Much ado about iPhone
Rambling by yet another armchair technology pundit mulling over purchasing a new smartphone
by Diganta Saha
I created a Smartphone Product Matrix back in 19 Jan 2007 to see how the iPhone stacked up against the competition, being a current Treo 650 (Verizon) owner and prior to that a Treo 180 (T-Mobile) owner. I recently updated the Smartphone Product Matrix on 30 Jun 2007 after the iPhone was released with more details that were missing or incomplete before the launch date. Which I hope will be useful for people pondering on buying an iPhone.
Smartphone Product Matrix in 2007-06-30 (current) PNG and PDF version
Smartphone Product Matrix in 2007-01-19 (old) PNG and PDF version.
Sources: Nokia Product Matrix current (PDF), old (PDF). Froogle Nokia N93 (PDF). Froogle Nokia N91 (PDF). Compares the Palm Treo 750, Blackberry 8800, Samsung Blackjack SGH-i607, Nokia N95 versus the iPhone. With a Palm Treo 650 as a point of reference. The old matrix compares the HP iPAQ hw6945, Nokia N93 and the N91 8GB version.
Voice and data rate plans 2007-07-04 Provider Minutes Data SMS MMS Monthly Total Total 2yr Fixed Cost * Sprint 450 @ $39.99 Unlimited @ $15 *** $0.15 per message $0.15 per message $54.99 $1319.76 AT&T iPhone 450 + Roll over included Unlimited included 200 included N/A $59.99 package $1439.76 AT&T other smartphones 450 + Roll over @39.99 Unlimited @39.99 ** 1500 SMS/ MMS included
1500 SMS/ MMS included $79.98
$1919.52 Verizon 450 @ $39.99 Unlimited @ $40.00 $0.15 per message $0.25 per message $79.99 $1919.76 T-Mobile 300 + My Fave @ $39.99 Unlimited @29.99 ** 300 SMS/ MMS included 300 SMS/ MMS included $69.98 $1679.52 * The value of a plan is dependent on many factors not just fixed recurring costs. Coverage, reliability and customer support are factors that are difficult to gauge in a table.
**AT&T Unlimited data package for $39.99 includes 1500 SMS or MMS. T-Mobile Unlimited data package for $29.99 includes 300 SMS or MMS.
***Sprint offers Unlimited Data at $15 per month, but Palm's website states Sprint's data package is $20. I'll assume that the Palm website is not updated and the sales staff at Sprint store is current.