As it did the year before, the Smartphone Round Robin needed to go into overtime again this time around — but we’re finished now!  If you haven’t been following along, here’s what you missed:  Each of the editors of our five Smartphone Experts sites swapped phones for a week or so, reviewing and leanring what it’s like to wear another smarphone user’s shoes.  The result is the entire series of articles you see linked on this handy page, the Smartphone Round Robin of 2008.

What will you learn there?  You’ll learn that there was no single smartphone that ‘won’ the Round Robin — but that’s by design.  There’s no perfect smartphone out there, but there just might be the perfect smartphone to fit your needs.  If you’re looking to get a new smartphone soon, think about what you need it do to and then hit up these articles — you’ll find that depending on what each of us care about, we’ll give you a useful perspective on whether a given smartphone matches up. 

Actually, we explain it all pretty well on this page. Oh, yeah, one more thing, we are giving away fabulous prizes:

• From Android Central, the T-Mobile G1, the BlueAnt Z9 Bluetooth Headset, and SPE Screen Protectors
• From CrackBerry.com, the BlackBerry Bold, Spare Battery, and Case-Mate Second Skin
• From The iPhone Blog, the iPhone 3G, Case-Mate Naked Case, and Motorola H9 Bluetooth Headset
• From TreoCentral, the Treo Pro, Case-Mate Clear Armor, and Aliph Jawbone Bluetooth Headset (original)
• From WMExperts, the HTC Fuze and the Celio Redfly Mobile Companion

Smartphone Round Robin Winners!

Here are all the winners for the 2008 Smartphone Round Robin, chosen randomly in accordance with the contest rules:

From Android Central, winning the T-Mobile G1, the BlueAnt Z9 Bluetooth Headset, and SPE Screen Protectors, we have:

Hunter McNabb, for this post about how the G1 is snappier than the Fuze.

The runner up, who will receive a $50 coupon to any Smartphone Experts accessory store, is Devonair. From CrackBerry.com, winning the BlackBerry Bold, Spare Battery, and Case-Mate Second Skin, we have:

Dimietriev, for this post about one of the ‘little things’ we pay attention to on Smartphones, namely the calculator.

The runner up, who will receive a $50 coupon to any Smartphone Experts accessory store, is jordanmah. From The iPhone Blog, winning the iPhone 3G, Case-Mate Naked Case, and Motorola H9 Bluetooth Headset, we have:

Mark, for this post about his primary need in a smarpthone: messaging.

The runner up, who will receive a $50 coupon to any Smartphone Experts accessory store, is Jeff. From TreoCentral, winning the Treo Pro, Case-Mate Clear Armor, and Aliph Jawbone Bluetooth Headset (original), we have:

berdinkerdickle, for this post about just how important one-handed use is — how else can you eat that sandwich?

The runner up, who will receive a $50 coupon to any Smartphone Experts accessory store, is Geo-Treo. From WMExperts, winning the HTC Fuze and the Celio Redfly Mobile Companion, we have

Pamina, for this post about how somewhere in the the Fuze there’s an awesome phone that’s just waiting to come out.

The runner up, who will receive a $50 coupon to any Smartphone Experts accessory store, is blancmik. Congratulations to all of our winners!  You can expect an email from Dieter (aka me) over the weekend.

A special thanks goes out to the sponsors of the Smartphone Round Robin, without whom we couldn’t have possibly pulled it off:

Celio Corp	Palm
Case-Mate	Smartphone Outlet

We’ll bring it back again, of course, later in 2009.  Here’s a promise: this year we’ll actually bring in some Nokia/Symbian action and heck, we might even deign to include a Windows Mobile Standard device.  Oh yeah, and there’s that whole Palm Pre/webOS thing to look forward to as well.

The smartphone world is going to rock in 2009, and Smartphone Experts will be there to cover it all for you.

This is a story by the iPhone Blog. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

Round Robin: We Have Our Winners!

The 2008 Smartphone Round Robin was originally scheduled to finish… in 2008! December 31st — Today!

HOWEVER, by popular demand (read: delayed shipments, holidays, prep work for Macworld and CES, and Kevin escaping from yet another CrackBerry withdrawal facility), we’re now giving everyone 10 extra days to win. That’s right, from now until January 10th, you can make one more comment/forum post, per thread, per day (including this one!).

Given how many threads we have going not just on TiPb, but on Android Central, CrackBerry.com, WMExperts, and TreoCentral, that’s like a smartzillion extra chances to win an iPhone 3G, Android G1, BlackBerry Bold, HTC FUZE, or Treo Pro — each with accessories! (We’re going with the Case-Mate Naked Case, and Motorola H9 Bluetooth Headset! (Full contest rules here!)

So what are you waiting for? Check out all TiPb’s Round Robin posts, comment every day, head on over to the forums, make fun of Kevin, Dieter, Casey, Jennifer, and me (also every day), and good luck!

This is a story by the iPhone Blog. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

Round Robin Extended: 10 More Days to Win!

[This is an official Smartphone Experts Round Robin post! Every day you reply here, you're automatically entered for a chance to win an iPhone 3G, Case-Mate Naked Case, and Motorola H9 Bluetooth Headset! Full contest rules here!]

After 4 weeks sampling Google’s Android G1, Palm’s (HTC’s) Treo (Windows Mobile) Pro, HTC’s Windows Mobile FUZE, and RIM’s BlackBerry Bold, it’s back, and I’m back.

Boom.

A lot has happened since Dieter ripped the still beeping iPhone 3G from my cold, not-even-dead hand. Promo codes hit the App Store. iFart apps did to (and made a killing — sigh). And, of course, Apple released a little something called firmware 2.2.

Admittedly, I cheated a bit. I checkout out the new firmware and the new Google Maps, but I really haven’t had the chance to use iPhone OS 2.2 as my “daily driver”, not until now.

I’ve reviewed the iPhone software several times now, for 2.0, 2.1, and 2.2, so I’ll spare you the regurgitation, because something else has happened to: I’ve spent time with all those other smartphones. I’ve experienced some things still unavailable on the iPhone, some I’ve really liked, others… well, check the videos for the Android G1, Treo Pro, HTC FUZE, and BlackBerry Bold if you haven’t already.

Instead, I’m going to focus on that: returning to the iPhone and looking at it again through eyes now widened by our sibling sites’ signature devices. And I’m going to start after the jump!

iPhone vs. Android

When it comes to the Android, everything seems to boil down to “openness” — unlike the iPhone, which is strictly controlled by Apple and the App Store, pretty much anyone who wants to (and knows Java) can code for Android and give away (and maybe eventually sell) what they want, where the want, and how they want. (Within reason, Google still has a kill switch all their own.)

But big deal. Android’s openness is cliched to the point that that the strawman is wincing. I’m going to propose that neither open nor proprietary, chaos nor order are inherently good or bad, and more importantly, really matter to the end user. Both have advantages and drawbacks — it is what’s ultimately brought forth from each platform that matters (the iPhone, after all, has a Darwin kernel, OpenGL, and other non-proprietary code at its core).

Sure, developers want to express themselves with as little restriction as possible, but they also want to feed their families. Consumers want that next great paradigm-shifting application but they download fart gags in droves. (Unless I missed the memo saying those were one and the same?)

So I’m taking the App Store vs. Android Market off the table. Likewise, I’m ditching the infinite possible Android hardware options vs. the iPhone’s singularity of form and function. Android will give developers more options but more headaches, users more choices but more confusion. Wash.

So what did my week with the G1 teach me about the iPhone? Apple needs to worry about cloud services.

Push Gmail is nice. Push Gmail is fine. Having a separate Gmail app is a dumb idea, and Gmail’s IMAP implementation is so buggy, every time I get an “invalid certificate” or “too many concurrent connection” error I consider abandoning it forever, Contacts are a disgrace, and everything has been in beta beyond the point of embarrassment, but here’s the thing: Google owns the cloud and they’re beginning to show it with Android.

I’ve said before that one big advantage the iPhone has is it gets Google as well as Apple, while Android gets only Google, but that may not always be the case. Sure, Google wants the eyeballs (and advertising dollars — never forget their core business) of the iPhone’s user base, much as they do Windows Mobile, BlackBerry, and every other platform mobile and otherwise, but that may only be until such time as they own the platform as well.

MobileMe is a start. We can spare the botched launch jokes — for a few months now MobileMe has been solid, and while it provides some killer functionality for Mac users (Back to My Mac, Mac Sycn, etc.), using the Android really made me think Apple has to up its Cloud game and fast.

First, iPhone needs more robust email functionality. Skip the non-standard labels, but give me filters/rules, the ability to star/flag, and otherwise raise the on-device and web-based feature power to desktop Mail.app levels with Gmail-type power and even better usability.

Get CalDAV really rocking, let me share and subscribe to/publish calendars. Again, iCal power in my hand and on the web.

CardDAV would be nice too, with the same sharing, subscribing, and publishing abilities for contacts, with status rolled in for good measure.

And get those notes syncing, along with the Tasks already built in.

Sure, Android doesn’t do all this, but I’m positive it will. Maybe not Android 2.0, maybe not even 3.0, but as soon as Google stops pulling a Microsoft and actually gets their act integrated, they’ll go from owning the cloud to leveraging it. That, above open markets and variable form factors, is what I’ll really be keeping my Android eye on, and that is what I want to see Apple not only compete with, but raise the bar again in terms of elegance of design and function.

iPhone vs. Palm Treo Pro/HTC FUZE

I’m putting the two HTC-built, Windows Mobile running smartphones together. Blame Palm, not me. Actually, blame both Microsoft and Palm because as much as the Palm OS was abandoned to the point that we couldn’t even include it in the round robin, Windows Mobile showed me its aging platform wasn’t that far from a similar fate. Sure, Palm OS 2.0 Nova, and Windows Mobile 7 are both on the horizon, but as of this writing, both are still vaporware, and both have suffered similar grand promises and heartbreaking delays to the point of asking: it’s 2008, do you know where your 3rd party developers are? (Hint: browsing the AppDroid MarkStore).

In all fairness, however, I’m less worried about Windows Mobile because, well, Microsoft has a winzillion dollars to keep funding it, and like Google they’re investing a ton of that cash in the cloud. So, while Live! Mesh Azure is a near impenetrable clusterfrak, with integration almost as badly broken as its branding, it won’t always be. They’re building data centers like QuickyMarts and Ballmer’s right, they’ll just keep coming and coming, and they could eventually nail it. I could very well get my ZuneBoxPhone Live! one day.

So, just like I’m taking a pass on the openness and flexibility of Android, I’m skipping the old standbys of power and configurability with Windows Mobile. Overhead and complicating clutter render them zero-sum gains anyway.

What will I focus on? Apple’s 360 degree integration, from Final Cut Pro to iTunes to AppleTV to MobileMe is so far unmatched, but it’s by no means unmatchable. Microsoft, with its Kraken-like tentacles, could go a full 520 degrees. We can make all the clumsy giant jokes we like, but getting crushed by a clumsy giant doesn’t make you any less crushed.

Case in point, the HTC Touch HD. We didn’t get it in the round robin (it’s not, and won’t be, officially available in North America), but it shows what type of technology can be put into an iPhone-sized package. I’ve repeated far too often already that I want (and fully expect) to see an iPhone HD come WWDC in June, 2009. Keeping pace in the hardware war is just one step. Others will involve some patents Apple has already filed, especially with streaming video (TiVo meets Slingbox).

Notice I’m talking about entertainment in a Microsoft segment, not Exchange, not remote device management, not office documents, because a) Microsoft is pushing hard in the consumer products space and that’s where Apple dominates, and b) this isn’t the BlackBerry segment, in which — quite frankly — those subjects would be more appropriate given market share.

iPhone vs. BlackBerry Bold

So let’s not talk about Exchange, remote device management, or office documents here either, b’okay. Consider them the last of my stereotypical aversions. As well as BlackBerry handles those tasks — and handle them well it irrefutably does — there’s something BlackBerry does infinitely better that Apple needs to consider and contend with: it’s creates CrackBerry.com members.

That’s not a sibling site plug. As much as the NOC and BIS/BES is an overly-proprietary single-point-of-failure, security and privacy bag half-filled with hurt, it creates an environment that once you get into, you can’t easily get out of.

It’s not that the BlackBerry calls to you. Having something blink at me is not nearly as compelling as having an iPhone just sitting there, not telling you if you have to pick it up or not — ensuring you check it when you may not even have to. It’s that once you get the true push, once you get the direct PIN to PIN messaging, it becomes like a community. Your sales team might all have them, but your friends and family might all have them as well.

We’ve seen the same thing with Twitter. People go where their friends are, and once you have the momentum of community, it creates a significant barrier of exit. Who wants to leave their community behind? It’s why Pownce and Jaiku and other status engines have failed.

While Apple should be applauded for embracing open standards like IMAP IDLE and built amazing technology with OS X 10.5 Server, they’ve done relatively little to promote any sort of community around the iPhone, and what little they have done is handled by third parties via the App Store.

This from the company that told people to Think Different. That created the Cult of Mac. I spoke about the cloud with Android and the integration with Windows Mobile, and here Apple needs a bit of both. And come on, it’s not like snooty Apple fans wouldn’t jump at the chance to be “official” snooty Apple fans.

I’m not the first to suggest this. I’m probably not the hundred and first. But Apple needs to put a little addiction of their own in the iPhone. Mobile iChat would be a great start. Give MobileMe Lite away for free with every iPhone, tied to an always on, multitasking Mobile iChat (supporting not only open Jabber and proprietary AIM and iChat protocols, but Twitter as well — Dieter’s right about cross-platform presence ruling it all), and toss in a super silky smooth CoreLocation-powered social iNetwork along with it. Make PIN seem Paleolithic. Make the NOC the next Friendster.

Conclusion

The Smartphone Experts Round Robin was a stroke of genius. Not only does it let sometimes myopic editors experience the greater gadget world, but it hopefully brings our readers with us (and gives some lucky winners some free smartphones for their trouble). Sometimes we think our chosen device does something really well and don’t realize just how well (and sometimes how differently) other device do the same. Likewise, sometimes we have gripes about our device that turn out to be far worse elsewhere.

It’s a reality check of the first order. Android’s potential, Windows Mobile’s legacy, BlackBerry’s connection, and in the end?

Thanks to everyone on the Android Central, Treo Central, CrackBerry.com, and WMExperts forums for all their help, my fellow editors Casey, Jennifer, and Kevin, and our editor-in-chief Dieter Bohn for their many insights.

A month and a marathon of reviews later, I love my iPhone more than ever, but also think I understand it more than ever as well. And most importantly, I know what I want to see from it, and from Apple, for the next Smartphone Experts Round Robin in 2009.

This is a story by the iPhone Blog. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

Round Robin: TiPb vs. the iPhone 3G Final Review

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Join us for the second of two special Smartphone Round Robin Roundtables! This week, Casey, Kevin, Rene, and Dieter discuss the final two devices in our Smartphone Round Robin: the T-Mobile G1 and the the HTC Fuze. Plus, they answer your questions live!

Music: Our Slanted Voices by DoKashiteru

This is a story by the iPhone Blog. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

Round Robin: Smartphone Experts Roundtable Podcast II!

[This is an official Smartphone Experts Round Robin post! Every day you reply here, you're automatically entered for a chance to win an iPhone 3G, Case-Mate Naked Case, and Motorola H9 Bluetooth Headset! Full contest rules here!]

We’ve come full circle. After previewing the Android G1, Treo Pro, HTC FUZE, and BlackBerry Bold, I’m finally — finally — back to the iPhone 3G.

Will I still know how to use it? Will it be enough to mellow my month-long harsh? Will my own childlike sense of wonder be restored?

Check out the video, and then head on over to my triumphant return thread in the TiPb iPhone forums, and help me find out!

Every day you comment here, you get one entry to win not only a supra-shiny iPhone 3G, but the Case-Mate Naked Case which allows full touch through access to the iPhone’s amazing screen. Smartphone Outlet is also kicking in the revolutionary Motorola H9 Bluetooth Headset AND a runner-up prize, $50 coupon good at any SPE store, including the new Smartphone Outlet, where you can find refurb Smartphone Accessories at very (very!) low prices.

Check out our full contest rules!

This is a story by the iPhone Blog. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

Round Robin: TiPb vs. iPhone 3G Video Preview

[This is an official Smartphone Experts Round Robin post! Every day you reply here, you're automatically entered for a chance to win an iPhone 3G, Case-Mate Naked Case, and Motorola H9 Bluetooth Headset! Full contest rules here!]

Fair enough, the CrackBerry’s didn’t smack me around as badly as the WinManiac — those who bothered to read the context disclaimer and understand the point of the Round Robin at least! Ha! And along with the awesome CrackBerry.com forum members who tried to help a poor iPhone n00b out, the commenters added many useful insights and a tip or two to boot! Still some questions were asked and that means there are answers to be attempted… after the break!

Rey Says: Could you compare video quality on the two screens? Same resolution but does it look better on one than the other?

Better is subjective. Due to it’s much higher pixel density (217dpi vs. 160pi) the Bold looks sharper than the iPhone, but because of the much smaller physical size, you may or may not value that sharpness over the beefier screen on the iPhone. (Think iPod Nano experience). Again, it’s like a 1080p LCD TV at 37″ as opposed to 52″.

Jhauser3 Says: How does the browser compare? I have used the black berry browser in the past and it was not even close to safari. Has RIM made steps towards a better browser?

I haven’t used previous BlackBerries, so it may well be night and day better. It rendered regular pages well enough but had some problems with CSS elements, which may be due to some optimization it’s trying to make. JavaScript didn’t look to be very well supported, especially since RIM turns it off by default. So, steps have been made, yes, but not leaps or bounds yet. For an iPhone user, it’s not quite good enough.

Touch Me Says: How does the battery hold up with heavy internet use compared to the iPhone?

Battery life was excellent! RIM really balances this well. However, I didn’t enjoy the web browsing or media experience (never mind gaming) as much as the iPhone, so I didn’t do those things as much. When I did, it added considerably to battery drain as happens with pretty much every device.

Tk Says: another question i’ve had was, it looks kinda big, is it heavy? or in other words, is it small/light enough to fit in your pocket without feeling uncomfortable?

The Bold was much lighter than I thought it would be, and given it’s width, it’s still incredibly slim on the profile, so it’s very pocketable.

Bear Says: How do the speakers sound. Are they tinny sounding and are they loud enough?

The speakers sounded great! The Bold has one huge advantage over the iPhone 3G when it comes to speakers: they pump much more serious volume out of the ear speaker when playing media. On the iPhone 3G, the ear speaker is much lower than the bottom speaker. The Bold balances this better, for a nicer stereo experience. (You listening, Apple?!)

Steve Says: How many minutes does it take to figure out where things are? And does it come with a giant magnifying glass to read emails?

No UI is yet as intuitive as the iPhone’s, and frankly while the neon wireframes look neat, they’re not always immediately obvious. Add to that multiple email icons when you add accounts (I can hide them, I know, but they’re not hidden by default) and the lack of iPhone-style text labels beneath them, along with the trackball moving too little or too much, and it took some time and practice before I was speedy with it. And no magnifying glass, as the email was easy enough to read, though the app is Spartan to say the least.

mbiphonefan Says: i would like to know about the typing comfort. is it more comfortable to type on that device than on the iphone? is the wifi connection better than on the iphone?

I dislike physical keyboards as I find the repetitive pressure stressful and it burns out the small muscles in my forearms. I far, far, prefer typing on the iPhone, but other people will no doubt feel the opposite way. That said, the Bold had the nicest keyboard I’ve used so far. I did like the sticky feel of the Treo Pro, but the Bold’s width made a big difference.

Didn’t try WiFi as I get really decent 3G. I did see that there was a separate WiFi browser mode, which I found strange and off-putting. UI should be UI and pipe should be pipe, and never should a user be forced to watch the sausage being made.

Deathscaller Says: Hows the internet speed and battery life compared to the iphone.

Speed is probably a function of network, but I found the iPhone on 3G rendered pages faster and better than the Bold, especially with JavaScript enabled on the Bold. I think the Bold, however, manages battery life a tad better than the iPhone, as their push solution can handle a lot of lower-power interactions (I think?)

frog Says: Is there much/any lag in the menu system?

Nope. Menuing and UI systems were hecka snappy. However, once in a while the screen would flash pure white for a second then come back. Not sure what that was about?

The Reptile Says: 1) The BBB browser. How well does it work? Is it frustrating to have a good screen but no compelling interface? 2) Media capabilities. How do they compare to the iPhone? 3) Non-NOC email. Can you do this on the BlackBerry and if you can how well does it work? 4) Navigation. How long does it take to navigate to screens using the trackball? Are there other methods or is the track ball the only way? 5) If you don’t email or text much is there a compelling reason to own a BBB?

1) It works okay. The frustration was minimal, but the screen was sharp and small, and it takes a while to scroll. It’s hard to use other handset browsers after MobileSafari, however. 2) It seems like RIM is trying harder with media, and the built in players all worked well enough, but again anything would have trouble in comparison to the iPhone’s real strengths. 3) I tried the Gmail downloadable app, which worked well enough, but again I prefer having 1 email app to rule them all. 4) Keyboard shortcuts work, but the trackball is king. 5) Nope, other than fashion. Messaging the Bold’s forte.

Glenn Says: How does the app store and browers compare?And how does apps like aim and facebook compare

No App Store yet in the iPhone sense. CrackBerry.com offers so similar services, but Apple really nailed the mobile software delivery system. I didn’t try Facebook. Anyone tried them both and willing to share?

James Says: How was the Bold’s radio reception compared to the iPhones?

Good, but I’ve never had trouble with the iPhone’s radio. Not had a dropped call yet on either device. (Knock wood).

Charlotte Says: in terms of applications, which one has better selection and more powerful/useful apps? access, costs, etc??

App Store is unmatched as of this moment, but RIM is planning to iClone… er deploy their own version(s) soon.

Jonathan Kutz Says: How is the battery case cover in terms sturdiness? I always found myself playing with the cover on my palms, taking it on and off alot.

Good! Fix it in place and forget it!

Steve Says: I was listening to the Crackberry podcast, and something Kevin said made it sound like there is more than one type of Internet browser on the phone. Is there more than one? What’s up with that? Secondly, is it possible that having more buttons on the phone make games more enjoyable than on our beloved iPhone? Finally, just to get Kevin back, can we find some excuse to come up with a good name to call the BB in retort to his “Oh Frack-phone” label….???

Bla1ze was kind enough to answer the browser question, and I bow before his crackspertise! “the “Internet Browser” the “Hot Spot Browser” and whatever lame wap browser your carrier wants to install (ie: medianet for AT&T) but essentially all function in the same way you can read a better explanation that I posted @ http://forums.crackberry.com/f3/why-do-i-have-different-browsers-ie-wap-internet-wifi-85060/“

Maybe a real time strategy game would enjoy more buttons, the way they do on PCs vs. consoles. Dunno. We could come up with many names, how about it, commenters?

Steve Says: Could iPhone users find any practical use for the BlackBerry Bold… like for scraping ice off of their windshields?

It scraped a scratch in my iPhone 3G glass, which nothing else had thus far been able to do, so yeah, I think it would kill at ice scraping.

Dan Hinze Says: So, if this is exclusively for legitimate questions about the BlackBerry Bold from an “iPhone” perspective, why is an iPhone being given away? Shouldn’t a Bold be given away instead since most the questions will come from “iPhone” users inquiring about the Bold???? Anyway, here’s my “Bold” question. Do third party GPS apps such as Google Maps work with the Bold yet?

Er… I’ll just assume you finally read all about the Round Robin contest in the many, many links we’ve posted and skip on ahead… Yup, I believe the bold has Google Maps goodness.

bas.life Says: I know this is pretty much a subjective question, but I watch many movies on my iphone; knowing the screen size differences, do you or anyone find watching video/movies on the bold enjoyable? Another question, will my movies formatted for the iphone play natively on the bold or do I have to reconvert them into a compatiable format?

It was about the same as watching on the iPod Nano in my experience. Super high density in a tiny little package. I’m not sure about the movie format as I didn’t try moving anything over.

Cherryhead25 Says: I think I have a legitimate question. How’s the Bold sound as a phone, ya know like when placing a call? Is the sound quality good compared to the iPhone 3g, eh?

Sound was good. I’m not sure digital actually improved on analog, and everything sounds chopped off to me, but I’d say they’re pretty much good all around.

iAirmanshirk Says: Why is the blackberry track ball so hard to use, why is their user interface not been upgraded since the 90’s and how are they still selling phones?

Trackballs are mechanical and hence subject to mechanical failure. Think old school ball mouse. I don’t think anyone really understood mobile interfaces before Apple launched the iPhone, now RIM is struggling to adapt a last gen micro-OS to a next gen world. They’re still selling phones because they took a lesson from Microsoft and managed to get a huge install base of locked-in proprietary technology: BIS, BES, and NOC.

Patrick Says: Blackberries are famous for their email capabilities. However, I’ve heard the gmail experience on a BB is not that great (e.g. no push, haphazard 2-way imap synching, etc…). How does gmail on the Bold compare to on the iPhone? I’m looking at getting one of these devices, and the gmail experience is a huge factor for me. Thanks!

Google has really poor IMAP support on any and every platform, so there’s really no way to make a fair comparison. When Gmail is working, they both work.

msbaylor Says: What is the cost of the blackberry data plan? What color bit depth does use? What’s the picture resolution (talen from the camera) ?

Cost will vary by carrier, but I think it’s roughly the same as any data plan. I believe the Bold tops out a depressing 65K colors, which is a little out dated, but again at 217dpi, I’m not sure how noticeable it would be (I couldn’t see much if any dithering or distortion). 2 MP camera… but with flash!

lordzod01 Says: there are enough reviews to compare both the iPhone and bb indepth. Why do people keep blogging with stupid questions about browsers and battery life.

Anything unknown remains a question.

Kevin Nuckols Says: I would like compare the the fuze web browser and the bolds experience.

I couldn’t get Opera Mobile working on the FUZE, so no comparison for me. Maybe Dieter would know.

Amani Says: Whether I get an iphone or blackberry, I won’t be using the 3G Network(I don’t want to pay for a data plan) How does the wifi compare on each?

Sorry, didn’t try WiFi on the Bold, but the iPhone’s is awesome.

Garrett Says: Fantastic review. I am currently on a BB and looking forward to a Bold or an iPhone. I have used both and both are great fantastic devices. There are tons of keyboard shortcuts you can look into. I stumbled across a lot of them while using mine. Having and iPhone I am sure you have a mac. Have you found any solutions to the BB syncing to mac catastrophe? If so please let me know!

Kevin swears Mac support for the BlackBerry is improving. Pretty depressing that it took them this long!

December 21st, 2008 at 9:05 pm Are there any applications that you loved on the Bold? Either on the BB OS or third-party? Did you feel like you used the Bold “on-the-go”? Or was it a “stop & use” phone?

Bold was stop and use for me. It had to be. I don’t know how Kevin can handle really parsing, processing, and responding to all that push email and messaging without stopping. Then again, he’s much smarter and more productive than I am. (And those were the apps I liked most).

SomeAudioGuy Says: Really after your Spazz-out review of the Fuze, I’m really curious to see how you handle a non-touch screen phone. What do you think of the total messaging package? Being able to receive IM without being IN the IM app?

Well, since you were so gracious and classy in the asking, I really enjoyed the power of the messaging, but as I said in my review, the demand of it was terrifying.

talljason Says: How do the Bold and iPhone compare for consumers not dependent on getting and sending e-mails…is there a certain feature other than e-mail that makes the Bold better than the iPhone?

The keyboard if you prefer physical keyboards?

Jrock Says: Is the bold better than the iPhone? =O

Depends on your needs and preferences.

Scotty Says: How does it feel in the hand. Too wide?

Nope, felt fine!

cole Says: how is the reception compared to the iphone after all the iphone doesn’t get good reception at all

iPhone reception has been solid for me, get a better network!

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Round Robin: BlackBerry Bold Q&A!

[This is an official Smartphone Experts Round Robin post! Every day you reply here, you're automatically entered for a chance to win an iPhone 3G, Case-Mate Naked Case, and Motorola H9 Bluetooth Headset! Full contest rules here!]

Jennifer from our sibling site, TreoCentral, has already posted her video first impressions of the iPhone 3G, and now she’s back with her full, final review. Did she hate it’s lack of the Qwerty keyboard Treo made famous? Did she break out the glue stick in an attempt to actually paste something? Or, gripes aside, did she enjoy it for what it does well, killer Apps and fantastic web browsing and media playback?

Go check out her review, and let us know what you think!

Meanwhile, I’m finally — finally — back with the iPhone 3G this week, and wow does it look like I missed a lot of great apps and developments over the last month. So, I’ve started a TiPb iPhone forum thread where you can help me catch up — and get another chance to win an iPhone 3G!

This is a story by the iPhone Blog. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

Round Robin: TreoCentral Jennifer Entertains the iPhone 3G

[This is an official Smartphone Experts Round Robin post! Every day you reply here, you're automatically entered for a chance to win an iPhone 3G, Case-Mate Naked Case, and Motorola H9 Bluetooth Headset! Full contest rules here!]

Black and white. Night and day. Left and right. BlackBerry Bold and iPhone 3G. For the penultimate Round Robin, I set aside my multi-touch no Qwerty for Kevin’s touch-less Cadillac of Querty’s.

And…? I loved it and hated it. How utterly appropriate. Not to be too tale of two-cities about it, but it was both the best of the Round Robin devices for me and the worst. Google’s Android G1 tried to do everything but beta’d all of it (give them time though!). The HTC Fuze tried to shellack over Windows Mobile to make it more like the iPhone and — in terms of usability — tripped and fell all over itself in the attempt. The Palm Treo Pro, while unabashedly Windows Mobile, was still a touch screen, allowing for some level of direct comparison, and proving just how far behind Windows Mobile’s interface has fallen.

But the BlackBerry Bold is a different beast entirely. Direct comparison is impossible. A pager vs. a music player, all grown up and bedecked in smartphone tech. Both devices can do similar things, but their strengths are almost polar opposites, as are the approaches they take in delivering them.

Kevin’s already written 7500 words on that, however, requiring few if any from me. So rather than rehash, or duplicate what the previous Round Robin editors have said better before me, I’m going to change it up a bit (yes, again) and look at things from a different perspective. And I’ll do it after the break!

Hardware

The BlackBerry Bold is the nicest hardware I’ve yet experienced in the Round Robin. The other devices were a little too plastic, a little too creaky. I think battery doors contribute to that since structural elements can no longer be braced to the back, not to mention hinges for the sliders. With the Bold, I expected something as good as the iPhone’s singular slab of glass and metal and high-density backing.

I didn’t quite get that, however. The Bold is lighter than I anticipated, and some of that lightness just made it feel a tad below the iPhone in build quality to me. That slight aside aside, the whole device speaks — nay, screams — luxury. The faux leather, the glossy back trimmed in sliver (yeah, RIM totally ripped the look off, but they did it because it works). It really is the executive smartphone.

And yeah, it’s positively covered in buttons. Full Qwerty keyboard (though it misses some of the dedicated keys other devices had, like period, search, etc.), left and right (or plain and studded) convenience keys, green and red phone keys, BlackBerry (menu) and back (yes!) key, volume rocker and mute button. It’s even got left and right fake buttons (okay, yeah, they’re actually contact points, but they look like buttons which is a slight design failure).

For my tastes, there are actually too many buttons, and I found it too easy to hit them and thus, too easy to do things by accident. One of the convenience buttons defaults to voice control, and so I kept getting a very helpful lady asking to help me do what I didn’t want to do, when I didn’t want to do it. Thanks for that!

Also, while I’m no BlackBerry ninja, I couldn’t find a way to quickly lock the device in the manner of the iPhone sleep/wake button. I could hold down the red phone button, but that seemed to actually turn the services off. Otherwise, the screen would turn off, but if I bumped the wrong button, it would wake up and start to do things as I was pocketing it (again, most often that helpful lady, this time from the rather intrusive confines of my pockets!)

Oh — and it has a nice screen. Expecting me to gush? I would but after 4 other editors, what’s left to say? The iPhone is 160dpi, the Bold is 217dpi or so.

A closer comparison, though, would be the Bold and the iPod “fatty” Nano of the previous generation which had a similar horizontal screen above the control area (substitute scroll wheel for Qwerty). Inarguably it’s a gorgeous display with nary a jaggy in sight, however… it’s too small for my tastes. I like the iPhone screen size. It’s the 52″ HD LCD to the Bold’s 37″. Unless you’re in a cramped sliver of a condo, most people would prefer the physically bigger screen, and I find the same holds true on the mobile. Now, give me that 217dpi on a 3.5 in screen and we’d be talking (Touch HD, specifically).

The BlackBerry Life

I’m not reviewing the OS. It’s a Java Micro Edition pseudo-OS and despite some limp signs of life in the last (and curiously first) BlackBerry developers conference, both its limitations and the API shenanigans engaged in by RIM (which makes Apple’s SDK seem positively straightforward) make it exactly where Dieter pegged it to be: at its zenith much as Garnet was for the Palm Treo 650. It does what it can do, and as a platform I’m not sure it’s capable of much more. RIM should be applauded, and should desperately be working on a next generation OS of their own deep beneath Waterloo way.

What I am reviewing is the BlackBerry lifestyle, which is what is required to use this device. It’s not called push because it alerts you the moment data has been sent in your general direction, it’s called push because it will shove you both in how you must work to make use of that data, and the hold that data begins to take on you.

I’ve joked about this before, but it really is preemptive and interruptive. PING! You’ve got mail. PING! You’ve got BlackBerry messenger. PING! You’ve got SMS/MMS (yup, it has MMS!). PING! You’ve got… on and on and on… If you have any heft to your contact list, and size to your mail pipe, that little blinking red light is going to start to pwn you. Kevin says it’s compelling. It’s the crack. It makes you not want to put it down, and if you have, to pick it back up again often and always.

And I’m not sure that’s a Good Thing.

But back to that in a moment. More than just pushing your data, the BlackBerry records and pushes state on that data. If you’re messaging, for example, not only are you alerted to it being sent, but to it being delivered, being read, and even when the other person is typing a response to it.

Some call this accountability. Your boss, your partner, your fellow communicator knows what you’ve seen and when you’ve seen it. And it scares the privacy out of me. Sure, it’s not dissimilar to IM status in many applications, but then I heavily restrict my IM usage as well. It’s like having that boss, partner, or fellow communicator staring over your shoulder 24/7. Frankly, it’s creepy. Don’t just get off my lawn, get out from over my shoulder!

Back to Ping Death. I have no attention span. Give me a distraction and I’ll take it and ask for another. I need to focus in a world that does everything it can to split my focus. See, it’s not that I don’t understand the crack in Crackberry Kevin’s metaphor. I understand it too well. And the last thing an addictive personality needs is another addiction.

Slice it this way: demanding attention is different than on-demand. In my day job, we have a term called “data explosion” where so much information comes at you so fast it becomes paralytic. The BlackBerry is a little like that. Kevin has said the BlackBerry is an on-the-go device and the iPhone is a stop-and-use device. I had the exact opposite experience.

With the iPhone, I listen to podcasts or audio books as I commute. I occasionally read the email previews when at traffic lights or when walking downtown. I glance at the SMS previews likewise. (I wish I could do likewise with iChats, but more on that next week). I can surf the web or play some casual game while I’m waiting in line. It fits into the broad or broken moments of my day.

The Bold breaks my day. If I have 3 people hitting me on BlackBerry Messenger all at once, I can’t handle that exchange “on-the-go”. I have to stop, parse each message, make sure I’m in the right place for each one, and respond appropriately. And the little red blinker makes certain I really want to jump in and engage with those 3 people post-haste — even if I’m supposed to be finishing this review. The more important the person is to me, the more demanding. RIM really nailed the social aspect harder than even MySpace or Facebook, and perhaps rivaled only by always-on Twitter. Once you get a bunch of people all on BBM, it’s like being at a really good party and the push notifications are like shots. You don’t want to leave — but eventually you’ll collapse.

With the iPhone, I’ve turned on push but turned off notification. Everything is there and instantly available — but on my terms, in my time. I am master of the machine, not slave to it.

On the BlackBerry I could do the same, but then I feel like I don’t really have (or need) a BlackBerry any more. Oh, sure I can edit office docs, but I could do that on Windows Mobile (and too be honest, I bought a Windows Mobile device a couple years ago for that very reason and found it crippled and frustrating enough never to bother.)

So, take this as my stand against the culture of interuption, for which the BlackBerry could most easily be the poster child. This is why I mentioned at the beginning that the Blackberry is the non-iPhone I both loved and hated the most in the Round Robin. It’s not just that I think the age of physical keyboards is over (the Storm — which I’ll get to in a follow up — gives a keyboard-less BlackBerry option), it demands an entire shift in lifestyle. It just works, in all the triple-entendre’d terror that implies.

Conclusion

I won’t lie. I’m going to miss the Bold, and the BBM, and the instant connection to all my friends and contacts. But at the same time I’m going to enjoy getting my life back. A good friend of mine who works in a super-critical position in a huge company is a BlackBerry user and as much as he loves it, he hates it with a breathing passion because he knows every call could be his boss asking why he hasn’t done something about what the boss already knows he’s seen, read, or otherwise been pushed. He’s highly placed in this company, with exponentially more people beneath him than above, but we all know it’s the bosses (or girl/boyfriend/spouses) call that comes most often, and with the biggest impact. I can understand why people are so passionate about the BlackBerry, but I can also understand why people sue for overtime when their companies “give” them BlackBerry’s to use. Crackberry is a very apt nickname.

Apendix: Sleeping with the Frenemy

A few people I know duel-wield the iPhone and the BlackBerry. To get a sense of their “best of both worlds” approach, I spent a few days Bold-only as the Round Robin demands, and the weekend slinging one on each hip.

To first address something we get a lot of in the forums, the iPod touch/BlackBerry nirvana is an urban myth. Absent 3G and GPS you’ll be missing out on one of the most exciting aspects of the iPhone: ubiquitous location-based services. The Bold has the same guts, but it’s user experience for this technology just doesn’t compare, while the iPod touch’s WiFi restriction makes it unusable for large stretches. I had an iPod touch originally. It took me all of a week to give it away and get an iPhone.

Back to iPhone+Bold. It’s an interesting approach but one I ultimately found would be too cumbersome and expensive. Since I won’t switch SIMs every 2 minutes, I’d need 2 plans, one with BIS (which I won’t rant on now, but which deserves it for being both powerful and punishing to consumers — you shouldn’t need anything other than a standard data plan to run a smartphone in 2008! Work that out RIM!). I’m also a Mac user, and while RIM is improving Mac support (and aren’t anywhere near as negligent as Windows Mobile) it’s nowhere near there yet. Since many Mac users are also CrackBerry addicts, and proven price-insensitives and brand-loyalists, ignoring them (us) is just bad business.

Bottom line, I don’t have a handy bat-buckled utility belt, nor do I want to be perpetually clad in vests-of-many-pockets, so convergence devices are important to me. I would only ever carry one phone. In this world, it’s the iPhone. In another world (where my lifespan would not doubt be shorter and my stress level way higher), it might just have been the Bold.

This is a story by the iPhone Blog. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

Round Robin: TiPb vs. BlackBerry Bold Final Review

[This is an official Smartphone Experts Round Robin post! Every day you reply here, you're automatically entered for a chance to win an iPhone 3G, Case-Mate Naked Case, and Motorola H9 Bluetooth Headset! Full contest rules here!]

I’ve just barely scratched the surface of the BlackBerry Bold (PIN PING! No, not literally Kevin!), as my initial preview video shows (MAIL PING! Thanks for the tips, Bla1ze!) and already have to figure out my full, final review (SMS PING! Will have it up Monday, Dieter!)

I’m figuring out the “fake buttons” (MMS PING! Ha! Funny Moran sign guys!) and the spellchecker (MESSENGER PING! Yeah, you can still out type me…)

Hang on… Holds down power button. There, now maybe I can finish this post!

So here’s the thing: TiPb’s main purpose is to service you, our readers. What if any questions might you you have about the Bold. What would you like to see better explored? Compared more directly with the iPhone?

Let me know in the comments and you’ll also get another chance to win our iPhone 3G prize pack.

(And remember to head on over to our sibling sites for more chances to win a Blackberry Bold, Palm Treo Pro, WinMo HTC FUZE, and Android G1!)

Note: Off-topic comments may be deleted. Post legit questions only please

This is a story by the iPhone Blog. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

Round Robin: Questions About the BlackBerry Bold?

[This is an official Smartphone Experts Round Robin post! Every day you reply here, you're automatically entered for a chance to win an iPhone 3G, Case-Mate Naked Case, and Motorola H9 Bluetooth Headset! Full contest rules here!]

Cursed I tell ya. Not “Steve Jobs’ isn’t keynoting Macworld cursed, (though Dieter clearly blames me for that anyway!) Cursed in that not only did UPS hold CrackBerry Kevin’s beloved BlackBerry Bold hostage for nearly a week (”it didn’t make it on the plane” — what, it decided to go bar hoping first?!), not only to BIS take days to start working (”oh, you wanted BlackBerry BIS — no, I wanted iPhone BIS?!), but then I — a rabid iPhone enthusiast — had to endure my first completely non-touch screen device! Cursed!

Did I survive? Could I even use the tic-tactile little BlackBerry beastie? Check the video above to find out, then drop a comment here for your chance to win an iPhone 3G, or post on my comment thread over in the CrackBerry.com forums and you may just win a BlackBerry Bold! Prize details after the jump…

Every day you comment here, you get one entry to win not only a supra-shiny iPhone 3G, but the Case-Mate Naked Case which allows full touch through access to the iPhone’s amazing screen. Smartphone Outlet is also kicking in the revolutionary Motorola H9 Bluetooth Headset AND a runner-up prize, $50 coupon good at any SPE store, including the new Smartphone Outlet, where you can find refurb Smartphone Accessories at very (very!) low prices.

Check out our full contest rules!

This is a story by the iPhone Blog. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

Round Robin: TiPb vs. BlackBerry Bold Video Preview