Which is the iPhone's main rival now? The Hero, Dext, 9700 or X6?
Only the most die-hard Apple fan boys/girls could deny that in the last few months the gap between the iPhone and some rival products in terms of their hardware has significantly closed. The Google Android operating system has been very cleverly executed on some intelligent touch screen handsets and now they are beginning to look like real rivals to the iPhone.
Of course what rival handsets don't have is the whole Apple eco system that means better integration with hardware, killer software like iTunes and of course the incredible app store. Still the gauntlet has been thrown down and I expect we will some significant revisions to the iPhone next year.
In the mean time which of the new breed of handsets has impressed you most. Here's our take on some key ones
HTC Hero
Until the last couple of weeks this was by some distance the hottest new phone of 2009. It runs the Google Android operating system, sports an intuitive touch screen interface and is loaded with facilities. There is however very little here that is significantly superior to the iPhone. Sure it has a better camera and slightly superior battery life, but what makes the Hero so well regarded is that it does things that iPhone owners take for granted extremely well.
Details and video here.
Motorola Dext
Along with the soon to be launched Droid, which I haven't seen so can't comment on, the Dext is the phone that Moto has pinned its future on. And fortunately for Motorola it really does deliver. It might be a bit on the chunky side, but that enables it sport a full QWERTY keypad in addition to its touch screen facilities. It also runs Google Android so has access to lots of cool apps like the excellent Twitter client Twidroid. It scores over the iPhone in a couple of ways. One, it has a better camera and two its MotoBlur interface is really very clever in that way that incorporates elements of Twitter, Facebook and other messaging systems on the home screen. The downside is that MotoBlur seems to really hammer the battery which is really very poor.
More here
Blackberry Bold 9700
In some ways the BlackBerry Storm is more of a rival to the iPhone than the Bold 9700 in that it has a touch screen. However in the long run I think it will be the Bold 9700, which is essentially classic BlackBerry, that is the big seller. If you like BlackBerrys then you'll love the Bold. All the basic work very well, is pleasant to look at and the new track pad it uses to control the interface is very effective. What makes it stand out is its astonishing battery life. You can comfortably use it for three to four days before charging it.
More here
Nokia X6
Nokia's last handset, which has just gone on sale in the UK, sounds like a real return to form for the beleaguered manufacturer. It not only looks the dogs and boasts the now requisite 3.2inch touch screen but also has 32 Gigabytes of storage on board, packs a five mega pixel camera and has 35 hours of music playing battery life. It also has access to Nokia's Ovi - its equivalent of the iTunes app store - and is ready to sync with Facebook too via a Lifecasting with Ovi feature. This basically lets you publish your location and status updates directly to Facebook from the phone.
More here
So which of the big four do you think is the biggest challenger to the iPhone? Vote below
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