Today’s Business Day section of the New York Times contains two reviews for rivals to the iPhone. The Palm Pre review made it to the front page of the section, while a review of a selection of Nokia phones headlined the Personal Tech section inside.
Overall, while the Palm Pre comes close, they are still unable to rival the complete package provided by the iPhone. However, personally speaking: If I were not a Mac computer user, I would consider the Palm Pre, especially because Verizon is going to be offering the phone in about six months (currently Sprint is the only carrier). I completely agree with David Pogue on this one:
Can you imagine how great that will be? One of the world’s best phones on the nation’s best cell network?
Since purchasing my iPhone 3G and switching to AT&T, I have been and remain completely unimpressed by the coverage/signal provided by AT&T – particularly in New York City. I commute between NYC and Miami Beach offices. In the City, my phone must be on the (slower) Edge network to assure any coverage in my Chelsea apartment, and while riding around on a bus or taxi. In SoBe, I have to remember to switch to 3G because Edge doesn’t work there. It’s crazy, and I am interested if any readers can shed some insight as to why the iPhone continues to shackle its users to a single carrier. (I know, I know…the almighty dollar is surely the reason, but can’t Verizon pony up enough cash to Apple to get the phone?)
However, even with the coverage issue, there is no other phone that I would have, for many reasons. The main one, however, is the seamless, automatic, wireless syncing between my email, my calendar, my contacts…I don’t have to remember to “sync” and that makes crazy, multi-tasking life a heck of a lot easier.
Julien
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
Well, I am NONE too pleased to hear that the new iPhone offers tethering and MMS – EXCEPT for ALL USERS in the United States, because AT&T does not support those things.
My TMobile G1 phone, while certainly giving me the same network/coverage fits you’re describing, stays connected to Google all the time. GMail, Calendar, Contacts…all Google, all the time.
In fact, I had to activate the G1 through my Google account! All that aside (including the creepiness of having Google that close to me, all the time) is the fact that the phone constantly needs to be charged.