iPhone vs. Android: The State of the Smartphone Wars (and More to Come)
By Harry McCracken | Tuesday, October 5, 2010 at 8:08 am
It’s Tuesday, so there’s a new Technologizer column up over at TIME.com. This one’s on iPhone vs. Android, and as I wrote it yesterday, I realized that I had bitten off a pretty gigantic topic for one 700-word column. It ended up being a 1,000 word column, but even then, I could have written on for another 2,000 or 3,000 words. Considering how fast both platforms are changing, the shelf life of this column will be short, so it’s a topic I’ll come back to repeatedly.
Actually, I might return to the smartphone wars as soon as next week. I got an e-mail from a reader who assumed that the fact I don’t mention Windows Phone 7 in the column was a sign I was a Microsoft hater. Nope–I just chose to focus on the big battle well underway between two platforms that are already on the market. I’ll be at the Windows Phone 7 launch in New York next Monday–stay tuned for live coverage of it, and for lots more thoughts about Windows Phone and its chances of success.
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October 5th, 2010 at 8:38 am
"The standard Android interface is so iffy that some makers of Android phones slather their own look and feel on top, such as HTC's Sense and Samsung's TouchWiz."
I really can't agree with this. The manufacturer interfaces are a poor attempt to distinguish themselves from the competition. Most people hate them and want a stock interface. Especially with free apps that simply augment the stock interface like Launcher Pro and ADW Launcher. For me the Android UI is a huge benefit over iOS. I get to customize everything on my home pages. From apps, to wigits to direct dial and contact links. I can put an icon on my desktop that when pressed gives me directions home from the buit in GPS if I ever get lost. I love the Android interface. It may not be as polished as iOS, but the functionality is much much greater.
Read more: http://www.time.com/time/business/article/0,8599,…
October 5th, 2010 at 8:50 am
Believe me, I'm looking forward to the day when these skins don't exist–and I agree with you that they're at least partly there for the pure sake of differentiation. Google hired the guy in charge of the WebOS UI a few months ago, and I'm keeping my fingers crossed that there will be a version of Android before too long that's so good that nobody wants to tamper with it.
–Harry
October 6th, 2010 at 6:39 am
i still prefer my trusty blackberry for my smartphone of choice. nothing compares when keeping in touch with people. whether texts, emails, ims, facebook, twitter, or calls..blackberry comes out on top. those are the main things i use my phone for anyways. i prefer a dedicated mp3 player, laptop etc for my other needs, as i feel android and iphone aren't evolved enough quite yet to replace them anyways.