I use a mobile phone, for both home and work.  I use the phone for many things.  I use it for phone calls.  I use it for email (both work and home).  I use it to communicate with my family and friends via texting.  I also use it for navigation, finding places I have to go.  I get lost frequently, and having a GPS built into the phone is indispensable to me.

I’ve tried the three major mobile platforms.  I had an iPhone.  I had a Windows Phone 7 device.  I’ve also had (and still have) an Android device.  Each has it’s benefits and drawbacks.

IPhone

The iPhone has a great app store.  It also has great support, and it is easy to use.  It allows me to have two email accounts and have independent sounds for each account so I know what email account just received an email (pretty indispensable for my needs).  It also allows you to easily use the phone as a music device, synching with ITunes and you can also use the phone to view movies.

What it doesn’t do well, in my opinion, is navigation.  I haven’t had an iOS6 device, just an older device, but the navigation portion of the phone just isn’t useful enough for my needs to make the phone worthwhile.

The other issue I have, and this is personal preference, is that you are unable to write native applications for the phone unless you are a Mac user.  I’m a Windows guy.  I’m not sure I necessarily want to write iPhone software, but the opportunity is not even available to me because I am a Windows guy.

Windows Phone 7

When Windows Phone 7 was first released, I acquired a Samsung Focus so that I could evaluate the platform.  It’s a nice phone.  It’s small, it’s fast, the battery life is pretty good.  It’s easy to set up, and easy to configure email accounts, Twitter accounts, Facebook, etc.  You cannot have two email accounts on the phone which have unique sounds.  So if you have a work email account and a home email account, they both have the same email alert sound.  For someone like myself who runs two companies, plus a side business, plus having a home email address, it’s pretty important for me to be able to easily distinguish WHICH email account just got an email, especially if I have the sound enabled.  It’s not possible with Windows Phone 7.  Windows Phone 8 has just been released, and much to my amazement, this issue (which cannot be unique to me) is not resolved with this new release of the phone software.  I couldn’t believe it.

Also, navigation on the Focus is abysmal.  Turn by turn navigation is not available on the phone without purchasing a secondary application.  I *need* navigation.

Android

A long long time ago, I had a Samsung Captivate.  I hated it.  The software was horrible, the applications were horrible, I could hardly make the phone work.  I took it back.

A couple years ago, I acquired a Dell Streak.  It was another Android device.  I *loved* this phone.  *LOVED* .  I used it for quite a while, but the screen broke, and then Dell stopped selling and supporting the device.  So I acquired a Samsung Galaxy Note.  With it’s 5.4” screen, it’s a behemoth of a device.  It’s a phablet. It does everything that Android can do, and it does it wonderfully.  It charges using a standard mini-USB plug, and it has Google integration and navigation and everything else necessary.

Best part about the phone,  is the navigation and the syncing with Google, which I use heavily for email.  I love the size of the phone, although most will hate it as too big.  Definitely check it out at your local retailer.