[luancuvi]

Personally, I don't find the S3 impressive at all - big plastic phone with buggy OS and poor battery life. You have also presented a serious internal contradiction in your own argument by claiming seamless in the same paragraph in which you note "minor glitches throughout" and "UI is confusing some times." Those are pretty much the opposite of seamless. FWIW, it may be faster than a 2 year old BB, but (like most things Android) it is not as fast as it should be since all Android phones are hamstrung by poor OS architecture, resource hogging, resulting occasional lag. Even in the Android forums people still complain about lag with the highest end Android phones, including the GS3. I am sorry but this really just sounds like a Google/Android sales pitch which touts "amazing" until you pay attention to the words. RIM needs to get devices out ASAP but they do not need to replicate the latest and greatest (so to speak) Android devices. BTW, VZW sells more Android phones than anyone else in the US but it was iPhone 5 sales that pushed the revenue up and made their quarter.

Serious internal contradiction? I say "minor" and "some times", that is not against a seamless experiece. My 9860 presents major glitches and lagging and a terribly poor UI. You know I can watch a video while texting on the S3? That is impressive, sort of useless, but impressive, hehe. It is faster than a one year old BB. It is fast, I do not care about the reason, but it is fast, as I will not care about the reason why BB10 is fast, be it the architecture of the OS or the Specs.
I got used to the OS in less than a couple of hours, I was really surprised I could have the Sat Nav working in less than one second (seamless experience) and instant reroutes, unlike Sat Nav on my 9860, which has let me down way too often waiting for the GPS signal or calculating and downloading route.
Screen is impressive, this plastic does not feel cheap, I always use a casemate barely there case so I do not care much, I hate buttons (that is what I like the most of my Playbook) but the ones on this phone feel high end and solid, unlike the 9860's. The feeling of the screen is very nice.
iOS is more responsive, indeed, it was on my iphone 4, but this Android software on this specs is very reliable and fast.
I am not bashing RIM, I am 98% likely to buy a BB10 phone, but they have a hard work ahead if they want to impress and, on Thorsten's words, "leapfrog" the competition.
It is my opinion, I am a heavy user and I am telling you, this is by far the phone I have enjoyed the most messing around with for the first couple of days.
I am sorry I was not used to widgets, animations, graphics, high end devices, customization, speed... I have been a BB user for the last five years. Maybe that is why I was shocked when I found all the apps immediately, they are all there for you to grab them, although I hate adds. BTW, downloading and installing apps is way faster than on my playbook.
I love the swipe navigation on my playbook, that is the best feature and I am looking forward to that on BB10.
I am using my two devices at the same time with different sim cards and I am telling you RIM needs to really deliver its promises.
On the S3, I only miss BB inbox and BB notifications system, and I can do withouth it. Apart from that... I have used skype, video calls, viber, whichi is important when you live abroad as it is my case... I can video call with iphone user, use cross platform voip... This is truly a communication device.
Hehe, and you are not going to believe this, but having FM radio on my phone again is just awesome.
Come on RIM, make me sell my S3 sooner rather than later. I love BB and the pure concept of it, but I am not blind.

[Thunderbuck]

BTW, some here seem to be confused about the difference between "ported" Android apps and "converted" ones.

A "ported" app takes original code, and, with some modifications (usually minor) compiles it into a legit QNX executable. No Android player at all. What I call a "converted" app is one where the developer took his completed APK and just ran it through the conversion process to get the final result. THOSE are the ones that require the Android Player, and I generally consider them to be sucky.

Even so, if an app is available to do something I really need, I'll go for it, Android Player or not.