G1 vs iPhone

Here are some comparative differences between the G1 and the iPhone.
Note that these notes where compiled mostly in November 2008. As the software for these phones is updated, my commentary may no longer be relevant. Also, I realize that people may have other phones that perform one or another function better than either of the phones discussed below.
Where I feel the G1 was better, I have marked those in BLUE. And RED is for when the iPhone performed better.

1. Mail-Web-Maps
a) Using both on a wireless network, I checked a mail account for a specific letter. G1 pulled up the letter quicker.
b) There was a link in this letter that I opened. G1 was quicker pulling up the web page.
c) The G1 showed the page in a readable format so some of the page was off the screen, whereas the iPhone tries to display the full page and hence in not readable. So, on the iPhone you have to do the 2-finger stretch, which could be quite difficult when only one hand is available (I'm referring to driving and nothing else!!). But on the G1 if I need to increase the size of the screen you merely have to push a + or - sign that appears at the bottom of the screen when you touch it. So, although I love the 2-finger gesture options with the iPhone, I now can see the advantage to G1's solution.
d) On the web page that pulled up was the address for the company. On the G1 you just push on the address and it will pull up Google maps. This option does not exist on the iPhone (yet - I assume). 

As a side note, I was comparing using the location function on the map while driving. On the G1 when your current location moves off the map, the map then re-centers the map with you as the center point. The iPhone, however, will let you run off the map.

On the other hand recently (2009) the G1 has not been showing me my exact location on the map. In fact a couple of times I was either out in the middle of the Puget Sound or Lake Washington. Fortunately, that was not the case! 

2. Installing apps
One thing I hate about installing apps on the iPhone is that you have to enter your iTunes password each time you choose install an app. And then after the app is installed you have to reopen the AppStore application to get another app.
On the G1 there is no request for a password and the app is downloaded and installed in the background while the Android Market stays open and you can choose to install additional apps.
However! Updating apps is so much easier on the iPhone. The reason is that the iPhone's AppStore let's you know that there are updates for those apps you've installed. The Android Market has no such functionality (yet!). Some of the applications will let you know that there is an update available. But I've found that most don't. 

3. Mail
On the iPhone I can tag each message and then choose to delete or move to another folder. On the G1, however, I can only perform such an action to each message individually. 

4. Battery
The battery on the G1 can be removed. So this means you could always have a spare ready and you don't have to turn your phone into Apple for a couple of days to get a new battery installed.
On the other hand the G1's battery won't last you an entire day! In the course of a normal day my iPhone depletes maybe 20%. But the G1 will be totally drained after about 8 hours!!! In fact, in order to extend the charge of the battery on the G1, it is recommended that you disable the GPS functionality when it is not needed. So I do this regularly. If I left it on, as most people probably do, it's probably spent in 5 or 6 hours.

5. Updating
Updating both phones is rather simple. However, the G1 wins on this score for the following reason. The updates are just downloaded to the phone. The phone will then inform you that there is an update. You have the option as to updating the phone now or later. 

6. Music/Syncing
iPhone wins hands down on this one. Add removing music from the iPhone is so simple!!!
I will note however, that the G1 does play formats the iPhone doesn't!

7. Adding Contacts
If I get a letter from someone and I wish to add them to my Contacts, it's very easy on an iPhone. I have not figured out yet, how to do that on the G1. 

8. Keyboard
The jury is still out on this one. There are things I like about both keyboards. At times it's annoying that in order to enter text I have to pop out the keyboard on the G1. But then the G1 offers a lot of text manipulation options: move to the beginning or end of a word/line. Delete a word or line. Copy and paste. And other functions. There are numerous shortcuts offered by the G1's keyboard as well.
At night it's, of course, much easier to see the iPhone keyboard as it is displayed on the screen. The G1 does have a backlight, but it's hard to discern various symbols in particular.
Also, the iPhone supports keyboards in various languages. The beauty of a virtual keyboard is that the letters change according to the language to be input. The G1 will probably never be able to out perform the iPhone on that issue (unless a virtual keyboard is developed). Also, as I recall the iPhone didn't have the ability to switch between input languages when it first came out. I think the G1 will surely end up supporting the input of other languages. There are apps that help accomplish that, but they are not very convenient. 
So each has it's advantage.
(BTW, the next major update for the G1 should be out at the end of January 2009 and it promises to have the on-screen keyboard.)

9. Multiple apps and web pages
On the G1 you can have multiple apps (up to 6) running at the same time and up to 3 sites open at once. Now on the iPhone you can open multiple web pages and I don't even know if there's a limit to that number. However, say I did a Google search and I want to open the results in separate windows. You can't do that on an iPhone. So keep having to go back a page(s) to get back to your search or whatever page you went from. This can be extremely annoying if say you were on some web page that can take a long time to load. 

10. Voice calling
Voice recognition calling on the G1 works out of the box. I've tried the free applications on the iPhone and none of them worked well. 

11. Email attachments
The eMail app on the G1 can't open many attachments. It opens pictures, but not pdf, doc, or xls files. Big minus!
However, the Gmail application does open most all files, even video. I should mention though, what the G1 does is convert the document into html format. So, I've found that there may be differences in formating between the true document and how it is rendered on the G1. Also, there is no way to focus in or out of the document.


All in the big advantage of the iPhone over the G1 is that it syncs up with iTunes so easily. The G1 is apparently only intended to sync up with your Google account (and unfortunately, only one!). There is no easy way to get music on and off the device. Also, I've noticed that all applications are installed to the on board memory, as well as  any downloads, etc. Nothing is automatically moved to the SD Card. So, it wasn't long before I had a memory error and had to delete a bunch of apps. Actually, the advice is to also occasionally delete your Internet cache, as it can really build up.

Overall, I miss my iPhone. The Android system is a great and I think it has a lot of potential. The iPhone has gone through a lot of updates, making it better and better, while the Android system is still in its infancy. I think we will see a lot of improvement in the Google phones as time passes. But the iPhone does everything I need it to do and does it rather simply. 

Patch Tuesday and Mobile News

WINDOWS

Tomorrow is Patch Tuesday - time to consider updating your Windows operating system and other Microsoft programs. This month, however, there is only one major patch.


MOBILE PHONES

For those of you who browse the Internet from mobile phones, here's a hint to help with some sites. A lot of sites out there have not created mobile friendly alternative websites. Thus you have to wait a long time while the entire page is loaded to your mobile phone, which in turn may suffer from memory problems. There are two services out there that have come to the rescue: one of which is Google (surprised?).
First you will have to open your browser to one of the following sites:
http://google.com/gwt/n
http://finch.ploogy.net/

Then enter the URL, or the Internet site you wish to go to. Finch actually strips almost all information out except for text. Google leaves some of the formatting. Anyhow you can give  them a try and see which you like best. 


Finally, I have some requests about ringtones for mobile phones. The website Audiko.net is a great resource to upload your favorite song, choose the portion of the song you want to be your ringtone, crop it, create the ringtone and then download it back to your phone. Any song that has been used on the service remains downloadable, btw. So you might want to first see if a tune you like is already there.

Escape & Infidel

I've been reading two autobiographies by women who grew up and escaped from repressive religions. The first book Escape is about life in a fundamentalist Mormon sect, while Infidel describes life within several Islamic countries, as fundamentalism begins to take hold over the region. The two books are very similar in ways, yet quiet unique and therefore make good reading together. Perhaps most surprising to me was that overall life among fundie mormons in the United States was overall more severe and strict. 

Escape

Escape was a very easy, but harrowing and disturbing read about the life of Carolyn Jessop in the FLDS (Fundamentalist Latter Day Saints). You would think that since she was living in the United States, it would be a simple choice for her to just walk away from it all. But this was not an option. By telling her story from childhood on, one gains a glimpse into how religion contorts the mind and the spirit of each individual it touches. When taken to the extreme, religion can justify any crime in the mind not just of the perpetrator, but the victim as well. But in each case, all participants and bystanders are scarred for life.
Nonetheless, if anything Carolyn's story is a confirmation that the human spirit to be free cannot be extinguished. 


Infidel

Infidel is the autobiography of the famous Somali activist - Ayaan Hirsi Ali. If you have not heard of her, she was a member of the Parliament in the Netherlands, who has had to have armed protection to this day for her outspokenness against Islam. A colleague of hers - Theo van Gogh was murdered by a Muslim over the making of a short film Submission (by the way, you can watch it in full on YouTube). 
Like Carolyn, Ayaan was a victim of circumstance. Although born into an islamic family, she grew up in numerous countries in North Africa and the Middle East at a time when islamic fundamentalism was just taking off. Compared to Carolyn's life, the most horrid experience in Ayaan's life was genital mutilation. This, however, does not detract from the fact that here we are presented with the story of a woman, born into a culture of female subjugation, yet whose skeptical nature drives her on to question and reject her upbringing and become one of today's leading critics of islam, while fighting for the rights of women seeking refuge from islamic fundamentalism.

I would also add that Ayaan's style of writing is superior to Carolyn's (even though Carolyn's autobiography is co-authored!), but that should in no way be detract anyone from reading Escape.