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Top 10 ways the HTC Droid Incredible killed my iPhone envy

By | May 3, 2010, 2:30am PDT

Summary: The Droid Incredible is the phone that I can finally call an “iPhone killer.”

Regular readers will know that I’ve been looking for a new smartphone for quite a while, honestly holding out for the iPhone to land in a Verizon Wireless store. But the wait is over. I have made my smartphone purchase and, quite frankly, I don’t care if Apple and Verizon ever cut a deal.

The Droid Incredible by HTC is my iPhone killer.

In all fairness, I had pretty much talked myself out of the iPhone a few months ago. I had been using a loaner Motorola Droid, a device I liked from the software side but didn’t really care for on the hardware side, largely because of the bulkiness from the slide-out keyboard. I wanted the iPhone-type experience and Google and HTC - first with the Nexus One and later with the Incredible - seemed to be reading my wish list.

Gallery: Screen shots of the Droid Incredible

So what makes it so great? Here’s my short list of reasons why the Incredible is My iPhone:

Verizon Wireless: The voice service is excellent. The 3G service is great. Plus, I bought it through Verizon, not Google.

Tethering: Yes, I know the iPhone has unlocked that feature but last I heard AT&T still hadn’t. With the ability to use my phone’s 3G connection to surf the web on my laptop, I instantly save $35 a month by dumping the aircard.

Multi-tasking: Yup, Android already does that, too.

The Sense UI: The experience of the HTC’s Sense UI on top of Google’s Android software is a nice experience. It seems to understand what users want and need, down to a “.com” button in the keyboard when I’m typing an e-mail address.

The Google Integration: Want to know where search really rocks on Android? Within Google Maps. The search feature gives you results within the map itself of which pizza joints or ATMs or hardware stores are near where you are. And the GPS navigation means never needing to buy a TomTom. Likewise, Google’s other products just seem to “fit” in the Android environment.

Google Voice: Apple may have rejected the app but Google has integrated the one-number-for-life service into the device beautifully. Now, for me, this phone has two numbers tied to it - the main number that Verizon Wireless provided and the GV number that I can manage as my work cell phone number, which means I can schedule it to not ring in the evenings or on weekends.

Voice input: In Android, if you can type it, you can speak it. A small microphone button appears in the on-screen keyboard that allows users to speak what they would normally type. This is not just for search but anywhere you can type - e-mail, SMS, maps, etc. No, it’s not perfect - but it’s pretty good most of the time and getting better.

Facebook contacts: The address book allows you to link your contacts to their Facebook profiles or Flickr accounts so that the information they share with friends on those profiles - maybe their birthday, home number or private e-mail address - gets wrapped into the contacts card.

Good apps: No, Android doesn’t have the gigantic app store that Apple has. But I don’t really need all of those apps, either. It’s got Pandora. It’s got Yelp. My bank has an Android app. I can do the Fandango movie ticket thing. Sure, maybe there’s no iFart app like there is for the iPhone - but I don’t really need that on my mobile device anyway.

Scenes vs. Folders: The new iPhone will include folders on the home screens to better organize apps. Android already does that - but the Sense UI also has “scenes,” that allow you to customize your phone’s home page to reflect your lifestyle of the moment. For example, when it’s a work phone, the home screen has a generic wallpaper with icons for corporate mail, corporate calendar and other work-related apps. When I’m traveling, I can place the Tripit app next to my maps app and my “Find a Starbucks” app on the home screen along with that camera icon - because I’ll be shooting a lot of pics while traveling. Finally, my “Weekends are fun” scene includes a fun picture of the Vegas weekend as a background, along with some gaming apps, my Yelp app and my Pandora app.

Yes, I’ve seen what iPhone OS 4.0 will offer - and now, thanks to Gizmodo and a careless Apple software engineer in a bar, I have also seen what the device itself will look like. It’s nice - but it hasn’t “evolved” in a way that Android has. I know the Incredible will likely be topped by something better next week or next month, something flashier or more user-friendly.

The good news is that the next big thing will probably be yet another Android device that has taken something good and made it even better. Seeing what I’ve seen from Apple (and AT&T), I know in my heart that the next big thing won’t be an iPhone. And I won’t have buyer’s remorse.

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Topics

High Tech Computer Corp., Apple iPhone, Google Inc., Google Android, Phone, Apple Inc., 3G Service, Mobile Operating Systems, Smart Phones, Consumer Electronics, Personal Technology, Sam Diaz

Sam has been a technology and business blogger for more than 18 years.

Disclosure

Sam Diaz

Sam Diaz has nothing to disclose.

Biography

Sam Diaz

Sam has been a technology and business blogger, reporter and editor at ZDNet, the Washington Post, San Jose Mercury News and Fresno Bee for more than 18 years. He's a member of the National Association of Hispanic Journalists and a graduate of California State University, Fresno.

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Droid also killed my i-phone obession!
greensaffire 23rd May 2011
Yes, all valid and very valid technical points. I bought the Icredible before it was actually available in our area, I had told the sales person that if we couldn't get my bill to a reasonable amount I was ditching the whole thing ( 3 phones and an internet card) They showed me the Incredible shoed me the Tethering feature! I was floored saved me (How flipping much?? 40-50 even 60 a month) for wireless internet for the comp. at the house. So needless to say, I was a bit sckeptical about the whole thing. for the average user wanting to make everything a wireless environment, the Droid Icredible made it affordable, fun and easy. I want things to work and be easy to take out the box and work, not have to learn a new program to get it to work. As most I can't stand installing this or that or setting up electronic crap anymore. I took the Droid out of the box, did a few quick minor settings adjustments and I was rock and rolling. I love my Incredible! The apps are tons of fun, so many now that what ever I think of they offer either free or less than 5 bucks. I just thought of this also, the tethering, once again rocks, I was asked to look something up this weekend and we were playing on the Wii. I turned my Hotspot app on and we were surfing the net on the Wii. Just like that. I love it!!!
Just had to let you all know that from the average user. the Icedible rocks. Not even upgrading this year with my new every 2. lol
View in thread
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I hope Blackberries, iPhones & Androids all sell well
linuser 3rd May 2010
I'm an Android fan, but I still hope that Blackberries & iPhones continue to sell well. The competition will lead to even better smartphones.
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Well said!
Pete "athynz" Athens 3rd May 2010
nt
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<a href="http://www.tran33m.com/vb/f81.html">blackberry</a>
frank dib 14th Feb 2011
@athynz They are the NOTwork and not all they are cracked up to be... I've had much better service with AT&T.
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<a href="http://www.tran33m.com/vb/f82.html">iphone</a>
frank dib 14th Feb 2011
@athynz AT&T locks in apps and restricts the phone in ways that contradict the design of the Android OS. Until that practice ends, AT&T smart phones will all be inferior to the rest.
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Second that.
Zc456 12th Jun 2010
@linuser Nt
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RE: Top 10 ways the Droid Incredible killed my iPhone envy
Ondrax 3rd May 2010
I guess you just didn't want to buy the iPhone:) Otherwise I
don't see much difference between the devices in the areas
you highlight.
Google maps search implemented must be a great feature
and shame would be on Google if they did it wrong.
And torpedoing App Store through iFart is too funny... I don't
use it, I use DocScanner to scan my business flipcharts on the
go and sync them over Evernote with my other devices. And
yes, the Google voice search works great on iPhone.
I still don't see much reason why I should switch to Droids.
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RE: Top 10 ways the Droid Incredible killed my iPhone envy
jessedegenerate 12th Nov 2010
@Ondrax You shouldn't. I have both. There comparable. Getting around iOS is probably 2x easier. HTC sense is really pretty, and even though they technically have 1/3rd the apps, that appstore feels super small.

I Jailbreak my iphone so on a feature level there at parity, apart from that my verizon phone costs an extra $20 to tether, ( i use jailbreak apps to tether my iphone because of at&t, not 100% legit, but nothing that's gotten me into trouble)

The pictures are much much better on the iphone, when you a/b them. I guess 3mp =/= a better lense.

Not impressed yet. the live wallpaper selection on my jailbroken iOS device (vwallpapers if your interested) had way nicer live desktop animations, and it lacks alot of first party app support, (think tom tom, webex, or retrospect)

good phone though.
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RE: Top 10 ways the Droid Incredible killed my iPhone envy
comhunter Updated - 3rd May 2010
There are some definite negatives on the iPhone side, especially when the only 2 Apple devices I own are a shuffle 3gen and an iPhone 3gs. However, that being said, most of the points made here are superficial (iFart app) don't really get to the heart of the matter.

1. Closed vs. open architecture. This for me is the most crucial decision. Do you want an interface that is fully customizable or do you want the powers that be give you. When I purchased, nothing compared to the iPhone's user interface and I would argue that point even with the HTC's, but I have not used one so that is just an assumption.

2. Last I checked, aircards ran in the $60 range for 5gb of data. As I don't use tethering, I haven't tried it. Will do so.

3. AT&T vs. other cell networks. - ANY network that took on the iPhone would have had problems and as the market expands for smartphones I'd expect to see other networks having issues as well...including the one who says you can connect 5 people to a 3g cell.

4. Apps - Droid will catch up in the app market, but saying that droid is better because the app store as a farting app is like saying that snail mail is better because you don't get spam. As long as there are men in this world, you will have farting in every aspect of life and technology.

5. Google....Hello? The feature you're talking about has been incorporated on Google Maps across all platforms. What's better than that? Try Yahoo! Sketch....you can draw a circle around an area on a map and get the names off all things in that area....Heck you can draw a decahedron if you want to. Oh and while we're on the subject of Google Maps....I used the tracking interface in Google Maps on a Samsung Eternity. Don't want to pay $100 for the TomTom app....? Well plan on getting lost when you lose signal or wasting time when you could have had a shorter route. The maps on the net are at least 2 years out of date with road construction. The 414 extension was just put on the maps and I've been driving on it for nearly 2 years now.

6. Google Voice? Ok...I'll give you that one, but I have a number and yet don't really see a need for it so I'm not really missing that...ya know?

7. Multitasking.....much needed, but not missing it either. I had a windows smartphone that opened everything and closed nothing and next thing you know...out of memory.

8. Facebook....if I really wanted all those "friends" (I use that term loosely) in my list, I would put them there and I have.

9. Scenes vs. Folders - since 4.0 is out yet...your assumptions about what it will do are just that.

10. Voice search....iPhone does that...with google, bing and others. Duh!

Bottom line? Everyone who can't/won't get an iPhone drums up the non-iPhone phones as the best. I used to be one of them until I actually owned one. I have a mac owner that sits across from me and in one breath tells me how great the mac is and how crappy windows is and in the next tells me how much better the HTC Evo is than the iPhone when they currently own a Blackberry. What???

If you're going to make the argument...base it on the bigger issues: open architecture, battery life, expandable memory, customization, flash compatibility. Those are much better arguments than what you put forth in this article.
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You're funny
SmAcKjAcK 3rd May 2010
"When I purchased [iPhone], nothing compared to
the iPhone's user interface and I would argue
that point even with the HTC's, but I have not
used one so that is just an assumption."

-You would argue that point even with HTC, yet
you haven't used one?

"ANY network that took on the iPhone would have
had problems and as the market expands for
smartphones I'd expect to see other networks
having issues as well"

- People claiming that the iPhone is what's
wrong with AT&T need to read this:
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/verizon-
wireless-and-sprint-each-carried-over-16-
billion-more-megabytes-of-mobile-network-data-
than-att-in-2009-says-abi-research-2010-04-12

"Multitasking.....much needed, but not missing
it either. I had a windows smartphone that
opened everything and closed nothing and next
thing you know...out of memory"

-So you're comparing the multi-tasking of out-
dated WinMo phones to... what exactly?

"If you're going to make the argument...base it
on the bigger issues: open architecture,
battery life, expandable memory, customization,
flash compatibility"

-Finally something I agree with
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How about he can base his argument on what he wants.
andrej770 3rd May 2010
People crack me up trying to TELL people what THEIR opinion should be. This is a blog where the author can speak his mind and base his arguments/opinions on whatever he pleases.

All your points are already obvious. So you really just wasted a whole lot of typing and "work" time. LOL
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Counterpoint
tikigawd 3rd May 2010
1. Closed vs. open architecture. This for me is the most crucial decision. Do you want an interface that is fully customizable or do you want the powers that be give you

You're actually suggesting the iPhone home screen is more customizable than an Android phone's...? Until recently you couldn't even change the background on your iPhone w/o going through unnecessary hoops!


6. Google Voice? Ok...I'll give you that one, but I have a number and yet don't really see a need for it so I'm not really missing that...ya know?

Google voice is MUCH more than just another number. For starters, you're using the data network for both SMS and phone calls. That translates into unlimited SMS out of the box, and potentially unlimited phone calls. GVoice is currently tied to your Verizon minutes, so by calling through it you do use minutes. But provided you have the 900 minute or better plan, by tying your GV number to one of your frequently called phone numbers you give yourself unlimited minutes. There are other ways of making this work for the 450 min plan, but you have to go through a few hoops. In addition, by using your GV phone # you can record phone calls, have transcripts of your voice mails, access your voice mail from any computer through the Google Voice website, as well as some other neat features.

Google Voice rocks and no one else has anything like it.


4. Apps - Droid will catch up in the app market, but saying that droid is better because the app store as a farting app is like saying that snail mail is better because you don't get spam. As long as there are men in this world, you will have farting in every aspect of life and technology.

You missed the point. It's not about iFart itself. It's about Android having all the Apps Sam Diaz needs (along with a host of other people, myself included). Sure 200k apps is more than 50k apps, but when those 50k apps do everything I need, the 200k apps the other guy is touting mean nothing.


10. Voice search....iPhone does that...with google, bing and others. Duh!

Sam Diaz made a mistake by calling the feature Voice Search. It's not just voice search, it's voice INPUT on EVERYTHING. If you can type it, you can speak it. That means you can speak e-mails, SMS, and yes, search too. Anything.
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re: voice search
SamDiaz 3rd May 2010
yup, you're right. I should have been more clear on that. It's absolutely voice input on anything you can type. Over the weekend, I was showing a friend who is debating iPhone vs. Android how to speak her text message and she said that was the clincher for her. She loved it.

Thanks for clarifying for the readers...
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Commenting in your counter point
Pete "athynz" Athens 3rd May 2010
1. Closed vs. open architecture. This for me is the most crucial decision. Do you want an interface that is fully customizable or do you want the powers that be give you

You're actually suggesting the iPhone home screen is more customizable than an Android phone's...? Until recently you couldn't even change the background on your iPhone w/o going through unnecessary hoops!

I didn't get that the OP was suggesting the iPhone interface is customizable because it is not! Which is one of many reasons I jailbroke mine - it interface is cool but it does get old after a while and even being able to apply a wallpaper to the background is good but not enough. I'll give y'all this one.


6. Google Voice? Ok...I'll give you that one, but I have a number and yet don't really see a need for it so I'm not really missing that...ya know?

Google voice is MUCH more than just another number. For starters, you're using the data network for both SMS and phone calls. That translates into unlimited SMS out of the box, and potentially unlimited phone calls. GVoice is currently tied to your Verizon minutes, so by calling through it you do use minutes. But provided you have the 900 minute or better plan, by tying your GV number to one of your frequently called phone numbers you give yourself unlimited minutes. There are other ways of making this work for the 450 min plan, but you have to go through a few hoops. In addition, by using your GV phone # you can record phone calls, have transcripts of your voice mails, access your voice mail from any computer through the Google Voice website, as well as some other neat features.

Google Voice rocks and no one else has anything like it.

I'm like the OP where I have a Google Voice account - and had it before Google bought it out - and I even have it on my iPhone (not so much a reason for jailbreaking but it's a good perk really) and I very rarely use it... I've never seen the need for it. If you are a user of Google Voice, the iPhone is not for you.


4. Apps - Droid will catch up in the app market, but saying that droid is better because the app store as a farting app is like saying that snail mail is better because you don't get spam. As long as there are men in this world, you will have farting in every aspect of life and technology.

You missed the point. It's not about iFart itself. It's about Android having all the Apps Sam Diaz needs (along with a host of other people, myself included). Sure 200k apps is more than 50k apps, but when those 50k apps do everything I need, the 200k apps the other guy is touting mean nothing.

And the Apple App store does NOT have the apps Sam needs? To me this is really a non issue - when I have a phone that can access those 200k apps and someone starts bragging about 50K apps and then says the majority of those 200k apps are crap without any research... to me it's like a little yip dog yapping at a great dame or something...


10. Voice search....iPhone does that...with google, bing and others. Duh!

Sam Diaz made a mistake by calling the feature Voice Search. It's not just voice search, it's voice INPUT on EVERYTHING. If you can type it, you can speak it. That means you can speak e-mails, SMS, and yes, search too. Anything.

That is one thing I wish was on the iPhone - I can't get that even with the jailbreak and it's the one thing I miss with my old WM device running Microsoft Voice Command. Steve and Co. dropped the ball on this one.
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Apps
tikigawd 3rd May 2010
And the Apple App store does NOT have the apps Sam needs? To me this is really a non issue - when I have a phone that can access those 200k apps and someone starts bragging about 50K apps and then says the majority of those 200k apps are crap without any research... to me it's like a little yip dog yapping at a great dame or something...


Well, according to Sam Diaz he's got the Apps he needs from the Android Market Place.

Regardless, I didn't mean to say I was knocking the 200k applications in the Apple App Store. What I meant was that if I have the ones I need I don't really care if the store has 50k or 200k. Fifty-thousand or Two-hundred-thousand becomes neither good nor bad, it just is what it is, and is not really a selling point in my book. SAYING you have 200k while the competition only has 50k is good from a marketing perspective, since the general public might assume the guy with 200k has better apps, or at least more choice. But that is not necessarily true. So, if there are particular apps you definitely need I'd suggest you make sure they're available on the platform you're thinking about buying, and make your decision based on that.

In my case I haven't been deprived of any apps that are on the App Store. All the ones I need are on the Google Market Place too.
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RE: Top 10 ways the Droid Incredible killed my iPhone envy
jessedegenerate 12th Nov 2010
@comhunter

Your wrong about basically every point. Especially the 'open' comment. With my "open" HTC incredible i can't delete "my verizon mobile" "vz navagator" etc.

The battery life on the indrecdible is 2/3rd's the iphone 4. I own both.

The iphone runs flash. Please look up frash.

grats on being wrong on every talking point. Incredible is a freaking great phone tho, and my fav Android phone.
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I've chosen Android as well
Prognosticator 3rd May 2010
I'm about to dump my blackberry bold to Android. While I like the iPhone, it come down to which proprietary jail you want to go into - Apple jail or Android jail.

Seems Android has a more open philosophy about applications and choice of service providers/
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RE: Top 10 ways the Droid Incredible killed my iPhone envy
eric_lawson 3rd May 2010
I'm sorry to inform you but your article was horribly inaccurate. There are a HUNDRED of android fart apps. Do your research next time happy

Seriously, I think the app support on android has really grown over the last 6 months, where a lot of iPhone staples (both apps and games) are available for Android.

Good Review.
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Would be good NOT ON VERIZON
itguy08 3rd May 2010
They are the NOTwork and not all they are cracked up to be... I've had much better service with AT&T.

Verizon has a good brainwashing department though!
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Most Definately!
csonera Updated - 3rd May 2010
Verizon has a great marketing/brainwashing department. I remember when they got a class action lawsuit slapped against them for the false/misleading advertising on the bluetooth capabilities on some of their phones. They omitted the fact that the bluetooth capabilities had been crippled, that you could only pair a bluetooth headset with the phones.

Now they're at it again with their Skype app for their Blackberry and Android phones. Seems you cannot use the Skype app through your wireless connection. Interesting how this has been a feature of Skype as far back as I can remember. May be a glitch but I doubt it.

The iPhone has it's niche and has come a long way but I'm not a fanboy. I will see what the GSM versions of the new iPhone HD, HTC Android and Windows 7 phones bring before making a move.
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That's Skype's fault.
hill60 3rd May 2010
They don't have the iPhone over 3G version yet either despite saying they
had it ready "months before" December last year, blaming Apple for "not
letting them release it" and being given the green light by AT&T & Apple
way back in February.

Skype are pretty slack.
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Not Skype's fault.
csonera Updated - 3rd May 2010
Skype was bound to it's contract with Verizon. Verizon is known for crippling phones to favor their profits.

You can't even launch the app with wifi enabled on the phone. The app only works through the 3G connection which makes it useless overseas.

As far as the iPhone goes... it's clearly stated on Skype's site that it only works through WiFi. Nowhere on Verizon's site did it have such a disclaimer.

Verizon's advertising of the Skype Mobile app is misleading... intentionally leaving out important information that you only find out after the fact.

Skype's only fault is bowing down to Big Red.
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RE: Top 10 ways the Droid Incredible killed my iPhone envy
samsonite801 15th Jun 2010
@csonera
With Fring, you can log into your Skype account and make Skype calls on your Android over wireless, and Skype in / Skype out calls don't have a charge like with the Verizon / Skype app.
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See here is where I have to disagree with you..
JT82 3rd May 2010
As a former Central PA resident myself (and still visit there quite frequently) I rarely ever have an issue with signal with my Verizon Wireless Droid "classic". Now in some buildings the signal is weaker, but non-existant. You are - again - making a mountain out of a molehill and if you are happy with American Tinker Toy - so be it, because obviously you dont leave their little bubble.
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Funny, he never mentioned the phone he
Snooki_smoosh_smoosh 3rd May 2010
is using, and here since he prefers the ATT network, you automatically assume that he has an iPhone by your inference of the "American Tinker Toy" as the iPhone has been referred to as.
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wrong
JT82 Updated - 3rd May 2010
That was a clear shot at AT&T (hence American Tinker T
oy ) have a one track mind much?
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I do travel quite a bit
itguy08 3rd May 2010
Outside Central PA..... And my AT&T has worked flawlessly for years. About the same as work's Verizon phones. Both have areas they suck. Both suck in one way or another.

It's just that AT&T sucks less.
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Eh?
evilkillerwhale@... 3rd May 2010
Verizon's got 3G like no other. Since they got
a deal to use ATT's towers a few years ago...
there's not really been anywhere ATT works
Verizon doesn't...

Heck, south Georgia gets service. South Georgia
is pretty darn similar to the movies you've
seen about it.

They did a functional tour with the Verizon
WiFi box all over the country side-by-side with
AT&T's iPhone. The WiFi box (3G) didn't lose
Pandora a single time. The iPhone paused to
load in nearly every state they traveled
through repeatedly. Tests show that Verizon is
nearly TWICE AS FAST on average as AT&T.
Furthermore, last year, Verizon had more data
throughput than AT&T. They did more total data
at twice the speed of AT&T.



Basically, it comes down to the part where you
don't know what you're talking about.
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Verizon does not use ATT cell towers.
aiellenon 4th May 2010
go do some wikipedia lookups, "verizon wireless"
and "iPhone" work well, they are on completely
different network specifications. also what I
think you are referring to is this (taken from
the verizon wikipedia page):

On 27 November 2007, Verizon Wireless announced
plans to allow all cell phones compatible with
their CDMA technology to run on their network.
Users of such phones are also allowed to use any
application they wish.
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Good ON VERIZON
Badgered 3rd May 2010
Verizon has a good brainwashing department though!

Don't know about that... My wife took her Verizon phone to a camp in upper WI for a week. All the folks on AT&T used her phone to dial home. No one else got any signal.

Guess I'll just stick with the brainwashers.
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I can show you places the reverse is true.
itguy08 3rd May 2010
Doesn't make one better than the other. Just means they both suck.
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I've been to ...
msalzberg 3rd May 2010
Europe more often in the last 5 years than I've been to Wisconsin.

My iPhone has worked for me in Denmark, Finland, Sweden, Norway,
Russia, Poland and Estonia.

Before I had an iPhone, I had a Verizon phone. I had to buy a second
phone to use overseas.

To each his own...
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....
Badgered 3rd May 2010
To each his own...

Indeed.
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Verizon has phones...
evilkillerwhale@... 3rd May 2010
...with GSM SIM cards built in, such as the
BlackBerry Storm, World Tour, etc. They have the
most coverage, and on a faster network. AT&T just
doesn't compare. It had better service as
Cingular, and it was STILL terrible. You use AT&T
if you can't afford Verizon. End of story.
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I thought this was about the Incredible?
hill60 3rd May 2010
Way to change the subject.
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Not on AT&T...
kc117mx 3rd May 2010
AT&T locks in apps and restricts the phone in ways that contradict the design of the Android OS. Until that practice ends, AT&T smart phones will all be inferior to the rest.
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I have a Nexus One on AT&T
rlawler 3rd May 2010
I have a Nexus One on AT&T. It's not restricted. I
can use PDAnet etc.
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Waiting for 4G
eheathts@... 3rd May 2010
The Incredible is really just a preview of what
the EVO will be like running on 4G. I would save
my money for another month and jump on that, of
course I live in Texas where Sprint's 4G network
covers all the metro pops.
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Everyone has carriers
desamuelson 3rd May 2010
which they have preferences for. For me, verizon performs in the areas I live/work in better than the other major carriers. Oh, and have used Sprint as well as ATT with work at the same time as Verizon,,
I also know others who I respect their opinions that perfer another choice than mine, its what works for them.
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RE: Top 10 ways the Droid Incredible killed my iPhone envy
WhiteBoy99 19th May 2010
@itguy08 I can say the exact opposite about AT&T dependability. Four years ago, I caught a bad case of RDF (reality distortion factor) and as a result I stood in line and shelled out $565 for the 1G iPhone. Living in a large metropolitan area, you would think the AT&T coverage would be excellent but I can tell you from first-hand experience that I got so many dropped calls it compelled me to drive around town in search of cell towers just so I knew where they were. My Verizon Droid cured me of RDF. I now live a fulfilled life and have had absolutely ZERO dropped calls on Verizon. I can tether for free, I have my GV setup on Friends and Family so I have unlimited minutes, I have just about any app I could ever want and the apps that they don't have aren't in Apple's store either. The Verizon/Droid experience has not left me wanting for anything. This is definitely something I can not say about AT&T/iPhone. Steve Jobs can worry about developing a user experience that he thinks the lemmings want but Android (and Verizon for that matter) is way ahead of the game when it comes to net neutrality and open software. What's even cooler is that Android just keeps getting better and better with each release.
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Well done, Sam.
Sleeper Service 3rd May 2010
I'm glad you picked the phone that suits your needs best.

You are of course going to be flamed, insulted and called an idiot or a shill by those intolerant types who don't understand the concept of personal preference though.

So it goes.
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So when someone buys the iPhone
Snooki_smoosh_smoosh 3rd May 2010
they're a shill or an iSheep, but when it is a phone you like, it is personal choice. Epic.
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No when somebody buys the iPhone....
storm14k 3rd May 2010
...and doesn't give a nice clean list of reasons
like this but proclaims its the best thing since
sliced bread and everything else is a cheap clone
then they are iSheep.
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So, come June...
john@... 3rd May 2010
...we're not expecting any articles from Sam on the new
iPhone then.
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No, he'll be busy playing with Android 2.2
rfdparker2002 Updated - 3rd May 2010
with full Flash Player 10.1, official support
for installing apps to SD (finally), JIT (Just
in Time compilation - should make everything
run 2-3x faster on pretty much every phone),
etc.

(well it depends how quick HTC will be with
their Sense-enabled Android spins - hopefully
they learnt their lesson with 2.0/2.1, and
hence will be ready to ship 2.2 quickly)
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Yes 2.2 is the big news of the summer.
storm14k 3rd May 2010
I doubt he'll remember what an iPhone is while
waiting for Froyo.
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I like the way...
hill60 Updated - 3rd May 2010
...holding the fullstop key on an iPhone brings up a HUGE key with a
choice of .com, .org, .edu, .net, just slide across and choose the
appropriate one.

What was that about some lame .com key?

How's the system wide cut and paste coming along, it's handy to cut
from a webpage and paste to an email or SMS, how well does your
incredible do that?

Can you paste a whole webpage including the pictures into an email?

I don't think I'd like not having that.

Anyway I think I'll sync my contacts with Facebook, I haven't done it
for a few months, I need to update them.

Can I install my 4.5GB of iPhone Apps on it, like I can by syncing them
across to a new iPhone, without having to buy them again?

Oh, yeah btw:-

http://bit.ly/bLIlxR

Plenty more where that came from:-

http://www.androlib.com/r.aspx?r=fart
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Interesting..
LeeC 3rd May 2010
"...holding the fullstop key on an iPhone brings up a HUGE key with a choice of .com, .org, .edu, .net, just slide across and choose the appropriate one."
That's actually quite useful, I didn't know about that one... pity it's negated by the complete pain to try and enter something completely in CAPS on the iPod. Hold the CAPS key on the HTC and it switches to a CAPS LOCK key, very useful.

The whole keyboard experience is actually much better on the HTC, having a suggestion based, constantly learning dictionary is very nice to have to hand. That and the haptic feedback when you hit a key makes it "feel" so much better.

"How's the system wide cut and paste coming along, it's handy to cut from a webpage and paste to an email or SMS, how well does your incredible do that?"
My Desire does it fine, so I can see no reason a newer phone can't do it. I bet you weren't asking that question when iPhone launched with no SMS facility. wink

"Can you paste a whole webpage including the pictures into an email?"
Why would you email the page instead of the link to the page?

The UI of each device has its merits, but you cannot even begin to argue that customisability wise, the HTC phones (Desire, Hero etc...) are way ahead of iPhone. Yes I miss the auto arranging when you want to drag an icon onto an already full page. But on the other hand, I love the bigger widgets that mean I don't have to run a programme that takes me away from the home screen.

The Android store is sh*te, there's no denying that. But then again, that's what happens when you make developing for a device so accessible.

The only thing I could say that made my decision easier, was the fact that I am a Flash developer by profession... choice was made for me. That one single factor could have changed my decision, iPhone didn't have it, HTC did.
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Double tap the shift key on the iPod/iPhone
Snooki_smoosh_smoosh 3rd May 2010
to enable caps lock.

"That's actually quite useful, I didn't know about that one... pity it's negated by the complete pain to try and enter something completely in CAPS on the iPod. Hold the CAPS key on the HTC and it switches to a CAPS LOCK key, very useful."
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You might want to try an Incredible before looking like a fool again...
storm14k 3rd May 2010
Its might easy to cut and paste from a web page
to SMS. When you finish the selection which
actually works the same as the iPhone the
options to share the selection pops up. The
iPhone doesn't do that. But along with sharing
you can also search Wikipedia and translate the
selection to another language. Oh...you're still
trying to start the SMS app to paste while I do
all this aren't you...

You mean you have to tell your phone to sync
your facebook contacts? The Incredible does this
automatically. It also intelligently links
duplicates from gmail, facebook, exchange or any
other source into one contact.

I guess Apple must have just started allowing
you to put your apps on your new phone without
paying for them again. I guess thats news to you
since it was never a drawback of Android lmao.

Thats nice that you can install 4.5GB of apps.
Now will you be able to remove that storage and
add more? I'll be able to do that in about a
month.

Now tell me...when you unlock your phone are you
presented with any useful information? Hows that
grid of icons working for you? Well at least you
can change your background now...thats a start.
happy Maybe one day you'll be able to see stuff
like news or weather.

So how are notifications coming along? Are they
still popping up in the way of what you're
doing? Can you see them all in one place instead
of scattered across multiple screens. Can you
see them and dismiss them at any time that you
want?

Hows multitasking working for you? I hear you'll
be able to do some limited things in the
background. But Steve Jobs said the iPhone blew
it because it has a task manager. I guess it
won't be an enjoyable experience for you
then....

Ok I can't even keep a straight face while
typing this. The iPhone is falling so far behind
its becoming nothing more than a toy lmao.
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Looking out the window
hill60 3rd May 2010
Gives me a pretty good idea of the weather, I'm a bit old fashioned that
way.
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Droid also killed my i-phone obession!
greensaffire 23rd May 2011
Yes, all valid and very valid technical points. I bought the Icredible before it was actually available in our area, I had told the sales person that if we couldn't get my bill to a reasonable amount I was ditching the whole thing ( 3 phones and an internet card) They showed me the Incredible shoed me the Tethering feature! I was floored saved me (How flipping much?? 40-50 even 60 a month) for wireless internet for the comp. at the house. So needless to say, I was a bit sckeptical about the whole thing. for the average user wanting to make everything a wireless environment, the Droid Icredible made it affordable, fun and easy. I want things to work and be easy to take out the box and work, not have to learn a new program to get it to work. As most I can't stand installing this or that or setting up electronic crap anymore. I took the Droid out of the box, did a few quick minor settings adjustments and I was rock and rolling. I love my Incredible! The apps are tons of fun, so many now that what ever I think of they offer either free or less than 5 bucks. I just thought of this also, the tethering, once again rocks, I was asked to look something up this weekend and we were playing on the Wii. I turned my Hotspot app on and we were surfing the net on the Wii. Just like that. I love it!!!
Just had to let you all know that from the average user. the Icedible rocks. Not even upgrading this year with my new every 2. lol

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