In the past week, we've seen significant moves in the iPhone-competitor front, in the form of Samsung's Glyde and the new BlackBerry Bold. Both phones take completely different tacks to challenge the multimedia smartphone king, with mixed results. Of the two, we think the BlackBerry Bold has the right approach to beating the iPhone, while our review of the Samsung Glyde shows it certainly comes up short. Here's how RIM seems on target with the BlackBerry, while Samsung went astray.
1. Don't copy the iPhone, learn from it
The Samsung Glyde tries to match the iPhone with a remarkably similar interface, down to the flick-scrolling navigation and dedicated "Home" button. Unfortunately, though the Glyde interface looks good, it doesn't work well. It isn't nearly as responsive as the iPhone's slick UI, nor as easy to use. Also, the touchscreen isn't nearly as responsive. These are hallmarks of the iPhone, the super-responsive screen and the intuitive interface that reacts in an organic way to touch and actions.
The BlackBerry Bold, on the other hand, borrows more intelligently from Apple's phone. The 480 by 320 pixel screen, the same resolution as the iPhone, is a great addition for a newer, cleaner looking interface. Though RIM's phone won't need a screen as large as the iPhone's 3.5-inch display, competitors should take note. The larger screen is great for watching movies, and we especially like the hard finish, which resisted scratching even after an accidental drop onto a New York sidewalk.
One of the key cogs in keeping the iPhone's wheels turning so quickly is its speedy processor, running in excess of 600 MHz, which is among the fastest on the market. RIM's BlackBerry Bold packs a similar chip, running at 624 MHz, which should keep the OS zippy and help power those snazzy new graphics. Finally, RIM will pack a gig of memory into the Bold, not as much as the iPhone, but enough to keep some music and some business attachments.
2. Take advantage of the iPhone's shortcomings
Okay, this one is obvious, but there are ways to monopolize on the iPhone's minimal feature set that make sense and there are ways that don't. The hardware keyboard is an obvious design choice, but if it isn't comfortable for typing, it won't help much. The Glyde keyboard is small and cramped, but most BlackBerry keyboard's we've tried are an improvement over the iPhone's touch keys. Other obvious hardware additions include GPS and 3G networking, which almost every competitor lords over Apple's device. But there are still smarter advantages to exploit.
The iPhone is horrible for business. Even when Exchange ActiveSync support comes around, using the phone's keyboard is a nightmare, so entering calendar appointments, editing Office documents and sending extensive, company-wide e-mails is a chore. Not so with the BlackBerry, which has always made these functions easy and powerful. Now that the Bold comes with DataViz Documents To Go, one of our favorite productivity suites, it's an even better choice for Office users.
Most importantly, though, RIM has always been our favorite smartphone for battery performance, another shortcoming of Apple's phone. The Bold needs to continue this legacy. Performance will surely take a hit with the HSDPA radio, but if any company can accommodate 3G and long talk times, it's RIM.
There are some other shortcomings that could be exploited, but probably not by RIM. The iPhone has a horrible camera and no advanced camera features (no camcorder whatsoever). Instant messaging and social networking on the iPhone are almost non-existent, except via Web-based apps. There's also not much personalization to be done to the phone's interface, except changing the standby screen wallpaper. For these features, we could easily see Danger and it's new benevolent overlord Microsoft swoop in with a cool new Sidekick, made for being social. Helio is another contender here, if the next version of the Ocean is really going to be a competitor.
3. Don't forget the desktop
There was a time, not long ago, when cell phones and computers were not interconnected devices. Those days have long passed, and users have become (or soon will become) accustomed to keeping their personal information, along with their digital media, on their desktops. The phone needs to work seamlessly and intuitively with the desktop to gather and synchronize this information. No desktop software, not BlackBerry's Desktop and redirector software, and certainly none of the software from manufacturers like Nokia and Samsung, have come close to matching iTunes' ease-of-use. Windows Media Player is a nice standard to have, but it needs to manage everything on a phone, and not just media files. Even with media files, the software is slow, unintuitive and buggy, and in need of a polish. The iTunes software is almost half the reason we like our iPhone so much, and any phone that will beat Apple's device will also have to beat Apple's software.
4. Do what Apple can't
Apple is a small company. Apple makes one phone. Samsung, on the other hand, will probably release between 50-100 new phone models this year, across the globe. We wouldn't want to see 100 iPhone models, but a few more would be nice. How about a smaller iPhone? How about one with a keyboard? A flip, or a slider? Sure, there have been rumors about all of these, and in the next few years Apple may decide to broaden the range, but Samsung could have an entire family whipped up in the time it takes Steve Jobs to say "iPhone nano."
Apple also can't release the iPhone on another network in the U.S., at least not for a while. The details are hazy, but what is perfectly clear is that RIM will sell the BlackBerry Bold on every major U.S. carrier.
The BlackBerry OS, along with Microsoft's Windows Mobile and even Palm's OS, is much more open to developers than Apple's system. Even with the upcoming iPhone update, Apple is certainly not giving developers as much access or power over the phone as any of its competitors. With Google's Android devices coming down the pipe, this will become a much larger hole in Apple's plan. Apple has great ideas when it comes to funding development and distributing new apps, but their system lacks the openness of the older smartphone systems.
5. Don't try to beat the iPhone
The iPhone isn't for everyone. BlackBerry devices aren't for everyone. They shouldn't be. Manufacturers, especially Samsung, need to stop crowbarring iPhone-like features into otherwise acceptable, average phones. Not every phone needs an advanced media player, if the media player isn't easy or fun to use. Not every phone needs a Web browser, if the browser can't render an accurate-looking page. Hardly any phone needs touch, but we find Samsung and Motorola replacing perfectly good hardware buttons with touch sensitive pads that don't work right.
The lesson is that companies who try to blatantly defeat the iPhone will probably fail, because their goal is suspect. Better to try to make the best phone possible. The iPhone has moved the entire market forward and changed the way we think about interface design and convergence devices. A good competitor will move the market forward again, using its own fancy footwork, and not simply try to copy the iPhone's moves.
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