iPhone or Google Nexus?

That probably applies to most users. They are only interested in what it does easily and efficiently without messing about.

now if a new pentax camera had a wireless tethering ability (!) and you could looking at images on the screen on the iPhone 4.... mmmm.... maybe we could ditch the power-sucking LCD on the back and stop chimping...or at least, chimp differently...

There was an article I read recently demonstrating a Nikon tethered to an iPad which looked quite handy. The reviewer was raving about it. Unfortunately I cannot remember where I was it - could it have been ePhotozine? Anyone else see it?

There's also the TransferJet system (see here)... which naturally includes every DSLR manufacturer except one (no prize for guessing who...?)

1. Game consoles are not general-purpose computers, as Apple markets the iPhone

2. Game consoles are not designed to run third-party software (of course criticisms can be made of that). The iPhone on the other hand is (see Point 1).

3. There is a difference in the two markets. All games consoles work to the same standard - the Xbox 360 is no more or less restrictive than the Playstation 3 for example. Apple, however, is the only manufacturer of smartphones to dictate which software their owners run on them - phones running Symbian, Windows Mobile, Android and Blackberry OS will accept whatever compatible software the user installs.

4. The Google comparison is disingenuous, since the iPhone will only run apps from Apple's App Store. Thus the user is forbidden to install software which Apple has not approved for its App Store. With Android, on the other hand, if software is excluded from the Google App Store (or any of the handset maker App Stores) then the user can download it directly from the developer's website

What would you call a game, if not third-party software?

Edit: to clarify what I mean. Let's say I go home tonight, break out my copy of CodeWarrior, and write a game for the PS3. What do you think are my chances of loading that game onto my PS3 so I can play it?

I also think that saying that Apple markets the iPhone as a "general purpose computer" is a bit of a stretch It seems to me they market it as much more of a consumer electronics device.

Oh no that's not fully what I meant. It's that every OS has his own capabilities that would make it better or more interesting for you.
Android for example is very busy with connectivity so if you've more device with you then that might be an interesting option for you and from what i understand you can save your profile online so if you get a new phone you can simply download that and your done.

Assuming that CodeWarrior is analogous (sp?) to the Xbox's XNA Developer Studio, I'd say that your chances of being able to write a game to run on the same hardware as authorised games are approximately zero

My main point about marketing was more to contrast smartphones (essentially PDAs with a phone app) - and in particular the software-centric marketing of the iPhone - to appliance devices such as 'dumb' mobile phones, games consoles, dvd players etc.

As you can see from the chart below, we did a total-cost-of-ownership comparison of the Nexus, Droid, iPhone, and Palm Pre -- the current "must-have" handsets of T-Mobile, Verizon, AT&T, and Sprint, respectively. We looked at the phone cost with and without a two-year contract, as well as the monthly costs of both an average plan and one with unlimited calling/texting/data.

Once you get past the sticker shock of "I'm spending THAT much for phone service in twenty-four months?!?", it turns out the Pre and Nexus have the lowest TCOO on the 450-500 minute plans. Now, while these are important factors to consider when getting that smart phone du jour, they're not the only things to consider. Verizon's higher total price, for instance, comes with a larger and more reliable network -- AT&T, while having the single hottest phone (and a gazillion apps for it) recently admitted that yeah, their 3G network is still the pits in some locations. Likewise, the Pre's attractiveness, both feature- and plan-wise, is tempered by lack of apps (yes, compare to other offerings)
__________________________________________________

[quote:3496ace15f="jack2012"]As you can see from the chart below, we did a total-cost-of-ownership comparison of the Nexus, Droid, iPhone, and Palm Pre -- the current "must-have" handsets of T-Mobile, Verizon, AT&T, and Sprint, respectively. We looked at the phone cost with and without a two-year contract, as well as the monthly costs of both an average plan and one with unlimited calling/texting/data.

Once you get past the sticker shock of "I'm spending THAT much for phone service in twenty-four months?!?", it turns out the Pre and Nexus have the lowest TCOO on the 450-500 minute plans. Now, while these are important factors to consider when getting that smart phone du jour, they're not the only things to consider. Verizon's higher total price, for instance, comes with a larger and more reliable network -- AT&T, while having the single hottest phone (and a gazillion apps for it) recently admitted that yeah, their 3G network is still the pits in some locations. Likewise, the Pre's attractiveness, both feature- and plan-wise, is tempered by lack of apps (yes, compare to other offerings)
__________________________________________________


Jack I can't tell if that's spam or not Your suspiciously SEO-friendly sig is for a UK company, but you are rattling off facts about US phone contracts.

Commercial links removed.

Apple does not market the iPhone as a general purpose computer (probably because they sell general purpose computers), Nokia used to market their N series phones as multimedia computers, but don't now (because they now sell laptops as well??)

My Playstation 3 was designed for me to be able to install Linux and plug in a keyboard and mouse into it's USB ports. This turns it into a general purpose computer, it was designed to do this.

Games consoles are designed to run third party software, these are commonly known as 'games'

The XBox 360 is a heck of a lot more restrictive than the PS3 as highlighted above, cannot install another operating system, only uses proprietary hard drives (PS3 uses industry standard ones) etc.etc.

Yes Apple is the only current manufacturer to dictate which software is available in their app store (don't forget you can run any unapproved web app on it as well). The next manufacturer to use this approach will be, wait for it.. Microsoft.

Windows Series 7 phones will also have a curated App Store, with approvals that developers have to pay for. There will be no sideloading of apps, and there will be no compatibility between old and new versions of Windows Mobile. Basically, It's a direct copy of Apple's approach.

This is true. Not gonna argue it.

This is where my point is though. You have made a point of saying that this is a bad thing, if it was desktop computers we were debating, I would agree. We are talking mobile phones here though and I think this is a bad thing.

As was mentioned before

The vast majority of people just want a phone to work with no messing about.

I do not want the possibility that someone out there will write an app that is called 'HSBC online banking' and put it on an app store unchecked, then everyone downloads it and types their user / pass into it with it just being a scam. The way that Android is setup, this is possible, in fact 50 people could do it at the same time! Which do you download, which do you trust with your details, which one of the 10 that says it's official really is official? Why would you think this is a good idea?

At least if you got it from Apples App Store you will know that it will do exactly what it says on the tin. Don't forget that the number one reason why apps are rejected by Apple is that 'they do not do what they say they do'. Just think about that for a moment. No really, think about it. Apple reject over 500 apps a week because they do not do what they say they do.

If you bought an App to remember all your passwords, would you like to know that all the details are not being sent off in the background for someone else to use? Not possible with the App store, it would get rejected, but possible on every other available platform.

Having worked in the mobile industry for over 14 years now, I have seen virus infected Symbian and Windows phones and their memory cards on a regular basis, and indeed made money out of repairing them. I see every day the problems people have with their phones. In that time and with the experience I have the iPhone platform is the only one I can trust, as it is the only one with some control.

In a nutshell open platforms are good on the desktop, but not so good on mobile!

Not sure if I have mentioned this, but Nokia have officially apologised for the N97!

Does Apple guarantee that the apps from their App Store are save to use?
I mean it's great they check their apps but even if one faulty one slip through can you hold them responsible?

I coulnd't find it in the terms of use so fast and I need to go over 10 minutes

Yes, of course they do Stefan. They also guarantee that the iPhone will make you smarter, wealthier, and more attractive to the opposite sex.