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POS. Stick it in a good phone and I will buy it tomorrow.

Feb 17, 09 - 09:05 am Comment from: R

I'm just saying that boasting for 800 apps may be a bit premature.

Feb 17, 09 - 09:12 am Comment from: AlanAudio

Why do phone manufacturers fit non-standard audio jacks ?

The 3.5mm jack was a standard item going right back to the earliest days of transistor radios in the 1950s. When there is a compact and widespread standard, it seems perverse to use a proprietary alternative.

My Sony Ericcson uses a non-standard jack and as a result I never use it to play music. It's too much hassle.

Feb 17, 09 - 09:25 am Comment from: JadisOne

800 Andoid offerings versus 15,000 apps and counting for the iPhone.

Vodafone: desperately seeking something to defend itself with from O2's iPhone assault on its customer base...

The Storm probably caused more customer losses than gains. Let's see how this one does.

@JadisOne: iPhone apps are above 20,000.

Understandably perhaps, you are a few days out of date...

Feb 17, 09 - 09:41 am Comment from: JAYGEE

The iPhone app store has been out longer, and the android market only started offering payed apps in the last few days.

I think it looks good, and I would consider buying it, but it doesn't have multi-touch. I would consider buying a Blackberry Storm, but it doesn't include wi-fi. I wish these companies wouldn't miss out important features.

@Alan Audio

Apple has a patent on regular headphone jacks interacting with a smartphone. In this case, I wish Apple would waive this particular patent and just let standard jacks remain standard for everything

Feb 17, 09 - 09:48 am Comment from: jocknerd

@redc

WTF? A patent on using a standard jack with a smartphone? Some judge needs to throw this sh!t out. Our patent system is so f'd up, its ridiculous.

Feb 17, 09 - 10:13 am Comment from: Ray

@ JAYGEE

A lot of these important features are not wanted by the corporates buying the equipment. Take cameras for instance. There are a lot of organization types that don't like the idea of people being able to "beam" out images of what goes on in a design department, for instance. But for pure consumer, at home products, I agree Apple has the right combination of features.

@redc
Apple may have a patent...but I doubt it would survive, in court, after SCOTUS shot down any of these wanna-be patents people have getting from the patent office in the last 10 years. I will say it again...just because you buy a can of red paint from dupont and are the first to paint a car red...that does not mean you have the patent for the red car. 1/8" (3,5 mm) stereo audio jacks have been around forever.

Just my $0.02

@redc

Read this FUD alert re: iPhone 3.5mm audio jack.

http://www.engadgetmobile.com/2009/02/10/fud-alert-apple-allegedly-scared-google-out-of-using-multitouch/

I 'd like to see the patent for that:

"Apple has a patent on regular headphone jacks interacting with a smartphone."

I believe Plam had standard headphone jacks for its Treo (maybe not) long before the iPhone, regardless ... I don't see who a patent for that could've been approved... and if it was, it could be easily invalidated.

Feb 17, 09 - 12:13 pm Comment from: emanon

@redc

I think the patent Apple had for the headphones is not the 3.5mm jack, but for the button control/mic and how it controls playback and phone functions.

Feb 17, 09 - 01:23 pm Comment from: KingMel

Apple has been better about this in recent years than it was in the 1980s and 1990s, but Apple also has a history of proprietary and/or slightly screwed up interfaces. More recent examples include the original iPhone recessed headphone jack, constrained access to the USB port on the Air flip door, or even the constrained access to the USB port on the new Apple keyboard. If your USB stick isn't flat and thin, then it won't fit well in the keyboard port.

I would welcome a reasonable amount of consistency and standardization across devices, including the blasted wall wart chargers and associated USB and car charger interfaces.