Author: RPadTV

I touched on this when I posted Fake Steve Jobs’ hilarious anti-Android rant earlier today — I just can’t believe how many tech writers and gadget enthusiasts have written off Apple iPhone OS and crowned Google Android the king of the smartphone world. Whether it’s Gizmodo, ZDNet, The Next Web, or millions of forum ranters, you’d think that Apple has no chance at “catching up” to Google. Ninja please!!!

Don’t think I’m an Apple fanboy or anything. I love Google Android. I think it’s a fantastic operating system and a wonderful platform. In several respects, it does things way better than iPhone OS. Of course iPhone OS has several advantages as well. The bottom line is that they’re competitive products that offer different things that appeal to different consumers. Just because Google announced a bunch of great Android 2.2 enhancements at Google I/O 2010 doesn’t mean that it has suddenly left Apple in the dust.

Remember, Apple’s Worldwide Developer Conference (WWDC) is right around the corner. You can bet that Steve Jobs’ keynote on June 7 will be full of excellent iPhone sorcery. Yes, a lot of iPhone OS 4 details were revealed in April, but do you really think that’s all Apple has up its sleeve? I fully expect Jobs to wow consumers with great iPhone hardware and software features. I have no doubt in my mind that he will unveil a few things that will make Android users jealous.

Google has done a marvelous job with Android in a very short period of time. The OS has matured nicely. The development community has grown rapidly. Don’t think I’m dismissing those things. That said, iPhone is still the best mobile platform for media consumption. It still has the larger app catalog. It still has a sexiness that — rightly or wrongly — a lot of mainstream consumers buy into. Android is in an excellent place at the moment, but saying or implying that it’s trouncing iPhone is just preposterous.

So yeah! (I use that phrase because Eddie Izzard uses it, btw.) Perhaps I shouldn’t be surprised that online journalists are being reactionary and sensational. I just think it’s misleading to proclaim Google Android as the new king of the world when the reality is that it’s a competitive market now. And really, that’s great for consumers looking for a smartphone. It’s going to be all Magic vs. Bird with the two companies pushing each other to greatness.

Enjoy your all-you-can-eat data plan while you can because mobile data’s future is tiered pricing. In a sign of where the industry is headed, Verizon has confirmed that its 4G LTE network will not use the “unlimited” model that’s in place today. Instead customers will be charged for buckets of data. PhoneScoop has the…uh…scoop:

Speaking at a conference this week, Verizon Wireless CEO Lowell McAdam said that it will not offer unlimited use of its Long Term Evolution network, and will instead use tiered pricing programs. McAdam indicated that customers will “buy buckets of data by the megabyte.”

RPadholic smartguy felt that this is what 4G would lead to and I agreed with him when he mentioned it. This is the first time I can recall an executive from one of the “big four” mobile providers confirming tiered pricing for LTE. While it costs a lot of money to deploy new technology, it will actually be cheaper for mobile carriers to send and receive data with LTE than it is with current tech. I’m curious to see what the new pricing schemes will be like; the cynic in me sees mobile carriers making more money than ever with data-hungry phones and tiered pricing. *sigh*

Source

Between all the excellent FroYo (Android 2.2) announcements at Google I/O and hot phones like the HTC Evo 4G, Android has been getting a lot of attention lately. While I love the Android platform and am very excited about FroYo’s features, some tech writers and enthusiasts are going way too far with the excitement. Thankfully Fake Steve Jobs is here to keep it real. Earlier in the week I read his article on how to combat Android fanboys and it’s so good that I keep coming back to it. Check out this snippet from the intro:

Remember how cool and special and powerful you felt when you whipped it out in public and everyone around you was like, Whoa, is that the new iPhone? Are you some kind of wizard? Do you have magic powers?

That’s just awesome. But wait! There’s more! On Android being better for power-users:

Fair enough, you’re a super techie and can handle Android. Apple is designed for regular people who don’t want to worry about technology. By adopting Android, and helping Google succeed, you are hurting the regular folks who want to use Apple. Somehow.

On multitasking:

You don’t need it. It’s a total red herring. When was the last time you did more than one thing on a phone? Also: Apple will have multitasking soon, so the point is moot.

On the various versions of Android floating around:

I’m trying to remember, how many versions of Android are there? Like sixty? And each one has a different user interface, and they’re always updating and changing and you have to go look up to see if your phone will run the new OS and it’s just so confusing and you’ll be tearing your hair out. With Apple, just one system. Simple. Ahhh.

On the “inferiority” of AT&T:

AT&T actually much better than Verizon. Faster 3G. Talk and surf Web at same time. As for dropped calls, all I can tell you is it has never happened to me or anyone I know, and the media has blown that issue way out of proportion.

On Android spyware and viruses:

You won’t get it on Apple. Android is crawling with it. Also, viruses. You’ll get viruses just by turning on your phone. If you’re on your home network, the virus could jump from your phone to every device on your network, even your WiFi router, and you will never get it out. The virus will spy on you and take pictures of you as you’re working and post those pictures on Facebook along with your credit card numbers, Social Security numbers, and a list of everything you’ve ever bought online. So, good luck with that.

This is just brilliant stuff. Some of his points are actually valid and some of them are hilariously ridiculous. There’s a ton more in the original post and I highly recommend reading it. Fake Steve Jobs ftw!!!

Source