[Raise]

It's true, iOS does have a lot of apps. Many of them are duplicates (try searching for "notes"), some are awful, some are average and I'm sure some are good. I really didn't find that many good ones.

A lot of people think along the lines of, "I'd better go Android or iOS because I reserve the right to play those games that I can't play on my current platform." Then it turns out (for many) that the App Store is not the great draw-card it seemed to be from the other side of the fence. Those games are sometimes shiny but tedious or more often, you don't have time to play them.

I was with iOS for several years but always pined for a physical keyboard. Now I have a 9900 and it is fantastic. Eventurally I'll get a Q10 or equivalent and step up to BB10 but for now, I'm VERY happy.

BTW, I'm not suggesting the OP is moving to iOS for the games but I do think a lot of users cling to the size of their App Store and consider it a huge benefit even if they make little or no use of that vast bank of apps.

Well said Plato. I think while many people only use a handful of apps, they like the comfort of knowing that they have an endless supply to choose from if need be. Also, it is nice knowing that the first platform a new app will come to is IOS and Android. Then again, people get used to using something on a daily basis, and whether or not they could easily live without it, they dont want to

[traveler20]

You brought up some interesting points, but as a present iPhone and Blackberry owner, I think I can provide some significant feedback:

1. Productivity: iPhone is missing most of the potential applications that will work with Outlook clients (with no Exchange server). Even the simplest, synchronizing the Outlook task list, doesn�t exist. Software authors have abandoned local sync programs in favor of pushing customers to server and cloud services, where they can charge on a continuing basis. Privacy is elusive or non-existent. iTunes Outlook sync is badly broken. Forces users to accept having the honorifics (�Mr.,� �Ms.,� etc.) to appear every time you show a contact name locally or within email headers. Personal productivity is impaired when you search your contacts folder and find most contacts� addresses blanked because the iPhone contacts are not synchronizing properly. Apple has known about these issues for over a year and refuses to fix them. Software app authors who also sync the contact names and addresses are also doing this the same way and also refuse to fix their apps (I�ve personally contacted a few, and their all oblivious to Outlook and Exchange users� issues).

�More productive applications� for the iPhone is also a lie. With few exceptions, most applications for the iPhone are merely the same Apple API�s with different GUI�s. Simple functions like calendar search and notes list are crippled or missing. First time I needed to search my calendar for a particular appointment, and discovered that it�s limited to only the past 365 days. First time I needed a note item that I named so it would pop to the top of the list in Outlook, I discovered that the iPhone notes strictly sort by date and time last modified. No options. Total lack of common sense. Or built-in apps that were deliberately crippled so users would need to purchase apps or services to get back basic features.

Also, here�s a productivity killer. iPhones with 6.0.0 IOS or newer do not have the ability to work with or accept Outlook meeting invitations unless if the meeting planner email arrives over an Exchange- or Gmail-hosted email account. Those of us who use standalone Outlook or other conventional email clients are out of luck. Blackberry users have no problem at all either sending or responding to meeting planners. If your organization or clients collaborate this way, good luck with that.

2. Data model: Your argument is specious at best. Both devices require a data plan. But there�s advantage with the Blackberry for push email. Blackberry devices (9930 and older) retain the ability to deliver push email over Wi-Fi. They also have the advantage of requiring less over-the-air data than other mobile devices.

Consistently reliable Push email is impossible for the iPhone since the latest IOS (7.0.4) deliberately turns off the Wi-Fi radio after about 7 minutes. If you�re out of range of cell service, or have cell data turned off, you can�t stream anything and can�t receive email until you pick up the device and play with some typical data-hog app. Unfortunately, that�s not a joke. Flip side to this is that when you�re on Wi-Fi within range of cell service, your iPhone will silently flip to cell data service to pick up email and any other app that requires data will keep that connection open. iPhone will not switch back to Wi-Fi until you �wake up� the device and stop all internet-connected applications and then restart them.

Also, iPhones will NOT automatically connect to Wi-Fi while a voice call is in progess. If you�re on an extended voice call (like a conference call), you must manually engage Wi-Fi and return to your call.

Adding to users� frustrations with data usage, are apps that have �broken� cell data controls. The iPhone Podcast app is an excellent example. After you download podcasts with iTunes, and sync to the device, the iPhone will delete the files from the device and then instead stream the same files over your cell data connection without warning. For those of us who spend considerable time out of range of cellular service, this is particularly offensive. For people who pay for capped broadband service (i.e. satellite) it�s doubly offensive.

A lot of iPhone owners (including me) are complaining about this, after dramatic jumps in cell data usage, resulting in overage charges since upgrading the device OS beyond 6.X. In my case, data usage has doubled, with no increase in email traffic. I�ve been running the same email accounts on two different devices (Blackberry and iPhone or Blackberry and Windows Mobile) for years so I know exactly how much each device consumes data for the same tasks.

3. New But Useless: The BB10 is more like the competition (not special) and less like the previous networked BB products. Some iPhone bugs have pre-dated IOS 6.0.0, and the device is largely UN-supported. For unusual Blackberry problems, we can eventually get through to a RIM engineer, but fortunately we can find most solutions within the Crackberry web forums (really). Good luck getting anyone from Apple on the phone for just about anything. Reading through the Apple support forums provides a great deal of information about UN-solved issues. If you can find a way to reach a �real� Apple tech support person for in-warranty issues, please let us know.

4. Email: iPhone is less functional than you think, with email �support.� Some iPhone features that don�t work as advertised:

No reliable push email without continuous cell data service.

No background refresh of any email folder except the �inbox.� All other email folders are manual poll.

No rich text email (only basic HTML, and only when responding to or forwarding HTML-formatted incoming email).

No email attachments are supported, unless if the attachments were already in an email being forwarded, or if the email were created by an app that was attempting to send something (like a picture from the photo organizer app). You can�t add an attachment to an email already opened.

5. BYOD: iPhone and Blackberry devices are similar cost, and support is usually similar. iPhone has fewer email features, so fewer options to �support.� In both cases, either they work or not. Only killer app, so to speak, is that without BES, all you can get from your office Exchange server is email. BIS will support picking up email, only, via an Outlook Web Access URL. In that mode, the Blackberry will ignore the office Exchange security settings, and of course, there�s no push email without BES. Unfortunately, these differences, alone, may force your decision to go with anything but a Blackberry.

6. Why not BB10: No argument there. It�s less functional than a traditional Blackberry, and the hardware keyboard is less functional than the well-known �smile� keyboard that has been a favorite for most Blackberry users.