TECHNOLOGY

We put fans of the Curve, Android, Pre and iPhone in one room to duke it out

By Omar L. Gallaga
AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF
Saturday, August 29, 2009

How smart is it to have a smart phone these days? Many people are jumping onto mobile phones that are basically powerful mini-computers. They can download applications, surf speedy wireless networks and typically can play videos and music. They are also cash cows for wireless carriers: Although the price of mobile phones like Apple's iPhone have dropped as low as $99, shoppers must sign on for a two-year contract to get that price, and unlimited data plans (in addition to voice minutes and text messages) aren't cheap.

Yet the smart phone market is growing. For the first quarter of 2009, 36.4 million smart phones were sold worldwide, a 12.7 percent jump from 2008, according to research firm Gartner Inc. And the June introduction of the iPhone 3GS, a $99 iPhone 3G and the new Palm Pre won't slow that growth. But which one's the best?

We invited four Austin smart phone users, each using a different kind of popular device, for a roundtable we informally called 'The Smart-phone Smackdown.'

The participants were:

Cynthia Lux, who bought a Palm Pre on June 6, the first day it was available. She uses it with Sprint's wireless service. The self-professed computer geek and gadget geek has a long history of using Palm products. Lux is a business analyst at Dell Inc. and an independent artist and designer.

Jennifer Brown owns 360 Promotions, LLC. After starting her company, she wanted a phone for business and e-mail. She started with a BlackBerry Pearl and after three months moved on to the BlackBerry Curve because of its full keyboard. She uses her Curve on AT&T's network.

Clay Spinuzzi is an associate professor of rhetoric at the University of Texas. After comparing the major platforms, he bought a G1, a phone made by HTC that runs Google's Android operating system. He uses it on T-Mobile's wireless network.

Chris Carter is a Mac enthusiast with experience in flash development, Web and print design, and integrated publishing software. He owns an iPhone 3GS . It runs on AT&T's network. Before that, he used a BlackBerry and was underwhelmed by it.

Here's their conversation, edited for space and clarity. For a full transcript, visit austin360.com/digitalsavant.

American-Statesman: What do you like about your particular phone so much?

Cynthia Lux: One, I really love the community behind Palm. I work for a company where we have a very big online presence. And we have a community of people who go out and help each other and Palm has that, too. It's not about who has what apps ("apps," or applications, are programs you can download to your phone) and things like that because every app comes to every platform eventually. It's a big equal field right now. You can run an app called "Classic" and run all your old Palm apps on your phone if you really want to. It's all there.

You don't have app envy?

Lux: No. Well, I really don't need 6,000 apps to put a picture of a lighter on my phone. (Laughs, groans around the table.)

Clay Spinuzzi: What about concerts, though?

Lux: It's really all just about having light. It doesn't have to be a little Bic. It's crazy when you can flick the Bic. What's the purpose? Because it's COOL! I have lots of cool stuff at home.

Chris Carter: (Pulls out his iPhone and shows off the lighter app.) I hold this up at a concert when everyone is holding up their real lighters. (Laughs.)

Jennifer Brown: For me, when I was looking at a phone, it was all business-related. I didn't get a phone to start surfing the Internet or playing online or any of that stuff. So for me, it was what kind of phone is going to give me the best results for e-mail, my online calendar I can sync between Outlook, my phone and what's a great way for me to store contacts. I get e-mails quickly, my calendar is right there and it syncs up with my contacts. You can put every piece of information there that you need it. And the only apps I use are \u2026 "Pac-Man" (laughs around the table), Facebook and Twitter. I use GPS and I use the memo pad. And also, too, when I bought this, the iPhone was still $400 or $500. This was a lot more reasonable. With the iPhone, how am I going to learn to use a Mac operating system when I've never used it before?

Spinuzzi: I'm going to be honest here. As far as being a phone-phone, the G1 is not a great phone. Placing a call is unduly complicated. Receiving a call is OK.

Brown: So what's the point?

Spinuzzi: I don't care because I don't like to use the phone. This is a little Internet device that happens to have some phone capabilities. But that does really fit the bill for me. I use all of Google's products. They're completely integrated. If I put something on my calendar here, it's instantly on my Google Calendar. I can tweet as much as I want to. I've got a physical keyboard. I have push notifications, e-mails, IMs, all of that other stuff. All of that is really important to me. I'm extremely mobile. I may be on the bus or the coffee shop. I need to be able to get to all of my data as quickly as I can.

How much is each of your monthly bills?

Lux: Sprint has the Everything (Data) plan. It gives me 450 minutes, with unlimited data. Before I moved up to the Pre, it was about $55 a month. My plan actually moves it up to about $70 a month.

Brown: My phone bill runs about $147 a month, and I know that because I paid it today. (Sounds of disbelief around the room.) But I don't have a home phone. I talk anywhere between 8,000 and 10,000 minutes a month. I love to talk on the phone.

Spinuzzi: Are you kidding?

Brown: No, I'm dead serious. If y'all ever see me around town, this little thing will be hanging on my ear. I do, I talk a lot on my phone. For $100 I get absolutely unlimited minutes. For $10 a month I get unlimited texts and I pay the $30 for the Internet, the data plan and a little bit of taxes.

Spinuzzi: We're on a family plan, so it's about $110 together.

Carter: Since my wife now has an iPhone, too, we have a family plan. My total bill is $172. We have $30 a month for each of our iPhones (for data). We have a $30 unlimited text package for everybody on the family plan. And then 500 or 600 minutes. We don't use our phones a lot to talk to people who aren't on AT&T.

What does your phone do better than any other phone in the room?

Lux: Palm is working on the catch-up because this is a first-generation phone. For the Pre, I really appreciate the fact that you can switch apps pretty easily. The little card-shuffle thing is pretty easy.

Carter: I am envious of that feature.

Brown: For me, it's e-mail. It's e-mail for business that I think makes the BlackBerry rock.

Carter: (The BlackBerry) is a good dedicated e-mail and calendar device. All the IT guys are used to them and aren't afraid of them like the iPhone and G1.

Lux: And BlackBerry has that security thing going on, too.

Brown: Isn't that what the president uses?

Lux: He's got that $8,000, uber-secure one.

Spinuzzi: For me, I like that (the G1) has a physical keyboard and total Google integration. The way it handles notifications is really nice, too. I don't like the idea of being interrupted in the middle of something with a dialogue box.

Carter: What does the iPhone do better?

Lux: It's preeeeetty. (Laughs.)

Carter: It comes in black and white... (more laughs) I spend a lot of time on the Web, so that was a huge selling point for me. Safari (the iPhone's Web browser) and being able to see pages how they actually look and not the dumbed-down mobile version you see on the BlackBerry.

Brown: I can flip back and forth between the mobile version and the real version.

What doesn't your phone do that you wish it was capable of doing?

Lux: I'm waiting for more of the official apps. All in all, it's a great first-generation product and I knew it was first-generation when I bought it. I'm just waiting for the greatness.

Brown: I wish I had a little bigger screen. I think that's a shortfall on a BlackBerry on this particular model. I don't think you buy a BlackBerry for applications. If apps and games and cool features and gadgets is your thing, you buy an Apple. If you want a good, hearty business phone, you buy a BlackBerry.

Spinuzzi: It would always be nicer to have a bigger screen, a longer battery life. I wouldn't mind it being a little thinner than this. This is a bit thick for your pocket. I hear they'll have an official Facebook app out this week, so maybe I'll go back to Facebooking.

Carter: I actually like not having a physical keyboard. I can stealthily type during a meeting without it going "click click click." As far as things I would like to have that it doesn't, longer battery life, maybe. But I have no real complaints that I can think of.

ogallaga@statesman.com; 445-3672

Smart phones in our round table

Apple iPhone 3GS

Cost: $199-$299 for 16-gigabyte or 32-gigabyte models. Basic 3G available for $99.

Carrier: AT&T

Features: Multitouch screen, extensive App Store, auto-focus camera and video recording, GPS.

BlackBerry Curve

Cost: $199

Carrier: Various (AT&T model in this roundup)

Features: Full keyboard, voice-guided GPS, world phone, BlackBerry push e-mail.

Android G1

Cost: $199

Carrier: T-Mobile

Features: Google operating system with wireless sync to its services, full keyboard, one-touch Google search, GPS.

Palm Pre

Cost: $199

Carrier: Sprint

Features: Multitasking applications, GPS, can run older Palm applications.

Note: Prices listed require the user to sign a two-year service contract.

See a video of our smart phones roundtable at austin360.com/videos and read more tech coverage on Omar L. Gallaga's blog Digital Savant, austin360.com/digitalsavant