wat is best smartfone on market??

KrisW

OP, take iphone off your list for the love of god. Apple is just pure marketing and has no substance. It doesn't even win on the style front, Nexus S is thinner and sexier. As an added bonus it's cheaper and has more functionality, what more does it take to convince people!?! I bet if they doubled the price of nexus S all the apple fans would flock to it

If you really think that, you will never understand why people like the iPhone.

I'm a software developer, but I know that most people on earth have no knowledge of how software works, and more important: they don't want to know - they don't care about linux kernels, APIs, runtimes or anything else that programmers need to worry about. If they did, they'd be developers. They want a product that works, looks nice, and that can do that App their friend showed them yesterday. They won't care if it has two cores, or none - they just want to check their facebook, get the scores, play that game with the birds and still have enough battery left for when their mate calls. If it's compact enough to fit into a small handbag, then that's a major bonus for about half the market too.

iPhone offers what the original Mac did. A simple, predictable system, that's deliberately limited in order to keep its "mental map" simple: to figure out how to use an iPhone, the user doesn't have to construct a complex mental model of the device, because it doesn't have complex features. To the majority of phone users, who have better things to do with their time than dick with their phones, this is perfect.

Add in a wealth of executive toys you can download without fear of malware, and you've got an appealing product, and one that has nothing to do with technology.

The Nexus S is purely a technology play: good numbers to get the tech-heads excited, but to a non-technical customer with that kind of money to drop on a phone, it's going to be Apple all the way because they're not buying technology, they're buying luxury and style, and yes, they're buying the brand, but the brand is based on desirable product. "Desirable" is rarely "technically superior".

shadowninty

i find it funny how some people bash the iPhone so much, then give out about fanbois

evolutionqy7

Also more functionality means more stuff to understand. More stuff to understand leads to more confusion and more confusion leads to fustration. Fustration leads to a returned product and loss in sales.

So if you think a limited gadget is the exact thing consumers today want. Long are the days where people wanted to study how stuff works. They just want it now and they want to use it without hassle the min they take it out.

iPhone has taken the market with this. Android has outrun the sales numbers only due to the fact of cheap low end phones.

srsly78

If Kris was right the mac would still have a one-button mouse

Android is much simpler and better to use than the iphone, your reality distortion field prevents you from seeing it. My mum has no problem using htc wildfire, that's pretty much the ultimate test tbh (she is terrible).

shadowninty

the simplicity of iOS I'd due to the fact that core apps and third party apps keep the same UI layout
iOS IS simpler to use IMO, but Android isn't too hard either
WP7 is a bit more difficult to use, but maybe I'm not that used to it

AntiVirus

shadowninty wrote: »

WP7 is a bit more difficult to use, but maybe I'm not that used to it

Are you serious? I don't think an OS can be any easier to use than WP7

shadowninty

AntiVirus wrote: »

Are you serious? I don't think an OS can be any easier to use than WP7

I said a bit more difficult, still easy to use!

KrisW

srsly78 wrote: »

If Kris was right the mac would still have a one-button mouse

Android is much simpler and better to use than the iphone, your reality distortion field prevents you from seeing it. My mum has no problem using htc wildfire, that's pretty much the ultimate test tbh (she is terrible).

Well, doesn't every touch-screen interface, including Android, have a one-button "mouse"?

Reality distortion? Well, I wrote software at Apple for over five years - having seen the workings from inside, I have no illusions about the company or its products. I don't own an iPhone, and have no intention of ever buying one. I do prefer MacOS to Windows, however, but wish they'd quit trying to turn it into iOS or a glorified Sky box.

srsly78

My point was that even though the iphones single hardware button is hailed by some (deluded) people as a triumph of minimalist design, in actuality it is vastly inferior to androids paradigm (back+home+menu).

Since we are putting cards on the table, I also am a developer, specialising in opengl/directx user interfaces. You have probably used some of my software (done for telcos, ashamedly I am responsible for some of the terrible shovelware carriers like to force on users), I've done stuff for winmo, iphone, android and blackberry. Opengl runs on all (except the new winmo) so I amn't really that fussed about my target platform (just add wrapper). Doing desktop stuff right now (dx), but experimenting with tablets. The new windows phone has lost me and 99% of developers btw (no native code, no opengl, all the work we did in the past thrown away).

BionicRasher

I think if OP is having trouble with basic text functionality and typing then OP should not stick with the IPhone as you get what you are given and can’t really change anything if it doesn’t suit your needs
If you want to try different keyboards (and find one that suits your fingers) then choose Android, maybe a HTC Desire HD with a large screen etc. There are loads of different keyboards to try and the Gingerbread one is great
If you don’t want to have a notification pop up when a text arrives again choose an Android as you can turn that off and tune it to the way you like it.
If I am honest I am a bit anti iPhone as I hate the way its locked down and I would get the same as my granny has on her iPhone. I just like the customisability of an Android as I like the phone to do what I want it to do the way I want it. BTW I am not a modder or anything like that I just like setting up my Android with things like Handcent for my SMS (allows me to see or not see who texts me) and Swiftkey for my keyboard (has great prediction ability and the keys are large and well spread out on the screen)

So in conclusion I believe the best Smartphone to get for the OP’s original request is an Android – maybe Desire HD or Desire Z or even Samsung Galaxy S2 when it comes out

KrisW

srsly78 wrote: »

My point was that even though the iphones single hardware button is hailed by some (deluded) people as a triumph of minimalist design, in actuality it is vastly inferior to androids paradigm (back+home+menu).

Funnily enough, this is the one reason my wife cited for not getting a HTC desire. Too many navigation keys. I know each has a function, but to me there's definitely one too many: menu in particular should be a softkey or a tap-and-hold function within the user interface.

Personally, I always liked Nokia's Series40, where pressing "hang up" got you to the front screen from anywhere, although I know this is not suited to a multitasking system.

Since we are putting cards on the table, I also am a developer, specialising in opengl/directx user interfaces. You have probably used some of my software (done for telcos, ashamedly I am responsible for some of the terrible shovelware carriers like to force on users), I've done stuff for winmo, iphone, android and blackberry. Opengl runs on all (except the new winmo) so I amn't really that fussed about my target platform (just add wrapper). Doing desktop stuff right now (dx), but experimenting with tablets. The new windows phone has lost me and 99% of developers btw (no native code, no opengl, all the work we did in the past thrown away).

Actually, as my last two phones have been unbranded Nokias (one S40, one Symbian3), I've never had the pleasure...
I'd definitely agree with you on WP7 and portable apps. The "no unmanaged code" is a dumb decision, and its one I think they will have to reverse eventually. It's not like the big game publishers are going to rewrite their engines in Managed C/C++. I won't write code specially for WP7. Using C++/Qt had the advantage that an iPhone and Android library could appear in future, leaving aside that Qt itself is quite a nice framework.

shadowninty

KrisW wrote: »

Funnily enough, this is the one reason my wife cited for not getting a HTC desire. Too many navigation keys. I know each has a function, but to me there's definitely one too many: menu in particular should be a softkey or a tap-and-hold function within the user interface.

thats another thing i hate about my Blade - too little buttons
when i go back to my nokia i spend the whole time trying to press an invisible menu key

but, we all know you say this as you have the N8

nellymon

tui0hcg wrote: »

I think if OP is having trouble with basic text functionality and typing then OP should not stick with the IPhone as you get what you are given and can’t really change anything if it doesn’t suit your needs
If you want to try different keyboards (and find one that suits your fingers) then choose Android, maybe a HTC Desire HD with a large screen etc. There are loads of different keyboards to try and the Gingerbread one is great
If you don’t want to have a notification pop up when a text arrives again choose an Android as you can turn that off and tune it to the way you like it.
If I am honest I am a bit anti iPhone as I hate the way its locked down and I would get the same as my granny has on her iPhone. I just like the customisability of an Android as I like the phone to do what I want it to do the way I want it. BTW I am not a modder or anything like that I just like setting up my Android with things like Handcent for my SMS (allows me to see or not see who texts me) and Swiftkey for my keyboard (has great prediction ability and the keys are large and well spread out on the screen)

So in conclusion I believe the best Smartphone to get for the OP’s original request is an Android – maybe Desire HD or Desire Z or even Samsung Galaxy S2 when it comes out

thank you for gettin back to question! (no offence to other posters) but i am not a tech head so dont understand most of the tech talk so my apologies for bein ignorant on that front.. i just want good phone to go on internet,for apps, easy to use, easy to text(that doesen show recipents name). good battery life. so you reckon android??

evolutionqy7

if you dont want to see the contacts name dont save your contacts you will see the numbers then

Android is a great OS. Though battery life wouldnt be that great

nellymon

so the most popular androids are htc and samsung?

evolutionqy7

Yes HTC and Samsung.

Word of warning. Samsung Galaxy S has lag issues and will requires a small amount of messing around with the phone to fix it. Even then it doesnt fix it.

Even though i dont see the point of your changing cause they will show your contact names instead of numbers

nellymon

sorry how do you mean? when i get a message is it?

nellymon

any problems with new htc phones?

evolutionqy7

nellymon wrote: »

sorry how do you mean? when i get a message is it?

In a message or when recieving a call you will the contact name if you have saved the contact on your phone. You werent happy with that before?

nellymon wrote: »

any problems with new htc phones?

Well as far as i heard some users experienced messages and pictures being deleted on their Desire HD. But only a small margin.

The normal desire has a slightly smaller screen than the Desire HD and its out in the market for a longer time and it seems to have no problems Most people that have it love

Im sure HTC will send out a patch for the Desire HD sooner or later since they always have been good on delivering updates and fixes where the Galaxy S seems to be neglected by Samsung. If it was me i would go for the Desire HD. Only a small user base is affected and since its newer it will get updates to new features faster than the old normal desire

podge018

get an N900, has a slide out physical keyboard.

shadowninty

podge018 wrote: »

get an N900, has a slide out physical keyboard.

... and has no official support

evolutionqy7

podge018 wrote: »

get an N900, has a slide out physical keyboard.

Pointless. The phone is ancient at this stage. You could get a Desire Z. Lovely designed phone with a very well built slide out keyboard. Also a hell alot of slimmer than the N900

nellymon

all the htc hd phones are completely sold out! must be a good demand on them...!