New and advanced technology is being introduced on a daily basis and everyone wants the newest handheld gadgets. According to gigaom.com, approximately 42 million Americans own an iPhone today, and one in two Americans will have a smart phone by the year 2011.
The new Android from Verizon competes with the iPhone with 160,000 being sold per day (battellemedia.com). The phone has upgraded from 1.6 and 2.0 to 2.2 with new features, such as a 4.3-inch screen, 2-5x performance boost and faster speed. There is also an application with Google called Cloud, which allows Android 2.2 owners to click on a button while searching the Internet from a computer that connects the owner to an application on the phone that relates to the Google search (androidauthority.com).
The iPhone 4 upgrades include HD video recording and the ability to do more than one thing at a time on the phone, such as being on the Internet and on the phone at the same time. It also has a 3.5-inch screen, and a new feature called FaceTime, which is the ability to make video calls (apple.com/iphone). The Android is not able to do the multitask feature like the iPhone does.
Battellemedia.com, a site run by John Battelle, has a full comparison of the iPhone and Android. In the article “On Math, iPhones, Android and the 100k Phone Gap,” Battelle states that despite the 1.5 million iPhone 4 sold when the phone first came out, there are still about 130,000 selling per day compared to the Android sales of almost 30,000 more. Also, only 56 percent of iPhone users upgraded to the iPhone 4 while 96 percent of Android users updated to the Android 2.2 after two weeks.
LSU students voiced their opinions over the smart phones, and they were nearly split in half on phone preferences.
“Is that even a serious question? The iPhone is better,” said Seth Lewis, junior.
“Team Droid,” said Eben Barra, sophomore.
“I definitely would go with the Droid,” said Summer Gilbert, sophomore.
Though both phones are up to date with technology, they have also had some problems. Smartphone reviews from reviews.cnet.com say that the iPhone 4 screens freeze or go black and restart, and the Android screen tends to flicker.
On the positive side, both phones have tons of applications, games, and ways to connect to the Internet with or without Wi-Fi, from health and wellness to arcade and trivia. Both have an online community and support system for any technical issues. (android.com/media; apple.com/iphone)
According to Bonnie Cha’s “Best Smartphones” article on reviews.cnet.com, there are other smart phones besides these two that have made an impact in America today. The top five smart phones as of 2010 are: HTC Droid Incredible (Verizon Wireless), Samsung Epic (Sprint), HTC Evo (Sprint), Apple iPhone 4 (AT&T), and Samsung Captivate (AT&T).
In the “Best Smartphones” article, the iPhone 4 is at the bottom of the list, despite the talk about its great features, and an Android is listed as the top phone of 2010 in several reviews. The Samsung Captivate is also an Android phone, which competes with the iPhone 4 within AT&T. All of the phones are touch screen. Prices range from $99.99-$639.99. The Android phones are the most expensive on the list.
Links:
http://www.android.com/media/
www.gigaom.com
http://www.androidauthority.com/
http://reviews.cnet.com/best-smartphones/
http://apple.com/iphone
http://battellemedia.com
Android vs. iPhone
By Ariel Glaze
September 20, 2010