For those of us that want a cell phone that does more than just make and receive phone calls, there are a huge variety of choices out there. This blog entry is intended to help you pick what device is best for you. There are 4 main categories to chose from, split up by OS. They are:

Windows Mobile

Palm

iPhone

BlackBerry

I’ll be focusing mostly on the second two, but we can briefly look at Palm and Windows Mobile as well. There are of course other choices out there, including Linux, Symbian, etc. They are a relatively small percentage of the market and out of scope for this write up.

Windows Mobile
I’ve used several different WM5 and WM6 devices. Each time, I’m ecstatic about the device’s features (WiFi, BlueTooth, Video Camera, flip out keyboard, etc). There are tons of great games out there, and lots of powerful applications as well. Unfortunately, the OS itself is a beast. It’s sluggish, hard to navigate through, and for me, it crashed constantly. I was pulling out the battery 5+ times a week to force reboots. I’d recommend a Windows Mobile phone for a techie who wants all the applications and features and is clever enough to troubleshoot the crashing and other issues.

Palm
In the last 5 years Palm OS has sadly dropped the ball. Not too long ago the Treo was THE smartphone to have. It had a great user interface, tons of available applications, and huge popularity. Unfortunately, they couldn’t keep it up. Palm OS has been eclipsed by more recent entries in the field. The only reason I’d recommend it now is for people that have been using Palm devices for years and want to keep using Palm OS.

Lucky for us, there are still two more choices for smart phones, the iPhone and the BlackBerry. For 90% of my clients, I recommend one of these two devices, depending on their background and their needs. The rest of this blog entry will be focused on comparing Apples to, well, Blackberries.

iPhone Advantages:
ArcSource is a huge fan of the iPhone, all but one of our techs have one, and we use them constantly. The biggest strengths include the intuitive and easy user interface, the best mobile web browser on the market, and a wide selection of applications available in the app store.

The iPhone excels at email, with an excellent mail program that makes reading, sorting, and responding to mail very easy. People that are used to other mobile device keyboards may find it takes time to adjust. I’ve found that once I got used to it and began trusting the predictive text input, I’m faster with my iPhone than I ever was on a Treo, windows mobile device, or BlackBerry.

The iPhone is an obvious choice for anybody that is interested in the iPod functionality. This including music, as well as movies and TV shows available in the iTunes store.

iPhone Disadvantages:
If you’re under contract with a carrier other than AT&T, you may have to pay expensive fees to get out of your contract. The monthly plan for an iPhone is also slightly more expensive than the monthly rates for a BlackBerry.

BlackBerry Advantages:
The blackberry has a long pedigree of being the best business class mobile device available. For business users, especially those that have enjoyed being addicted to their CrackBerry for several years, the BlackBerry is still a clear choice. The keyboard has buttons you can feel, and if you’re already familiar with the interface, it can be awkward to move to a new device. This keyboard is an added advantage if you’re interested in a device you can use without looking at it. Experienced users can make phone calls or type text messages on a BlackBerry without looking at the screen. This is of course impossible with an iPhone. Lastly, the BlackBerry seems to have a longer battery life, able to go several days without recharging.

BlackBerry Disadvantages:
For starters, it doesn’t work natively with a Mac. Mac users will need to purchase 3rd party Missing Sync software to have any kind of syncing between the BlackBerry and the computer. The internet browser is clunky and difficult to use. There is less software available.

Tied:
Voice quality – I’ve heard people claim the iPhone has better clarity and cell signal strength. I’ve heard people claim BlackBerry does. I haven’t found any scientific studies, so I’ll consider it a draw.
Features – Both devices have cameras, WiFi and cellular data, keyboards, syncing to a computer, bluetooth, etc.

For more information on iPhone vs. Blackberry, as well as some of the resources I used to create this blog entry, you can read here:

http://www.tuaw.com/2008/03/03/tuaw-faceoff-iphone-vs-blackberry/
http://news.cnet.com/8301-13507_3-9837710-18.html
http://blog.phanfare.com/2007/08/iphone-can-it-replace-my-blackberry/
http://blog.phanfare.com/2008/07/iphone-vs-blackberry-part-ii/
http://www.geekestateblog.com/iphone-vs-blackberry-how-they-compare-from-the-perspective-of-a-former-blackberry-addict/