I have been using PIM devices for a very long time. It started with a Psion, then on Palm until a Microsoft entered the frame. I had numerous Compaq iPaqs, some HTC devices and finally converged to windows mobile with combined phone/PDA. My latest Windows Mobile device is a Samsung Omnia.
Now before I upgraded to it, all around me had this iPhone thing. I thought it looks nice, but I will stick with what I have. I upgraded my Omnia to Windows Mobile 6.1 and all was fine, but the phone just felt sluggish. All I really use on a phone is push activesync to my exchange server and my hotmail (that was push but this just killed the battery). I had hoped the Omnia would be a “swish” as the iphone, but I was very wrong!
Now the apps for WM devices are really good, but you have to hunt for them or find them by word of mouth. This is a bit of a pain, but I suffered ;-)
Push came to shove when I was called on my omnia and the device just looked at me and rang .. it didn’t show me the number calling or anything. Then a number of times I would make a call and it would drop out. I would reset the device and that didn’t help.
So to the iPhone. My main b1tch about the iPhone is O2. I have been with tmobile for a long time. I have a number of SIMs with them and I don’t want to move, just to get an iPhone. Ari pointed me to play.com as the offer sim free, unlocked iPhones. Okay they are not cheap but its an option.
My iPhone came with an Italian manual, and once I had installed iTunes, it registered and works like a dream .. time to play ;-)
So it’s been a few days, and boy, in comparison to Windows Mobile .. well there is no comparison. I can NOW see what all the fuss is about, the iPhone is an awesome bit of kit, responsive, easy to use and the App Store just rocks. Even battery life in comparison to my Omnia is excellent, only 50% in a day, and I am abusing it more than the Omnia.
I am finding that its hard to put down, and getting applications from the App Store is so simple and a lot of the them are free.
My current favourites of the moment are: TweetDeck, mBox Mail (for my hotmail), Faces Lite (for picture contacts), Tube Boards, Sky News, Sky+ and Ragdoll lite. [Thanks to Ari, Matt and Manoj for recommending these!]
I have also invested in an incipio feather cover from amazon and a ZAGG invisibleSHIELD from Carphone warehouse.
I’ll let you know how I get on, but this is one of the best gadget choices I have made in a very long time ..
flaphead.com 