Selecting Your New Smartphone

When you have spent as much time in the wireless industry as I have, the most common question that you will get is: “What phone would you recommend for me?”  The short answer is that there is no one phone that will satisfy everyone.  The industry has become inundated with all different types of phone styles and different operating systems, and within the different operating systems there are different user interfaces to complicate things further.  To help the general public out, here are some basic tips for picking the right smartphone.

The most common mistake people make that lead them to dissatisfaction with their phone is that they choose their phone first, and their carrier second.  By doing this, it could lead to coverage issues, data speed issues, and higher than expected bills (which is a topic for another article).  Before you try to figure out what phone is right for you, you need to figure out which carrier is the right one.  The two pieces of this puzzle you should look at are coverage and billing.  Coverage is important, because if you can’t make a call or send an email, your brand new smartphone just became a very expensive paper weight.  Since there are many choices for carriers, try to test as many as you can in the places that you regularly need to use your phone.  If you are happy with your carrier, it is not worth switching if the service works for you.  The best way to test this without any risk is to reach out to friends and family that have phones with other carriers.  Throw a party and invite everyone (especially me, I love a good party) over, and you can see how their phones work in your home or office.  If one carrier performs better than others, then you have made your task of selecting a new phone much easier.

Once you have your carrier selected, you can move onto selecting a phone.  In the smartphone category, there are three major operating systems that you need to consider: iPhone, Android, and Blackberry.  Each OS has its own plusses and minuses.  For instance, the iPhone is a very stable and user friendly platform.  It has been around since 2007, and has had very few issues with the software.  The data security is good, and it works very well as a media player.  The apple app store is very robust, and the selection of free applications should satisfy the majority of people.  There are down sides to it though.  You are limited in your hardware selection, since Apple is the only manufacturer, and the data speed is slower than some of the Android and Blackberry selections.  You are limited to a 3.5 inch screen with no physical keyboard, and you can’t easily remove the battery (doing this yourself voids the warranty as well).  Since the iPhone is only carried by Verizon, AT&T and Sprint, you are also limited in the carrier selection, which should be your number one concern.

With the Android platform, there are choices from many of the top manufacturers like Motorola, HTC, Samsung and LG.  Screen sizes range from 3.2 inches all the way up to 4.5 inches, and there are selections from each carrier that work on the newer 4G data networks for fast download speeds (because of this, using your phone as a mobile hot spot becomes an efficient option for those needing mobile internet).  The majority of the applications that are developed for the Apple App Store are also available in the Android Market, so a lack of available applications should not really be a concern for most people.  The other advantage to most phones on the Android platform is the ability to have multiple batteries without relying on an external battery case.  I consider this a must for the heavy business traveler that is not always near a power source.

There is a down side to Android though.  Because of the open source nature of the software and the multiple manufacturers, the market is saturated with devices that run different versions of the Android operating system.  For most users, this is not going to be a problem, but there is a subset of users that need to have custom software developed for their companies, and this can be an issue if the company does not standardize the device selection.

The third option that a smartphone user should look at is RIM’s Blackberry platform.  The Blackberry has been around for over a decade, and is a standard in most major corporate environments.  While RIM has gotten a lot of negative press over the past few years, the Blackberry should still be considered by people looking for a phone where email, texting and calling is the major use of the phone.  Blackberry features an easy to use operating system and solid hardware with tactile keyboards that are user friendly, even to people with big fingers (like me).  The battery life can’t be matched by any Android phone or Apple’s iPhone.  There are a few downsides though.  The screens are not as big or as high quality as you see on the iPhone and the Android set, and the internet browsing is marginal at best.  Also, if you are on a corporate email server (like Microsoft Exchange), you will need access to a Blackberry Enterprise Server (BES), which can either be hosted in house or virtually.  Most carriers also charge an extra fee monthly to use a BES because of the royalties that need to be paid to RIM.  The other disadvantage to the Blackberry platform is that all email goes through RIM gets processed through their servers in Canada.  You don’t have to worry about this from a security standpoint, but since there is another server in place, if that goes down, so does your email.  The iPhone and Android phones communicate directly with your email account.

It is ultimately up to you which phone you choose, but remember to take your time and do your research before you commit to one since your choice will most likely be with you for 24 months.

CES… Finally

Ok, so it took a while, but I finally got a chance to sit down and write a little about my great adventure to Las Vegas to attend the 2012 CES.  It is my third year in a row attending, and my 9th show overall.

I got a chance to see a lot of great things from the world of consumer electronics, including the LG OLED TV (which is only 4mm thick!).  Yes, I know that has nothing to do with wireless phones, but it was really cool and the picture was AMAZING!!!  Unfortunately, I didn’t get a chance to take any pictures like I did at the Samsung booth, but there are plenty floating around on other blogs.

The showcase TV from Samsung was great quality as well, although it came in a little thicker than the LG.  I have attached a few pictures so you can see.

On the wireless phone side of things, there were some great products on display.  Although I am not a fan of the Windows Phone platform, Nokia was very strong with their Lumina 900 phone.  Very solid hardware, and a great feel overall.  I am looking forward to its release on AT&T in the next few months.

Huawei also had a strong showing with their Ascend line.  These Android phones are lightweight and have some great processing power.  I am looking forward to seeing where they will land in the US, as there are no carriers slated to release them any time soon.  Huawei makes a great product, and I am hoping that the carriers here in the US pick up some of their higher end products.

The lone US manufacturer, Motorola, had a great showing as well, with the Droid RAZR MAXX on display.  They wouldn’t allow me to play around with the menus, since they are keeping that part under wraps until the launch in a few weeks, but the LTE phone bound for Verizon was super thin and had great web browsing speed (even though all wireless services had issues in the convention center with data speed and call quality).

The biggest shock was from Blackberry.  Although they didn’t have any new products on display, a discussion with one of their business representatives revealed that there is an interesting piece of software on the way from RIM.  Geared towards the enterprise customer, the software allows the Blackberry to connect via the cellular (or WiFi) data connection into a company’s hard line (or virtual) PBX, so the user can appear to be calling from their desk when not in the office.  It will also allow for extension dialing directly from the mobile handset, and will use the data connection on the phone for calling.  This will allow companies using this software to utilize a lower package with their carrier, and ultimately provide a cost savings after the cost of the software is taken into account.  The only requirement is that the company have a BES in place, as the software is an add-in with the BES platform.  There is no pricing available yet, but I am sure that it will be reasonably priced.

On the accessory side, there were some manufacturers that were promoting their waterproof coatings for their products.  Fujitsu has a coating that will be available on their products soon, and they displayed working products in a fish tank.  Another company introduced a coating that will waterproof any phone for the low price of $59.99.  They displayed it on an iPhone under a shower head.  The catch with them, is that you have to send them your phone.  This won’t be a big deal for someone with a GSM phone that has a spare laying around to use for a few days, but anyone on a CDMA service (Verizon or Sprint) will be without a phone while it is getting the treatment.

Wired headsets for mobile phones were making a comeback this year as well, with products from Able Planet, Etymotic,  and Altec Lansing taking the top marks in my eyes.  MacAlly also had a great headset for the price as well as Incipio.

I tried uploading the pictures, but the file sizes were too large.  I will make an attempt to resize them and load them at a later date.

More to come later…

Wow!

So I finally made it to the convention center after a long day of travel and meetings.  The doors have not opened yet, but from what I can see, the booths are more extravagant than I have seen in previous years.

All that I heard from people last night was how crazy the show floor was on opening day, so I am expecting to have to fight some crowds today. 

There will be some pictures and observations to come in the next few hours…

Techie Mecca

I am making the annual techie pilgrimage to Las Vegas for CES. I am a little disappointed that I am leaving a day later than usual. I have decided to give the blogging thing another go while I am there, so over the next few days, check back to read about all the cool new gadgets that are on display.

I am going to give it my usual spin, so it should be entertaining!

Talk to you from Sin City!

Motorola DEFY

Wow… Engadget did a great review of the new Motorola DEFY today.

What can I say… It is about time that we have seen a rugged smartphone (Android) that can appeal to the masses. Speaking as someone who frequently has run-ins with water and phones, I am really excited about this one!

Check out the link to Engadget’s review and feel free to comment here!

http://www.engadget.com/2010/11/18/motorola-defy-review/

Technology Of Old…

I was cleaning out a drawer this morning and stumbled across an old friend. Anyone remember the Nokia 6310i? Probably the greatest piece of phone technology of its time.

Let’s take a trip all the way back to 2003. A time when the only way to use a Blackberry as a phone was to hook up a wired headset to it. A time when integrated bluetooth was limited to a handful of phones. A time when the only touchscreen devices were PDAs (and not the kind that you could make calls with).

Nokia had released this beauty with AT&T (back when AT&T and Cingular were seprate companies) in 2003. It seemed less bulky back then when you compared it to the other popular phones of the day. Of course, today, it would be seen as a HUGE phone, seeing as it has none of the smartphone features that the similar sized phones have these days.

There was something different about this one though. Integrated bluetooth, amazing battery life, and T9. I still in love with this old piece of technology. Somewhere, I think I still have the full install car kit for it too.

Seeing as it is a slow Tuesday, I thought I would share a little about one of my favorite things from technology past!

Bone To Pick With Blackberry (RIM)

Ok, so I have a bone to pick with RIM over the way that the software (firmware) updates work with the Blackberry devices.  I have been a loyal user of their products for over 10 years, as far back as when they were pager sized devices with email only capabilities.  I love the devices, and I will give mine up when they pry it out of my cold dead hands…

When I perform a firmware update on my device (or all of them that I have ever owned), my data has always been backed up without any problems… except for the scores that I have attained with the games that are installed on the device.  Now, I am not a big gamer, but I do enjoy my wasted time playing Texas Hold Em’.  I have spent countless hours building up my chip count to over $12 million… and then POOF!  They are all gone after the update!

Seriously, they have very talented software developers north of the border.  Don’t you think that they could have easily figured out a way to make sure that the scores on the embedded games got saved along with my other important data?!?!?

Welcome To The Party!

Welcome to the first post from WirelessPhoneBlog.com!  As the name suggests, this site is all about wireless phones!  We will be talking about all things wireless, from phones to plans and promotions to rumors.  Of course, we will be giving credit where credit is due for our information… unless, of course, we receive inside information from reliable sources that wish to remain anonymous!  We will even be sharing some every day observations that we find interesting (or completely insane).

Welcome to the wireless party, and stay tuned for some fun!