Monthly Archives: May 2011

Today’s comment of the day comes from Neil on the subject of vertically-integrated platform environments- “It’s interesting to see the continued rise of vertically-integrated platform environments, and to see how their actions differ to those of more traditional networks. In the early days of mobile, for example, there was no interconnection; one could only call those who were on the same network. Nowadays, it’s hard to imagine a world where I could only email people with accounts on the same server, or send SMS to people on the same network.

We’ve yet to see that kind of interworking in the IP space – although Skype can break out to the PSTN, for example, a Skype user cannot call a Windows Live user. Similarly, I cannot use BBM to contact a user of an XMPP server.

I wonder for how much longer this will continue – both from a commercial point of view (when does the cost/risk of platform lock-in from non-interconnected solutions outweigh the benefits?), and from an anti-trust point of view, with obligations of interconnection imposed on platform providers? (From a “significant market power” point of view, which is the general test for the imposition of such obligations, the EU framework on communications regulation would need to ensnare platform services, which is not clearly the case at the moment – but I wonder for how much longer this will be the case.)”

The news that the HTC Salsa will be exclusive to O2 brought back some uncomfortable memories for me of a time when it looked like most of the high-end handsets would be exclusive to network providers.

Don’t get me wrong. The Salsa looks like the most average of Android handsets and holds no interest for me whatsoever, but the exclusivity part alludes me entirely. Lots of people jumped on AT&T and O2 when the original iPhone started the trend, but lots of those people have learned a valuable lesson from the experience; never move network just because of a phone.

If you are lucky enough to find a network that works well, it is a risk to move just because senior managers from a network and a manufacturer came up with a plan to drag you in. Prices stay higher, customers feel more trapped and the phone ends up on multiple networks anyway. Don’t do it, or buy it SIM free if it is available.

I have been considering moving away from the iPhone for a couple of weeks now and have carefully thought the process through. The reasons are many, but the main one is that there is better hardware available now of which the Arc and Galaxy S 2 are examples. There is a bit of simply wanting a change thrown in which I hadn’t expected to feel for a long time, but that is where I found myself and so I decided to see if I could replicate my iOS experience on Android, but with superior hardware.

Here is my checklist-

PIM: no problem here because the Android standards are roughly equivalent to the iOS standard PIM solutions.

Notes: slightly more difficult because it means losing Awesome Note, but Evernote is available and a quick search brought up some potential replacements.

Navigation: there is currently no Android TomTom solution although I understand that there will be in the near future (more on that soon) and so Co-Pilot will have to suffice. It is excellent for navigation, but I have some reservations concerning the traffic monitoring performance. Of course there is the free Google Navigation as well so there are some benefits to Android in this area.

Music: not a problem because I use Amazon for all of my digital music now anyway.

Podcasts: too many solutions on both platforms so this will always be covered.

Apps: the debate rages on concerning app numbers and quality and I must concede that in my view iOS apps tend to be slightly easier to use that their Android equivalents. However, there are so many solutions on both platforms that it soon evens out and I firmly believe that there is little difference between the two these days.

Films: oops! This is where it goes wrong for me. I often rent movies for my children or buy a TV series (the ones that are not priced at ridiculous prices on iTunes) and watch them on my iPhone connected to the TV, but in the UK the choices are limited concerning films and TV series on Android. Effectively I have no choices in this area and so it is currently a fail for Android. Until Amazon or someone else (LoveFilm?) gets their act together, iTunes reigns supreme in this area. I guess we could use Blockbuster again, but the thought of renting a movie at a higher cost than on iTunes and then having to return it the next day seems ludicrous now. This is one major reason why Blockbuster is struggling.

As it stands, there is very little difference now between iOS and Android, but Apple continues to lock customers in by offering services that others do not. If this changes I will likely make the move, but as it stands iOS will remain with me for the next few weeks at least.

This brings me on to my main thought. The iPhone 4 does everything I need yet I have fallen foul of seeing something I perceive to be better and I am considering the move. It’s pathetic really…