iBerry Wars at Red C
by Natalie Cooke
Which is best... iPhone or Blackberry?
Our love for our smartphones has led to two quite cringeworthy nicknames “iNat and Katieberry”. Which is best though? Is it my lovely white 16gb iphone 3GS or is it Katie’s sexy Blackberry curve? We aren’t the only ones to be having this debate, the internet is littered with articles and forums where other smartphone users have either argued their case or sought advice from other users before making that all important purchasing decision.
In terms of popularity, Research in Motion, the company behind the Blackberry phone, shifted 382,000 handsets in Q3 2009, compared to 254,000 iPhones sold by Apple.
Katie and I have given this some serious thought – she has tried to persuade me (even through some rap songs) but im pretty convinced that my iPhone beats her Blackberry curve hands down!… Over to you Katie…
What Katie thinks
In all honesty, I had been debating whether to get a Blackberry or an iPhone for about a month before purchasing the Curve, the reason behind choosing the Curve was based on the fact that I already have an iTouch, therefore having the best of both worlds! My Sleek and stylish Blackberry Curve has everything that you could ever need from a phone…it looks clean and sharp with an easy to use QWERTY keyboard for writing text messages and emails, you can also get 
alerts to your home screen when emails come through (the iphone doesn’t do this!). It also encompass’ full internet access meaning you can spend all your time on Facebook or any of your other favourite sites. Oh and it has blackberry messenger, which is by far the best thing about this phone! You can message your fellow blackberry friends without it costing anything extra, and you can also send all types of data files including voice files which are perfect for when you’re driving. If I want to watch videos then my Blackberry also has superb video playback meaning you can watch your favourite youtube videos.
It doesn’t even matter which network you take the Blackberry out with as it has ‘UMA’ installed on it, to ensure that even if you can’t get signal where you live it will find signal through your wireless internet, this surely beats the iPhone hands down!
What Natalie thinks
Okay, so there are some good features and you know how to sell it but…
I hate to say it but I did go for looks… the iPhone has a great touchscreen interface which means you can view webpages easily. Let’s not forget that the queues were out of the door when it first went on sale. The same craze just didn’t happen with the blackberry. With my iPhone I can jump on the internet, send emails, get google maps, see what the weather is like in Greece and of course make phone calls! I think not only am I an iPhone addict but I am an app addict too. The applications store is quite easily the best thing about owning an iPhone. There have been over 2 billion applications downloaded since the store launched, in addition to the facebook application my other favourite has to be the “mobile me” application. If your phone goes missing, you can send it an “I’m Lost” message that appears onscreen like a text message, thus enabling the finder to return it. If that doesn’t get results, you can erase the entire phone remotely, thus ensuring your data stays safe.
The iPhone is really simple to use too; I experimented by letting my grandma play with the touch screen. She was flipping through album covers in a matter of seconds and mastered the scroll and the pinch gesture in about a minute. She is perhaps the least high-tech person you will find, but yet she was able to pick up the iPhone almost instantly.
Katie: “Whatever iNat – you know the curve is better”
The features in detail
iPhone syncs content from a user’s iTunes library and can play any music or video content they have purchased from the online iTunes store.The touch screen is unique to iphone and unmatched currently by any other smartphone in the market. iPhone’s widescreen display means that you can watch TV shows and movies easily (not just youtube Katie!). The iPhone can play videos purchased from the online iTunes Store for computers and iPods. The iPhone includes an SMS application with a full QWERTY soft keyboard to send and receive SMS messages in multiple sessions. You can also automatically sync your calendar with your PC or Mac.
The RIM Blackberry Curve possesses a slick and slim design with a full QWERTY keyboard. It also has a 2-megapixel camera, Bluetooth, a multimedia software package for taking your favourite songs, pictures and videos to go- all without sacrificing the battery life! There’s also a spell-checker for e-mail and memos, and a fancy piece of technology that automatically adjusts call volume in noisy environments. The curve is also compatible with Microsoft Word, Powerpoint, Excel, PDF, and JPEG attachments meaning you can view them. You can also have as many as 10 different email accounts with Microsoft Exchange, IBM Lotus Domino or Novell GroupWise, making this phone perfect for business users.
Red C rappers!
iNat: You can hit me on my iphone.
Katieberry: Black-berry girl!
iNat: Coz im feeling all alone…
Katieberry: in my cellular world
The final verdict
Whilst Katieberry and I can debate this all day – it really does come down to purpose. Do you use the iphone for business or pleasure?
If you rely on your phone for emails and need a secure server and easy to use keyboard then the iphone really doesn’t cater for you. There is no ability to search your email, set up filters or even an out of office message. It can take ages to type an email. Emailaholics beware however, if you can get over this and you use your phone to browse the web then the iphone wins handsdown. The iphone also has much better graphics and a 3D gaming experience. So Katieberry do you use yours for business? If so then I give up and you win…. hmmmm!
However there may be alternative….Google have recently created a new smartphone, the Nexus One. It became available on January 5th, 2010 in the United States . Features of the phone include the ability to transcribe voice to text, noise canceling dual microphones, and voice directions while driving. The Nexus one has a multi-touch screen and an illuminated trackball which can change colour depending on the type of notification being received.
The phone has two microphones, one on the front and one on the back, which reduces background noise during phone conversations. The phone also includes a 5.0 megapixel auto-focus camera, GPS receiver, and Wifi capabilities. There is up to 32 gigabytes of card storage and access to over 18,000 applications. The integrated Media Gallery also provides several new features allowing you to browse, edit, and share photos and videos on the phone. Lets hope no-one at Red C gets one or there could be a full on smartphone war!
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