1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
|
After what must be the most hyped product launch ever, the iPhone has arrived, but there's no need to drop 500 hard earned dollars on the latest gadget if the features are all you're after. In fact, if features are your goal, you may be better off with an alternative device.
While there are certainly some aspects of the iPhone that are unique to it, many of its so called revolutionary features are already available in other phones, some of which sell for about half the price and can be unlocked and used on any network anywhere in the world -- good luck doing that with your iPhone.
You may not have the coolness factor or be the envy of your friends, but if you just want awesome functionality, here's our guide to capturing the usefulness of the iPhone without standing in line.
##User Interface:
The first thing iPhone owners love to brag about is the clean sleek UI and while it is considerably easier to navigate the iPhone than say a Windows Mobile device, that doesn't mean users can't duplicate the interface on other platforms.
The iPhone's sleek icons can be replicated on your Windows mobile device thanks to some clever skins from a [determined Windows Mobile user][3].
The iPhone skin for Windows mobile re-creates to iPhone's main interface window with icons that provide shortcuts to the equivalent apps on Windows Mobile.
But the fun doesn't stop there, the screensaver allows you to replicate the whisk of a finger to unlock the phone, and the scrolling mimics the finger scrolling on the iPhone -- albeit with a stylus.
##Voicemail Features:
Apple might hail the "visual voicemail" features of the iPhone as "revolutionary" but savvy users know they can get the same features, and considerably more, from [GrandCentral][4].
Once you've set up a GrandCentral account you can login to your mailbox via the company's mobile site where you'll see a list of your message and, unlike the iPhone, which from the visual preview requires you to dial in to hear you message, with GrandCentral you can listen to your voicemail without leaving the page.
GrandCentral also offers a number of features on many peoples' iPhone wishlist like call recording, call transfers (switch seamlessly between home and mobile phones), customized voicemail greetings on a per caller basis and lots more.
The main downside is that you'll need to propagate your new GrandCentral phone number to all your contacts.
##Customization
The number one gripe about the iPhone is its lack of support for third party apps.
No SDK for the iPhone means you're stuck with whatever Apple thinks you need. For power users this is simply unacceptable, but fear not if you're looking for the ultimate in customization you can turn where you always turn when you want to roll your own -- Linux.
The popular Ubuntu Linux distro will be releasing a [mobile version][7] in October with the goal of making it easy to install Linux on any mobile phone and there's even a number of phone set to ship with Linux pre-installed.
Of particular interest is FIC's Neo1973, a GPS-equipped quad-band phone which should be available this quarter for $350 or less. The Neo1973 will available with the [OpenMoko platform][1], a mobile Linux distro made up solely of open-source software.
And yes, OpenMoko has an SDK so developers can bring whatever useful goodness strikes their fancy straight to your mobile.
##Third Party Apps
The lack of an iPhone SDK means all those talented Mac developers are unable to develop applications. Apple argues that web-based apps can fill the gap, but yet none of the provided apps are web-based.
This is where your non-iPhone shines. The iPhone has no chat client, but not only are there chat clients for just about every other mobile platform, there's even [Agile Messenger][2] which supports all the popular IM platforms in one client app. With Agile Messenger installed your can chat with buddies on MSN, AIM, Yahoo, ICQ and GoogleTalk where ever you are.
##A full fledged browser
Need a full-fledged browser on your smartphone? Head over to Opera and grab Opera mini 4 beta which offers everything Safari for iPhone does and quite a bit more, like full screen mode, keypad short cuts and easy image downloads. Unfortunately, as with Safari, there's still no support for Flash.
##Multimedia content.
YouTube recently launched a mobile version of the site which let any phone enjoy the same access that's built in to the iPhone and if you'd really like to turbo-charge your multimedia content, check out the [SlingPlayer Mobile client][6].
If you're a Slingbox owner the SlingPlayer Mobile client, which supports Windows Mobile, Palm OS and Pocket PC, allows you to stream content from your slingbox to your phone. Watch the latest shows and movies you've time shifted to your slingbox without having to wait for them to show up on iTunes.
Don't have a Slingbox? No need to fret, there's other options out there. One such application, which just launched recent is [RemoTV][5]. Compatible with a wide range of mobile devices, RemoTV allows users to link up with their desktop computers in order to access multimedia files.
To get started with RemoTV you'll need to install an application on your PC and importing your media to it. From there you create 'channels' which can then be streamed to your mobile phone and even shared with friends.
The service is free though data charges from your wireless provider will apply.
##Touchscreen Features:
This is one area the iPhone is tough to duplicate. The innovative touch screen interface, with it's pinch to zoom and finger flicking page movements is bit difficult to find in alternative phones at the moment.
And then there's a rotating screen that adjusts to either landscape or portrait orientation just by tilting the phone.
But for the patient, several handset models due to launch in the coming months will reportedly features similar controls.
The options for non-iPhone users are much more extensive than those for the iPhone and while the iPhone may be sleek and undoubtedly is the must have gadget of the moment, as this list shows it's certainly not a necessity and in many cases could even be called a handicap.
[1]: http://www.openmoko.org/ "OpenMoko"
[2]: http://www.agilemobile.com/downloads.html "Agile Mobile"
[3]: http://www.angelfire.com/planet/iphone/ "Iphone skins for Windows Mobile"
[4]: http://www.grandcentral.com/ "Grand Central"
[5]: http://www.remotv.com/ "Remotv.com"
[6]: http://us.slingmedia.com/ "Sling Media"
[7]: https://wiki.ubuntu.com/MobileAndEmbedded "Ubuntu Mobile Edition"
|
