The Smart phone competition!

So, over on Gizmodo.com they did a review of the latest and greatest smart phones, and not much to my surprise, Windows Mobile wasn't on the list!  haha.  Ok, I am biased against Windows, which is the only reason I say that; in all reality, Windows mobile is a decent mobile operating system.

iPhone 3.0 VS Android 1.5

Anyway, the review put my favorite phone OS (Android) against my arch nemesis (iPhone).  So I have to bask in this little bit of glory.  Both phone operating systems are nearly the same in terms of highlighted features in the review, with the exception that Android doesn't work with iTunes, Android doesn't officially support tethering (even though the iPhone carrier doesn't support it), and Android supports both background apps and third-party  Apps.  I do have to say that I am disappointed that the review didn't mention that Android supports the ability for user's to add third party video codecs, which iPhone doesn't.

iPhone 3G S VS. HTC Magic

On a hardware level, the iPhone has multi-touch and a headphone port, and I have to admit I would really like to see both of those things added to an Android phone.  The plus side is that anyone can make an Android phone, so one day it is possible to add multi-touch to a phone for Android.  On the Plus side, the magic has a microSD card slot, which gives it the potential for more than 32GB of storage, and the Magic has a 3.2 mega pixel camera, which is slightly more than the iPhone.

Cost

So, both phones are "linked" to a subscription.  The difference in cost between the two phones is fairly significant right off the bat.  With a 2 year contract, the iPhone is either $200 or $300, while the HTC Magic is $150.  The iPhone is permanently linked to AT&T, however the Magic is only linked to T-mobile for the contract, and after your contract, you can take an Android phone to another phone provider that uses SIM cards.  Then in terms of your cost over the next two years, the iPhone's average cost is $290-$390 more than Android, and the maximum cost is $750 - $850 more for the iPhone.  In fact, between the iPhone 3G S, HTC Magic, Blackberry Storm, and the Palm Pre, the average cost for the Magic is less than any other smart phone, and only the Palm Pre offers a cheaper plan if you compare the unlimited everything plans.

So, which phone do you think I'm going to get?  To me it's pretty obvious because I decided I would get an Android phone last year, and I will honestly probably hold off until next year to get an Android phone just because I want to see if Verizon is ever going to jump on the bandwagon.  I honestly have had some bad luck with T-Mobile over the past couple years, and I am holding out for multi-touch and an 1/8" jack.

Anyway, I am biased toward Android, and the iPhone is a really good phone;  That's why they are my arch nemesis.