Why iphones are for losers

Recently I posted on twitter and facebook that iphones are for losers. Sarah's step brother rob and my best friend Carina both hit back at my claim. Rob going as far as to say it's the best phone ever. So lets take a closer look at what caused me to make this statement. Why indeed you have to be a loser to get all excited over a phone which is by nature inferior.

I'll start by looking at the iphone's features, now while I acknowledge there is a new model for the iphone coming out this year, apple are yet to announce it's features so I am unable to look are just what it's packing. So for the purpose of this entry I will go on the information which is currently available on the current model iphone, regardless of how hard apple actually make it to gather.

The specs while I have taken from apple's offical australian site state that the iphone offers;

300hrs Standby battery time, which is reduced to a mere 5 hours of talking.

a 2.0 megapixel camera which can be used for taking photos or video, and supports geotagging.

Connectivity wise the current iphone is 3G capable (something the original wasn't), UMTS/HSDPA & GSM/EDGE are supported network standards so the iphone can work on pretty much any cellular network. It also features Wifi (802.11b/g) and stereo bluetooth. The iphone connects via USB to your computer with the addition of an optional Dock.

The iphone supports email, third-party and offical iphone apps, sms, mms and includes assisted GPS. Most of the major audio and video formats are supported. It comes in a choice of white or black, an 8gb or 16gb model but I was unable to see anything about if that is upgradable by way of external media.

The phone has no keypad, no qwerty pad, relying entirely on it's multi-touch sensitive screen for all the phone's functions. I can see a few possible problems with this as I hope you can as well. It's a phone very much about novelty and gimmick, with no real right to be as popular as it is, especially when the price is considered.

With 5.0 megapixel camera's in phones now becoming standard, and 8.0 megapixel the new high end camera phone, apple seem left behind. The phone has pretty average to low battery life too, and other than it's ability to use iphone apps it has little about it to make it anything more then a budget phone.

Conversely Nokia have announced their yet to be released N97 mobile phone to take Apple head on. Like the iphone the Nokia N97 will have the ability to download from a library of apps, both official and third-party. The N97 will also come in an option of black or white and at first glance looks almost identical to an iphone. But the N97 has more then just one trick up it's sleeve that show apple should never have even been invited to the party.

While the Nokia N97 uses the same multi-touch technology as the iphone, it also comes with the addition of a hidden qwerty keypad, making email, IM or web browsing a breeze. So lets compare tech stats of the N97, as taken from the official nokia Australia website.

With 430 hours of standby battery life which reduces to 9.5 hours of talk time the N97 will simply outlast the iphone.

a 5.0 megapixel camera is included which also supports geotagging and includes a dual LED flash. Something apple hadn't even thought of. The camera is able to take both photos and video. The inclusion of 14x digital zoom isn't anything to be sneezed at either. Apple don't even mention zoom.

Connectivity wise the N97 offers UTMA/HSDPA, GSM/EDGE and WCDMA which means no matter where you chose to be, you are ensured of a phone which works. Wifi (802.11b/g) and Stereo Bluetooth are also included standard. There is also microUSB for connection to the computer and TV-out so you can share you pictures and video on the big screen.

Email, IM, Third-party and official apps, outlook and lotus notes are all supported. SMS, MMS, Video MMS and assisted GPS are all supported as well. With 32GB of space, upgradable with up to 16GB of external MicroSD, the N97 delivers more space than you can think of.

Over all with so much on top of what the iphone has to offer, the Nokia N97 shows just why Nokia are the name to know in the Mobile Phone world. It doesn't just stop at the Nokia N97. This is just one example, in fact there are many offerings by both Nokia and other players in the market such as LG and samsung which blow the iphone right out of the water.

So if you want a gimmicky phone with features that should see it retail for around $300 but actually see you paying over a thousand go right ahead, but even on this front there are better things coming out from LG. But if you want a phone that is actually worth your hard earned cash then leave the iphone alone and seek out something better.

Links:

Apple iphone
Nokia N97
LG Renoir
LG Arena
Samsung Ultra Touch
Nokia E75