Apple iPhone 3G vs. Blackberry 8310

Recently the Apple iPhone 3G was released in the UK on the O2 network. There was a large amount media attention when the original iPhone was released so naturally there was a lot of anticipation regarding the new version.

On the flip side, Blackberries have been the stable of mobile email communications for a while now. Have a scan around a built up office area and I guarantee you will see at least three or four Blackberry phones.

These Smartphones work on the principle of push technology as opposed to pull technology, they work by getting the emails sent to them as they arrive rather than checking a server every 5 minutes or so for an update. This is more advantageous by the pull method because email delivery is instantaneous and the devices can be smaller due to less drain on the battery.

Research In Motion (RIM) was the first company to make push technology available to the masses. They did this with the Blackberry 350.

Fast forward to 2008 and RIM, Microsoft and Apple are all offering push solutions.

Today we will be comparing the Apple iPhone and The Blackberry 8310.

While the iPhone is a very good mobile phone, I would not recommend it for purely business use. The keyboard while fairly effective can be inaccurate and the text correction is intrusive and cannot be turned off. Call quality is the same on the iPhone as it is on the Blackberry. While built in Wifi is nice on the iPhone it is not essential and business users would not miss this function on the 8330.

The Email functionality on the iPhone is fairly basic. Exchange integration works without any errors but the client lacks many features like out of office and searching in emails. The email client on the Blackberry in comparison is much better and more intuitive to use.

Conclusion
I would buy a Blackberry for business use and occasional personal use and an iPhone for personal use with a little bit of exchange email on the side. While the iPhone does replicate some of the features of the Blackberry it still is a personal consumer device compared to the Blackberry which is a business tool.