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Clash of the Touch Titans; iPhone 3G 3.0 vs HTC Magic Google Android

By arunenigma on Saturday, April 4, 2009 with 0 comments


My new iPhone 3G (2nd one after returning my original last Fall) is on the way after finding a deal on a new one at HowardForums. I also have been using the T-Mobile G1 since last October, but as I mentioned in my first Clash of the Titans article I am going to discuss the HTC Magic since it is the Android device without the keyboard and I am trying to stick with touch screen only devices if possible. I wanted to clarify that I am putting these articles together as a reference resource that lays out everything we currently know about the devices and operating systems running on them. This is the method I personally use for most all high value devices I purchase and I thought it would be helpful to share my process with you all. As you saw in my iPhone vs. Pre article, I didn’t reach a full conclusion because that is impossible without actually using the Pre. Some people may question why I even post these articles at this time as it may be premature, but this is the process I am going through as device release dates approach so if you think it is too early feel free to skip the articles and wait until I get a chance to get my hands on the device and post full reviews because you know I won’t be able to resist and will end up with at least one of the devices in a few months. So now let’s take a look at the iPhone 3G with 3.0 OS compared to the HTC Magic running the Google Android OS and cupcake update. I laid out what we know of the iPhone 3.0 OS operating system in my first article so I won’t repost all of that content here. I will run through each section for the HTC Magic and then offer my personal thoughts on how it compares to the iPhone 3G with 3.0 OS update on the last page of this feature. Operating System - Google Android: The Android OS is a project from the Open Handset Alliance and is currently available on the T-Mobile G1 device here in the US. Vodafone did announce the HTC Magic for the United Kingdom, Spain, Germany, France, and Italy at Mobile World Congress in February and it has been rumored that this device will also be coming to the US eventually. The operating system in this device has a few updates over what we now see in the T-Mobile G1 that should include (not finalized yet) video capture support (not in the iPhone 3.0), onscreen touch keyboard, stereo A2DP Bluetooth functionality (present in iPhone 3.0) , updated browser, and some other minor updates. As I said, I have been using my T-Mobile G1 since October 2008 and have to say that the device has NOT soft or hard reset a single time in all those months and I have installed and removed tons of applications. I cannot believe how stable the device has been, especially given the fact that this is a brand new Linux-based OS. The Android OS is similar to the iPhone OS in that it has been optimized and offers an extremely fluid experience that is icon focused. You can easily swipe your finger across the screen and expect an instant response, you can move icons around with a tap and hold, and gestures are supported with swipes up and down. The area of the Android OS that really shines and sets the bar over every other mobile device OS I have used is the notifications. Google has implemented a top status bar that developers can access and use to present the user with different notifications. Different icons appear in this top bar and then you simply “pull down the shade” with a finger swipe to see what the notifications are. Tapping on a notification then takes you to the application that is pertinent to the notification so you can quickly address it. I LOVE this notification system and would like to see it in other devices in the future. Another shining star in the Google Android OS is the vast integration of Google and Google products in the OS. You won’t find a better mobile Gmail experience than what is on the HTC Magic. Like the commercials show Google Search is also integrated so that a dedicated search button is found on the HTC Magic and G1 both. The Google Maps experience is excellent and the G1 was the first device with street level compass support. Google Talk and IM presence is another powerful feature for those of you with your lives integrated into Google. There are still several areas where Google could improve, such as with Google Reader, Google Docs, and the new Google Voice. While the Android OS is similar in appearance to the iPhone OS, there are several areas where I think it is more advanced and gives you more power over your device. For example, you are given three “home screens” in the Android OS to place shortcut icons to applications. You can also create folders and place shortcuts into folders so you can really optimize this “virtual desktop” for better performance. You can also always slide up the bottom center tab that presents you with icons for all loaded applications on the device. In addition, you can multitask with the Android OS and have several applications running at the same time. This is nice when you want to have your IM client running and then jump over to take care of email or browse the web. A simple press and hold on the Home button gives you quick access of up to 6 of your running applications and there are 3rd party utilities to give you an even better task manager. A cool thing about the Android OS is that the display behind pop-up windows turns fuzzy so that your focus is turned to the pop-up window. The keyboard is also deeply integrated with the OS so that you can setup customized icons for all the keys on the keyboard and control every function on the device without even touching the display if you desire. While the T-Mobile G1 has a physical keyboard, the HTC Magic does not so it will be interesting to see if the virtual keyboard supports the shortcut capability. Picture messaging is supported now in the Google Android OS, but we will see this in the iPhone OS 3.0 update too. Phone functionality between the two is similar with a touch screen dialpad, contact scrolling lists, and favorite lists. Switching to speaker and Bluetooth headsets is also drop dead simple in the Android OS, just like the iPhone. There is no proximity sensor so you do need to press a button to turn the display back on during a call. One aspect of the OS that really bothers me, especially with the emphasis placed on third party applications, is the inability to store apps and databases on the external microSD card. I regularly get low memory warnings and have to actively manage applications. I understand you can perform some basic hacking to enable this capability, but this should be in the OS like it is in Windows Mobile, Palm, and S60.

Category: android , google mobile

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