iPhone Or Windows Mobile? Tim Hillebrand Discusses
There are a lot of articles out there that compares these 2 platforms but it’s usually very one-sided. Tim Hillebrand from Smartphone & Pocket PC Magazine Blog has just published an article that steps away from the norm. He discusses the the differences and gives a rather neutral view on both. Here’s an excerpt:
We had been talking about a family member whose contact info I didn’t have. My brother found it in his iPhone. “Great!” I said as I grabbed my Windows Mobile 6 Professional Phone. “Just beam it to me, bro.”
“Huh. What’s that?”
We learned that an iPhone cannot beam contacts, photos, files or anything else because it doesn’t have an InfraRed port. Hmm… Apparently you cannot beam or synchronize wirelessly either even though the iPhone has both Bluetooth and Wi-Fi. The iPhone comes with Bluetooth 1.2, not 2.0 and Wi-Fi 802.11 b, not b/g. Oh well…
For those interested in reading the full story, head over here. I do agree with him on quite a few of the points but I guess when iPhone 2.0 and the iPhone Apps Store does go live, things might change from there, especially in the Productivity department.
While you are there, you might want to check out Hal Goldstein’s article as well, Five iPhone Gifts to Windows Mobile. What’s interesting is this paragraph which I found at the beginning:
Many observers believe that Apple blindsided and leaped ahead of Microsoft in the smartphone market with its launch of the iPhone. However, based on a Windows Mobile roadmap briefing I sat in on in 2002, Microsoft is right on schedule.
Seems like the game’s not over for Microsoft like many thought. Looks like great times ahead for us users 
P.S. Don’t forget to sign up for a free trial issue of the magazine if you have not already done so. It’s free in case you missed it the first time 
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I can sure relate to the spirit of things.
Apple have always had great GUI, as does the iPhone.
Also, MS always were able to copy this GUI and incorporate in into their own products (like we see happening in the WM market today).
basically, the iPhone has GREAT GUI , but it seems that it is a little (too much) behind technically speaking. It doesn’t even support A2DP which makes even the 16GB of space seem less enticing.
To be honest with you, I did not realize these shortcomings of the iPhone. I have considered the device but after hearing such accounts, I think I made the right choice.
I think the tone was a bit too derogatory for me…because a lot of the things he mentioned I honestly don’t care about for my personal smartphone. I currently own an iPhone and I’ve used a good half dozen WinMo phones, both standard and Pro.
The biggest travesty for me is the lack of MMS. Second up would be the lack of 3G. I’ve NEVER seen people beam cards to each other in the last few years but maybe I’m moving in the wrong circles. I don’t need to edit docs, don’t need to swap SD cards, and GPS is a “nice to have.”
In return for a phone lacking the versatility of a Windows Mobile device I get something that’s elegant, easy to use, far less crash prone, slim and meets most if not all of my day to day needs. This is just where I draw a line between my work and personal lives…and on this side of the line it’s smooth waters.
PS: Have you seen the games coming out for this thing?! Eesh. I wish WM phones had good looking stuff like that. There’s so few devices that can handle OpenGL so of course why would game makers target WM with games like that? Meanwhile any game developing house knows they can toss their stuff out on iTunes for a few bucks and they know every device will be touchscreen with OpenGL and an accelerometer.
Well the tone is all a matter of perception.
The thing is, Windows Mobile is not for you based on your needs while the iPhone does which is why you love it. Like me, I don’t play games on my Windows Mobile. To me, it’s a productivity tool. I love how the iPhone looks and the fact that web browsing is so great. But that’s where it stops. I need GPS. You don’t. MMS and beaming are not big issues for me so I do agree, it does not really matter. So is 3G because I do not have a data plan at the moment.
But I need something powerful and helps me in my productivity, not games or media. You may love games. To me, it doesn’t matter if they ported Gears of War to Windows Mobile or iPhone; those are not selling points for me.
So not to worry, everyone is entitled to their opinion. I was never aware of the iPhone’s shortcomings until now. I do agree that the iPhone has finally made all other smartphones aware of what they are lacking. Hopefully these other developers, including Microsoft, would buck up. And according to Hal, it looks that way.
I think Apple is good at what Apple is good at. And one of those things is motivating the rest of the industry. The S60 touch stuff Nokia has in the pipeline looks nice. The changes they’ve made to WM 6.1 Standard (or whatever it’s being called now) looks great! It’s a shame Pro didn’t get the same facelift.
I’m really eager to see how WM7 shapes up.
Yeah I do agree that Apple has it’s strengths and it seems to be in design. It’s definitely waking up the industry because we never knew what were missing until it came around.
i really like the iphone. my friend has one and boasts about what it can do. if i had the $ i would get one.
i am an avid windows user and i use windows mobile for my all-in-one mobile solution. i think it blows iphone out of the water. i use an E-TEN G500 i bought a few months back and now the iphone doesn’t seem appealing anymore. the GPS was the biggest selling point for me getting this phone in spite of using a dated OS (WinMo 5.0). i still think the iphone is an impressive piece of hardware but i think my mobile phone is a lot better.screw the fancy screen & motion sensing. i am perfectly content in my windows mobile realm.
This was the best WM/iPhone comparison I’ve seen yet. I especially like the fact that his article focused on computing power and versatility. No one would argue that the iPhone’s GUI isn’t great. My [main] complaint with it so far has been that it’s weak from a functionality standpoint, and it was refreshing to have someone take Apple to task for the iPhone’s many failures as a mobile computing device. Great, great work!
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