The Student News Site of Monta Vista High School

El Estoque

The Student News Site of Monta Vista High School

El Estoque

The Student News Site of Monta Vista High School

El Estoque

Slick and smart

Slick and smart

Most of us could pass a whole day examining dazzling smartphones, but which goes down as champion?

You know you live in the 21st century when a five-year-old is confused if nothing happens when she taps a Blackberry screen. 


We have grown up in a world of touchscreens. And with all these screens, our view is clouded. You have the slick and curvy Palm Pre by Sprint, the crafty Droid by Verizon and Google, and the well-known and accomplished iPhone by Apple. 
What to do and what to choose? Here is a true b
reakdown of what reigns superior and what clearly doesn’t have what it takes to survive in the geek world of super power devices.


There seems to be a false sense of how amazingly revolutionary the iPhone is. Truthfully, the embellishment is mere sugar coating. Can it sync your inboxes from different email accounts? Can it make one list of all your contacts from Gmail, Facebook, instant messagers, phone numbers and search through duplicates, etc. for you? Can the iPhone multi-task? 

Didn’t think so, looks like 3 points for Pre. 

The Pre itself comes with an impressive list of features. For example, Sprint added a LED Flash Camera to its Pre. While the Pre’s wireless charger may be sold separately, Sprint’s gizmo is a step ahead of its opponents. It is an ingenious idea of simply placing your phone on a touchstone dock to charge, pick it up later—charged and ready to go.

 

Although there is a circular button at the bottom of the Pre that seems to be as useless as making your bed every morning, the gadget’s bottom presents a bright design — the ability to move back and forth on the screen without physically touching the screen but by swiping the bottom. 

Lastly, we’ve all heard the words "With the economy these days…". The Pre is not cheap but it is cheaperabout $50 cheaper.

4 points for Pre.  

However, all this bragging doesn’t cover the fact that the iPhone is still a legitimate competition. First of all, the iPhone is undeniably god-awful-sexy. More significantly, the iPhone’s application network and development community are so-far unbeatable. The iPhone currently boasts of 93,000 applications while the Droid has 10,000 and the Palm 300. But before raising the white flag and handing out a point to the iPhone, we should take into account that the Palm and the Droid ‘s application systems are still in beta phase. Currently it may not have the applications, but a plethora of new ones are constantly released and soon the phone will get out of this phase.  Let’s put this point aside for the time being.

Now add the Droid to the showdown. It may not have the publicity strategy that the other phones do, but its functionality is noteworthy. Some prefer a virtual keyboard, while others fancy a physical one. The Droid has both. Unfortunately, the Pre also fails to incorporate a massive storage, video camera and voice commands that the iPhone and Droid can flaunt. 4 points for Droid and 3 for the iPhone.

Smartphones are browsers on the go. The Pre and the iPhone offer the multi-touch feature which allows you to zoom in and out of your screen while on the Web. The Droid falls behind in this area. Point for Pre and iPhone. 

Before rushing off towards your nearest Sprint Store, sit down and consider if you would actually buy the Pre. Exclusive to Sprint, the Pre may force you to switch out of your beloved carrier. Will your current carrier let go of you, as in do you have a removable contract? The Pre is a gosh darn amazing phone, but through the hassle of changing contracts and carriers you should consider if it is worth it.And one last note. The Pre? It breaks. Take it from first-hand experience. It is as fragile as an emotional teenager’s heart. However, all touchscreen phones require the same amount of care. (Let’s face it, we are foolish teenagers and lack the ability to care. It is recommended that you buy a cover, or learn how to treat your phone with tender love and care).

 

It is pretty obvious that all of the phones offer something unique. However, the Palm Pre seems to be a bit ahead of the rest. Only one word describes the Pre: addictive — more addictive than Facebook, more addictive than Grey’s Anatomy, more addictive than pistachios. But push comes to shove, if you own a smartphone, you probably love it whether it is the Pre, the Droid or the iPhone, simply because it is smart. When it really comes down to it, buy the phone that looks the hottest in your palm.

 

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