Archive for the ‘Product Reviews’ Category


Apple’s iPhone vs. Google’s Android

Wednesday, June 30th, 2010

I will spare you the suspense and tell you the final verdict right up front: Apple wins…but just barely and only if you don’t mind being on the AT&T network. Pretty decisive results, eh?

iPhone vs. Android

Let me make something very clear: This entire experiment was rigged in favor of the iPhone. The Android never really had a chance and to understand why, you need a little bit of history about how this experiment came about.

You’re probably already aware of this but just in case: At Jet City Devices we fix broken cell phones. Before we offer a new repair service for a particular phone, we buy a broken one online and make sure we know how to fix it. Six months ago, we considered fixing the MyTouch 3G from T-Mobile. We went online, found a MyTouch 3G with a cracked screen, bought it, got the repair parts, fixed it up, and then started offering the repair service. So for the last 6 months I’ve had a MyTouch 3G with the Google Android operating system just sitting on my workbench.

It has been calling out to me like a Siren trying to tempt Ulysses on his great adventures. Eventually, I could no longer resist the sweet temptation of that small white phone as it beckoned me closer. Fortunately, there was no shallow reef on which to destroy my ship – in fact there wasn’t even a ship. The whole Ulysses analogy is really only here to stroke my ego. Not really necessary so let’s get back to the reason this experiment was rigged…

The reason this 6 month old Android phone didn’t stand a chance against the iPhone is two-fold. First, I’ve been using an iPhone for 18 months and I really like the interface. This means I’m going to have some bias right out off the bat against the Android interface because they’re going to do some things differently.

The second reason is that the MyTouch 3G is a decrepit dinosaur of an Android phone. The hardware is slow and outdated, the touchscreen is small and unresponsive, and the software is version 1.6 (there at 2.2 as of this writing). I tried very hard in this experiment to ignore these hardware differences because I know the new Android phones are much better. However, I just can’t completely ignore it. I get uber frustrated every time I type a text and my space bar taps get ignored or it takes 2 seconds to switch screens.

So while I would love to discuss hardware, battery life, camera resolution, speaker quality, touch screen & LCD quality, and more, I just can’t do it with any validity. It’s not a fair fight because the MyTouch 3G sucks in the hardware department. In a few months, when the new Windows Phones come out, I’m going to do this again with an iPhone, an Android Phone, a Blackberry, and a Windows Phone 7. At that time, I’ll try to get the top of the line phones so we can really compare Apples to Apples. For now, I hope this software review suffices.

Review

Google, like Microsoft, tends to let their software engineers drive the user interface (UI). As a former software engineer, I can tell you that engineers suck at designing things so they are pretty and easy to use. It is not in our nature. Because of this, Android’s UI is clunky, somewhat of a pain to setup the first time, has lots of menus, a few annoying bugs, and is not particularly pretty. Apple, on the other hand, is a company driven by designers. As a result, the iPhone is beautiful, super easy to use, and runs great straight out of the box. The iPhone is just way more polished than any other smartphone on the market. Score 3 big points for the iPhone on this one.

Once you get the Google phone setup (and you will have to have a Google account to do it) and spend a couple of days getting used to the interface, you discover that it’s a pretty nice phone. I was pleasantly surprised about the apps (called “Marketplace” in Google parlance). I have been saying for months that the one big advantage Apple has is their App Store. I’m not so sure anymore. Yes, Apple has more apps than anyone else but I had no problems finding the apps I wanted for my new Google phone. Facebook, Twitter, Yelp, some games…no big issues for me at all. That said, it’s still more fun to search the Apple App Store just because of the sheer volume of stuff they have. Score 1 point for Apple.

There is one big exception to this Apple-is-as-good-or-better-than-Google-for-apps scenario: Google Navigator.

The Google Navigator app is far and away the greatest piece of cell phone software I have ever used. In essence, it turns your Android phone into a GPS device that rivals anything I’ve used from Garmin. It offers turn-by-turn directions complete with a woman’s voice telling you when to turn. In addition, this app is integrated seamlessly with other apps on the phone. Found a restaurant and want directions? Bam! It jumps you straight to Navigator. Trying to find a friends house? Just pull up their info in contacts and, Bam!, it jumps you straight to Navigator. Seriously, this app alone, for those of you that, like me, are completely directionally challenged, makes this phone worth considering. It’s awesome! Score 2 for Google.

Let’s talk about networks, baby. If you want an iPhone with all the bells and whistles (3G, visual voicemail, support from Apple), you only have one option: AT&T. I have AT&T and, personally, I don’t mind them. I do, however, have the common complaints: They are way too expensive and their network seems lackluster at best with frequently dropped calls and a number of dead spots in Chicago where I get little or no reception. But again, I love my iPhone and nothing about AT&T is a deal killer for me. That’s not true for everyone, though, and Google Android phones do not suffer from this single carrier drawback.

There are Google phones on all major carriers. Verizon, Sprint, T-Mobile, and even AT&T all have Google phones. In addition, there are a plethora of hardware manufacturers out there making Android phones: HTC, Samsung, Motorola, and more. What this means is that you can find a contract that’s right for you and a hardware device that suits your needs (like a slide-out keypad). This isn’t a huge deal for me at this point, but for some it could be a really big deal. I’m going to score 2 points for Google on this one. If you are playing along at home, want to be on Verizon, and like a slide-out keypad, you can go ahead and score up to 4 points for Google here.

If you’ve been keeping score, you will notice that Android is actually tied with the iPhone at this point in the contest: Apple 4, Google 4. However, we are about to award a negative point to Android.

I, like many people, have more than one Google email account. Yet, for some reason, Google saw fit to only allow me one Gmail account on my phone. Sure, I can use the email application to setup an IMap account for my second Gmail account but it’s a pain in the neck to setup and it’s two icons I have to click to view my mail. I really just want to hit the little GMail icon on the home screen and see all of my Google Mail. Boo! Hiss! Big fail here by Google (at least for me). Score -1 for Google.

So there you have it, Apple wins but by the skin of their teeth: 4-3. The fact is, for a lot of people out there, that network and slide-out keypad thing could actually catapult Android ahead of the iPhone. Make no mistake, if Apple doesn’t at least address the issue of different network carriers soon, they will find that Google, Microsoft, or Blackberry is going to release a phone that comes pretty close to the iPhone in ease of use and beauty. When that happens, Apple better look out. But that’s a different story (and one I’ve written about before). For now, if you don’t mind AT&T and you want the best smartphone on the market, go with the iPhone.

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Product Review: T-Mobile MyTouch

Thursday, March 25th, 2010

I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry. I know that you have all come to rely heavily on my blog posts for their witty and informative style. It’s like teaching the proverbial hungry man to fish and then taking away his fishing pole. Very cruel and I will try to not let it happen again.

This latest blog post is actually from one of our new employees who played with a T-Mobile MyTouch 3G phone we had laying around the office. We let him use it for about 10 days and here is what he had to say…

The T-Mobile MyTouch 3G (also called the HTC Magic) is the second Google Android phone to hit the US market, and it definitely made a good showing in today’s multimedia/touchscreen/app world we live in.

T-Mobile MyTouch 3G

At first glance, the MyTouch appears to be a finely polished version of the older, bulkier G1 sans the physical keyboard. This sleek design makes it a friendly fit for your pocket – even if you’re one of those trendy guys wearing skinny jeans; you know who you are.

It has a nice sized touchscreen together with a volume toggle on the left side and six additional buttons directly under the display: Home, menu, call, end call, back, and a “google search” button. Why they added a physical search button on the phone is beyond me.

You will also find a gargantuan track ball amongst the 6 hot keys. This button is great at, well, nothing really. Why would I want a scroll wheel on a touchscreen phone? It’s like the HTC designers that built the MyTouch had both iPhone and Blackberry envy. A scroll wheel only makes sense if you don’t have a touchscreen (or you break your touchscreen and can’t use it anymore).

The one hardware design flaw I really noticed was the lack of a 3.5-mm jack. I really don’t know how they could have missed this. Yes, they have the mini-USB port I can plug the stock headphones into, but come on, I’d like to be able to plug in the awesome Bose headphones I don’t have because I can’t afford them…yet.

Now on to the user interface. This is where you find your contacts, plan your dates (anyone out there need a date?), and browse the web. You will find the touchscreen very responsive, and pretty finger friendly – even people with fat fingers like me. The MyTouch has the three different windows/displays, just like the G1. These are all fully customizable with whatever icons you choose to put on your main displays.

While there is no physical keypad, there is touchscreen keypad for text messaging, emailing, surfing the web, etc. When you turn the phone horizontally, this keypad widens which makes it a little easier to type (at least for me). The one exception to this is when using the Google search. In this case the keypad will not rotate and enlarge – it stays in vertical mode. That doesn’t bother me too much, but I’m sure it’s an issue for some.

While I’m on the subject of Google search, a cool feature is voice activated search. This allows you to speak your search terms directly into the phone instead of typing them. It takes a little time to process your voice, but it is definitely an awesome feature. I found it to be very accurate at figuring out what I wanted to search for.

The 3G web browsing is fairly quick and the internet functionality is pretty solid. Google has paid attention to some of the small details like allowing you to click on a phone number and copying the number right to your “dialer”. You are also able to copy addresses right off the internet into Google maps which I think is a great feature. Another big advantage of the MyTouch is that Google has made it easy to tether your phone to a PC or laptop. Tethering, for those that don’t know, allows you to connect your computer to the internet using your phone as the modem. PdaNet is a great app for getting tethering up and running.

Lastly, I’m going to review a few apps that I thought would be useful, or at least fun. While it’s not so much an app as software built into the phone, I’m going to mention Google maps. It’s a pretty self explanatory mapping program and the cream of the crop. It’s a wonderful piece of software. Beyond that, I downloaded Weatherbug and Pandora.

Weatherbug is an outstanding weather updater. It allows you to see the temperature in your notifications tab as well as semi-live Doppler when you launch the actual application. I am always on the run going from place to place, so knowing the weather and temperature at the tap of my fingers is fantastic.

Now, on to Pandora, an application for music lovers.  You can customize radio stations to fit your favorite genre of music or just find someone that’s already created a “station” that you like. You can search by artists or genre, and even purchase the songs right from the application. The only thing that would make this application a bit better would be a 3.5-mm headphone jack on the phone…of course, we’ve already been over that.

Overall this phone is better than I expected.  Android’s firmware 1.6 is quick and responsive. The phone does a lot of great things and I think Google is in a good position to make it even better in the future. If you are looking for a user-friendly device that allows you to make calls, search the web, and have a little fun in-between, you will find the T-mobile MyTouch 3G a nice phone.

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Keeping Your iPhone Safe

Wednesday, March 10th, 2010

The iPhone is like a superhero in many ways. It does what no smartphone had ever done, it brings joy and hope to millions, and it can leap tall buildings if thrown very, very hard. However, unlike Superman or Plasticman, the iPhone is subject to the basic laws of physics. If a 4.5″ x 2.4″ piece of glass (the size of the one on the iPhone) is dropped, it will be pulled by gravity towards the concrete below and, upon impact, probably break. Without Superman to turn back time by flying rapidly around the Earth, your iPhone just isn’t going to be the same.

But have heart, there is something you can do to prevent this disaster: Get a protective case for your phone!

Let me begin by telling you what NOT to get for a case. Don’t buy one of those decorative only cases that wraps around the back of your phone but stops right at the edge of the screen. While this can keep the back casing of your phone from getting scratched up, it will provide no protection at all if your phone falls and lands glass face first.

Secondly, do not expect a “screen protector,” as they are called, to protect your screen in a fall. What I’m talking about here are those thin pieces of plastic that people put on their phone. These only serve to keep your screen from scratching. They do not actually “protect” your screen from breaking.

So that brings us to my recommendations for selecting a case:

  1. Make sure that whatever case you buy sticks up a little higher than the glass on your phone.
  2. Rubber is a much better shock absorber than hard plastic. So try to find a case that is either all rubber or is at least partially rubber at the most likely impact points: The corners and the lip that sticks above the glass.
  3. Make sure it’s a case you’ll actually use. For example, if you keep your phone in your pocket and you like to wear skinny jeans, you’re not going to want a big, bulky, rubber case. It won’t look good and it will be difficult to slide in and out of your pocket.
  4. Make sure it’s a case that works the way you use your iPhone. Two examples here: If you frequently put your cell phone in a docking station, make sure your case allows this to happen. Secondly, if you frequently put your cell phone on your car dash as you drive, you might want something with a tackier, rubber backing so your phone doesn’t slide all over the place whenever you make a turn.
  5. Don’t buy pink.

We at Jet City Devices primarily focus on a line of cases from a company called Speck. They tend to be a little more expensive than a cheap decorative only case, but they do a great job of protecting your phone. In addition, they make several different styles of cases that can fit just about any lifestyle.

Speck Candyshell

This is the case I use. I don’t have a pair of skinny jeans, but I do carry my phone in my front pants pocket and I need something that slides easily.

Advantages: This case is made primarily of a hard, slippery plastic that is very similar to the actual iPhone back cover. This allows it to slide easily in and out of a pocket. Like all cases, it makes the phone a little bulkier, but it’s still pretty low profile and the hard plastic helps it maintain the basic look of the non-cased iPhone. Lastly, the Candyshell uses rubber reinforcement in the corners and has a 1/8 lip of rubber that goes all the way around the phone’s glass. So I get the benefit of rubber’s shock absorbing abilities and the convenience of a “slippery” case.

Disadvantes: The biggest disadvantage of the Candyshell is that it may not fit into a docking station. So if you like to put your iPhone into a speaker system it might not fit.

Cost: $35 (includes a scratch protector)

Speck PixelSkin

This is an all rubber case and is actually the one my business partner, Tom, uses on his iPhone. Tom also keeps his phone in his front pocket but he tends to wear slightly baggier jeans and he tends to be a little harder on his phone than I am.

Advantages: The Pixelskin is all rubber so it provides great shock absorbing capabilities if the phone is dropped. It has extra rubber in the corners, a higher lip than the Candyshell, and it also wraps just slightly over the glass on the edges (it does not effect viewing the screen at all). While some might consider the sticky nature of an all rubber case a disadvantage, it can also be a big advantage. First, it’s a little easier to hold on to than a slippery case. Secondly, the phone won’t slide around when placed on a car dashboard or a table top. That can be a big advantage for people that like to keep it out when they drive or that have kids running around in the kitchen.

Disadvantages: The extra rubber in this case is great for protection but it does make the phone bulkier. It’s also very clear to anyone looking at it that you have a case on your phone. So for those really looking to make a fashion statement with their iPhone, this probably isn’t the one for you.

Cost: $25

Speck ToughSkin

The fashion minded iPhone user is definitely not going to be interested in this case. This is a big and bulky rubber case that comes with a belt clip. Think of this as the Hummer of iPhone cases. The benefit of this gargantuan mold of rubber is that this is a fantastic case for protecting your phone.

Advantages: The first, second, and third benefit of this case is that it will keep your phone very safe. Besides encasing your phone in thick rubber, it also has a belt clip that allows you to carry your phone face out or face in. By putting the phone face in, you are really helping to keep your phone’s screen safe. In general, this is a great case for people in the construction industry, police, firemen, or anyone else in a profession that is hard on equipment.

Disadvantages: The one big disadvantage here has already been mentioned: This is a big and bulky case. If you’re someone that doesn’t mind that aspect, this is one of the most protective cases you will find.

Cost: $35 (includes a scratch protector)

One last disadvantage to all of these case. Actually, this is a disadvantage for any iPhone protector anywhere: None of them will protect the screen from a direct strike to the glass face. This isn’t really the fault of the case but rather, it’s a result of having a touchscreen. By definition, you need to “touch” the screen. That means it has to be exposed and this is what makes it vulnerable. Even Superman had his Kryptonite.

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