Why I'm thinking about switching from iPhone to Android
I love my iPhone 3G. Still, even after 1 1/2 years. For me it was and still is the best product I have ever bought, considering how it changed my life, made me more productive, connected, social and whatnot. In the lights of the launch of the Nexus One, I even saw it as a statement to own an iPhone, a statement for a competitive market and for a web/tech business with a variety of strong companies.
The weird thing though is that I don't really feel that I as an iPhone owner benefit from this competitive market. I realized this after seeing all the great new features the latest version of Android 2.2 offers. And this is what made me realize that I might give up on my "principle" of sticking to the iPhone.So what is the key feature of Android 2.2 that convinced me?I was about to buy a MiFi, such a nice little portable 3g router that you can carry with you wherever you go, and in case you ever need a WiFi signal you just put your 3g Sim card into the MiFi and there you go, a wireless network ready for you or others to connect. A MiFi costs 200+ Euro, some cheaper alternatives a little bit less.Then I saw the Google I/O keynote and one of the features that was presented for the new Android edition was WiFi tethering. That's exactly what the MiFi does. So I could skip the MiFi and buy an Android instead.Unlike the iPhone, each Android 2.2. device will let you create an ad hoc wireless network, which is perfect for accessing the web with another computer when you are on the go. Despite more than 150.000 iPhone apps, there is no app for WiFi tethering in the app store. The ones that existed have been removed. I assume Apple wants to keep good relationships with the operators, so that they could charge for USB tethering if they want to (as some operators in Germany do). I could jailbreak my iPhone, which would give me access to a WiFi tethering app. But in my eyes that should not be the way things work.The possibility of WiFi tethering on Android and the lack of such a function on the iPhone made me realize that there is in fact something wrong with the Apple approach. As long as Android was an underdog, that didn't matter. But now with Android on the rise and a variety of smart phones with the Google OS on the market, it's getting more obvious. And it feels wrong for me to stick to a principle when this doesn't give me the benefits I would expect from it (competitive market should lead to more freedom for the customers).But what if the next iPhone that will be launched in June comes with WiFi tethering? Or what if Apple is seeing the threat by Android and allows WiFi tethering apps to appear in the app store? Sure, that would make me think again about which phone/OS to go for. But then there is still another issue: I really want to buy a new phone this summer, and because of several reasons I want to get one without subscription and SIM lock. It's very unlikely that any of the operators here in Sweden will make that happen - at least not for a reasonable price.The alternative is to get a Nexus One (or a HTC Desire) for about 500 Euro without subscription and without SIM lock... I think it's pretty obvious why I suddenly have way more sympathy for Android.
