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Steve Jobs once said “Innovation distinguishes between a leader and a follower”. Let me tell you Steve, your iPhone team are about to be tested on that front very shortly. Just before I explain, I want to take you through my mobile phone history to date, so I can reference it.

Ok, since 2002 I have been buying best of breed smartphones, the K800 aside. 2002 – 2007 belonged to Microsoft, but in 2007 it’s fair to say that Apple knocked them out the park with the iPhone. At the beginning of 2009 though, Google introduced Android. And here I am with my new Google Nexus One device running Android 2.1. So let before you run out and buy your iPhone, like all the other sheep, here’s 10 reasons why I think Android will topple the iPhone.

1. Firstly, you might have read differing reviews about the Nexus One. The people that reviewed it didn’t use it as their primary device for a length of time, I suspect. It took some getting used to, but after a while you realise you are actually de-iPhoneising, its not a fault of the phone.

2. The iPhone was never designed for the thousands of apps it enjoys now. Everything you see has been bolted on as an after thought. If you start to live with the iPhone day in, day out you will know what I mean. The phone doesn’t run applications in the background unless they are sanctioned by Apple, for example. It can’t effectively multi-task unless you are using Apple applications. Like most things Apple the phone was meant to be a closed loop environment. Apple owes a lot to the guys that originally hacked the iPhone for the success it enjoys with apps now.

3. The iPhone is only going to ever come in 1 or 2 varieties, get some originality for god sakes.

4. Cost. All Apple products have the Apple tax on top. The Nexus One is a premium device but there are plenty of Google phones out there that won’t break the bank.

5. Google are the biggest internet content provider in the world and believe me they know best when it comes to delivering it. Android has built in voice recognition throughout the phone (those of you who are 3GS owners will know this feels tacked onto iPhone OS). The Google integration is seen throughout the phone. Also, because integration is designed from the ground up, other cool features like Facebook/Android contact live merging occurs…now your contacts update their own info in your phonebook via Facebook.

6. Widgets: because the apps are allowed to run in their full glory in the background, they can run as widgets on your desktop. Sports scores, news, weather, share prices, all live, you name it. Yes background apps have a trade off with battery life but they are good when used sparingly.

7. Google Latitude, another great background application that checks in with Google Maps every few minutes to update your whereabouts. This becomes pretty cool if a lot of your friends start using it, as the phone will alert you when they are unknowingly close by.

8. Locale : an app that lets you trigger events based on your location. Teach the app where you office is and it can switch the phone to silent mode and redirect calls for you. Teach it where your home is and it can turn on your PC on as you get get home. These type apps are really pioneering mobile computing for the next decade, you wont see this on iPhone any time soon unless Apple decide to make a stab at it.

9. No iTunes. It was worth getting an Android phone for this alone. iTunes is one of the worst pieces of junk Apple has ever done. Yes it might have made them fortunes but it was the device requirements driving that, and certainly not the interface. 

10. Free turn by turn navigation. Does what it says on the tin and you don’t need to pay tens of pounds for it either. Oh and it uses Google Maps to do it, so its always got the latest road maps.

So there you have it. I’m an Android user now, lets see how the next few years pan out for me. Apple would need to do something special for me to go back. In the mobile space, Apple is the over bearing parent that doesn’t let you climb trees or ride your bike with no hands. For this reason I’ve lost interest in their phone products, it was all a bit too simple. Not simple, like easy. Simple, like Simple Simon.

Just some minor criticisms of my Nexus One and Android before I finish. Firstly the hardware which is made by HTC :

- It would have been nice to have a camera button on the side

- The home button is annoyingly close to the virtual space bar and can be thumbed too easily at times

- Screen smudge resistance is no where as good as the 3GS

- Charging LEDs are 2003 and tacky, luckily there are no other annoying LEDs

- The engraving is actually just a white sticker transfer, which could be better

- USB cable should be designed to sit flush with the handset when inserted, although impending dock might fix this annoyance

And for Android and Google :

- Allowing the handset manufacturer/network to pay royalty costs for essential add-ons is a stupid idea. Multi-touch and Exchange Mail, Contacts AND Calendar should be in by default, paid by Google. 

- Only allowing apps to be installed to the resident flash memory is a bad idea unless you enforce a high baseline. This limits the phones capabilities and restricts developers. A stupid way to do piracy protection.

- Mobile provider APN’s should be in there by default. When buying a SIM free android I shouldn’t have to look up the operators APN’s.

- There should be a one press ‘email compose’ button in the email app, similar to the SMS app. Also Gmail app and Email app should share same look.

Ok I’m nit picking now, but I wanted to give a fair assessment of both.

This entry was posted on Friday, January 15th, 2010 at 1:35 am and is filed under General. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.