-Mobile do not have many choices, except to pick Android phones.

Compare Android share to markets where such a choice exists, and the numbers look different, when you look at *SOLD* and used (not shipped) phones.

Japan, and Finland are my favorite examples :

Japan: iPhone enjoys a 72% marketshare in a market traditionally dominated exclusively by local phone manufacturers.

iPhone Market Share in Japan Surpasses 72%

Finland, the home of Nokia : iPhone grabbed 20% smartphone marketshare in a market previously ironclad dominated by Nokia.

iPhone grabs 20%+ smartphone market share in the land of Nokia

Korea : Again, in a market traditionally dominated by domestic products, the former market leaders have been aggressively displaced by iPhones

iPhone Best Selling Phone in Korea, Samsung Hit Hard

This is bound to change and fluctuate (as these numbers are wont to do), but so far the drops in iPhone share over the past 2-3 months was caused by waiting and expectations for iPhone 4, so I expect Apple's numbers to rise over the next 6 months, as iPhone 4 expands to all international markets again.

Obviously, during this time more Android phones will be released, but realistically, just like Samsung's, LG's and Motorola's prior offerings, I expect them to tout features, but fall short on delivery.

I mean, look at the EVO or the Droid -- they tout large cameras, but invariably delivery sad looking quality pictures (one second shutter lag - nice going Moto), and even worse video.

I had high hopes for the Nexus One, as the one phone to show other manufacturers how it's done, but sadly, it has only demonstrated that Google's 'designers' are marketing based, and not quality oriented (soft-buttons that don't work? Really, Google?).

I also had hopes for the HTC Legend -- same issue, cobbled by shortcomings and compromises.

I have no doubt someone will release, at one point, a phone able to compete quality wise with iPhone 4. Probably some future product, coming from HTC, sometimes in the next 2 years, and it will probably improve upon Apple's design by featuring reception that doesn't work at all, ever. ;-)

Some interesting points from both DaffyD & Harry. Lets say Apple release a new version of the iPhone in 12 months time & I decide to upgrade - is it easy to sell the old phone? I'm sure someone out there has done it

I'm not one to get into the Apple hype but it looks like you get a lot of technology for your money, so if this antenna issue ends up been a software fix then I'll probably steer towards the iPhone

Originally Posted by The Fonz

Some interesting points from both DaffyD & Harry. Lets say Apple release a new version of the iPhone in 12 months time & I decide to upgrade - is it easy to sell the old phone? I'm sure someone out there has done it

Just right off the bat, I can *guarantee* you that in 12 months time, Apple *will* be releasing a new model of the iPhone. In fact, this time next year, Apple will be shipping iPhone 5.

The resale value of your old phone depends on a couple of factors, but most importantly if you bought an Apple unlocked iPhone or a hacked/unlock iPhone. Generally, a hacked iPhone was previously locked to a specific carrier, and your resale value is, at best, what you paid for it in the USA -- i.e. you get them for $200/$300 in the US, and if you're lucky you can resell it around the same price.

If you bought a genuine Apple unlocked iPhone from a country that has unlocked iPhones available (Thailand, Hong Kong, Canada, for example) then your value invariably is retained. As an example, I bought my unlocked iPhone 3GS models for $750 in Hong Kong, and could resell them around $900, if I shop them around. This price might drop once unlocked iPhone 4s become available (again in the $750 range), but it will retain the most of its value.

Incidentally, that's usually how I prevent loss of value when I upgrade, albeit my iPhones also pay for themselves, as I rent out the unlocked models on a weekly basis to travelers (with appropriate SIMs for the destination countries).

Daffy is right, and it isn't just Apple. 4G networks in the US will probably be the next big driver as they roll out across the states and people start ogling DSL-speed downloads.

There are 4G Android phones out already, even though the coverage is limited to a few cities.

But whatever you buy now may well not serve your purpose in 12 months time. I normally have about 3 phones on the go at any one time, ranging from new to a year or so old; mainly because whenever I travel I use a second phone for a local SIM.

When I start eyeing up a new one, my lad starts eyeing up the old ones <heh>

I have to say Daffy, it's great hearing all your talk of poor quality control on Android phones when Steve Jobs has not only upset, but now offended most lefties on the planet.

He obviously hasn't got enough money to give away the cheapo rubber or plastic bumper for nothing.

It shows the disdain the man really has for high-paying Apple customers.

Originally Posted by harrybarracuda

But whatever you buy now may well not serve your purpose in 12 months time. I normally have about 3 phones on the go at any one time, ranging from new to a year or so old; mainly because whenever I travel I use a second phone for a local SIM.

Hence, my reason for just buying an unlocked phone, so I can stay with using one phone.

Originally Posted by harrybarracuda

I have to say Daffy, it's great hearing all your talk of poor quality control on Android phones when Steve Jobs has not only upset, but now offended most lefties on the planet.

Well, that's the price they pay for using the 'wrong' hand.

In all seriousness, though, have you considered that you have it wrong, because you do.

If you are RIGHT handed, you will hold the phone in your left hand, in order to type on it, or use it, with your right hand. Holding the phone in your left hand causes the issues.

In fact, if anything, this is the first phone to actually give lefties an edge, as holding it in your right hand, and typing and operating the phone with your left hand, avoids the problem.

You may want to re-try this negative argument again?

"Way to go for Steve Jobs to alienate all the normal right-handed people in the world, by favoring lefties with this broken reception disaster" - how's that sound?

Originally Posted by harrybarracuda

It shows the disdain the man really has for high-paying Apple customers.

What, you haven't figured out that it's Steve's world - we just live in it?

He doesn't have a disdain for high-paying customers. He has a disdain for whiny bitches and incompetence - a trait we share, I guess.