[graystuff]

All this talk about ios/android being miles ahead of os6/7 you would think that there was a host of stuff that you just can't do on a BB. As far as I can see, for me anyway, the only advantage on other OS's is playing the latest games or doing things just a little bit different or a little faster. Speed is not everything. I remember when people were timing how fast a storm1 rotated the screen against an iphone - who cares as long as it does it ok.

So this made me think of the question, what is there that you just can't do on a BB that you can on a iphone/android ect? Nothing to do with speed or differnt approaches, but simply can't do. And vise versa, what can you do on a BB that you just can't do on anything else?

I don't think there is anythig significant, they all do the same things but in different ways it's just down to personal preference at the end of the day.

[Laura Knotek]

So this made me think of the question, what is there that you just can't do on a BB that you can on a iphone/android ect?

It is possible to view flash sites on Android devices, but this is impossible on BlackBerry or iPhone.

[ElSteve9]

1) Android can pick up FM stations. That's a feature I'd love.
2) Android can sync multiple gmail calendars, something verging on a need for me lately.


-Stephen

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

[howarmat]

shoot HD videos
play flash sites
free turn by turn mapping with google maps
wifi hotspot
activesync calender, contacts and push mail
LTE/4G
extensive widget support
netflix
hulu
3d capability
extensive gaming and graphics rendering
HDMI output
DLNA capbilities
app development for medical and other professions is also incredible in some fields

There is also jailbreak/root support with kernal and rom development.

granted some of these features will be on the upcoming BBs and the playbook has some support for these but i was comparing the current BB lineup with current iOS and android lineups

[herculesinwyoming]

shoot HD videos
play flash sites
free turn by turn mapping with google maps
wifi hotspot
activesync calender, contacts and push mail
LTE/4G
extensive widget support
netflix
hulu
3d capability
extensive gaming and graphics rendering
HDMI output
DLNA capbilities
app development for medical and other professions is also incredible in some fields

There is also jailbreak/root support with kernal and rom development.

granted some of these features will be on the upcoming BBs and the playbook has some support for these but i was comparing the current BB lineup with current iOS and android lineups

I have met many people who list all the amazing things thier android can do, yet 99% of them end up using the phone for texting, email, phone calls, and a bit of web surfing, after the new novelty wears off of most any eletronic device, people end up using them for the basic features.

[jebulls]

shoot HD videos
play flash sites
free turn by turn mapping with google maps
wifi hotspot
activesync calender, contacts and push mail
LTE/4G
extensive widget support
netflix
hulu
3d capability
extensive gaming and graphics rendering
HDMI output
DLNA capbilities
app development for medical and other professions is also incredible in some fields

There is also jailbreak/root support with kernal and rom development.

granted some of these features will be on the upcoming BBs and the playbook has some support for these but i was comparing the current BB lineup with current iOS and android lineups

Only downfall to all the stuff is batt life!! Man if they get to the point where they could get good battery life....watch out!!!

[Bahrutile]

if I was someone who used or had access to effective public transit i think being able to watch movies, and play games on my phone would be something i would use/want in a phone
as it stands, my phone (sometimes slowly) does all the jobs i ask of it, plays music all day via pandora or mp3s, i have facebook, text, bbm, e mail, bank account updates, phone calls- granted i wouldnt mind words with friends, or angry birds to keep me from being bored at random parts of the day... but most of the time i dont have time to sit and play games outside of a trip to the john

yeah what some of the android phones and ios can do is impressive, but in our daily lives is it something that we would seriously use?

if i was a person that spent lots of time on a train or a plane then id have a tablet for my main entertainment needs, and yeah i would go with the bb cause the 7 inch size doesnt require its own case like a laptop or an ipad IMHO

[pinkert11]

1) Android can pick up FM stations. That's a feature I'd love.
2) Android can sync multiple gmail calendars, something verging on a need for me lately.


-Stephen

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

I can do that on my BB, I have my Work Email, My Gmail, My Wifes Gmail and "KIDS Schedule". All of these are on my BB. All of the Gmail are also in my G -Calendar as well using the shared view in Gmail.

[HeezyBear]

I love how iPhone doesn't truncate email and allows me to access all my different email folders. I find this superior to the way BlackBerry does email. That's just me, though.

[Section ThirtyOne]

I love how iPhone doesn't truncate email and allows me to access all my different email folders. I find this superior to the way BlackBerry does email. That's just me, though.

BB truncates email to save on data usage. They have done this since my 950.

As for folders, not sure what you are talking about. I can access all of my different mail folders without issue.

[howarmat]

BB truncates email to save on data usage. They have done this since my 950.

As for folders, not sure what you are talking about. I can access all of my different mail folders without issue.

you must have BES

with BIS you get truncated email which sucks in todays age with nice camera on phones but not being able to send them.

You also dont get any folder access to organize your stuff.

activesync does not have these limitations. Its a huge reason BIS is really not consumer friendly anymore. Yes you can get your email fast, but most all phones have push available to them now so that no longer is a huge benefit to BB

[graystuff]

I think some people are missing my point. Simply listing all the apps that do not run on BB at the moment, although they COULD if the developers could be @ssed to port it over, is not what I asked. It's the function of these apps that count. Can I listen to radio? yes I can, not with the same apps tho. Can I watch streaming video? yes - over wifi. Can I synch calendars? yes, Have I got free turn by turn maps? Yes, not google maps tho. The storm2 had 3d capability, not as good as others but still there.

I did say BBOS6/7 (Many of the features mentioned are included in OS7). This is because it's this generation of BBOS's that people say are behind all the others and are outdated. This is what I'm questioning.

[HeezyBear]

Oh yeah, when I had the Bold 9700 using the maps for directions was a pain. I always use my iPhone for directions and it's really easy. I believe the big screen and the ability to scroll it quickly with my fingers is a big help. You're trying to limit this discussion to can and can't do, but that's not what makes or breaks people's buying decisions and overall experience. It's how well something can do something, how intuitive it is, how enjoyable it is to accomplish said tasks.

Sure, you can do a lot of things on the BB that you can do on other phones. Just like I can do a lot of the same things on my Compaq desktop from 2000 that I can do on my MacBook. Does it mean I shouldn't have moved on and upgraded? It's not really saying much. The overall experience is better on the MacBook.

[alexplantman]

I hate the screen size of my torch compared to some other phones out there. I like the idea of having my ipod music in the phone (iphone) vs having to carry a phone and an ipod (not the same to convert the music to make it compatible to the bb).

I didn't know the android had an FM app. The would work out when I go to the gym, since they have the TVs tuned into radio frequencies...Does iphone even have that app?

Other apps we don't have that would be very useful? The credit card app..; bigger screen to watch a quick movie at lunch or on a flight....

I have met many people who list all the amazing things thier android can do, yet 99% of them end up using the phone for texting, email, phone calls, and a bit of web surfing,....

It's just like having a fast car; it's nice to have b/c you can do it all, doesn't mean you will always do it all to its capacity

Bottom line for daily life an android based phone or android is miles away from any bb...

Why do I use a BB? It pays the bills ; use it for work

Oh yeah, with the other phones you can have a true gps...

[grover5]

Oh yeah, when I had the Bold 9700 using the maps for directions was a pain. I always use my iPhone for directions and it's really easy. I believe the big screen and the ability to scroll it quickly with my fingers is a big help. You're trying to limit this discussion to can and can't do, but that's not what makes or breaks people's buying decisions and overall experience. It's how well something can do something, how intuitive it is, how enjoyable it is to accomplish said tasks.

Sure, you can do a lot of things on the BB that you can do on other phones. Just like I can do a lot of the same things on my Compaq desktop from 2000 that I can do on my MacBook. Does it mean I shouldn't have moved on and upgraded? It's not really saying much. The overall experience is better on the MacBook.

BB Traffic is an excellant app that is easy to use while driving. I use it all the time. I do agree with your points though.

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

[specialized888]

I'm really seriously missing SKYPE
Switched from Android to BB some 3 months ago and I'm totally happy with everything else.

[T�nis]

I have pretty good navigation from Sprint on my BlackBerry. It comes in handy from time to time. But someone please shoot me if I'm ever "wowed" by flash or movies on a mobile phone.

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

[tack]

For me it is about form factor as well as function. I want RIM to intro a sexy touch screen that is think, light and has a 4" screen.

[SaMaster14]

I agree, its all about personal preference. People say that Android and iOS are so far ahead because of the amount of apps and the sophistication of the screen display (look at how pretty my phone can be!).

I have an iPod Touch 4 and iPad3G for my gaming fun and app fun, but all of the truly important apps that I use every day are available on my Blackberry...

Sure the screen is smaller with a lower resolution and the processor speed is a bit slow, but the hardware upgrades on the new OS7 devices seem extremely impressive, especially when I see that my mom's Moto Droid2 lags almost as much as my Bold 9650 does at times and it has a 1.2ghz processor... if BB can keep up with it with half that... BB with that 1.2ghz processor is going to be FAST.

[GingerSnapsBack]

Play Words with Friends.

I know BB has several apps that are *like* WWF, but none of them ARE WWF.

[jthep]

Android phones "can do's" over Blackberries are mostly impractical and hardly used.

Netflix/Hulu- look, it you want to watch tv shows and movies on your phone's 2''-4'' screen, I am happy for you and hope you don't go blind. I personally think you lose a lot of the intended production value in its cinematography, direction, and experience on a phone screen. A 10 minute youtube video is about the threshold for me on a phone, anything more than that is making me squint for too long. Keep it, its not practical.

Flash sites- on a tablet or computer this is a really nice feature, but on a phone? These sites aren't intended to be viewed on such tiny screens and its believed they drain battery life, once again, impractical.

Front facing cameras/videoconferencing- I never see anyone use these features in public. It sounds really cool, kinda like Skype. But I hardly use Skype on my computer at all and that is a far better service than the phones have for the most part. Once again, another "look at what my phone can do" feature, but has no practical uses.

Games- I will give Android and iPhone users for that matter a big edge over Blackberry here. But for the most part these games would never be played on a Nintendo DS or PSP bc they would be laughably bad next to better real portable gaming. I like Angry Birds, but would I have bought it on a DS, probably not.

WiFi hotspot- this is one of the very few features that I wish Blackberries would get. But in America, where I live, the carriers rape you to use this feature and extra bill every month for data you are already paying for. I know its not difficult to "root" an Android and dl the PDANet app to hotspot for free, but if you mess it up, you can brick the phone. Still though, if I owned an Android phone I would do it, its worth the risk for such an awesome feature. I would never pay the carrier extra to do it though. As it stands though, I use the Tether app for my laptop and Bridge my Playbook, so while I will admit the hotspot feature is better, Blackberries can adapt to not having this with other ways to share data.

Tech specs- Android phones tend to push the envelope constantly on more powerful phones. But I find a lot of them do this almost as an experiment and the phone battery life tends to suffer greatly. I appreciate the effort, but I don't like being the guinea pig while my phone's battery constantly dies, so I may browse slower on my Blackberry, but it gets the job done well enough.

[Yawgm0th]

ActiveSync is the big one for corporate users with no BES access. BIS is like time traveling to the 90s and using POP and SMTP straight from a mail client. ActiveSync alone will make me switch if the Bold Touch and/or Torch 2 do not really wow me at release.

The web browser is big, as well. Forgetting Flash, there are still too many sites that don't work on BBOS that work great in QNX and Android (OS6 took the browser to such a level that I won't claim iOS is competitive here).

The hardware is not a minor issue, either. A three-year-old processor in every BlackBerry is simply unacceptable. Opening and using the web browser or GPS on a BlackBerry once again feels like being back in the 90s on a Pentium 2 or 3 with dial-up or slow DSL. I really I'm not a big fan of Android or iOS, but at least the phones are snappy. A more recent Bold or Torch is noticeably sluggish by comparison. Admittedly, I can still beat almost any Android phone to a text message, web site, or email, because OS5 with a keyboard is far superior to Android in terms of actual usability -- iPhone doesn't compete, here.

Still, the poor specs of the current BlackBerry phones make all but the most basic apps unusable. I can use LogMeIn or RDP from an iPhone to fix a server and actually have a reasonable experience. By comparison, the Torch can barely do that with a reasonable experience, and a Bold or Curve would be unusable. And yes, I really do have to occasionally log into servers and fix problems from smartphones in my line of work. In a slight tangent, I am very disappointed in the Playbook's inability to emulate right-clicks; holding the screen for 1.5-3 seconds to get a context menu is extremely intuitive and really a necessity on a nearly button-less device.

[Rootbrian]

E-mail, battery life, lossless video capture/playback, photo capture/view, memory card, additional browsers, apps (don't really care for them, but they can do anything or even add new features), physical qwerty keyboard, replaceable battery, extended batteries, microUSB to charge/sync/transfer data/backup/restore, security, themes. No need to jailbreak in order to gain full-functionality and unrestricted use of anything. Oh and newer ones support Ogg audio.

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

[pcgizmo#IM]

E-mail, battery life, lossless video capture/playback, photo capture/view, memory card, additional browsers, apps (don't really care for them, but they can do anything or even add new features), physical qwerty keyboard, replaceable battery, extended batteries, microUSB to charge/sync/transfer data/backup/restore, security, themes. No need to jailbreak in order to gain full-functionality and unrestricted use of anything. Oh and newer ones support Ogg audio.

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

What is this a list of? The thread is about what you can't do on a BB. What does email, battery life, photo capture/view, memory card, additional browsers, apps (don't really care for them, but they can do anything or even add new features), physical qwerty keyboard, replaceable battery, extended batteries, microUSB to charge/sync/transfer data/backup/restore, security have to do with the topic of the thread??

[Rootbrian]

What is this a list of? The thread is about what you can't do on a BB. What does email, battery life, photo capture/view, memory card, additional browsers, apps (don't really care for them, but they can do anything or even add new features), physical qwerty keyboard, replaceable battery, extended batteries, microUSB to charge/sync/transfer data/backup/restore, security have to do with the topic of the thread??

SHOOOOT!! I posted that by mistake. Lol! Okay, I'll say boot Linux instead of the primary OS.

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com