Audio Quality

This refers to overall audio performance, both call quality and MP3 playback quality. As incredible as it may seem, the Blackberry BOLD has far superior audio quality than the iPhone 3G. In my opinion, this should certainly be the other way around, but it isn’t. The BOLD has the best audio quality I have every heard on a mobile device. It has superior low end, and sounds almost stereo. There is no noticable speaker, and the sound appears to emanate from the entire device. It’s actually pretty sweet.

Screen Resolution, Clarity, Function

I wil give RIM some serious props in this catergory. The screen on the BOLD is super high-res and looks beautiful. However, side by side, the iPhone 3G still dominates this category. How can you compete with a full screen that is completely interactive? You can’t. Although the BOLD screen does look very vivid, we have to keep in mind that is smaller than the iPhone, hence more pixels cramed into a smaller space = sharper image. iPhone 3G definitely wins this category though.

Web Browsing

No contest. The iPhone 3G dominates any PDA device to date. BOLD… good try, but not even close.

Email & Messaging

No MMS on the iPhone 3G. So What. With the myriad of social networks and other great online features, if you’re still using MMS you probably think fax machines are a necessity as well.

Email is an area that I use intensely throughout the day. IMO, both devices do a pretty solid job of handling emails and SMS. However, if you’re coming from a Blackberry it will take some getting used to. Here is a brief list of things that I’ve noticed about  both devices in this area.

1. Can’t search through emails or calendars on the iPhone. This should be a mandatory feature on any device this advanced. Then again, so should copy/paste. Wake up Apple!  Solution: when you need to search, have to use webmail.
2. No LED indicator on the outside of the iPhone. If you don’t feel the vibration or hear the ring, only way to see if you’ve received a message is to turn on the device and check.
3. Messages look 100 times better on an iPhone. No contest, blackberry is basically text, iPhone looks like an email client on your desktop.
4. SMS messaging. Both devices have their advantages. Even split here.
5. IMAP support, far superior on the iPhone 3G. The blackberry doesn’t sync properly with Gmail or Google Apps, your sent items, and drafts don’t get saved on the server. iPhone does a great job of keeping the folders in your mailbox in sync.
6. Push vs Fetch. No big deal. I find Fetch on the iPhone 3G just as effective as my Blackberry.

Overall Experience

I was probably one of the most adamant Blackberry advocates for quite a few years. I made the switch the the iPhone 3G for one reason really, RIM kept delaying the release of the BOLD and I wanted a 3G device. Do I regret my decision? To be honest, the first 2 weeks I was very disappointed with the iPhone 3G, so mych so that I went out and paid full pop for a BOLD the day they came out. I quickly rushed home, placed both devices side by side and started to realize that the BOLD, although a great imporvement for RIM can’t be compared the iPhone 3G and it’s potential. With the SDK released and people diving into mobile development the iPhone 3G is literally, a computer in your pocket. The BOLD, well, it’s a PDA. Another thing that really upset me is the fact that the BOLD seems to be very similar to the 8800 with regards to RIM’s urgency to start pushing out other devices immediatley after.

Similar to the 8800, it’s successors, the Curve and BOLD are much better devices. This is the same boat that the BOLD is in. Within several months, the Jevlain, Thunder and a few other Blackberry devices are going to pop up. Each with improved functionality and better form factors.

Conclusion

My advice. If you’ve been curious about the iPhone 3G, go out and get one. The BOLD is only the first generation of a new line of improved devices from RIM. Why drive the demo when you can wait for the production model to be released? The iPhone is new, exiting, innovative. Biggest draw back right now is the battery life. I have a charger at home, in the car, at the office and in my laptop bag. Does it bother me? Not, anymore, I just plug it in whenever I can and so far haven’t had the device die on me.

Those of you wondering about typing on the iPhone 3G touch screen. I type about 90 words per minute on my computer, and probably got pretty close on my blackberry. After 4 weeks of iPhone use, I think I’m pretty close. The technique is very different, but like all new things, you get used to it!

* Remember. If you really want to unlock the iPhone’s full potential, you can always Jailbreak it! Let me see you do that on a Blackberry.

The purpose of this post, however, is to put to rest the wifi speed comparison test previously done here .

I lined both devices up while standing next to my wireless G router and the iPhone won every single time by a huge margin. I’m not talking 4 or 5 seconds. The iPhone was faster at loading every page by 5 to 10 seconds and in some cases it was even more.

For those of you who don’t know me, I’m a huge blackberry fan so belive me when I tell you that it pains me to say that the iPhone actually destroyed the Bold in several speed tests. I’m hoping to provide some video clips shortly. The only thing about the Bold that really impressed is the screen resolution. It’s vivid and crystal clear. However, the browser still sucks and once you’ve sat with a iPhone for a few days looking at the Bolds tiny screen is pretty lame. Ugh, I think Apple is slowly stealing my soul as I head over to the dark side.

Check back soon for a detailed review and dome video clips. BTW, this post was types on an iPhone using just by thumb and the wordpress app which was free from the app store.

Get it here! http://na.blackberry.com/eng/services/desktop/

Personally, I am a Blackberry fan and have been for just over two years. Not to say that the iPhone hasnt impressed me, because believe me it has. It just seems that the first incarnation of the iPhone was flawed in so many ways. At the time, RIMs response was the Blackberry Curve, although I dont think this was a “real” response as much as it was decent timing. Realistically, other than the reputation RIM has built thus far with its handheld devices the Curve really didnt offer much to the savvy, youthful business user, it was merely less buggy than the iPhone and was supported on Canadian networks such as Rogers.

Am I anxious for the release of the Blackberry Bold? Hell yes. However, that excitement was clouded today by the news of the 3G iPhone coming to Rogers around the same time and for significantly less. They will be selling the 16Gb version for a mere $299. The Bold, which boasts a 1Gb internal memory, is selling for $499 plus!

My original reason for buying a Blackberry was the full QWERTY keyboard. It was difficult, not mention very unsafe, to respond to emails while driving without the tactile feel of a keyboard. After playing with a friends iPhone however, it seems that the trade off for functionality is tremendous. Wi-Fi, GPS, Push mail and a slew of features that Blackberry is just touching upon now are things that have been mastered by Apple in the past year. Im torn.

In the end, the decision will not be an easy one, and since I have unlimited data either way I doubt very much that the price plans will be the determining factor… Unless Rogers decides to do something

really stupid and create a data package specifically for the iPhone which will allow them rape us, yet again.

RIM has really dropped the ball on this. I understand the security reasons for not allowing messages to be copied to a memory card if you’re on an enterprise server, but I am not.

I want my messages saved forever and I should have that choice. It is for this reason and this reason alone that I am now looking for a new PDA. One that will allow me to move my information wherever the hell I want.