14
Dec
Life with iPhone (told by a Nokia User)
In the smartphone world, it’s quite easy to get lost in the wide selection of phones available. Are you a corporate email junkie? Maybe you’ll get a Blackberry to satisfy your email fix. Are you addicted to Outlook? Maybe you’ll get yourself a Windows Mobile powered smartphone. From form factor to operating system, there are many variables to consider before choosing your smartphone.
For me, I needed a smartphone that handled my email needs, had a qwerty keyboard and didn’t make my pocket look like I was happy to see you. Being comfortable with Nokia handsets (previously owning the Nokia E61, Nokia N82), the Nokia E71 was my choice and I was satisfied with it’s feature set (qwerty keyboard, gps, wifi, 3G).
When I decided to start developing applications for the iPhone / iPod Touch, I thought it would be wise to get my hands on a used iPhone (1st Generation). In order to acclimatize myself to the iPhone experience, I decided to spend the Christmas holidays with just the iPhone.
How has the experience been so far?
Here is what I miss about my Nokia E71:
- The keyboard: as small as it was, I miss the tactile keyboard for rattling off quick emails and messages
- Push email: Nokia’s Push Email service isn’t perfect (hey, it’s still in beta) but it did a reliable job of getting my email on my handset. Integrated hotmail support was also a plus.
- Worldmate: Living in Michigan has made me weather conscious. I set up Worldmate (www.mobimate.com) to read out weather reports to me twice a day and I definitely miss it.
But with the bad comes the good.
Having been using the iPhone for about a week, here are some of the features that I do enjoy.
- AppStore: Apple has set the bar on centralizing and distributing applications for it’s mobile handset. I can easily jump into AppStore and search for games, tools and productivity apps whenever I feel like it.
- The Touch Screen: There is a learning curve when you move from a tactile keyboard to a touch screen device. Once you overcome that, using the device becomes a joy. Tapping, sliding and pinching all become fun finger gestures on your phone’s screen.
- Games: I will always say that the mobile market was neglected as a viable gaming platform…until now. Nokia tried with N-Gage and then tried again and still haven’t nailed it yet. The same goes for blackberries and window mobile handsets. Although the iPhone doesn’t have it’s killer iPhone game yet, my hours spent playing Bejeweled 2, Frenzic and Scrabble rival my time spent playing on my Nintendo DS and my Sony PSP.
- Photo App: Using images and pictures as wallpapers and contact images is a breeze. Anyone coming from a Nokia E-Series background knows it takes some needlessly convuluted menu navigation to get these things done.
For now, the experience has had it’s ups and downs but is positive overall. As my “weekend” phone, the iPhone hits a sweet spot of productivity and entertainment. After I post this from the iPhone WordPress App, I’ll load up Bejeweled and see if I can’t beat my high score!
