A war is brewing right before our very eyes. Abbreviated words and emoticons are thrown carelessly, memory cards flailing about in front of us, touch screens smacking against our apathetic desires to be at the top of the tech curve. Yes, the war being discussed is the battle of the cellular mobile devices. Apple and Samsung brutally target one another in an attempt to rise to the forefront of cell phone technology. RIM and HTC carefully watch from the sidelines, picking up advice for the future of their technology. But who will win? Who deserves the title of phone champion? We all have our favourites depending on which corporation we’ve decided to subscribe to in a cult-like manner, but how often do we look at these new devices with a critical eye and compare what the differences in these devices truly are? Here we take the market’s current top four and most hyped phones and divulge a comprehensive comparison between them. Find which phone is worth your cash money, and discover what the hype is all about.
BlackBerry bold 9900
Size: 115mm (h), 66mm (w), 10.5mm (d); 130g
Display: VGA 640 X 480 pixel resolution, 287 ppi
Average Cost: $630
Camera: 5MP; 720p HD video
Battery (Stand-by time): 12.8 days
Wireless/ Processor: 1.2 GHz (3G)
Operating System: BlackBerry OS 7
Available to: Bell, Rogers Wireless, TELUS, Virgin Mobile, WIND Mobile
Pros: OS 7 features new tools such as the integration of Twitter and Facebook into BBM, Near Field Communication (NFC) which allows devices to connect to nearby devices with the same feature, and a voice-activated searching tool. The best feature of the OS 7 would apply to the ability to separate work and personal contacts and emails to create two separate communities that can be accessed on different days of the week depending on your exact contact needs. In addition, with both a touch screen and an easy to use keypad, you will have easy access to your information regardless of whether the size of your finger tips is conducive to touch screen dynamics or not.
Cons: Ever accidentally tweeted a message that was meant to be a private BBM? If not, now may be your chance to do just that. The BB Bold’s latest addition of integrated apps into BBM may be handy for those with several statuses to update at once, but could also wreak havoc as it could cause textbox confusion and an indecent over share of information. If that doesn’t creep you out just a little, the NFC feature allows friends to follow and track your location. Get excited. And food for thought, the new OS 7 isn’t all that new as it was already featured in the BB Bold 9790. Shucks.
Recommended For: Hardcore office workers and BlackBerry fan girls with clumsy fingers and a desire to separate work and play
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iPhone 5
Size: 123.8mm (h), 58.6mm (w), 7.6mm (d); 112g
Display: Retina 1136 x 640 pixel resolution, 326 ppi
Average Cost: From $699
Camera: 8MP; 1080p HD video
Battery (Stand-by time): 9.375 days
Wireless/ Processor: 4G LTE
Operating System: iOS 6
Available to: Bell, Rogers Wireless, TELUS, Virgin Mobile
Pros: The latest iPhone design features a larger screen and lighter design and one-of-a-kind Apple originals such as Siri, a robotic best friend and secretary, iCloud, used to sync up all devices founded or inspired by Steve Jobs, and the graphically appealing iSight camera which now offers a panorama capturing option. In addition, this beaut also comes with the latest iPod ear buds featuring an all new design, and a smaller and more compact charging cable. Not to mention, the headphone jack is now at the bottom instead of the top.
Cons: Aside from the miniscule difference in size, most of the “new” apps being featured on the iPhone such as enhanced iCloud service and Siri can be downloaded to older models with a simple upgrade in operating systems that is offered free to any Apple device. Sure the new headphones, jack and charging cable seem like fun, but save your money and hang on to your old phone, the upgrade really isn’t worth the extra seven hundred dollar expense. Plus, word on the street is that the release date for the iPad mini is coming up soon - and that seems way more exciting.
Recommended For: Graphic designers in need of a retina display and HD camera, Apple zombies in need of a new device to satisfy their addiction, or stylish hipsters in need of some self esteem.
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HTC One X
Size: 134.36mm (h), 69.9mm (w), 8.9mm (d); 130g
Display: 1280 x 720 pixel resolution, Super LCD 2
Average Cost: $549
Camera: 8MP; 1080p HD video
Battery (Stand-by time): 10 days
Wireless/ Processor: 1.5 GHz, dual core LTE (4G)
Operating System: Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich)
Available to: Rogers Wireless, TELUS, Virgin Mobile
Pros: With the same tech offerings as the iPhone in regards to camera features and a super LCD screen (to be honest, I’m not sure if that’s as exciting as it sounds), it offers the same multimedia graphic appeals as its Macintosh counterpart. This phone also has the capability of playing back almost every type of audio and video file imaginable, making life a lot easier for those working with various file formats on a day to day basis. Additionally, this HTC model is more affordable if being purchased without a plan and with the latest Android technology offers the same app world punch as other operating systems.
Cons: It’s a little bit on the massive size depending on what you’re looking for, and in terms of that Super LCD screen, I recently looked it up, and it’s not as exciting as it sounds. The primary downfalls of this device are its lack of style in the design department and inability to be stored in the average pant pocket. Also, HTC isn’t known to be the most reliable of phone and it’s possible that this phone, although inexpensive at first, may have you shelling out cash for upgrades and battery replacements in the future.
Recommended For: Multimedia students who aren’t already Apple zombies, slightly less stylish hipsters who already have reasonably high levels of self esteem, and students on a reasonably flexible budget.
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Samsung Galaxy S3
Size: 136.6mm (h), 70.6mm (w), 8.6mm (d); 133g
Display: 1280 x 720 pixel resolution, HD Super AMOLED
Average Cost: $649
Camera: 8MP; 1080p HD video
Battery (Stand-by time): 30 days
Wireless/ Processor: 4G LTE
Operating System: Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich)
Available to: Bell, Rogers Wireless, Virgin Mobile, WIND Mobile
Pros: It’s almost a tablet. Save yourself some money and get the best of both worlds with this innovative phone/ screen of fun. Android 4.0 is in all its glory with this phone featuring connects to Google and a true high definition display. With capabilities of storing up to 64G, you will have the opportunity to save all your needed files, folders and apps on this relatively compact device. Its combination of high resolution graphics, a large memory, fast network capabilities and an adorably sleek design contrary to its larger than normal size makes it today’s number one phone on the market. Available to most service providers, it is easy to access and easy to understand.
Cons: It’s almost a tablet. It is huge. Definitely not conducive to your average pocket it comes in weighing more than any of the other featured devices. Aside from that, you really can’t go wrong with this device.
Recommended For: Techies with substantial upper body strength, app-addicts, ambitious students determined to stay above the curve and people on the fence about the usability of a giant interactive screen.
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Let’s get real here for a second, if the primary use of your phone is casually texting friends and occasionally calling your mom, then any one of these phones will do the job for you. Four out of allow access to Twitter, Facebook and any other social networking site young people of the world are revolving around. Three out of four have 8MP cameras and allow you to Instagram your latest meal. And they all feature graphic and high tech appeal considering the extensive design research that is put into each to appeal to a large audience. If you’re looking into buying a new phone, consider any other features that may be potentially useful to your future. Require a structured email server? Try going with a beloved BlackBerry. Already have several other Apple devices? Go with an iPhone to sync up with iCloud. Need an all around crowd pleasing phone that features the latest growing technology, easy and comprehensive internet access, and high memory capabilities? Consider Samsung. Prefer a more cost effective phone with appealing graphics and a multimedia features waging against the realms of Apple? HTC is the way to go. The cell phone war gets a lot of hype and deserves it given the amount of money these companies are asking us to shell out for such a small device. Choose your phone based on your needs and feel the satisfaction of consumerism filling the emotional void in your soul it was created to occupy.
By: Miranda Babbitt
Dear Overhyped Technology,
I’m speaking on behalf of all of those who don’t live under a rock and are held subject to the absurdly frantic hype over what is called the iPhone 5. Apple fanboys have been lighting up cyberspace with mock trailers for months, spurring intensified critique of the current iPhone 4S, and spending 98.7 per cent of their time dreaming about their new life, so radically changed with this new phone.
The new design has been deemed “revolutionary,” a complete “breakthrough” and “lighter and skinnier than ever before.” But am I the only one feeling that nagging sense of déjà vu: haven’t they called every redesign thus far revolutionary? Each one poised to simply knock your socks off? Sorry to inform you, Apple, but I can confidently say that my socks are snugly on my feet. I have never awoken to a newspaper article featuring the newest design of the iPhone and consequently fallen from my chair in sheer sock and awe. And to anyone who has, you may want have your inner ear checked, because you’re clearly imbalanced.
How am I so stonehearted, you ask? How are my nerves made of such steel, nay, titanium, in the face of such ground-breaking design? Well, fellow consumers, it stems from the irrepressible irritation created by the incessantly repeated “updates” to an identical phone! In a sense, it seems as though the inner snob in all of us is elucidated when we can feel the newest iPhone in our pockets, as if it was the ring from Lord of the Rings, power pulsing through you, seeking envy in the eyes of those you speak to. Conversations ensue, and it becomes a challenge to drop the fact that you have the “game-changing” phone by your side, acting as though the phone from three generations ago is almost the same thing as an infamous Nokia brick. The iPhone 4S will now be met with an “oh, cool,” escaping from their subtly condescending lips, as if you just told them you prefer mailing letters via pigeon carrier. In actual fact, that would be far cooler than any phone on the market. Who wants to bring back pigeon mail? Nokia, this is your chance to shine!
Now I hate to sound so brash. Admittedly, I have tapped into some of the beauty of Apple on my own. I’m the proud owner of an iPhone, a MacBook, and some family member down the line has an iPad, I’m sure. I know others who have virtually every product released by them, and others who stick to simply one. Regardless, it is undeniable that Apple has made a permanent mark on the consumer world, and it has come out of repeated innovations that have literally changed the dynamic of technological products. No longer are these advancements confined to the awe of the nerdier elite of society, but it has stretched over the world to an unfathomable degree. It is something to be feared though, when people will sacrifice all logic for an obsessive frenzy over the release of a product that really doesn’t seem to be that innovative on its own anyhow. How much is marketing and how much is true innovation? How desperate are we to be a part of this advancing technological world that we will buy the newest products every time, not questioning their value but simply praising their name?
I know we love to pick on our old fogeys of parents, pointing out the flaw in their story of the trek to school being two hills up, chuckling at their confused faces as they attempt to send emails, feeling all high and mighty when they ask you how to add a friend on Facebook, but what were they waiting in line for, camping out for in the prime of their earlier years? Legendary rock festivals, like Woodstock, which gathered 400,000 people, or tickets to Jimi Hendrix or Led Zeppelin. The phenomenon of being the die-hards for a certain niche of the entertainment world came from genuinely sick things you could go to. Not for some game that you’ll hide in your basement and play, or for a phone that you paid someone to stand in line for (oh, the things that could go wrong there). And it’s not like after we get the iPhone, we rush home and do crazily innovative things with it, like solving world hunger with an app, checking out some x-rays as though we were McDreamy from Grey’s Anatomy, being Picasso for an afternoon whilst using your finger to draw a stick man – let’s be real. We Instagram, we tweet, we Facebook, we game alone on the bus.
Essentially, phone companies of the world, you’re making us less cool than our parents, with their hipster records and vintage photos of their afros gleaming in the sun. And as impossible as that sounds, it’s becoming a tragic reality. Stop the hype. Let us be cool again.
Sincerely,
@FedUpWithPhoneHype #whenwillitend #hashtag
