[scougarb]

Did anyone catch the Review of the iPhone OS 2.2 Software over on the iphone blog? I found it very interesting that many of the things they complained about that are STILL missing even after the 2.2 update are the very things where the Storm (and most all BB's for that matter) shine the most. I'm not trying to be an iPhone hater (I think both devices have their place), but since many on here still want to compare them, I figured I would point these out. The iPhone STILL has some major bugs and shortcomings, but just like with the Storm, most people are willing to be patient and give them time to work the bugs out.

Notable points from the article:
Things still missing:

• Push Notification Service - Don't know much about this, but it sounds very much like the way BB's work.

  Remarkable also by it’s absence — again — is the much ballyhooed Push Notification Service (announced during WWDC 2008), intended to provide the semblance of multi-tasking to 3rd party apps by sending badges, sounds, and pop-ups through a central Apple server to alert users of, for example, new IMs or tweets.

• Cut and paste - BB has had this for a long time
• "ubiquitous landscape keyboard" - my understanding is that you can't use the landscape keyboard in every app like you can on the Storm unless you either install a 3rd party utility or in some cases rotate the screen first and THEN activate the keyboard (it won't switch to landscape mode if the keyboard is already activated)... makes you kinda grateful for that Storm keyboard after all... huh?
• MMS - Yep... got it
• Video Recording - Yep, got that too
• Unified inbox - Not sure exactly what they meant by this, but it sounds like something similar to the Messages folder we have where everything (sms, mms, email, call records, etc) can all be seen on one screen.
• Can't connect to VPN over 3G - BB's connected to a BES have an "always on", "vpn like" connection, but better than a vpn, because it doesn't have the big data overhead of a vpn.

Enhancements:

• Enhancements to Maps
  
  • Google Street View - BB already had this
  • public transit and walking directions - <yawn>... yep
  • display address of dropped pins - huh? What does that mean?
  • share location via email - ok... you got me there.. BB doesn't have this (but Blip looks pretty cool)
• Enhancements to Mail
  
  • resolved isolated issues with schedule fetching of email - "Schedule fetching of mail"... so does this mean that iPhone doesn't have true push email? That it simply polls the mail server periodically? (I'm seriously asking... because I don't know)
  • improved formatting of wide HTML email - k... not much I can say about this... how do you compare "improved"?
• Improved stability and performance of Safari - So far (crossing my fingers), I haven't had any browser crashes... Safari has had a lot of issues with this
• Podcasts are now available for download in iTunes application (over Wi-Fi and cellular network) - again... not sure about this one... haven't tried to download any podcasts on my Storm... anybody?
• Decrease in call set-up failures and call drops - The storm has "The Network" and BB's are known to get good signals... haven't seen anything so far to indicate that the Storm has any issues with this.
• Improved sound quality of visual voicemail messages - again... how to you compare "improved"?
• Pressing the Home button from any Home screen takes you to the first Home screen - not really an issue for the Storm since you don't have to scroll through (up to) 9 pages of icons
• Preference to turn on/off auto-correction in Keyboard Settings - Storm already has this.

I think Rene Ritchie (the article's author) sums it up pretty nicely...

Yeah, STILL no cut/copy/paste, no turn-by-turn, no MMS, no video recording, no ubiquitous landscape keyboard, and the list goes on and on. It’s just Apple, once again, doing what they think will give them the most holiday, Storm-competive bang for their developer buck.

Makes you feel all warm and fuzzy... doesn't it?

Ok... so maybe you read through this whole thing and didn't fall asleep (boy you ARE a phone geek!) and you're asking yourself... what is the point of this VERY long post? Well there are really several points... let me summarize with yet ANOTHER bulleted list:

• BOTH phones have their place
• BOTH phones have bugs and design shortcomings
• It seems to me like the iPhone users are clamoring for more "BlackBerry like" functionality (particularly in regards to messaging). Maybe that's why I have been seeing so many MAC users on here that are upset that they can't sync their Storm with their MAC?... just a thought.

[GpCaptMandrake]

Yeah it was essentially a pointless upgrade. Google Maps has street view. Wooo!!

How about MMS?!?!?!?!?!??!?!

[Adjei]

Some of you are so insecure it ain't even funny.

[scougarb]

Guess I said it all...
I thought there would be more flaming than that...

[dimab]

all those are great features, yet people can't use the storm b/c it's so bogged down with user interface issues.
the fact is that iphone took the market share over RIM.
iphone is simple to use and intuitive. RIM's OS is the second closets to that, and nothing else comes even close to 3rd place. yet the facts remain, iphone sells like crazy b/c people find it easy to use.

I had the initial release of the 3g and it sucked. it was buggy as the storm, and lots of pausing between functions. now the storm is in the same boat. but it's a first release, so in due time it will be slick and smooth. but you can't knock the iphone and their OS b/c it works well.
the main reason they don't have MMS is b/c ATT wants to force your hand into using email as your main form of communication and justifying in charging you for a data plan. ATT supports MMS on all other devices, yet iphone is exclusive to ATT and they have some agreements behind the scenes.

[S3th13]

all those are great features, yet people can't use the storm b/c it's so bogged down with user interface issues.
the fact is that iphone took the market share over RIM.
iphone is simple to use and intuitive. RIM's OS is the second closets to that, and nothing else comes even close to 3rd place. yet the facts remain, iphone sells like crazy b/c people find it easy to use.

I had the initial release of the 3g and it sucked. it was buggy as the storm, and lots of pausing between functions. now the storm is in the same boat. but it's a first release, so in due time it will be slick and smooth. but you can't knock the iphone and their OS b/c it works well.
the main reason they don't have MMS is b/c ATT wants to force your hand into using email as your main form of communication and justifying in charging you for a data plan. ATT supports MMS on all other devices, yet iphone is exclusive to ATT and they have some agreements behind the scenes.

Huh? What? That doesn't even make sense. Why would a company force its flagship product customers to stop using one of the most popular modes of communication in the modern world?

[jdmkw]

I think the article is a little biased towards iPhone bashing. I like the iPhone, don't like ATT. If it was available on verizon I would have bought it. the only way to really duke it out is to have both phones available on both networks. Then a head to head would really matter. Verizon has a better overall network than ATT. and for me that determines where I am getting my phone from. for the reliability of the network I can compromise on the BS vzw pulls with their phones. Hopefully they really are coming around and opening up the network and not really crippling the phones like they used to.