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.
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!).
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!
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!
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!
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!
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!
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
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…
The iPhone Blog merged with the Phone different site in May of 2008. Both sites were founded on a premise that comes one from one of Apple's old slogans: Think different. The iPhone Blog: for people who dare to phone different.
