* A phone that would work well within the US, especially within the area where I live and work.
* A phone that will also work overseas -- UK, India, and Western Europe.
Given these, I started looking at coverage:
T-Mobile: They have the best customer service there is. Unfortunately their coverage within the US is skimpy. It will take them a few years to get to where AT&T and Verizon are today. The phones themselves are GSM and work well in the UK, France, and India.
Sprint: Good coverage within the US, but once you leave the US, you are pretty much dependent on their so called "alliances". Their customer service leaves a lot to be desired. Really not my preferred carrier.
Verizon: Very good coverage within the US. In fact they have the best coverage within the US. I don't know much about their international coverage and aim to check it out. Customer Service is non-existant in the Verizon World -- their service reps are haughty, and on occasion when I've dealt with them are not even aware of the facts! But persistance paid off and once documentation was presented, they switfly corrected their mistakes.
AT&T: They are famous for having more bars in places that you don't visit, like the great wall of China. They lie in their coverage maps and their phones do not work in places where I travel and live the most! Their reps are absolutely loco and have no idea of what reality is! They do have the iphone but more on that latter.
Now we come to the phones:
iPhone: I am impressed by the iPhone. Several of my friends and collegues have them and some of them are happy with the service. But 2 indicents in the last 2 weeks has thrown me off the iPhone:
- Google Voice is something I use today and plan to use in the future. Apple and AT&T are refusing to cover this, so this is a definite no for me.
- I carry a book reader as well as my phone. In the future I want to use the phone as a book reader. Apple is planning to discontinue support for the iPhone book-reader. Don't they know that there are more than 100,000 books in the public domain available for easy download and conversion to book-reader format?
These 2 applications are a must for me. Without them, I am afraid that the iPhone is ruled out. A 3rd factor affecting this is service with AT&T -- more bars in palces you don't visit or work than where you live and work!
Google Phone: Looks pretty good. Currently offered only with T-Mobile. I hope the situation changes quickly. This is something that is very attractive for me.
Nokia Phones: I am looking at the Nokia N-97. This is currently only available on the GSM networks of T-Mobile and AT&T. Nokia has consistantly brought out good phones. I currently use the Nokia N810 as a book reader and email reader. I like the little machine. There are recent rumors about a the Nokia N900 -- a worthwhile successor to the N810 and a phone included. Is this the future?
Windows Mobile: Lots of phones, lots of carriers, lots of software available for this OS. Looks like the way to go.
I know what I don't want -- I don't want AT&T and I don't want an iPhone. But the choice for what I want is huge and am going to take my time to study the phone and the market before I decide. Notice I've not considered the Palm Pre. That is because it is currently offered only by Sprint and their phones do not work in the UK and India. So without this coverage, Sprint is also out of the running. My carrier choices are between T-Mobile and Verizon.
More in the coming months as I make my choice.
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