Commentary

Stephen Wellman
 

Why Can't I Find A Good 3G Smartphone?

We heard about upgrades today to both RIM's BlackBerry platform and Apple's iPhone, but frankly, I couldn't be more underwhelmed. Why? Because it's March 2008 and I still can't buy a 3G BlackBerry or iPhone. So why should I care about these upgrades?

We heard about upgrades today to both RIM's BlackBerry platform and Apple's iPhone, but frankly, I couldn't be more underwhelmed. Why? Because it's March 2008 and I still can't buy a 3G BlackBerry or iPhone. So why should I care about these upgrades?Sure, Research in Motion is working hard to put social networks on BlackBerry smartphones and Apple is finally getting around to letting a few outside developers put applications on its smartphone, but neither of these devices can run on a GSM-track 3G network.

I am sorry, but 3G is a necessity these days, especially for the kinds of richer applications that developers are pushing on smartphones. And while there are a number of interesting 3G smartphones on the market, none of them has the enterprise-ready support of BlackBerry or the usablility of the iPhone. And that's why I am so annoyed.


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For now the best GSM-track 3G smartphone I've used is the Motorola Q9h. I used one for a few months, and I was impressed. But, it was far from an optimal experience. The Q9h suffered many of the same problems of other Windows Mobile devices -- quirky user interface and an at-times awkward user experienced coupled with all-too-frequent software crashes. But by WinMo standards, the Q9h is a Mercedes roadster.

Now, I am sure many of you out there are about to bombard me with e-mails about the Nokia N95. I tried out a review copy of that phone, too. It was great, but I hated the keyboard. And I also felt the N95 wasn't as easy to use for e-mail as the BlackBerry and it was nowhere near as fun as the iPhone. Nice phone, but not what I was looking for.

How much longer must I wait for a 3G BlackBerry or a 3G iPhone? What do you think? Are any of you as frustrated as me?


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