Since June 7th 2010 when Steve Jobs in all his glory, splendor blue jeans and black turtle neck, underwhelmed the audience at the WWDC with the announcement of the Iphone 4g Iphone fans, fanboys and just your average joe, are speculating that there is a war to be had between Android and Iphone. Many are jumping on the bandwagon a little late as the Iphone vs Android fan debate has been going on ever since the release of the G1. Now though, with June 24th just around the corner and June 4th just a couple of weeks ago what’s really down the pike. From the eyes of Thedroidguy @thedroidguy on twitter.
First off let’s get the name straight Steve Jobs said the name of the phone/device is NOT the Iphone 4G it’s the iphone 4. He did this to set it apart from the previous 3 issues, it also clarifies to everyone that this phone has nothing to do with 4G wimax, or 4G LTE this is a 3g Smartphone. I will, without reluctance, group the Iphone 4 into the “Super Phone” Category as dubbed apparent by Andy Rubin and team at the Google Conference to unveil the Nexus One. Why, because side by side the Iphone 4 carries features that would put the Iphone 4 in the Super Phone category directly competing with (and get this right) the Nexus One, The HTC Incredible, and Perhaps the Droid. NOT THE EVO. The Evo has an advantage on top already as it is truly (in most areas) a 4G device.
While attending the 4G Summit earlier this month at the Parc 55 in San Francisco, much debate was had about the Iphone 4 and handheld devices operating on the 4g Network. As we all know LTE is at least 8- 18 months down the road, the 4g of NOW is the Sprint Now Network, or 4G Wimax, a partnership cooperative with Clearwire (which Sprint owns 59%of) In speaking one on one, as in directly face to face, with Clearwire’s Masoud Olfat, Manager of Global Standards & Ecosystems, he confirmed what I already knew, there are 2 more wimax handsets on the way both to run Android, one will be manufactured by an already existing Android partner (NOT HTC they already have theres) and the other will be branded Clear (possibly with the help of HTC), you are free to speculate that it is the Samsung Galaxy S on Sprint, but that has yet to be confirmed. Why was all this neccesary, just as a confirmation that the Iphone 4 is not a 4g device.
So back to this war…
In attending Internet Week New York (IWNY) and the MMA Forum (Mobile Marketers Association annual forum) there was a lot of emphasis put on elivering content to the mobile device, and of course the iphone. While NPD says that Android is pulling ahead of Iphone, Apple is quick to note that Nielsen says they still have a solid grip on number 2. From over a decade of wireless experience NPD is the trusted pollster, Nielsen is new in this arena. Having said that, the war continues this time focusing on content delivered to the device. It’s all well and good that the Iphone 4 has a retina display, absolutely beautiful, but have you stopped to think about what the file size will be when optimizing oh say a 5 minute video for the Iphone 4 display?
How about this, many people out there believe that AT&T ended the unlimited plan and began the 200mb cap plans to offer more people a chance at owning an iphone and paying for the plan.. Get ready for this.. take that video above the 5 minute video optimized for the best display on iphone 4, I’m not a developer but my guestimate based on information that I know, is you’re looking at a minimum of a 250-500mb video. Now that the beautiful video has been downloaded to the iphone, wait take that back, now that the video is STREAMING on the Iphone 4, you want to show it off right? But you didnt download it, you streamed it, go for it.. especially on the AT&T 200mb data plan. I hope you see where this is going. A family members daughter just sent 7,000 text messages on a non-unlimited text plan on AT&T, my family member will be paying that off like a small interest car loan. That’s text messaging, think about what happens when you constantly re-download these beautiful videos.
In the wake of all this Iphone4 talk we’ve heard just this week about the Motorola X, The Motorola Droid 2, The Samsung Galaxy series and tablet, an HTC phone that is reportedly gearing up for a 2ghz processor and much much more, and all offered to a variety of carriers, Sprint, Verizon, Tmobile and AT&T. Thnk about World War II for a second, Android, with it’s variety of hardware manufacturers, open source developers and carriers brings together this Allied Forces feel. Apple with it’s shiny, one model, Steves way is the only way… you get the picture….
Until next time I’m Thedroidguy