Showdown:
lOS vs Android vs WP7 (Part 2)
Google’s approach
Android has suffered and benefited
from its more open-source approach to the smartphone operating system. The basic
Android interface is usually changed by hardware manufacturers who add their
own slick interfaces, such as HTC’s Sense. It’s easy to add extras too, hut
sometimes it can result in a cluttered and a messy homescreen.
Android’s latest 4.0 update, known as
Ice Cream Sandwich, has just launched. It brings all the Android 3.1 tablet
features to phones, including a more spacious layout. This update also means
Android devices will also he able to act as a USB hubs so you can hook up
peripherals like mice, keyboards and game controllers to tablets and smartphones.
Google’s own Chrome browser has also been ported to Android.
Google is also intending to make life
easier for developers by releasing a new set of APIs that will help them to
scale their apps across the various sizes of Android devices, from smartphones
to tablets.
Rooting around
One of Android’s key selling points -
especially to a more tech-oriented market - is the ability to switch between the
many hand-built variations of the OS. Although rooting your phone voids its
warranty, it means you can pick an entirely new operating system if you’re not
enjoying the old one. These also bring new features like better performance and
memory management. Although you can jailbreak iOS and Windows Phone 7 devices,
they don’t allow the level of control you get from a rooted Android handset.
Microsoft’s Windows Phone 7 has always
had a unique and attractive interface, and it’s now set to stretch across its Windows
and Xbox products. It consists of ‘live tiles which you can scroll, rearrange
and flip through to your heart’s content, and it’s certainly the cleanest and
most organised OS. The latest update, Mango (also known as 7.5) has the same
signature look as its predecessor, only better. The live tiles are livelier,
and you can pin not just apps, hut specific features within apps to the Start
screen, like the Wi-Fi control.
Internet Explorer 9 on Windows Phone
7.5 is a real browser that uses the same code as 1E9 on Windows 7, although it
still lacks the ability to run plug-ins like Flash. You can choose whether the
browser identifies itself as operating from a mobile to retrieve smaller,
phone-optimised pages or a desktop browser for the full version of sites, hut
you rarely have to worry about a page not working unless it’s specifically
written for Safari or Chrome.
Microsoft
has its roots on the desktop, and has found it difficult to break into the
mobile phone and tablet markets.
Mobile office
Office 365 integration is very neat
too - just typing in your email address and password sets up email, calendar,
contacts and a link to SharePoint in the Office huh. But you can also explore
SkyDrive and documents on your phone, all in the same consistent interface.
There is also an intriguing new option called Bing Vision. With it, you can
photograph text, have it interpreted by an OCR application in the cloud, pick
the words you want by tapping on screen and either search on the text or
translate it into another language.
When Nokia announced its partnership
with Microsoft for Windows Phone 7 devices, Nokia’s boss Stephen Elop said, “This
is now a three- horse race.” And he was right. Microsoft still has to gallop
before it can canter alongside the likes of Android and Apple, but it’s
certainly getting there. Its phones are every bit as feature-packed as the
competition, hut it needs to take a slice out of Apple’s pie and get its
handsets into the hands of real people who can show it off.
A price reduction (the cheapest
Windows handset is $368, while Android phones start at just $128) would be a
big help, but Microsoft’s tech- heavy criteria - which includes a five-megapixel
camera and fast processor — means that might not be possible. World-renowned
handset manufacturer Nokia could jump on and give Windows Phone the kick it needs,
though.
Apple is obviously keen to keep
pushing its products, and although iOS 5 includes some impressive features,
they still feel a tad too granular and incremental to be as revolutionary as
the very first iPhone. The recently-released iPhone 4S packs some hefty new
hardware, but in terms of looks it’s exactly the same as its predecessor. We
were slightly disappointed that Apple didn’t announce the iPhone 5 this autumn,
but we’re looking forward to its inevitable debut next year.
The verdict
Android has proved that an open
smartphone operating system can actually work, and its pugnacious attitude is
at once its biggest selling point and its biggest let-down. Unlike Windows
Phone handsets and iOS devices, Android hardware can vary wildly and there’s little
unification across all devices. It’s also more vulnerable to security risks,
but - much like the desktop market - there are big companies putting money into
stopping viruses. Although all three mobile operating systems are in direct
competition, Jon Peddle Research recently pointed out that there will be no winner
in this three-horse race - at least for the short term. “No single device will
kill any of the others,” it said in a recent report, and this makes it a
fascinating time for smartphones, as each player incrementally moves a little
further down the track.
In the future, we’re more likely to
see human interface apps and hardware take precedence on smartphones. Apple’s
Sin and Android’s head-tracking are only just the beginning of smartphones that
will be capable of recognising and interacting with their users with gestures
and voice commands instead of touch.
In the meantime, just enjoy your
smartphone for what it is, and remember that if you’re in with one of the big
three, you’re on the cutting edge of technology anyway.
|
System
|
iOS
|
Android
|
Windows Phone 7.5
|
|
Number of apps
|
500,000
|
250,000
|
33,000
|
|
User-replaceable memory card
|
No
|
Yes
|
No
|
|
4G support
|
No
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
|
Lowest PAYG price
|
$560
|
$128(Samsung 15500 Galaxy Europa)
|
$368(LG E900 Optimus)
|
|
Root/Jailbreak
|
Jailbreak
|
Root
|
Jailbreak
|
|
Maximum camera megapixels
|
8MP(iPhone 4S)
|
8.1MP(Sony Ericsson Xperia ARC)
|
8MP (HTC 7 Mozart)
|
|
1080p high definition video
|
Yes(iPhone 4S)
|
Yes(Galaxy S II)
|
No (720 Maximum)
|
|
Available for tablets
|
Yes
|
yes
|
No
|
|
Adobe Flash support
|
No
|
yes
|
No
|
