Mobile OS shootout: iPhone OS 3.0 enters the fray

As soon as Apple rolled out its preview of iPhone OS 3.0, the comparisons to existing (and forthcoming) mobile OSs started flying. While the major update isn't exactly a done deal, it's pretty far along, and we've been able to glean quite a bit from our time with the developer beta we've been checking out. iPhone OS, Android, webOS, Windows Mobile, BlackBerry, S60; if you're in the market for a new smartphone, your choices have been getting exponentially more complicated lately, and 3.0 won't make the selection any easier. Luckily for you, Engadget is here to make sense of a frightening and uncertain landscape. Read on for an in-depth look at the similarities -- and differences -- between modern mobile operating systems.

Basics | User Interface | Core Functionality | Third-Party Development

Basics

When it comes to OSs, it's generally true that you're only as good as your kernel, and these days, there's no shortage of options in that department. Comparing core systems is difficult -- each one has its own strengths and weaknesses, but we'd be lying if we didn't say that the underlying structure of the iPhone OS is pretty robust. Since it's built atop OS X, which in turn is built atop Unix, it tends to be fairly sophisticated and stable (even if Apple has managed to lag it up with its UI). Android is Linux based, though its basic functionality is sandboxed in a particularly healthy variation of Java. S60 and Windows Mobile may be more mature, but that age doesn't always work to their advantage, and while RIM has done a tremendous job at updating its look and feel, the OS -- which is based around a proprietary kernel -- still showcases some of its ugly, underlying Java from time to time.

As you can see in the chart below, the basics slot these devices into fairly specific categories, though it's obvious that Apple is trying to nudge its way into the enterprise world (the company went out of its way to cite business customer satisfaction at the preview event). Of course, we don't expect to see the BlackBerry OS and Windows Mobile leaving that space any time soon.

Basics						Return to Top
	Android Cupcake	BlackBerry OS 4.7	iPhone OS 3.0	S60 5th Edition	Palm WebOS	Windows Mobile 6.5
Kernel Type	Linux	Proprietary	OS X	Symbian	Linux	Windows CE
Platform Adaptability	Excellent	Good	Poor	Excellent	Excellent	Excellent
Platform Age	Young	Mature	Adolescent	Mature	Young	Mature
First-party Enterprise Support	None	BlackBerry	Exchange	Exchange, Domino, BlackBerry	Exchange	Exchange, Domino, BlackBerry
Wireless Technologies	GSM, WiFi	GSM, CDMA, WiFi	GSM, WiFi	GSM, WiFi	GSM, CDMA, WiFi	GSM, CDMA, WiFi

User Interface

Apple nailed it out of the gate with many of its UI ideas. Gestures, lists with inertia, and plenty of touch-friendly sliders, wheels, and buttons generally make the iPhone OS a pleasure to navigate. While Android borrows some of that functionality, its uneven UI still doesn't match up (though Cupcake certainly makes a few welcome improvements). Windows Mobile and the BlackBerry OS have made some gains here over the years, but they still suffer from inborn deficiencies that are clear the moment you start using them (especially the Storm's 4.7 implementation), and S60 has a long, long way to go before it's up to speed. The only real competitor in terms of user-experience right now appears to be the Palm Pre, which capitalizes on many of the gains Apple pioneered and throws in a few tricks of its own, like those cards as well as a bigger emphasis on gestures.

A key innovation over the past couple years has been the emergence of capacitive touchscreens in mobile devices, which allow for lighter touch, greater display clarity, and true multitouch at the expense of stylus compatibility. The iPhone, webOS, and Android have all embraced the technology, but Windows Mobile and S60 aren't quite there yet, largely because they still make use of UI elements too small to accurately press with a human finger. To keep up, they'll need to get cranking on this over the coming versions. Of course, all of these platforms (save for webOS) can sport a virtual keyboard of some sort -- a technology particularly suited to a capacitive screen -- but we've yet to see a single one pull off a typing experience as solid as what Apple offers.

As good as they may be in stock form, both Apple and Palm leave users hanging if they want to customize -- hell, changing font sizes is taboo with the iPhone, much less a total reskinning of the interface. If you're into making your device all your own, Windows Mobile and BlackBerry are where you want to be; customization isn't just allowed with these platforms, it's practically encouraged. In fact, Microsoft pretty much touts the flexibility as a feature nowadays (a quick glance at this year's MWC offerings is proof of that).

User Interface						Return to Top
	Android Cupcake	BlackBerry OS 4.7	iPhone OS 3.0	S60 5th Edition	Palm WebOS	Windows Mobile 6.5
Screen Gestures	Yes	Yes	Yes	Limited	Yes	Limited
Screen Technology	Capacitive	Capacitive	Capacitive	Resistive / Capacitive	Capacitive	Resistive
Multitouch	Yes (unofficial)	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	No
UI Skinning	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	No	Yes
Input Methods	Virtual keyboard, physical keyboard	Virtual keyboard	Virtual Keyboard	Virtual keyboard, T9, and triple tap; character recognition; physical keyboard	Physical keyboard	Virtual keyboard, character recognition, physical keyboard

Core functionality

Now here's a category where the operating systems really start to show their colors. While Apple is finally adding the promised -- but delayed -- push notification to its devices, it's still lagging far behind in some pretty important areas. First off: multitasking. Much like an original Palm OS device, Apple seems stuck in the past with its open-quit-open app switching scheme, which it claims is in the interest of preserving battery life. Windows Mobile, S60, Android, webOS, and BlackBerry all handle true multitasking, allowing you keep multiple apps open in the background. The push notifications will help, but nothing beats being able to return to an active app, particularly if you're doing something like loading a web page or using a map to get around.

Palm is smartly introducing a web-centric functionality called Synergy in its webOS, which allows you to pool contacts and calendars from disparate sources, while the iPhone OS, BlackBerry OS, Windows Mobile, S60, and Android still present mostly siloed options in that department (without some third-party involvement). Apple has made strides with its new calendar functionality -- CalDAV support, for example -- but it still doesn't present anything as revolutionary for dealing with scores of contacts. We do give the company marks for finally, mercifully, allowing users to share contact cards, however.

A big problem that Apple has yet to address with OS 3.0 is its obnoxious, obtrusive notifications. Where Android and webOS slide a handy "tray" into view to let you know you've got something incoming, the iPhone regularly piles on one notice after another, leaving you with a stacked, productivity-stalling, ugly mess of pop-ups. Apple, you kill this kind of annoying garbage in your browser -- why do you think users want it in their phone? Even older systems get this one more right than Apple does -- both Windows Mobile and the BlackBerry OS use a mixture of pop-ups and background notifications. It's perplexing that a company so concerned with usability and simplicity has done nothing to address the situation in three iterations of its software.

Still, Apple has certainly answered the call (no pun intended) on a lot of user-requested features. Stereo Bluetooth support, MMS, that new Spotlight homescreen (aka global search), tethering capabilities, unlocked Bluetooth support for the touch, turn-by-turn direction capability, and a whole lot more. The sad part is that these additions only really bring the OS to speed with almost all of its competition, making this update a victory, but still kind of a bummer if you take the long-view.

And don't even get us started on copy and paste.

Core Functionality						Return to Top
	Android Cupcake	BlackBerry OS 4.7	iPhone OS 3.0	S60 5th Edition	Palm WebOS	Windows Mobile 6.5
Notification Style	Tray	Pop-up, background	Pop-up	Pop-up	Tray	Tray, pop-up
Contact Integration / Management	Google	BES, BIS	Exchange, ActiveSync, Mac OS Address Book	Exchange, Domino, BlackBerry, iSync	Synergy	Exchange, Domino, BlackBerry, ActiveSync
Multitasking	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes
Copy / paste	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Media Support / Ecosystem	Amazon	Non-DRM iTunes	iTunes	Ovi	Amazon	Windows Media Player / None
Global Search	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
Firmware Updates	OTA	Tethered, OTA	Tethered	Tethered, OTA	Unknown	Tethered, OTA
Browser Engine	WebKit	Proprietary	WebKit	WebKit	WebKit	Internet Explorer
Tethering	Yes (unofficial)	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Stereo Bluetooth	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes

Third-party development

This is where Apple really shines. While Windows Mobile and S60 have had thriving developer bases for a while, no one has brought applications and app development to the forefront like Apple. It goes without saying that the company has revolutionized the way devs do business, and torn down dozens of barriers to entry in the process. No single company has made it easier for developers to create work (and profit from it) on a mobile platform. The new version of the iPhone OS seems designed to stoke that system, introducing 1,000 new APIs and allowing developers to offer things like in-game commerce and peer-to-peer networking.

Of course, the system isn't without its negatives, and Apple has endured more than its share of (deserved) critics of its opaque and sometimes unfair application approval process. While they say 96 percent of apps receive approval, we're fairly confident what gets left on the cutting room floor is hurting end users. Just think, with its current policies, you'll never see an Opera or Firefox browser for the device.

Regardless, other companies are currently playing catch up to Cupertino's game, with all of the major OSs offering some version of an application store now or in the near future. To date, none have been remotely as successful as Apple's outing, but none have the luxury of being tied to a pre-existing revenue stream like the iTunes Store -- and with the exception of Android's Market, they really haven't had time to marinate with the public. Only time will tell if companies like Palm, Google, and (gasp) Microsoft will be able to turn on the fire hose of development and go toe-to-toe with Apple.

Third-Party Development						Return to Top
	Android Cupcake	BlackBerry OS 4.7	iPhone OS 3.0	S60 5th Edition	Palm WebOS	Windows Mobile 6.5
SDK Availability / Support	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Official App Store	Yes	Coming	Yes	Coming	Yes	Yes
App Availability	Medium	Medium	High	Medium	Low	High
Native Applications	No	No	Yes	Yes	No	Yes
On-Device App Management	Excellent	Good	Excellent	Good	Excellent	Good

Wrap up

Ultimately, there are loyalties and preferences that no chart can help you navigate. We won't go as far as saying it's a matter of choice -- we believe that the newer, younger operating systems offer far more than the aging ones can at this point (unless you absolutely need something like BES). In particular, the improvements Apple's made in its forthcoming update speak to many of the issues we've had since the platform's launch in 2007, patching a slew of flaws in its mobile OS, and making the advantages of something like Android or webOS (what we know of it) a little less obvious. That said, you won't find the open source freedom of the former, and there are a handful of innovations in the latter (yet to be roadtested, but extremely promising nonetheless). One thing is sure regardless of what side you throw your lot in with: the hype Apple created with its devices has spurred a space race in smartphones, and the end user is reaping the benefits.

Galleries

iPhone OS 3.0 hands-on	Microsoft announces Windows Mobile 6.5	Palm Pre: official UI shots
Android Cupcake	BlackBerry OS 4.7	S60 5th Edition

Special thanks to Chris Ziegler and Ross Miller for their work on this feature.

[Freakin Ijit Posted Mar 19th 2009 12:25PM]

You failed to mention something fairly important - some of the Pre's functionality is offloaded to web servers. Is that offloaded functionality an extra-cost product not yet mentioned by Palm?

[you also mention SDK availability - where can one get the Pre SDK?]

[surur Posted Mar 19th 2009 12:53PM]

Sorry, this has nothing to do with your comment.

Windows Mobile does have global search, and has wide support for gestures (e.g. switching from one e-mail account to another is just a swiping gesture away).

[newreformation Posted Mar 19th 2009 1:02PM]

@Surur

I know, and they also left out any skinning options like HTC offers that make Winmo much easier to use. the new Touchflo3d ads a WHOLE LOT of functionality to windows mobile but they did the review like there was no way to improve winmo... A touch pro 2 or a touch diamond 2 with touchflo3d could take on/down an iphone any day.

[ian9outof10 Posted Mar 19th 2009 1:03PM]

Can you be more specific about what's offloaded?

[(Unverified) Posted Mar 19th 2009 1:11PM]

The iPhone's App Store currently has 28,600 apps, which is more apps than Windows Mobile. Also, the other phones don't have an ecosystem like iTunes, which provides millions of songs, videos, TV shows, Podcasts. Just saying.



App Store Breakdown (currently 28,600 apps)

5,772 Games
3,930 Entertainment
2,882 Books
2,428 Utilities
2,019 Education
1,605 Lifestyle
1,305 Travel
1,220 Reference
1,087 Productivity
981 Sports
890 Music
760 Navigation
755 Healthcare & Fitness
625 Business
551 Photography
545 Finance
444 Social Networking
380 News
286 Medical
135 Weather

[Templarian Posted Mar 19th 2009 1:30PM]

There is no SDK available yet. You can already develop your application (we don't have the UI elements yet, but they can be temperately replicated with CSS till we get the SDK/emulator).

(some do have the SDK, but its very very few in number)

[newreformation Posted Mar 19th 2009 1:41PM]

@Pac man

Just because they have all of those apps available doesn't mean I need all of those apps. I would rather have a few that "just work" than have twenty thousand that are "just OK". Take for example the 1,087 "productivity apps" that are available for the iphone, I have access to all of those, sure, but in the end I can be much more productive on a blackberry or winmo phone. See what I am saying? The sheer number of apps is not relevant, the goal is to have apps that are the most useful and productive

[LAY Posted Mar 19th 2009 1:57PM]

@Pac man

Uh, Windows has more apps than OSX. Would you also recommend that people stop using that OS so they can get with the one that the market obviously supports more?

[(Unverified) Posted Mar 19th 2009 1:58PM]

@sacapuntus, who said: "I would rather have a few that "just work" than have twenty thousand that are "just OK"."


Does that apply to everything? For example, Windows users say Windows is better because it has more apps than OS X. From my experience, Windows has a butt load of apps, but a good majority of them are shareware apps that do very few things badly. I'm not saying your answer is right or wrong, but it would be instructive to remember this when the PC people bash Mac users for buying Macs because they like iLife or Final Cut Studio or Logic or Shake or Textmate.

Quality is more important to some people, which is why people are buying the iPhone. The UI is much easier to use than the other phones and obviously more intuitive.

[Freakin Ijit Posted Mar 19th 2009 1:59PM]

> ...There is no SDK available yet. You can already develop your application (we don't have the
> UI elements yet, but they can be temperately replicated with CSS till we get the SDK/emulator).

We don't have a WHOLE lot more than simple UI elements. We don't have SQL APIs, we don't have web-server APIs (serviceRequest), we don't have sound, accelerometer, etc etc etc.

If you want to make a simple Javascript widget that doesn't do anything interesting, you're set!

Otherwise...where's the SDK?

[(Unverified) Posted Mar 19th 2009 2:01PM]

@P.A.C Man

no you're just wrong, sorry.
sure they're not all in one place but Windows Mobile has more Apps available to date- just google for pocketpc and smartphone software
the one site i go to has roughly 6,000 apps so imagine adding every single WinMo software site together

[LAY Posted Mar 19th 2009 2:01PM]

"The UI is much easier to use than the other phones and obviously more intuitive."

That is what is known as a "personal opinion". Please do yourself a favor and learn the difference between that an a fact.

I know that Apple fans have a very difficult time telling the two apart and just assume their personal opinion should be chiseled in stone.

[F22 Posted Mar 19th 2009 2:03PM]

does this review say wm doesn't do global search and gestures. What is going on with engadget? this is like saying OSX doesn't do word processing. there are very large numb ers of WM applications including screen front ends and shells that do this extremely well. The whole point of WM is its 50,000,000 and growing sales and the large and robust developer community. Have you seen SPB 3.0 for WM?

[DivinoAG Posted Mar 19th 2009 2:08PM]

@Freakin Iji: webOS' apps are made with web technologies, but they don't run *from* the web. All apps should be running straight from the device, so there is no offloading to kill the productivity on the OS.

@P.A.C Man: fart, flashlight and beer apps fall into which category? Those numbers are impressive, I won't deny, but they don't automatically reflect quality.

Windows Mobile devices were always directed for a more corporate user, so many of those just-for-fun apps don't show up with the same frequency. Of course the OS itself is not well know for its amazing performance, which doesn't really gives people much motivation to make those apps as well.

As for the webOS, yeah, there is not SDK right now. But so was the case with the iPhone, which started with no SDK at all, then only the limited web app's SDK some months after release, and only then the full native SDK after... what, a year?

I'm not saying webOS is gonna kill all iPhone apps, but there will be a native (even if not compiled) SDK available just after release of the device itself, so there is a lot of potencial for good development. At least most of those apps you see today on the iPhone should be possible to replicate on webOS just after release. Only time will tell how good they will be.

[(Unverified) Posted Mar 19th 2009 2:13PM]

@ Gustav the Lion, who said: "no you're just wrong, sorry. sure they're not all in one place but Windows Mobile has more Apps available to date."



"We currently have 20,000 applications available for Windows Mobile devices"

—James Blamey, group product manager for Microsoft Mobile Communications Business.




According to James Blamey, you're wrong.

Of course, math was never my strength, but it would seem that 28,600 is more than 20,000. Just saying. You can call this guy on the phone and argue with him about it.

[Freakin Ijit Posted Mar 19th 2009 2:23PM]

> ...webOS' apps are made with web technologies, but they don't run *from* the web. All apps
> should be running straight from the device, so there is no offloading to kill the productivity on the OS...

Incorrect.

Read the first chapter (or if you want to spring for it, the now-available 2nd chapter, too) of the official WebOS development guide pointed to by Palm's developer web site. Check pages 2 and 3, for example.

Sure, you can have entirely device-resident widgets. But the REAL power begins when your client-side GUI connects to a Web-based application server.

[DivinoAG Posted Mar 19th 2009 2:28PM]

@Dutch: the article says that because there is a Third-Party section to deal with... well, third-party applications. Other sections are related to core functions delivered by the of-the-shelf OS.

[DivinoAG Posted Mar 19th 2009 2:36PM]

@Freakin Ijit: I understand perfectly that all applications *can* access the web. As all iPhone apps can, BTW. My point is that, just like iPhone apps, those apps are native applications that run entirely from the device, loading data from the web as needed, but they don't need a connection open at all times to perform core functions.

Apps like the contact manager or the calendar can run at all times without internet connection. They will, however, sync their data when a connection is made available. The same way any of the other OSes listed on the article would if you install Google Sync on them.

So again, there is no offloading, because the device doesn't *need* to send data to the cloud for processing, even if it *can* do that. There is no difference from any other device or OS on this category.

[Freakin Ijit Posted Mar 19th 2009 2:45PM]

> ...those apps are native applications that run entirely from the device, loading data from
> the web as needed, but they don't need a connection open at all times to perform core functions...

I would (strongly) suggest again that you read pages 2 and 3 of that chapter from Palm - they outright discuss offloading functionality to the web (and, in fact, if you want to hide your source code from the user, that's about the only way to do it - put it out there in the cloud instead of on the device).

[(Unverified) Posted Mar 19th 2009 2:54PM]

The key here is "to date". S60 and WinMo had a lot of novelty apps that died a death some time ago. Similarly, the productivity apps have been narrowed down from a wide field to best of breed. The iPhone is yet to undergo this process as it's a relatively new platform.

[fenrir Posted Mar 19th 2009 3:00PM]

@ P.A.C. Man

Are you trying to say that Apps offered on OS X are of higher quality then those offered on PC?

And the reason the iPhone sells more units is because of one word; Marketing. Even if the iPhone had a horrible OS (not saying that it does,) if you market it enough, buy enough advertisements, people will buy it. The average consumer does not read Engadget, or check out the reviews at Cnet, they just pick the one they see on TV or the one everyone is talking about. Not to mention, that Apple holds a large market share in the MP3 player market, thus their brand awareness is the highest of all these competing OSes. Windows mobile has very little brand awareness because its not clearly associated with one phone, the average consumer is not aware of it's presence. If you ask a person walking into a AT&T or Verizon store; "What do you think about Windows Mobile?" their reply would be; "I don't know, but i know the HTC Touch Diamond, Sony Xperia are pretty cool." Blackberry on the other hand are pretty adept at this marketing thing too, they ship much more units then Apple, just look at the Storm, its OS is obviously flawed yet with enough advertisements, they're selling pretty well.

Speaking of MP3 player market, here's an unrelated rant;
By the way, you have to give it to them, Apple is a brilliant marketing machine, i mean take a look at their line of MP3 players: iPod Nano, iPod Classic, iPod Shuffle are clearly inferior to their competitors, offering inferior audio quality to Microsoft's Zune, almost all iRiver branded devices, Cowan's whole lineup, and sometimes less functionality; Zune, Cowans both offer unique functionality, yet they hold such a large market share and are able to charge a premium for their products as well. Other then the iPod Touch which offers unique functionality in the MP3 player market, but if you take a look around, the iPod Touch is not responsible for the huge market share. The other 3 don't do anything original, nor anything well enough to justify their position in the market. The other 3 are average at best, the marketing department at Apple are the true geniuses.

[DivinoAG Posted Mar 19th 2009 3:03PM]

I understand what you mean, and while I do agree that it is a possibility for some tasks, what I wanted you to acknowledge is that this offloading is not obligatory for developing apps for webOS, and therefore not a big problem for it just as it isn't for other plataforms.

Because of the architecture of the OS, it's very easy to create apps this way, making the mobile app simply a frontend for the application as a whole and sending that data for the server for actual processing. But unless you want to make a heavy processing utility or are really worried about your source code (which is a real concern right now, I agree), there is no reason why you should do that.

Simple applications, like the majority of what people use on a day-by-day basis should run just fine as totally local apps, and therefore there should be no concern about high data plan usage.

I will make an in-depth reading on the new chapter (I have already read the 1st a few times), as soon as I manage to find it. For some reason only the first chapter is showing up on the Developer Network for me right now. If you could point me to the right direction I would be very thankful.

[Numus Posted Mar 19th 2009 3:10PM]

@pacman you forget to mention the blackberry is getting an app store but doesnt need one to load custom software onto it because of the ability for almost every program made for the Blackberry to load OTA and install... Meaning the millions of apps out there are avalible to the blackberry.. not just the less then 30,000 the iphone can do

[(Unverified) Posted Mar 19th 2009 3:19PM]

I love the PC fanboys rationalizations (or contradictions).



They say PCs are better because Windows has more apps, but if the iPhone has more apps than Windows Mobile, the apps must automatically "suck."

They say Windows is better because it has 90 percent of the market, but if the iPod has more market share than the Zune, it's not better, it just has better "marketing."


Give me a break.


Basically, no matter why Apple products sell, in the mind of a PC fanboy, they lose.

[Freakin Ijit Posted Mar 19th 2009 3:20PM]

The first chapter of the official WebOS development guide is generally available free - the second thru Nth will cost you money:

http://my.safaribooksonline.com/9780596802097/

[Extinction Posted Mar 19th 2009 3:37PM]

This article was horrible.

iPhone's web browser is horrible control wise (and stability wise) it registers false positives and negatives all the time. It feels like they used Newton's handwriting recognition as their controller. It's always registering clicks for me when I'm trying to drag. Ignoring clicks even though it shows I selected a link, etc etc. I wish it let us use a stylus.

And iphone's keyboard is horrible! I'd kill for bluetooth kb support, or one that plugs into the dock port.

[DivinoAG Posted Mar 19th 2009 3:46PM]

@Freakin Ijit: well, I'll wait to spend money on it after is ready. :)

I did however re-read the first chapter, and I must say that while I do understand the logic about the whole off-loading business you described, I didn't find a single reference to it on said pages 2 and 3 you commented a few times.

There are a few talks about common development techniques for the web and how those compare to developing for webOS, and there are comments about how current internet services and applications should work fine on the browser, which is a way to leverage web content without having to develop native apps for the device.

Like I said before, the book does go and describes how easy it is to make "connected applications, or applications that leverage dynamic data or web services", which describes pretty much all Sinergy-ready applications already made for webOS, but that is very different from claiming these apps are off-loading processing to the web.

The difference is, in a extreme example, saying that a Calculator app is only going to handle data input, but actual calculations will be done on the cloud, instead of making a full app that gets the data from the user, process that data and displays the result without a web connection open.

You can make apps that need a constant web connection to be useful (Twitter, or Last.FM apps for instance), and you can even make apps that handle all data on-server and just use the device as a dumb terminal (a LogMeIn app would do just that, specially for security purposes), but the webOS doesn't *require* that from the developer of every single app.

There can be (and surely will be) many Todo List apps that require no internet connection at all, so this off-loading is not a inherent problem of the OS, just another tool the developer has to make good apps.

[DivinoAG Posted Mar 23rd 2009 9:44AM]

>> Basically, no matter why Apple products sell, in the mind of a PC fanboy, they lose.

@P.A.C Man: the thing is that no one claimed (on this particular thread at least) that Windows apps are better than iPhone's. All comments are only about how big numbers don't reflect superiority either for the plataform, or for the apps.

Apple might have the claim of most apps than any other plataform, but as Bert said, this says more about its marketing department than of the inherent quality of its apps, which is not even measurable.

Sure there are a lot of great apps for the iPhone, but there are also many for all other plataforms, so these numbers are pretty much meaningless. Of course Apple is always going to spin then to their benefit, but in the end of the day it doesn't change the life of the end user in any way.

quantity != quality

BTW, you might see that Windows users are usually very much aware of the problems with our plataform of choice. We have no problem criticizing Windows for its faults. The only thing that really bother us is how many Apple users (not saying that you are among them, read it like its written, there are no second intentions here) like to chant about the suposed superiority of their beloved computers while ignoring or trying to spin it like an option any problems the plataform might have.

I'm cool with open, inteligent dialog with users of any plataform, but have little patience with mindless preaching. AFAIK there are no Microsoft fanboys, we use Windows because that's the best for whatever we need doing.

[Mr 14 Posted Mar 19th 2009 10:49PM]

@ PAC Man:

You went through all that trouble to find a quote of James Blamey saying that WinMo has less apps than the iPhone, and yet you somehow didn't think to provide a link? C'mon...

And regarding the whole "fanboy" thing - You don't honestly think that iPods would be dominating the MP3 market if they didn't invest billions in marketing, do you? They have a product that is sleek and smooth, and offers less features than their competitors. That's just common sense.

[(Unverified) Posted Mar 20th 2009 12:21AM]

James Blamey saying that Windows Mobile has only 20,000 apps.

http://www.pocket-lint.com/news/news.phtml/22224/23248/microsoft-marketplace-mobile-app-store.phtml
http://newsfeedresearcher.com/data/articles_t11/mobile-store-windows.html

[emceephi Posted Apr 3rd 2009 2:47AM]

@PAC man

I always thought the argument against apple computers was that they are overpriced. Maybe that's just me.

[MadMike Posted Mar 19th 2009 12:25PM]

I'm just happy I got MMS. SwirlyMMS on a jail broken iPhone works about .000001% of the time and they want you to pay for it.

[(Unverified) Posted Mar 19th 2009 12:39PM]

I don't know what you are doing wrong but I have definitely received all the pics I have been sent, especially the nudies haha

[maherelharake Posted Mar 19th 2009 12:27PM]

but do they blend?

[(Unverified) Posted Mar 19th 2009 12:48PM]

You can blend software now?

Well Symbian S60 does have Global Search... I go to the search option on the active standby and I'm able to search EVERYTHING on the phone from; email messages to txt msg, music and videos etc.

So apple didnt really bring anything new to the arena of Smartphone OSes besides a crappy mess of pages of icons and now pop ups asking for more money.

I also own an iPhone 1st gen and i gotta say my N95 8gb blows it out of water.

[Dallasm Posted Mar 19th 2009 12:58PM]

If you looked at the way most people (including myself) code you would think it was blended.

[JeremyBenthem Posted Mar 19th 2009 1:39PM]

Can I get that top image in wallpaper size?

[(Unverified) Posted Mar 19th 2009 6:34PM]

I wish they did, blend.

Android and webOS, in particular. I'd love if "holding down" the home button on the Palm Pre would bring u to the same cards view, only with the cards a lot smaller and occupying the lower portion of the screen, with the remainder of the screen for shortcuts and widgets, as on Android.

It would be the most perfect patch Palm would ever make. For all I know, HOLDING down the home button doesn't do anything yet.

[(Unverified) Posted Mar 19th 2009 12:28PM]

engadget rules over gizmodo. There is definitely less bias here. Gizmodo did a similar article but did not include Symbian OS. When one commenter asked why there was no Symbian love he got a rude reply back from the author of the post. They also shit over all the other OS and glorified the iPhone OS.

[i Eye Posted Mar 19th 2009 12:31PM]

Gizmodo is a suck shack..

Everyone there is an Apple dog-crap-on-my-boot-licker...

A troll like me get highest ranked all day long! Sick!

[ALCie Posted Mar 19th 2009 12:39PM]

Wow, thanks for pointing that out! Not only was his comment "rude," but calling the soon to be open-source, largest smartphone market share OS "lite" means he lost all credibility.

Good article Engadget! One concern: I don't use the Storm but on my Blackberry all notifications are tray/background except alarm and calender. I can't imagine the Storm being too different, is it?

[grebo Posted Mar 19th 2009 1:00PM]

Good for objectivity...
But is this really a specs question ?

[surur Posted Mar 19th 2009 1:01PM]

I like how they make them all look like the iPhone by having them all on their application launching screens. Other OS's actually have more useful screens as their default - Android with their widget desktop, Windows Mobile with their Today screen and Symbian with their widgetized standby screen.

[mynk Posted Mar 19th 2009 1:02PM]

why would anyone read giz...?
engadget has little bias and even that is shunned upon enough times by the readers.
oh well, in the states apple is pretty big... so is gizmodo (run a google trends)

[LAY Posted Mar 19th 2009 1:14PM]

Thats the cool thing about this site. When the writers get a little too iHappy, the readers can back-hand them back into balance. Giz writers are wusses.


As for this article, I give it an A+++ from my iPaq, running WM 6.0!

[KarlW Posted Mar 19th 2009 1:17PM]

Less bias perhaps, but bias all the same. Engadget's too worried about looking like they suck up to Apple. For example, I could dispute the points:

- Background apps: The iPhone has a push notification service which should amount to the same thing.
- Platform adaptability: iPhone, iPhone 3G, iPod Touch 1G, iPod Touch 2G. Yes, they're all by the same vendor, but the same goes for RIM's Blackberry OS. The iPhone's OS runs on 4 devices. RIM's OS doesn't run on many more than that.

Also, I don't get the moaning about the iPhone 3.0 software being "what was supposed to have shipped". Reviews have resoundingly stated that the iPhone is ahead in nearly everything that it offers (web browsing, mobile email, appstore...etc), but the criticism has been that it offers too little. The 3.0 upgrade solves that. The towers are still there, Apple have just patched the divots in between.

Of course, while Apple have been patching those divots, the rest of the industry has been catching up. For example, whilst web browsing on the iPhone is certainly better than Android, it doesn't have the competitive edge it used to before. Still, a fantastic update IMO - been using it for a day, and I like the new features.

[bachviet Posted Mar 19th 2009 1:52PM]

@ KarlW

Push notifications =/= background apps (multitasking)

Multitasking = minimizing one app and start other apps while the first one is still running in the background.

[(Unverified) Posted Mar 19th 2009 2:30PM]

FYI: the iPhone does do multi-tasking, which why you're able to answer a phone call while your music is playing. And the hardware is obviously capable of handling it, as anyone who runs backgrounder on a jail broken phone will admit to you.

Apple has repeatedly said they won't allow it for THIRD PARTY APPS, because of battery life.

[(Unverified) Posted Mar 19th 2009 2:42PM]

I agree completely, Andrew. I just want to point out to anyone that is saying engadget sucks Apple's tit, are you kidding? Did you not see the EDITOR OF ENGADGET on the Jimmy Fallon show, in it's highly-watched first week, completely showing off the Palm Pre? It was a big push for Pre.

[(Unverified) Posted Mar 19th 2009 2:46PM]

Top keywords used in the article...

Keyword Count Density
os 66 2.2%
iphone 57 1.9%
neutral 48 1.6%
mobile 44 1.46%
windows 36 1.2%
apps 32 1.06%
apple 32 1.06%
engadget 24 0.8%
blackberry 23 0.77%
android 19 0.63%
search 16 0.53%
webos 16 0.53%
web 15 0.5%
touch 12 0.4%
good 12 0.4%
ui 11 0.37%
sdk 11 0.37%
palm 11 0.37%