World At War: Robots vs Apples

Duck down! There's a war being fought out there!

Alright, now that you've looked out of your window and made sure your street was still alive and standing, let's get right to the point: do you own a smartphone? Chances are, you do (or at least someone you know does, heck it's 2012!). Now to the real question, which phone? Today you will almost always get an answer that is either 'Android' or 'iPhone'. Yes, shocking, I know. The immensely fast uprising of the green robots from Mountain View collided with the hugely popular fruit melting people's hearts and emptying wallets from Cupertino.

As Android and iOS skyrocketed in usage , leaving RIM's BlackBerry in dust, a natural, competitive war broke out. As you are perfectly aware, the "fanboy" battles between iOS and Android users only escalate day by day as both continue gradual growth among consumer interest. However, this competitive dislike is found in just about any consumer, whether a geek, average user, or a person that simply uses a smartphone to make phone calls (yeah..there are those).



Of course this is all a natural reaction, and is by no means illogical, just like any two sports franchises that happen to be the biggest rivals. The real problem that ensues in this kind of competitive reaction is false information and stereotypical claims that give new consumers that are looking into jumping on an Android or an iOS boat a sour time. What's more, they are likely to end up on the regretful side of things after plucking down for something that doesn't fit them.

Of course you could say, do your research, it's your own fault. However, you'd be surprised at just how many 'average users' make up the smartphone chart, which are generally individuals that don't have much knowledge/nor care to know about the phone's specs, abilities, strengths, weaknesses and so forth. Just think about how many decisions are being made by the newcomers in terms of which phone to settle down for in credit to the massive flaming wars/ arguments/ accusations etc. between Android and iOS users.

Personally, I enjoy both platforms and I try to encourage to all of my readers to do the same, or at least to try to see a benefit in using each OS. If you are indeed interested in joining either the iOS or the Android party, or perhaps if you're jumping from one to another, my best advice to you of course would be to do a simple research to see just how different these two are because it will show you what kind of a user you really are, thereby defining your needs. More importantly however, my best advice for you would be to actually go in a retail store, for whichever provider you're with or whichever offers the best flagship phone offers, and to get your hands-on with Android and iOS. Folks, nothing beats your own opinion and likability, and while many people out there claim they know what's best for you, they really don't.



Quick tips:

Android

When it comes to choosing Android, make sure to handle devices that are rocking Ice Cream Sandwich OS or ones that are guaranteed to get OTAd (over the air download) to this latest OS, as Android is known to have a very slow upgrading process among its devices, causing fragmentation. Take note, many latest, most powerful Android handsets are equipped with LTE & HSPA+ which are meant to give you very fast browsing/downloading speeds. These will be supported on select carriers only, however in US & Canada the big boys AT&T, Verizon, Bell, Rogers, Telus, Sprint will welcome it. In Europe things get tricky, it's up to you to clear it up with your provider.

iOS

When it comes to choosing iOS make sure all the warranties are cleared up upon (i.e AppleCare) since many reception problems have been known to plague even the latest "new" iPad and iPhone 4S, as well as weird, abnormal screen contrast etc. Also do keep in mind, the new iPhone 4S is advertised as having HSPA+ giving you really fast browsing/downloading speeds, however this is only supported with providers that have HSPA+ frequency support, which shouldn't be a problem in Canada and US but gets tricky once you find yourself living in Europe as it will be 3G for the most part on the Euro shores.