Bummer on the iPhone service. I got my Blackberry Curve over 3 years ago and while it may be slow and dated, it's been rock solid acting as a phone and receiving email. That's all I need it to do.

I have a real digital Nikon SLR for my camera and a multiple GPS receivers for navigation. My phone needs to be a phone.

That said, when I do finally upgrade, I'll prolly go with a Moto or Samsung Android.

Simple is probably also why they are on the brink of going under.

I have been very happy with my iphone 3gs. It was free with my latest contract from ATT. I jailbroke it. Now I have the latest OS and tethering. Android phones are fine, but I like the iPhone better.


I also got a battery case from Rocketfish that really adds to the battery life and adds some edge protection when it's dropped.

It seems like Blackberry just stopped trying... I loved mine before I bought an iPhone. But the products they have on the market today fail to meet what most customers are looking for in a Smart phone. The current Blackberry just feel cheap in the hand compared to just about all the other Smart phones on the market.

I'm late to this party.

I just got on the smart phone bandwagon about 3 months ago. My advice is to buy whatever is on sale - my Droid X2 was $50 after rebate b/c the Razr is coming out. What plan do you have?

An iPhone is typically easier to use, it's just a bit more intuitive and refined (remember, they've been out 5-6 years already). Android is a small bit clunkier, but still as functional. Little things, like the keyboard isn't quite as sensitive, auto-corrects a bit too quick, doesn't rotate screens as you rotate the phone quite as quick as the iPhone. On the other hand, you don't have to deal w/ pesky iTunes if you have an Android. While there probably are more apps on iPhone, honestly, having several hundred thousand either way is more than you'll probably need ...

I'd skip Blackberry unless there's a real compelling reason.

Durability is a concern of mine too. I bought a case that's ridiculous - plastic clamshell, covered by a rubber outside. It nearly doubles the phones size (not weight) but does well. After a few months I'll probably take it off and just put it on if I expect more dings than usual (airport travel, etc).

I chose an HTC Incredible 2 last year when I went to a smart phone. I am on Verizon and I needed a phone that would work internationally, the Incredible 2 does that. It is only 3G but that is fine for me, I seldom need the speed and besides 4G is very limited coverage with all the carriers at present. Android needs some setings tweeked to improve battery life. My battey will last about 5 days of normal use, it is not checking my email every 30 seconds either!

There are a couple of reasons I did not consider an iPhone, battery cannot be replaced by the user, no Flash content, everything is an extra cost option, Apple never gives anything away they can charge you for. The main reason though is the Apple hype that has been their method since the company started. They beat their drum about the capabilities and the reality is they seldom deliver, or they offer function as an add-on, extra-cost item.

Whatever you chose, consider a good case that protects the phone. I have an Otterbox Defender, there are plenty of available protection options out there. Best of luck with the new phone when you decide,

LOL, yes, those Nokia "candy bar" models were sturdy! I had a gold one for the longest time. Hated the gold color, but that thing was a tank. Thanks for the laugh, Izzy.

I'd debate that an iphone is easier to use than android, I've put both side by side to people who have never touched one before and each is about the same. The idevices have several annoying quirks, for example the onscreen keyboard always being caps, android is more refined there. Apple copied the message pull down so that brought that part up to par but for the longest time the alerting on the idevices was crap, the autocorrect/spell checker on android doesn't have multiple web sites making fun of it either
The lack of flash is annoying, several times we tried to check menu's at restaurants and they would only work on Android, or kids would try their web sites and they would work due to no flash (buy you could buy their app).
Then the whole legal/patent issue, I just can't support a company like Apple who patents others ideas and prior art then wins the lawsuit because they can pay their lawyers more than the person they stole the idea from.

Apple is suing everybody, HTC, Motorola, Samsung (who has been making iphone's CPU since day 1)... I'd imagine them combined will have more lawyer money than apple does, especially now that google has jumped in to back HTC.

Samsung had to remove the "bounce" effect (which I didn't care for anyway) from their OS because of lawsuits, somebody should sue apple for stealing the pull down notification bar.

Got mine! Currently adding apps and chargers...might be a very useful tool