The folks of BillShrink have provided the excellent comparison table below:

Turns out that the Droid and iPhone 3GS cost the exact same price in the long run, while the Pre is cheaper, although it has its drawbacks (fewer apps, less internal memory, no voice commands). Meanwhile, getting the Moto Verizon Droid with an unlimited plan will mean paying $3,799 over a 2 year period, but this handset has some strong points, to be honest.

For example, Droid outperforms the iPhone 3GS and Pre when it comes to talk time, camera quality and multitasking.

Apple recommends turning off 3G and its other new features to extend its battery life, but that would just defeat the whole purpose of getting the iPhone 3G S, won’t it? Anyway, this apparently hasn’t dismayed buyers as sales of the iPhone 3G S continue to rise.

How about you guys? How is the battery life on your iPhone 3G S turning out so far? Any other gripes you have regarding your newly acquired iPhone?

Why now? Well, my carrier was offering a promotional pricing for data plans, that is $30 for 6GM per month, until the end of the July.

Still, why? To replace both my iPod, cellphone and portable computer (the Nokia N810). The 32GB size is now large enough to hold my podcasts and music collection. I still use the N810 from time to time, especially since it works well with the iPhone’s tethering (Internet sharing) feature.

So, how is it?

The battery life is OK. It usually lasts about 25-30 hours, with about 4-5 hours of it being heavy use. I suspect using it only as a “phone” it could last about two days. So, still not as great as the 3 days I was getting from my earlier phone (Motorola RIZR Z8) or the N810.

Overall though, it does feel like a fast, clean and tweaked 4th-generation update. It’s honestly the first time that I’ve used a cell phone that doesn’t require me to get used to its glitches. I know, some are complaining all the time that the touch screen keyboard is difficult to use or “slow”, but having used text input with the numeric keypad for 3 years I can assure you that the touch screen keys are quite fine. I still need to create the habit of using more the tip of my thumbs when typing rather than the thumbs sideways, but other than that even using my index typing is pretty fast.

It’s also a “lifestyle” change for me. With many applications like Remember The Milk and Evernote, both being connected to the Internet all the time, I effectively use the iPhone as an always-connected external brain interface of some kind. Need to remember something? Type it up or record a message, they both get synchronized on the Internet for future reference, with GPS tagging. Browse almost any web site on the Internet? Yes, from anywhere, using a browser that doesn’t suck and is quite fast. Email, calendar and contacts? Yes, all the time with push notification. Got lost? GPS and Google Maps included. Even twitter, which used to be a total pain by typing SMS on a numeric keypad, not works great using TweetDeck.

True, it’s not an unlocked Linux machine like the N810, nor does it has a large hard drive like my 80GB iPod. But it’s still effectively a quite capable super-portable computer with always-on Internet access. Viewed this way, the total price of about $3000 (with the 3-year voice and data contract) seems reasonable.

I’ll keep posting some of the cool tricks I do with it over time. For now, I’ll just relax, since, as you would expect, it just works.

Speculations were rife back then about the features that N97 would come packed with and how the iPhone would stand in comparison to it. Now that the N97 is here, it is only befitting to begin comparing the two. iPhone has had a stranglehold in the smartphone market. Even the arrival of G1 didn’t do much towards taking significant amount of market share from the iPhone.

With regards to the physical measure, the N97 is slated at 117.2 x 55.3 x 15.9mm (LxWxD) as compared to the iPhone 3G’s 115.5 x 62.1 x 12.3mm (LxWxD). The N97 weighs about 150g while the iPhone 3G weights about 133g. The iPhone 3G boasts of a 3.5 inch screen at a resolution of 320 x 480 pixels. The touchscreen facility of the iPhone is provided by a capacitive touch screen. The Nokia N97 on the other hand has a 3.5 inch screen at a resolution of 640 x 360 pixels, which implies that at the same screen size, the N97 is better with its better screen resolution.

What makes Nokia N97 formidable is the fact that it is shipped with a fully functional slide out QWERTY keyboard to go with the virtual keyboard. Such a fully functional QWERTY keyboard is significant in that it helps in keying in longer texts such as sending emails. The iPhone 3G though, lacks such a keyboard and the users have to rely only on the virtual on screen keyboard.

The multimedia features offered by the Nokia N97 and the iPhone 3G are directly influenced by their respective companies’ services. The iPhone 3G S provides access to the iTunes store which has a huge range of content while the N97 provides its users with the access to the Nokia Music Store for their music needs. This feature apart, there is very little to choose from with both supporting popular video and audio formats such as MP3, AAC, MPEG4 etc. N97 though, has a slight bit of an advantage over iPhone in that it supports WMA, Windows Media 9 and Flash Lite.

The Nokia N97 comes equipped with a camera on the front for video calls and a five megapixel camera with LED flash and video capabilities. The videos are shot at a decent 30fps. In comparison, the iPhone 3G only offers a 2 megapixel camera without flash and without any support to record videos. The recently launched version of the iPhone, iPhone 3GS is an improvement over the earlier versions in that it has a 3 megapixel camera which has features such as auto focus and video and voice recording features.

On the navigation front, the iPhone 3G makes use of A-GPS and Google Maps while the Nokia N97 has A-GPS and an electronic compass to go with Nokia Maps for the navigational requirements of the users.

Internet and communicational features on both phones include HSDPA and WiFi connectivity with the N97 supporting Bluetooth 2.0 and support for Flash Lite 3.0 which implies that web pages can be rendered more completely on a N97 as compared to the iPhone 3G which lacks any kind of support for Flash content.

Cost of iPhone 3G S and Nokia N 97 in US:

The base price of iPhone 3G 8GB variant has been greatly reduced recently and is now available at $99 at the Apple store while the price of the iPhone 3GS 16GB and the 32GB variants is fixed at $199 and $299 respectively. These prices though are subsidized by the network providers and therefore cost less. The Nokia N97 is priced at $600

IMPORTANT NOTE :

For those looking to update their 2G iPhone to the 3.0 firmware without losing their activation and unlock.

If you click the Update button in iTunes to install the 3.0 firmware you will not loose your unlock. (2G iPhones ONLY). However, if you are using the 2G iPhone on an unofficial carrier you may loose your activation. This means that will your network will be detected but you will not be able to use your iPhone.
You will loose your activation if you used QuickPwn to jailbreak your iPhone. If you used PwnageTool you will not.

If you are super excited about iPhone 3.0 and wish to update immediately, either make sure you jailbroke with PwnageTool or rejailbreak using PwnageTool and then do the update. Otherwise wait for a little bit and the iPhone Dev-Team will release new PwnageTool and QuickPwn utilities.

Whether a larger “iPhone Tablet” will also make an appearance this year, or will be delayed until 2010 as analysts suggest is yet to be seen, but a 2009 iPhone is badly needed.

Latest Apple iPhone leaked pictures:

To start with, the latest apps are pushing the processing and RAM memory limits of the existing iPhone 2G and 3G models.

16GB is too small an amount of memory when the iPod Touch already offers 32GB and the Nokia N97 will offer it this month, too.

So, iPhone rumours have revolved around:

• a larger 32GB (but not, strangely, a 64GB) storage option
• a front facing video camera for iChat and 3G video calls
• potential new names: iPhone Video, iPhone 3GS
• a faster processor, possibly from new processor subsidiary PA Semi
• a faster processor could mean proper multitasking
• double the RAM (256MB)
• better battery life (despite that faster processor)
• sleeker cool new design, different rim
• more colours
• an FM transmitter
• a potentially re-positioned headphone socket
• a magnetometer/compass
• 3.2 or 5 megapixel camera with autofocus
• video recording
• onboard photo and video editing software
• possibly higher resolution screen
• possibly OLED screen (as sported by the Zune HD)
• a cheaper $99 model (still on a 2 year plan)

There’s still no removable battery rumour, nor any for removable storage, which is a shame.

Some kind of blockbuster iPhone Tablet launched in a few hours would knock everyone’s socks off, along with an iPhone 3.0, likely blitzing the TechCrunch tablet with amazing functionality (but a higher price), while the iPhone 3.0 hardware and software blitzes the market with the most sophisticated and advanced mobile computing and communications experience.

As noted, the iPhone Tablet/netbook may still be yet to come in several months time, but the iPhone 3.0 is certain. Now we just need Apple to deliver it, whether in a few hours or a few weeks -  preferably with Steve Jobs himself delivering the boom!

Well, hopefully it will come out soon, cant wait any longer !

It moves a lot faster between pages that don’t require fresh data because it uses database storage on the iPhone and Android’s built-in Google Gears implementation, which supposedly makes it work better on a slow connection besides giving it some offline powers. Search and loading emails from the main screen isn’t necessarily quicker, but picking contacts and opening particular messages within a thread—yes, threaded conversations work just like real Gmail now—is definitely quicker. You can also get to other Google apps (like your calendar, which is improved now too) in a snap.

It feels more like an app with the sunburst style progress spinner anytime you need to load stuff, and a button for “load more messages” at the bottom that responds nearly instantly, rather than having to load a whole new web page. Search is no longer shoved at the bottom of the window, there’s an actual button for it on top (which is great since the reason I fired up the Gmail site was for search).

There’s a “floaty bar” that follows you down as you scroll with functions like delete, archive and report spam. The new UI feels a bit more finger friendly, and it uses Gmail’s newer color scheme, with a grayer blue and more subtle colors that makes it more readable, too.

Iphone Pros

- Sleek design and sexy looks.
- Excellent user interface.
- Excellent stability for most of the applications.
- The presence of lots of useful applications from the applications store is icing.
- If you are a Mac Programmer, you can make an application for your very own needs due to the availability of the excellent SDK.
- Easily the best to device to hit the market since…..well, BlackBerry. I love the screen size, the applications, ease of use, safari browser, its iconic status, push email etc etc

Iphone Con

- Not yet great for enterprise use.
- Not as sturdy as the Blackberry and needs to be used delicately.
- Lacks the keyboards, which makes it really difficult to mail etc.
- Lacks Video recording.
- Lacks MMS, but this limitation is overcome as you have excellent browsing and mailing options.
- Can’t forward SMS and a real struggle to get MMS. Another downside is you can’t have multiple (non apple) apps running simultaneously which is a drawback if you want a decent sat nav application and then run something else!
- Batterly life is a bit poor but this is probably becuase the thing is so damn irresistable, that the screen is on most of the day!

Since I am comparing Iphone with BB, the pros in Iphone are more like Cons in BB and vice versa.

Generally for the Bold – A real bruiser of a device and easier to compose emails than the iphone. When you whip out a Blackberry, it says “this guy is all business” where as the iphone says “this guy is fun”. Most folks use any functionality other than email, calendar and contacts but thats always the way with a Blackberry – they just work!

It really boils down to the features that are critical to you. For eg, SMS usability, MMS, enterprise application integration, Flash, etc.

Both Apple and RIM are trying to reach beyond their usual demographic market which is only natural in this economy. The iPhone is a clever leisure gadget trying to make its way into the corporate world. The Bb Storm comes from a no nonsense family of reliable corporate communications where it has cornered the market.

Both have great features with minor drawbacks, however, its only a matter of time before both phones evolve to where the technical comparison is near comparable.

The only thing that will separate the two phones is clever marketing, cult followers, and consumer perceptions. Ask yourself if you’d rather close an important business deal with someone who carried an iPhone or Blackberry.

The questions you’ll need to ask is which phone would you want to be seen with by business associates? By friends? Which phone would be your preference because both, in time, will get the job done just the same.

For a more scientific approach I suggest that you list your requirements, and then prioritize or rank them. Then you can assess the features of iPhone vs Blackberry and score them. Finally, add up the score in the features list and you have your winner….

Touch Screen Provides Tactile/Haptic Feedback
iPhone owners have long been complaining about the lack of the tactile or haptic feedback. Meaning the iPhone touch screen is not able to provide response when you hit a key which makes it difficult to type without staring directly at it.

RIM on the other hand uses “Click Through” technology on the the Storm’s touch screen to provide both audible and tactile feedback whenever you click the screen. In fact, the screen on the Storm is really just one large button that actually depresses when you click it.

Expandable Memory
The iPhone 3G is limited to either 8 GB or 16 GB of storage, depending on which model you choose. The BlackBerry Storm ships with just 1GB of on-board memory, but it also has an expandable microSD media card slot that can accommodate cards up to 16GB. So the Strom users could purchase as many microSD cards as they wish and swap them out at will, meaning that the Storm has virtually unlimited storage capacity.

Stereo Bluetooth Capability
One of the vital wireless feature that the iPhone 3G and even T-Mobile G1 lack is the Stereo Bluetooth Capability. With the iPhone, users still can’t listen to their music collections via Bluetooth, wireless headsets–at least without buying a third-party adapter–because the device doesn’t support Advanced Audio Distribution Profile (A2DP) technology. That means wired headphones are a must when using Apple’s smartphone to listen to music in stereo.

BlackBerry smartphones have supported stereo Bluetooth for quite some time, and the Storm will be no exception. If you have pair of wireless headphones, or you’ve had your eyes on buying a new set, you may want to choose the Storm over the iPhone 3G so you can employ the headphones along with your new handheld.

Removable/Replacable Battery
Almost all other smartphones have removable batteries. The Apple iPhone doesn’t. To this day it causes frustration for some users, especially for frequent travelers and people who constantly listen to music, play games or watch videos or movies. Being able to swap in a spare would be great.

Since the iPhone has a fixed battery that cannot be swapped out, you need to charge regularly or purchase expensive–and awkward–third-party portable charging solutions like the Incase Power Slider Case/Battery Booster costing 100 big ones. The BlackBerry Storm has a removable battery that can be replaced with another when fully drained. Extra BlackBerry batteries sell for as little as $5.

Camera and Video Recording
The 2 megapixels camera of the iPhone 3G is disappointing, but what’s worse is that it won’t record any video. The Storm ups the ante to a 3.2-megapixel camera and also offers video capture. That’s a big plus in favor of the Storm, no doubt.

Wireless Tethered Modem
Many smartphone owners, particularly business users, employ their handhelds’ Internet connections to access the Web via otherwise unconnected PCs or laptop computers. The ability to tether can come in extremely handy while travelling and visiting various hotels, airports, lounges, etc. that charge for Wi-Fi access. In such situations, you can simply connect your smartphone and computer and avoid Wi-Fi fees. AT&T has said that it is working with Apple to bring that functionality to the iPhone. While they haven’t provided an exact date, it is coming.

Copy and Paste
Since day one iPhone users have asked for it and Apple is yet to provide it on the iPhone. This feature might sound a bit trivial for a mobile device but just try transferring a URL or some quote or important text from a Web page to an email message without it, and you’ll soon see why such a simple function can be so important.

With the BlackBerry Storm users will be able to cut and paste text by simply pressing a finger down at the beginning of a selection and then another finger at the end to highlight the text. After you make a selection, the BlackBerry Menu key shows options to copy the text and paste it at a later time.

Mutitasking: Get More Out of Your Day
In the smartphone context, multitasking means running multiple applications in the background while using your device for other purposes. Right now, the iPhone OS does not allow for multitasking, and as such, you can only run one third-party application at a time.

Th BlackBerry Storm on the other hand its 528-MHz processor and the HSPA network combine to support your need to multitask and prioritize without falling behind or out of touch. Designed to provide you with access to your voice and data services at the same time, it helps you get more out of every day.

• Take phone calls while sending and responding to email or browsing the Internet
• Maintain GPS-based directions or maps on your display even while taking a call
• Snap the perfect picture and send it out even when you’re already on the phone
• Discuss and revise Microsoft® Word, Microsoft Excel® and Microsoft PowerPoint files—edit while using the speakerphone