iPhone vs Blackberry: Which Smart Phone is right for you?

I decided to write this post due to the noticeable surge in this question from our Sales Associates and Employees. iPhone or the Blackberry? Which one is right for you? Let’s take a step back and ask ourselves this question: What features are your must haves for your smart phone? This will go a long way in deciding which way you go. Also, we are not a proponent of change for the sake of a new toy but change is good if it will make us more productive with the right smart phone. All trends point to us being more dependent and doing more with our mobile devices in the future.

I have been using the blackberry for over 10 years and has been a huge productivity tool for me. The ability to do email, calendars, contacts and limited (arrgh!) Internet browsing have been very beneficial. However, for quite some time, I have been a member of the iPhone envy club but finally got a chance to use the latest iPhone 3GS (my wife has it now!) for a few days and have come to the conclusion that the iPhone is a serious contender to the blackberry for business use. Based on your role, some of the features listed below might not apply. Here we go:


Features I love about the Blackberry:
1. Keyboard – Use it a great deal for my email and text messages. The iPhone keyboard takes time to get used to and become productive
2. Durable – Survived me dropping it a few times on hard floors!
3. Wireless Sync of Prufoxroach.com email, contacts, calendar (license cost)
4. Longer battery life than the iPhone (using EDGE instead of 3GS and turning off location svcs, gives a bit longer battery on iPhone)
5. Lockbox (for Sales Associates) works better than the iPhone. One would think this would change over time with the increased adoption of the iPhone

Features I love about the iPhone 3GS:
1. Huge screen
2. Better graphics – You can play YouTube video and clearly see it. Good for listing presentations as well
3. Intuitive – Made by Apple, enough said!
4. Internet browsing works much better and is compatible with more sites than the Blackberry
5. Internet speed – 3GS seems to deliver better speed compared to my blackberry in side by side tests
6. Convergence of multiple devices – phone, iPod, video, basic laptop functionality
7. App Store – This is a big one. The number of productivity applications that are available for free download from the Apple App store dwarfs the Blackberry's app world.
8. Wireless sync of Prufoxroach.com email, contacts, calendar (NO license cost)
9. Built in Wi-Fi
10. GPS receiver works much better on the iPhone compared to the Blackberry

I didn’t include cell phone provider in the above as Blackberry is available for both AT & T and Verizon. However, iPhone for now is only available with AT &T as they have an exclusive deal with them through 2010. Although there has been some recent discussions about Apple and Verizon possibly working on a deal (http://bit.ly/v7Z0w). It will happen eventually as Apple cannot ignore the Verizon market but I would not hold off making the change if it is the right time. Finally the chart here (http://bit.ly/1IwmDN) shows that iPhone is becoming more popular in business and it comes as no surprise due to the recent release of the iPhone 3GS and its improved features and functionality.

AppleInsider | Report: Apple to launch Verizon iPhone in Q3 2010 (November 6, 2009)

I know most people have been thinking of an iPhone (Apple has a way with their marketing to make us think that!), based on all the above, there has never been a better time to make the shift to the iPhone!