Here’s the latest on all things mobile. In this issue, we review the battle of the smartphones; and ask, who’s the smartest of them all? We also bring you some hot upgrade offers for the XT network; and highlight our new online training for mobile handsets
Battle of the Smartphones
In the beginning, there was the Blackberry. Then came the iPhone, closely followed by the advance the Android. And with Windows Phone 7 just unveiled, now there’s a new challenger in the battle for smartphone supremacy.
Microsoft officially entered the smartphone wars this month - claiming the Windows Phone 7 will be “a phone to take us away from our phones”. Windows phone 7 is getting great reviews for not becoming an iPhone clone but taking things a step further with their user centric interface.
On our home turf, Telecom will launch the LG Optimus 7Q phone in November. For a sneak preview of this device, read the test-drive review from Gen-i’s Aaron McDonald.
Meanwhile, the advance of the Android phone continues in the States – where it’s outselling both the iPhone and the Blackberry in the smartphone category.
Android is a mobile operating system for smartphones that’s been developed by Google – and pundits are predicting it will be the number one selling smartphone operating system by the end of 2010.
One of the big attractions is that because Android is open source, it’s very easy to develop ‘apps’ (or applications). There are currently more than 70,000 apps available from the Android Marketplace, however WP7 promises to catch up quickly due to the fact that the development tools for WP7 are in widespread use already amongst the Microsoft developer community with more than 500,000 downloads of the developer kit we can expect to see them catch up quickly. . While plenty of the apps are simply for fun or novelty value, there are also key business apps which enrich the functionality of the phone.
Gen-i has offered a range of Android-based handsets, at a choice of price points, for several months. The latest to be unveiled is the much-heralded Motorola Milestone. Running Android 2.1 and offering integrated access to Google’s search engine and a host of Google goodies, it’s a stylishly slim 13.7mm handset with a full side-slide qwerty keyboard. Available now for around $999.*
Check out and order the latest WP7 device
* the 'open term price' of the handset
Online Mobility Demos
We’ve all felt that ‘new toy’ excitement when lifting our new phone out of its box. But then comes the less exciting part – learning how to set-up and use it.
So here’s the good news: Gen-i now offers online training for using your new handset. There are quick tips, FAQs, downloadable pdfs, and even video demos for our nine top-selling devices (with more devices coming soon). We’ve also got an easy-to-follow guide to the most common client query – how to set up email on your phone.