iPhone vs. [insert competitor here]

[Causedawg 83]

I'm looking at getting a new Instinct phone in maybe a month or so. I'd like to get an iPhone, but Sprint doesn't carry them.

One of the main things drawing me to the iPhone competitor phone, is the ability to download and install various applications to the phone. Are these applications you guys are talking about and getting compatible with the Instinct, or are they iPhone exclusive?

[KEEZY]

I'm not sure... some of them are not (AIM, mySpace, etc), but I think it's just a matter of if their developers are making compatible versions for other phones/operating systems.

I got to play with the Instinct this weekend, and was impressed. It's not the iPhone, but it does have some cool features (live tv and radio to name a few). The internet is not the "full internet" that the iPhone gets, and navigating the web wasn't nearly as fluid as it is on the iPhone. This is good though, I'm digging the competition.

[Causedawg 83]

I had a chance to play with one this weekend too. I watched Comedy Central live and was blown away by the feature to watch live television. It actually does have a MySpace app, but that's something I'd probably remove.

It's supposed to be the full internet, I thought, but I had a hard time figuring out how to use it, and I definitely didn't like that the screen doesn't automatically shift to horizontal or vertical depending on user preference... it's always horizontal for the internet on the Instinct.

I'm definitely more interested in all the cool features you guys talk about though. My brother, who manages the Sprint store locally, told me he thought there hadn't been enough opportunity for apps to be developed for the Instinct yet. I can understand that, but I feel like there never will be as many apps as there are for the iPhone, and I'm hoping some of them are multi-platform compatible.

[KEEZY]

That is true about the age of the Instinct. Plus, Samsung/Sprint need to kind of foster a developer environment like Apple has. Having iTunes in place is a great thing to help the Apps get out there.

If you look at hacked iPhone software, I think that was a driving force in the legit Applications deployment. Get to hacking your Instinct!

[Serren]

The Opera browser is coming soon for the Instinct. That will make the browser about as close to a PC as a cell phone can muster I believe. Check out the stats on this Sprint phone coming out on 9/2. And as a WinMo phone, it will have the apps like the iphone.

Processor Qualcomm® MSM7201A™ 528 MHz
Operating System Windows Mobile® 6.1 Professional
Memory ROM: 512 MB
RAM: 288MB
Dimensions 102 mm (L) X 51 mm (W) X 18.05 mm (T)
Weight 165 g (with battery)
Display 2.8-inch TFT-LCD flat touch-sensitive screen with VGA resolution


Device Control TouchFLO™ 3D
Touch-sensitive navigation control
Keyboard Slide-out 5-row QWERTY keyboard
GPS Internal GPS antenna
Connectivity Bluetooth® 2.0 with EDR
Wi-Fi®: IEEE 802.11 b/g
HTC ExtUSB™ (11-pin mini-USB 2.0, audio jack, and TV Out* in one)
Camera Main camera: 3.2 megapixel color camera with auto focus and flash light
Second camera: VGA CMOS color camera

Audio Built-in microphone, speaker and FM radio with RDS
Ring tone supported formats:
MP3, AAC, AAC+, WMA, WAV, and AMR-NB
40 polyphonic and standard MIDI format 0 and 1 (SMF)/SP MIDI
Battery Rechargeable Lithium-ion or Lithium-ion polymer battery
Capacity: 1340 mAh

Talk time:

Up to 378 minutes for WCDMA
Up to 419 minutes for GSM
Standby time:
Up to 462 hours for WCDMA
Up to 367 hours for GSM
Video call time: Up to 189 minutes for WCDMA
(The above are subject to network and phone usage.)
Expansion Slot microSD™ memory card (SD 2.0 compatible)
AC Adapter Voltage range/frequency: 100 ~ 240V AC, 50/60 Hz
DC output: 5V and 1A

* HTC TV Out cable needed.



Read all about this mo-fo here - HTC TOUCH PRO

[Wondermonkey]

Originally Posted by Serren

See that icon on the top left? Therein lies the rub.

[dmiller68]

Originally Posted by Wondermonkey

See that icon on the top left? Therein lies the rub.

Windows mobile is not that bad. Nice native office doc support. Not perfect but pretty good.

[Causedawg 83]

Awesome, thanks Serren! The one I played with may have had the slide out QWERTY keyboard, but I didn't access it. It probably did. It was definitely not as cool as that one, though.

My birthday is Aug 30, which is only 3 days short of that phone's release. We'll see...

[dmiller68]

Originally Posted by Serren

Camera Main camera: 3.2 megapixel color camera with auto focus and flash light
Second camera: VGA CMOS color camera

I can't wait until the US carriers start supporting video conferencing so we can take advantage of these. All the Nokia phones have the dual camera to and in Europe you can video conference.

[Serren]

Video calling would be way trippy! Im not sure I would use it normally, but it would be neat for for long-distance relationships with family and friends.

And the cool thing about these HTC WinMo phones is that there are so many hacked ROM's with features above and beyond what Sprint or HTC has built-in. People have hacked the daylights out of these things. Its crazy scary.

I will be getting a new phone in the next month. I will be out of contract in two weeks, and am thus using this time to research all types of phones, from all companies. My short list as of now is: iphone 3g, HTC Diamond or Touch Pro, and a new on the horizon Nvidia based phone that looks super sweet. I'll post a link later.

[Serren]

Nvidia phone links as promised. These phones can display 720p and 1080p graphics!! There are two, the Tegra 600 and the APX. Check out the specifications for each! Crazy...

Tegra 6000

Games

[dmiller68]

Originally Posted by Serren

My short list as of now is: iphone 3g, HTC Diamond or Touch Pro, and a new on the horizon Nvidia based phone that looks super sweet. I'll post a link later.

The Nokia Tube will be out at some point maybe this year... Nokia's line of touch screen phones I think will really hit in 1st Qtr next year. Some are going to be very cool. I have read a lot of good things about the HTC stuff. Nicer form factor then the Apple. I think I may switch to the E71 I'll miss the 5mp camera but I'll have my keyboard.

[Wondermonkey]

I don't normally get intimidated by marketing, but the Instinct's campaign might signal an end to the iPhone...

[Serren]

The Instinct was on the top of my list, until it came out and I got some hands on time with it. Buggy as heck. There is supposed to be a firmware upgrade coming, but from what I have seen from past experience, cell manufactures are VERY slow at updating existing hardware. And when they do, they normally only address a few issues at a time. It sucks to be waiting forever for a fix that some help desk employee "thinks" is coming. It would be nice if the companies would be more forth coming on issues and fixes. Of course they rarely even omit to issues that are obvious...

[Causedawg 83]

Originally Posted by Rhino Chaser

Causedawg...you can get out of your sprint contract if you try hard enough...it is just a real pain.

Yeah, but I didn't really want to. I get good deals with my bro being the manager up there.

If I went somewhere else and expected the same plan, I'd probably see my bill triple, and I'd have to pay full price for phones.


I was just curious if the apps you guys talk about are iPhone exclusive or if they might be compatible with the Instinct.

[Rhino Chaser]

I was in your shoes...I had an incredible deal with sprint. They were constantly trying to talk me into new plans because mine was so good. But I was like why am I paying for services that I never use...I hated my email and I hated the web browser and all of the glitchiness associated with my sprint smartphone. That is just my experience mind you...I know people who are totally set with what they have.

My gut instinct would be no those apps would not be compatible.