Go For An iPhone 3G Or Wait For Nokia’s “iPhone Killer” « John Raul dot Com

Last year we saw how Apple rocked the mobile phone industry and the world with its revolutionary iPhone — a mobile device that combined a phone, an iPod and Internet communicator in one. Apple’s iPhone was the first in the world to feature a full HTML capable Safari web browser, a pioneering mobile multi-touch feature that wiped out the typical cellphone keypads, and the best iPod ever.

Sensing the threat from Apple’s pioneering mobile phone product, Nokia, the world’s largest mobile phone manufacturer at the present, announced in the recent months that they are preparing a set of high-end mobile phones aimed to topple the hype caused by iPhone. Nokia fans dub these upcoming phones as "iPhone killers."

Other mobile phone manufacturers are also working their own high-end phones to compete with iPhone.

iPhone’s Shortcomings

Apple’s first iPhone caused so much hype worldwide basically with its groundbreaking multi-touch feature. Buyers found out later, however, that it was nevertheless an imperfect device. Here are the most criticized/missing features in the original iPhone that would have made it the best mobile phone in 2007:

• SIM is locked by default to a single carrier
• It lacks 3G support (upcoming feature)
• Closed environment: no third party applications (supported on March 2008)
• 2 Megapixel Camera is mediocre and lacks advanced imaging application found on today’s high-end mobile phones
• No video recording support
• Safari web browser does not support Java or Flash
• Ringtones cannot be customized
• Bluetooth features are basic, no file transfer
• Cannot be used as mass storage
• No memory expansion card support

The Facelift And Coming of iPhone 3G Version

Aware of its phone’s limitation, Apple swiftly developed a series of firmware upgrades to extend iPhone’s functionality and new revamped iPhone version to be released next month. The upcoming new iPhone version, so-called "iPhone 2.0" or "3G iPhone," is rumored to feature up to 32 GB storage, a 3G chipset of course, and other features yet to be revealed at Apple Worldwide Developers Conference 2008 on June 9-13 in San Francisco, USA. The said conference will also bring center stage the development platform Apple’s Mac OS X Leopard and the future of iPhone.

To recall, last March 6, Apple CEO Steve Jobs unveiled the iPhone software roadmap, iPhone Enterprise Beta Program and released the iPhone Software Development Kit for interested third-party developers. These moves apparently show the exciting things ahead for the iPhone device.

Nokia’s "iPhone Killer"

The menace caused by iPhone’s boom last year caused Nokia (and other mobile phone companies) to fortify its lineup of high-end phones. Nokia has been the world’s biggest mobile phone manufacturer and still the top producer of advanced smartphones they dub as "multimedia computers." Last year, avid mobile phone fanatics considered a direct competition between iPhone and Nokia’s highly acclaimed Nokia N95 smartphone. Things were much brighter for Apple though, due to iPhone’s innovative multi-touch feature, they became the agent of change (again) this time in the way how we interact a mobile phone. Nokia hopes this year to protect its reputation in the mobile industry with their upcoming Nokia N96 model, an addition to its existing feature-rich high-end NSeries smartphones, set to be released in the third quarter.

If you missed iPhone last year and still planning to buy one, you may want to check the comparison table below and decide which smartphones are good and works best for you.

Feature	Nokia N96	iPhone 3G
2G Network	GSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900	GSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900
3G Network	HSDPA 2100 / 900	HSDPA 2100 / 900
Display	TFT 16 million colors 240 x 320 pixels 2.8 inches - Accelerometer sensor	Touchscreen 16 million colors 320 x 480 pixels 3.5 inches - Multi-touch input - Accelerometer sensor - Proximity sensor
Ringtones	Polyphonic (64 chan.) Monophonic True Tones MP3 Vibration Support 3.5 mm headset	Polyphonic, MP3 Vibration Support 3.5 mm headset
Memory	16 GB internal memory Card Slot up to 26 GB 128 MB RAM 256 MB storage	8/16 shared
Data Network	GPRS, EDGE, HSCSD, 3G, Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g UPnP technology Bluetooth 2.0 A2DP USB 2.0 microUSB	GPRS, EDGE, 3G Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g Basic Bluetooth USB version 2
OS	Symbian OS 9.3, S60 rel. 3.2	Mac OS X v10.4.8
Messaging	SMS, MMS, Email, Instant Messaging	SMS, Email
Camera	5 Megapixel Camera Carl Zeiss Optics Dual LED Flash, Autofocus Video recording Videocall Camera	2 Megapixel Camera
TV Out	Yes	Yes
Digital TV	DVB-H Broadcast	No Support
FM Radio	Yes with RDS	No Support
GPS	Yes, Built-in receiver, Nokia Maps A-GPS	Yes, Built-in receiver, Google Maps
Web Browser	WAP 2.0/xHTML, HTML, RSS reader	Safari Web Browser, HTML
Other Features	Java MIDP 2.0 FM transmitter Multimedia format player Photo editor/browser Handsfree	Widgets iPod media player Photo editor/browser Handsfree

My Personal Standpoint

Steve Jobs most likely would announce the exact specification of the revamped iPhone at WWDC event next month. It is certain however, that the will be no significant improvements with the next iPhone hardware version other than much-awaited 3G chipset which will enable faster mobile Internet (and perhaps, hardening of protection against jailbreaking and hacking).

Feature-wise, if you don’t mind of iPhone’s multi-touch input and bigger screen display, Nokia’s N96 "iPhone killer" remains supreme. What can I say? It has everything you need for a great mobile experience. With a whopping 16 GB internal memory that can be expanded with a card up to 26 GB, you can move your PC’s contents to it and play with them in Nokia N96. The video recording, digital TV, FM reception, and advanced imaging (things that iPhone sorely missed) make Nokia N96 more attractive and better multimedia phone.

Now talking if Nokia N96 will be able to "kill" iPhone: this is improbable until we hear the true specs of the 3G iPhone and see how it performs. With Apple opening the doors of iPhone to third-party developers, Nokia will find it difficult to convince iPod lovers not to buy an iPhone.

If you own a Mac, I recommend that you wait for the release of iPhone 3G. It will work better for you. For Windows users and individuals who want to be more productive, Nokia N96 offers us great resources and miniature handheld computer in our hands. But if I could have both smartphones in my hands, then I surely would.

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