Shannon KeoughGoogle seems to be taking over the Internet these days.
First, the creation of the most revolutionary search engine on the net. Then, it expanded to incorporate e-mail, contacts, documents, pictures, the list just goes on and on. But when I first started to hear the rumors of a mystical “Google phone” that was going to be the be-all end-all iPhone killer, forgive me when I say I was a bit skeptical.
The iPhone. The one revolutionary device in the past decade has now become the standard of what to expect of a phone. With it you get an iPod, a phone, a touchscreen, all of which is just an absolute joy to use. With it you get AT&T, one of the most popular networks that offers all of the best features. Sure, other networks allow you to have free mobile-to-mobile with other people on the same network, but are those other networks as strong and reliable? Nope.
But what about the Google phone, or “gPhone” as it’s known on the Web? What is it? Will it live up to the Google name and can it really be the one to top the iPhone?
What do I think? I think it is way too early to tell.
Look at it this way: the iPhone has been out for a year and a half. It has recently been upgraded to support AT&T’s 3G network,
which offers broadband speeds. It has a wonderful operating system and it has a strong following, as well as Apple and AT&T supporting it.
What does the gPhone have? To me, it looks like a Blackberry/Sidekick hybrid. I’ll be the first to admit that I love the idea of the Blackberry. For the business person on the go, it’s the perfect fit. Now the Sidekick on the other hand, don’t get me started. The swivel screen is an awesome
idea on paper but just completely fails in practicality.
Everyone I know who has ever owned a Sidekick loved it for the first view months but soon after that the screen’s swiveling mechanism starts to fail and then the phone is useless.
I’m sure the gPhone was built with that problem in mind and sure enough, all the reviews I have read have said it is a very sturdy phone.
I’m just not sold on the design. It doesn’t scream sexy like the iPhone does.
The one thing that the gPhone has that I personally like is Google’s Android software. With it, anyone will be able to develop new programs and applications for the phone. It is also rumored that eventually you will be able to take this Android software and use it on other phones and other networks.
Another cool feature is that everything is tied in with Google. When you first turn the phone on, you are required to either sign in with your Gmail account or create one if you are not a user already, Honestly who isn’t?
What this means is that all of your contacts that are stored in your Gmail account are automatically made available on the phone and vice versa. This means that when you add a contact to the phone, it is added to your Gmail account on the Internet in a matter of seconds.
Even though the iPhone has a leg up on the gPhone, I think there is always room for healthy competition. Is the gPhone worth jumping ship on your current wireless provider?
Only you can make that call. I think that it is way to early to tell what kind of phone it will turn out to be.
So in the meantime, I will stick with my ever-growing piggy bank in the hopes of someday owning the best phone on the market, the iPhone.
