I don’t always get “who is this” messages from friends I don’t text very often, but when I do they’re almost always Android users. I can remember approximately zero times that a friend with an iPhone has responded back with “who is this” when I text them after a large gap in contact. Most “who is this” texts…
Android Still Doesn’t Get It
I was at Best Buy recently, and wanted to check out the latest Galaxy S5 from Samsung. The hardware seemed pretty legit. Screen looked great. So I decided to check out the Internet. This is on a demo phone in the middle of Best Buy, you understand.
iOS vs. Android Security
When I tell people I test the security of mobile applications one of the most common questions people ask is, “Which platform is more secure: Android or iOS?” There are many ways to answer this, but each of them have their issues. You can look at malware stats, you can look at marketshare, you can look at lists…
iPhone vs. Android: A Picture’s Worth a Thousand Words
We hear a lot about how Android is trouncing Apple in marketshare. I’m not doubting the numbers, but I’ve long wondered what these people are doing with their phones. One of the most telling metrics for actual usage is photography. Flickr remains the standard for this measurement, and I’ve collected below some fascinating data on usage between iPhone…
Why I’m Camping for the iPhone 5
When things are roughly similar, I value form over function. It’s that simple. Elegance, beauty, and design are all magnifiers of experience for me, and my daily device is the place where this matters most. But I also see the other side. Google Now is overwhelmingly superior to Siri. Google Maps makes the current version of Apple Maps…
Flirting With Android Again: Galaxy S III
I am demoing a Samsung Galaxy S III. It’s the new flagship Android device, and I like a lot about it. The screen is stunning and call quality actually seems better on it. It’s also on AT&T’s 4G network, which I’ve honestly noticed when using a speed test app, actually (unless the call quality has something to do…
Android’s Biggest Hardware Problem is Deceptive
A lot has been said, here and elsewhere, regarding the relative weakness of Android hardware. It’s too varied, it’s clunky, poor battery life, etc. But the biggest problem with Android hardware is not any of the things above, and it’s not even with any particular attribute of hardware itself. The issue that’s hurting Android is that they’ve produced…
A Philosophical Reason for Preferring Apple Over Android
The horse is dead. Design, feel, features, openness, customizability — we’ve heard it all. The main arguments are well understood by anyone with an interest in this discussion. But there’s another one that I’ve not heard articulated yet — the argument for why both companies do what they do. Or, more specifically, why one would prefer one or…
iPhone vs. Android: The Porsche and the Winnebago
We’ve heard a thousand such analogies, and they generally suck. Perhaps this one will suck slightly less. Getting right to it, the iPhone experience is like a porsche. The Android experience is like a Winnebago. The idea here is not that iPhone is “better” or “worse” than Android. Those words don’t mean anything unless you completely synchronize on…
Summarized Differences Between iPhone and Android
This is an attempt to show the differences–not without bias, but without hate. Functionality The iPhone focuses on doing a few things in a very polished way, while Google stresses being able to do as many things as possible. As I mentioned when the iPhone launched, the iPhone will focus on how relatively few features are implemented, not…
Another Data Point in the iPhone vs. Android Debate: Re-sale Values
It’s pretty well accepted that one way to gauge something’s value is to see how it retains said value. One example would be, say, a BMW vs. a Ford Expedition: You can get into either one for around $35K, but after a year what will they be worth? The same goes for the mobile device market. I just…