Once upon a time, the RIM operating system was hot dung.  Back then, the Blackberry was virtually the only smartphone in existence and thus was famous as the thing.  Over time, other smartphones were developed, but the Blackberry remained top dog.  Now, after somewhat recent developments, Blackberry is being pushed aside.  Below are the primary predators of the modern Blackberry.

• The Android operating system has become the new hot dung of the smartphone world.  Currently, unit sales for Android OS smartphones ranked first among all smartphone OS handsets sold in the U.S. in the second and third quarters of 2010, with a third quarter market share of 43.6%, according to Reuters and Nielson.  The android system is very popular and available on many, many platforms.  Also, many consider it more user friendly than RIM OS and just as professional.
• The iPhone is not as big as Android, but is still a threat.  The iPhone itself is much alike the iPod touch, but with call and texting features.  It also can access the web without wifi via a 4G network.  Unfortunately, it is limited to the AT&T network… for now.  Also, I have heard mixed reviews over it, but it is very cool to look at. Also, Apple adds tend to be cool, which helps.
• The Palm webOS is probably the final cut that will bleed the RIM OS to death.  WebOS’s graphical user interface is designed for use on devices with touchscreens.  It will interface with many apps and supports java script and HTML5.

It appears that the Blackberry is finally meeting its demise and will soon die.  Many people I know are concerned because they own Blackberries and they don’t know what they will do.  As one man I know said, “I only stay with Blackberry for the push email.”

Whenever people talk of computers, it’s Microsoft vs. Apple, when it’s search engines, it’s Google vs. Yahoo, when we talk of internet service, it’s Comcast vs. Verizon, and when we discuss cell phones it’s Google vs. Apple. Very rarely do we ever consider the smaller bits of the whole sum, and this leads us to rooting for a specific company as if they were a sports team. It’s important to note also that often times we begin to show our fondness for a company when it’s on it’s way up — when it’s the “little guy.” We did this with Google and we did this with Apple.

However, as soon as they get too big or too cocky or begin to actually act like a big business acts, folks turn on them and crucify them as a monopoly. This interests me because we seem to be doing this to ourselves. It’s almost as if we can’t handle (or don’t want) more than a handful of competitors in any given business. What’s telling about it is that people seem to have this team mentality without actually being on the team.

When someone sees that my roommate owns an Android phone and that I own an iPhone, most of the time their first question is “which one is better?” My question to that is “how can one say which is better?” It’s all preference. Sure a product might have features that another does not, and we might not like the business practices of some companies, and some companies might be in bed with the government spying agencies, but when you get right down to it the important thing is whether or not a given product or service will be useful to you.

We’ve got better things to discuss than our allegiance to a company that doesn’t know we exist and doesn’t give two shakes about us. They’re in it for the money; every business is. Let’s keep our minds and wallets open, and our mouths shut, shall we?

The Motorola Droid is a better phone but too clumsy-looking for me.  I was pleased from the start with the Droid operating system and its ease of customization.  The Eris, not so much.  The battery life is ridiculous and the system is slow.

However, as of recent a minor step was taken to make it all better for the consumer.  The push of the major software update went through with many cool features and boasting of more efficiency which would boost the battery life.  I was not pleased the night it was downloaded because it dumped all of my contacts.  I have since had better days.

The battery life was a tad bit better.  That is, until I downloaded a Task Manager application that kills all the programs not in use at the moment.  It is easy to access as a shortcut on the home page and my battery life has almost doubled.  Awesome!

After this battery debacle, I am most pleased with the Unlock Security feature standard with the phone.  I know it sounds like I need a real life but hear me out.  Up until this Droid, I have never taken advantage of protecting my phone with any type of password.  All the times in the past that I did attempt it, I became annoyed with it very, very quickly.

Who wants to type a four digit code in every single time they need to use the phone?  Not me.  I would want to make the code challenging and that made the situation even more time consuming.

Droid offers an unlock pattern under SETTINGS, SECURITY, UNLOCK PATTERN.  You get a screen with 12 circles on it.  You then create a pattern using at least four of them.  Now, in only a second I can unlock my phone.  Finally, a security system that is smart!

Immediately after the update I noticed all my settings were gone.  Not only that, all of my contacts too.  For the past five or so years, I have had smart phones and compiled lots of info on each contact of mine.  I had business contacts, clients, friends and, of course, family.  All gone.  Thankfully, I was able to retrieve all my family and friends rather quickly through the Facebook linking option and some business associates and clients through the Gmail link.  Grrr!

Thankfully, all my pictures are still intact.  As a father of an infant, I would have choke-slammed someone if those were harmed.  Ok, enough of the bad:

First off, the redesign of the icons is very stylish and appealing.  The home button now will tile each of the seven screens onto one page.  I can quickly navigate to all of my different apps in no time at all.  That is huge for me.

There are many new Android and HTC widgets that you can add and customize.  There are also more shortcuts.  For instance, I can jump right to the camcorder now instead of bringing up my camera and then switching over there.  If that was an option before, it alluded me.

A huge plus is the navigation program now.  Finally, the Eris can take advantage of the GPS and give turn by turn directions to any locale.  I used it to get from a store to my house earlier today.  It was pretty accurate to the foot and each new point loaded quickly.  I was rather impressed with how it switched to Google Street View when I turned onto my road.

Unfortunately, there doesn’t seem to be any improved efficiency or faster loading of programs and the battery still drains very quickly.  All in all, not bad.

I love to dabble in stocks and even co-founded an investment company focused on purchasing stocks.  Just as most of us cannot check the computer all the time, we look to the cell phone.  My iPhone had the best app, which gave me the current stock price, how much my shares gained or lost and the total of my portfolio.  This is a helpful tool unless you are able to remember how much you paid for every share of stock and do math in your head every time the prices changes.

For the life of me, I could not find an app that would give me gains and losses per share.  I have no clue why this is such a tough feature to find.  Until Stock Quote saved the day.  I cannot only gain access to all the info I need, I also am able to load multiple portfolios and track my personal stocks, too.  This is not a glitter app offering fancy graphics, but it is a highly functional and well thought out one.  Make sure to get it for your stock needs.

The next app is merely for fun and a little practice to keep me on my toes.  It is Market Millionare.  This is a game app with real time stock info.  You start with $100,000 in fictional cash and try to build a powerhouse portfolio.  This a perfect tool for those with day trader aspirations.  My strategy always has been long term buys, and I am just starting to look into short term purchases.

I just got the app and set it up and have not actually loaded my picks just yet, but I can’t wait to see how I do and if I am able to beat the market.  See if you can hit a million before me.

The Sims 3 is a fun way to kill some time.  For those not familiar with the Sims, you create a character and live their lives for them.  You get them a job, spouse, and control all aspects of their day.  You tell them when to eat, sleep, go to the bathroom, clean up and everything else.  It is a true test in multi-tasking.

I love the format for the Droid.  My only complaint is whenever you change the scenes or start a new task, you have to wait for the game to load.  This always has been my pet peeve with video games like this.  I feel I lose valuable game time waiting on such loading.

Next there is Spades.  I love Spades, and it is my favorite card game of all time.  The app for the Droid proves to be a good one.  You play against two computer opponents, and your partner is also a computer player.  Each team races to 500 for the victory.

The game play is pretty good and just challenging enough.  Playing computer card games is never as much fun as playing in person.  However, I love this spades game.

Lastly, Frozen Bubbles.  Here you control where to shoot colored bubbles with the trackball or with the touch screen.  The goal is to get three bubbles of the same color to touch, and they will go away.  Eventually, you will clear the entire board and move on to the next level.  Each one starts out differently, and the ceiling actually drops after so many bubbles are played.  Just be sure to clear them all before the bubbles touch the ground.

Yes, three games to help pass the time while you are supposed to be working.

Pandora, Shazam and iMusic are all great apps that can’t be ignored, if you like music.  Each of these is unique and allows for you to enjoy the experience that you always imagined.  For example, have you ever heard a song on the radio and wished you knew who sang it?  I have even called radio stations and walked through some of the lyrics or melody to try and figure it out.

Shazam is the answer to this dilemma.  When you hear a song playing on the radio or wherever you may be, start the program and hold up your phone.  The “Tag Now” feature listens to the song for about 10 seconds and then tells you the artist, song and album.  It is a great program and has known almost every song I tested it on.  I have had fun with people playing music who thought I would never guess who it was.  They would freak when they heard not only the artist but the album, too.

Once you know who is playing your tune, there must be a way to get that song.  iMusic is a great app for that.  Knowing the name of the artist or song, you can search all day.  Most of the songs are free, and you can download them right to your phone.  They are not able to be transferred from your phone, and that is why it is free.

Lastly, when I love an artist I want to hear similar music.  Pandora is the answer.  I can type a band and create a channel.  Pandora searches Internet radio stations for that artist or song and plays songs from artists in the same genre.

These music apps make you feel like you’re in the future.  The only thing better would be all three combined.

The LifeChurch.tv Bible app is a great one for all those who want the scripture right at their fingertips.  You can access any verse you like while standing in line at the bank.  Just pull up the book, chapter and verse.  Readers even can change the translation from all the different choices to get a better understanding of what is actually being said.  I really like the fact that by selecting the verse, I can email it to a friend or see links to commentaries others have made about it.

If you can’t decide what verse to read, there is a daily read with a few random chapters.  When you find a verse you really love you can bookmark it and come back to it over and over again.  Finally, there is a search function to help you find the verse on the tip of your tongue.

After enjoying the great theologians of the Bible, it is time to enjoy a modern one.  Bill Watterson to the rescue.  The Calvin and Hobbes comic strip is available as an app that updates daily.  Unfortunately, there are no more new strips because Watterson is retired, but the archives are plenty large for a daily grin.

Finally, a game for those with aspirations of world denomination.  Age of Conquest is the only app that I have purchased to this point.  This is a game likened to Risk, where you choose a nation and place your armies to attack and conquer the neighboring nations.  There are numerous options, such as nation and difficulty level to help you customize your experience.  The easy is not too easy but challenging and, the hard is enough to stretch your military strategies.

There are thousands of apps on the Android Market, but I think you will find these three entertaining.

Twigee is an application for Twitter.  Twitter has become a second home to me as a writer.  The Peep program that comes on the Eris is mediocre compared to Twigee.  I love this app because  I can see what my friends are up to and read direct messages.  Admittedly, nothing new there.  However, Twigee gives me the ability to search Tweets by keywords, which is something difficult to do on the Twitter website itself.  This is huge when researching topics.

Another key research tool is the Twitter trend tracking.  I can see the trending topics with a flick of the finger.  I can keep up with my favorite tweets and re-tweet any article with ease.  Not to mention it has never been easier for me to follow new friends.  Get Twigee (it’s free), and you will not regret it as you are keeping up with Wasabi Media writers (www.twitter.com/wasabimedia) or myself (www.twitter.com/joeylaw).

Family and friends are number one priority, and the Facebook Lite app allows me to keep in touch with them.  Status updates and notifications are top notch.  The only downfall to this app is that if you are not in a great Internet area, you will have difficulty using the other features.  All the friend requests and other requests are done through a re-direct to the Facebook website and can be quite slow in weak areas.  I replaced the Eris default Facebook app with this one because the default only allowed you to view friends’ and your status updates.  Nothing else.

Bottom line: two fantastic apps.

It’s common knowledge I’m an iPhone lover.  The only reason I left Verizon a year ago was for the iPhone.  However, AT&T’s service was quite terrible, and I had to dump them.  Reluctantly, I had to surrender my iPhone and with a bummed heart, I walked into Verizon.  Seeing the Eris really perked my spirits, though.

The Droid software is a Google platform.  Google in my mind is gold, and I support just about anything they’ll get behind.  AND this new software platform was being placed on the Verizon network.  I was sold.  The salesperson pointed me to the Moto Droid, and I didn’t quite like the feel of it.  It was bulky, and I didn’t need the keyboard.  Then I turned to the HTC Eris, and it really appealed to me.

The phone is small with a touchscreen and trackball.  In terms of software the Moto has 2.0, and the Eris trails with Droid 1.5.  The biggest difference I see here is no turn-by-turn navigation with 1.5.  Next, the Moto has beefier hardware allowing for faster processing of information and applications.  The Eris does have a lag but nothing alarming.

After one week, I’m in love with the Eris.  It has everything I need plus more.  I love that the homescreen and associated panels can be fully customized anyway I want them.  There are even ‘scenes’ which allow me to set the phone up for work or for home or for play…etc.

The Droid marketplace has thousands of apps for any need.  iPhone’s apps were a bit higher quality, in terms of programming, but again no major compromise.  In fact, many of the same apps like Facebook, Twitter, Shazam, Pandora, etc. are present, too.  Droid’s got the edge with a Calvin and Hobbes comic strip app, hand’s down.

All in all, the iPhone hasn’t been killed, but it’s wounded.