More on iPhone yadayada

Just wanted to set something straight.. I got an email from someone asking why I thought the iPhone "blows"(he had read that somewhere) - correction... I never claimed that.. since I've never actually used it it would be a bit tough for me to put that label on it. What I have been talking about the past week of so was simply why all the hype around iPhone when similar features have been available for sometime now on many Symbian S60 smartphones, particularly those from Nokia (and Sony Ericsson). Case in point, the Nokia Communicator series has been an enterprise user workhorse for years, being widely used in Europe by many power users. The Nokia N series devices like the N75, N80, and most recently the N95 are amazing devices that do most of what you can accomplish with iPhone, although they likely won't integrate with the Apple and with iTunes like the iPhone and they don't come bundled with the funky custom youtube service and innovative keyboard entry system. UIQ devices like the SEw950i are touch screen driven and have n amazing music player, after all they do come with the branded "walkman" tag associated! Finally the N95 has quad band functionality, integrated GPS, web browser, WiFi, Bluetooth, loads of memory, etc... most notably though the S60 devices will run a huge assortment of applications that you can easily find via Handango or the Nokia application shop. Does iPhone blow.. well, you'd have to ask a user. Is the device worth $600 compared to paying something like $200 for a subsidized Nokia N80 that will do pretty much everything else? You be the judge. I see Peter Batty has been using an iPhone and he also has an N95... he'd be a great one to chat with about that.. Peter be sure to drop me a line with your thoughts ;0)

Oh, last thing... clearly this battle is a war of the marketing departments and clearly Apple will likely have an edge... Nokia's lack of penetration in the high-end devices in North America has long been scrutinized and teh fact that most people don't know anything about the N-Series devices, what they do, where you can get them etc... is testament that the marketing efforts have really fallen short in North America. Or maybe Nokia simply hasn't been that concerned about North America... until now!