AnswersThatWork Blog

The AnswersThatWork Blog

Wednesday, 20th July 2011

Tut Tut from iPhone users

Wow Wee ! Those iPhone users would probably form the most powerful political lobby in the World if they all got together.

Man did I get rapped on the fingers after my blog on iPhone vs Android earlier this week.

So, OK — I humbly acknowledge that the iPhone 4 also has the Personal Hotspot feature that I raved about when writing about Android. It is described here. In other words you can indeed also use the iPhone 4 as a wireless Internet router.

Still, I maintain : 1 button will never ever beat 4 buttons !

Now for a bit of fun. The beauty of writing a blog which generates passionate responses is that someone somewhere will inevitably send you a gem of a video. Watch this — this is nuts — this is iPhone mania gone mental !

.

—— (TUT) SpaceMan

Saturday, 16th July 2011

3 reasons why I love HTC Android phones !

I got my first "real" smartphone two months ago.

I am saying "real" because I previously had a Nokia 5800 Xpress Music which was most definitely a smartphone but a Symbian based first generation smartphone. Problem : when you mention "Symbian" everybody laughs nowadays, so I won't dwell on how much I liked my Nokia 5800 Xpress Music and how it converted me to smartphones forever — after that Nokia I was never, ever, going back to physical button phones, no matter how smart they might be.

So, moving on swiftly, I got my first "real" smartphone two months ago. By "real" I mean one that is either an iPhone, a Windows Phone 7 phone, an Android phone, or a Blackberry.

I bought an HTC Desire S.

So, what were the 3 reasons which made me buy an Android-based HTC Desire S over an iPhone ?

First, let's get something straight : I never considered a Windows Phone 7. Reason : the app market is nowhere near as mature as the iPhone App Store or the Android App Market which has recently surpassed the iPhone App store in terms of numbers of apps available. But I will reconsider Windows Phone 7 when Nokia finally bring out their first Windows Phone 7 phone later this year.

My 3 reasons :

#1 – Speed Speed Speed
I have an iPod Touch which has the same interface as the iPhone 4. What I have never liked with the iPhone interface is the one button for everything. For me this is such a time waster : it forces most iPhone users to use both hands to operate their iPhones because things like "going back to the previous screen" or accessing an app's settings are in the interface (on the screen).

Compare this to an HTC phone : at the bottom of the phone you have 4 touch buttons — Home, Right-click Menu, Back, Search.

It is fantastic — whatever screen you are in, whatever app you are in, you can press the Search button to do a contextual search (search for a contact, search for a dictionary word, search for a location in Google Maps). Whatever screen you are in, whatever app you are in, you can bring up a contextual menu from where you can access settings and many other options. On an iPhone this would need to be done by tapping somewhere on the interface — no wonder that, despite starting so much later than the Apple App Store, the Android App Market has recently overtaken the App Store — it is a lot quicker to write software for an Android phone because you do not have to provide a back button, or Settings button, or other types of buttons — the phone provides them !

Basically, whether I am using an app or simply operating the phone, everything I need to do I do it quicker on my Android HTC than I would on an iPhone, thanks simply to having 4 buttons rather than 1.

#2 – Computing on the move
I often move around town, or around the country, with a laptop. I have to — too many things to do. Until I bought my Android HTC phone I used to have my Nokia smartphone plus a Vodafone USB dongle which I would plug into my laptop and which would give me 3G Internet Access anywhere in the UK or continental Europe. With my HTC I no longer need to pay for both a phone contract and my Vodafone dongle. All I had to do was return the dongle to Vodafone and cancel that contract, modify my phone contract to increase my Internet bandwidth allowance, and then, using the Android Wi-Fi Hotspot feature, simply turn my phone into a Wireless Internet Router and have my laptop connect to 3G Internet wirelessly through my phone. Superb stuff.

#3 – The Notification Bar
Another brilliant feature of my HTC Android phone compared to the iPhone. At the top of the phone there is a notification bar that is there at all times, whatever you are doing with the phone, whether you are using an app, browsing the web, whatever. So, while you are texting, reading emails, playing with some app, reading the newspaper, that Notification Bar at the top will let you know at all times of a new email, a new download, a new update for one of your downloaded apps, a new text, a new news update, etc.., etc... Absolutely brilliant — no need to go back to the Home screen as you have to do on the iPhone.

So, there you are. The iPhone was undoubtedly the original trailblazer — no-one disputes that. However, years on since the original iPhone, for me it is absolutely clear that the most efficient platform to have is Android, for all the reasons mentioned above.

As to why I keep mentioning "HTC Android phones" as opposed to simply "Android" phones ? Well, in case you wonder, I do not have a marketing agreement with HTC. The reason is simple : only HTC seem to have the above mentioned 4 buttons on all their current range of Android phones, and having tried Samsung Android phones and LG Android phones, I feel the 4 buttons are a must-have for any Android phone to make the full use of what Android has to offer in terms of built-in features.

Next week : my favourite Android apps.

—— (TUT) SpaceMan