A good friend and dog walking partner was on the smartphone Apple/Android fence last year so I pushed him over to Apple and the result was the infamous “8 Reasons Why I Hate My iPhone5” Blog. After months of complaining I bought him a Samsung S4 and gave his iPhone5 to my very appreciative wife so all is well that ends well, maybe.
During our frequent walks on the Iron Horse Trail we sometimes have smartphone contests. Voice control is everything to us. Watching people furiously trying to type on smartphones cracks us up and the autocorrect blunders are just hilarious. This morning Siri won when we asked our phones what sex author Lee Childs is (male). In general though, Android beats Siri on voice commands.
Apple maps, however, is a big loser in all of our contests. Google maps is unbeatable, not even our new car navigation systems come close so I don’t see that changing anytime soon. According to my friend:
Several weeks ago I was picking up my son at the Dublin BARTstation. I made the mistake of using Apple maps, as it is so wellintegrated with Siri. It actually understood me when I said, “Navigate toDublin BART”. Unfortunately Siri told me that no exit off 580 was required. It told me I had arrived as I was passing the station that is between the East and West bound lanes. I quickly jumped out my window and was able to meet my son on time.
Now he is trying to push me over to Android since my two year contract is up and the new Apple phones look “uninspiring”. His Google centric arguments include:
If you don’t use Google Voice you are missing out. You can easilyforward your calls to multiple phones, you can block calls, you can getvoicemail transcribed – all sorts of good stuff. However, the iPhonedoesn’t enable Google Voice to use your Google Voice number for outgoingcalls. My real cell number, which I don’t want people to see, was alwaysused by the iPhone. Now that I’m back in the Android fold, my GoogleVoice numbers is used for outgoing calls, as it should.
I save myself a ton of time by using Google contacts. It’s wellintegrated with Gmail and Google Voice. Guess what? It’s not integratedwith the iPhone. It made me crazy not being able to “call Dan” unless Iexplicitly added him as a contact on my iPhone. With Android and Googleall the syncing between your life on your Windows PC and your life onthe phone happens for free. I like MacBooks but they aren’t used atwork, so they are generally more trouble than they are worth.
If you haven’t checked out Google Now, it’s a treat. Remember Scott McNealy, one of the founders of Sun Microsystems? He famously stated, “Thereis no privacy on the internet, get over it”. Once you accept that factyou’ll appreciate Google Now snooping through your online life,including email, and making excellent recommendations. It will tell youwhen shipments you ordered from Amazon are enroute, if your plane isleaving on time, how far you are from home – in traffic, all sorts ofgood stuff WITHOUT YOU ASKING!
He is also one of the many people who help with SemiWiki so I started him on an iPad2 three years ago and later upgraded him to an iPad3 and an iPad Mini. Other than the questionable battery life of the iPad3, he has a great respect for Apple tablets but now wants a Samsung to match his phone. As soon as it arrives his iPad3 will go to my very appreciative wife.
Hopefully the new iPhone5s and iOS7 release will help in our smartphone battles and make him regret his defection. If not, Android here I come! [env]
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Next Generation of Systems Design at Siemens