Why, hello again. I just noticed this thread kicked me for info.

Just as an update - I've moved out of the agency/development space and I'm now more on the consulting/angel investing side of things, however, I do work with developers on mobile projects quite a bit and I am still very much a gadget head when it comes to mobile devices.

Let's see....in the last year, there's actually been a fairly big change in the overal composition of the mobile space - Android smart phones are hugely popular, and more importantly, the cost of smart phones has come down quite a bit.

The iPhone is still my day-to-day phone, in fact I have three of them, but I have also recently used the Samsung Galaxy Note (my reaction was "errr....what?") and I've also got a few prepaid phones laying around.

I still see LG as the best overall experience for low-end "feature phones"
The LG models Tracfone carries for CDMA carriers are still rugged, long-life devices.

The LG 505C - a "clever" phone (I don't think it's smart) is a really great phone on a prepaid carrier (Straightalk, you can buy them at Walmart).

Basically, any of the "candybar" phones are going to have insanely long battery life, but limited features.

In the "traditional" smart phone space, it's really become a 2-horse race, Apple and Samsung. RIM will likely be bought out for parts and Nokia was just slapped hard by Microsoft when they rendered Lumina phones obsolete by not supporting the latest OS on them.

In terms of "rugged" phones, there are still not many choices. On Verizon, you have the waterproof Casio G'zOne Commando, which is a horrible phone to use, but if you fall in the river with it, it still works. It uses VZ Navigator for mapping, which is like trying to drive a car in reverse with with wax paper taped over your eyes. The best thing about this phone is that it does not float, so when it fell into the water I got to watch it sink for good, which made me happy.

I'm looking at a Samsung Rugby phone for a test - as far as I can tell it's the only smart phone that's got some serious durability, but I don't want to get one until I need to replace one of the iPhones (there's a 3GS that's nearing death...so that's likely). My one concern is that it runs Android 2.3 Gingerbread OS, which puts it well behind the most current Android version, and from my experience, Android phones simply don't allow/support an OS upgrade path the way iOS devices do.

In terms of carriers, it's not gotten any better. You've got your GSM services via AT&T and T-Mobile, and you've got your CDMA via Verizon and Sprint. Metro PCS is still plugging away, but it's an urban carrier, like T-Mobile.

The 4G/LTE situation is interesting. Basically, the term "4G", a technical specification, was co-opted by AT&T's marketing department to describe their upgrades to existing technical standards.

On the other hand, there's LTE, which is a new standard for wireless data and it is FAST - like wireline fast. Where you can get it. Oh, and it sucks battery down as if you were trying to jump start a stone-dead John Deere tractor with your phone.

So, here's where I'd go with recommendations:

If you want the widest range of applications and easiest phone to use, get an iPhone. If you need to extend the battery life of the phone, get a Morphie case for it, which is a combo case and battery.

Apps I recommend for iOS are

TomTom USA (Local maps on the device means no network lag like other apps.
TopoUSA (again, local storage is key..topo maps of the whole area. )
Planets (what's the bright thing up there...to the right of the moon...?)
Find My iPhone (remote find/alert/wipe of the phone)
Checklist Wrangler (every month, automatically generates my monthly prep checklist - swap out gas, run generator, change water...etc..)

If you want more device selection or If you want more hardware capabilities, including the ability to install SD or Micro SD cards (and to be honest, I've NEVER had a need to do that), go with Samsung Android.

Motorola should get out of the phone business entirely. Motorola Atrix and Drioid is a mess of a platform - some great, some bad. Sony always screws something up by making the ordinary proprietary and I haven't seen a Sony phone in a while. HTC phones are brilliant 70% of the time and throw-the-phone-at-the-wall frustrating the rest of the time.

Avoid android on "feature phones" (generally ones that that don't have touch screens) there's no advantage and the cost you pay in battery life is too high.

Thus far I've not found any Android apps I like that are unique to Android. I have, however, found malware and crapware in large quantity. Stick to getting your Android apps from the Google Play marketplace.

On all my devices that support apps (android included) I run:
Evernote (keep notes, docs and pictures locally on the device and on all your other devices all in synch all the time. I have the entire Emergency Ops plan for our township in Evernote, every computer and every device I have sychs)
Twitter - there's nothing better for breaking news.
Wordpress - it's what I use to manage the Emergency Management web site and other sites.

For feature phones - simple basic phones, here's what I think:

LG makes sensible, workable phones that are easy to use and last a long time. I like them and recommend them.

Pantech phones are very good for propping up furniture that might have a damaged leg and sometimes you can use them as phones and information access devices.
Most Sanyo phones are toys for little girls, but there are a few really nice ones in there. Stick to the "Blackberry" style phones.
BenQ-Siemens phones could replace waterboarding as a means of interrogation they are so bad. The plain "Siemens" branded phones are OK.

So....what about Blackberry?
I don't see how Blackberry can survive. I might be wrong on this, but I think that Blackberry hardware is going to take the same path Palm did - great hardware, great software, just didn't change fast enough and rapidly was abandoned. It will likely become like the Iridium satellite network, which was not commercially sustainable, but was indispensable for those who needed it. It was sold at a fraction of cost and remains operational today. Similarly, since all Blackberry messaging routes through Blackberry servers of some kind, that network will need to remain operational long after they stop making the phones. I expect that part of the business to be sold off to some company that will buy it at $0.02 on the dollar.