Smartphones, iPhones, BlackBerrys and beyond...: Features

Is Research In Motion's new BlackBerry Storm just an Apple iPhone wannabe or is it an innovative, highly usable smart phone in its own right? The answer: Yes, on both counts.

Research in Motion's BlackBerry Storm looks handsome enough, but it will disappoint prospective buyers hoping for a credible touch-based iPhone alternative.

Due in large part to the overwhelming success of Apple's iPhone smartphone, touch screen technology is winning more attention than ever before

You've read my reasons to choose the iPhone 3G over the BlackBerry Storm. Now check out the flip side.

If you're an Apple iPhone user and security's not on your mind, you're at risk; at risk of having a Web mail account hacked; at risk of having your online identity stolen; and at risk of losing valuable personal information, such as wireless service account data, that could result in financial losses, among other disasters.

How the two 3G smartphones stack up against each other

Nifty designs, snazzy interfaces, and music and video galore: We give you the skinny on a dozen trend-setting mobile phone models that are slated to debut soon.

In Part 1 of this series, I looked at the mechanisms available to IT staffers to activate, deploy and configure iPhones in business environments. But the biggest new business-oriented feature available on the iPhone, thanks to the iPhone 2.x firmware (included with the iPhone 3G and available for free to users of first-generation iPhones or for US$9.95 for iPod Touch users), is the addition of ActiveSync for accessing Microsoft Exchange.

Most iPhone users don't care that they can get a root prompt on their phone, and most wouldn't think of opening the device to a world beyond iTunes. Well, these iPhone apps aren't for most users. If you're an IT pro wanting to use the iPhone or iPod touch to monitor and control other systems, or to satisfy other geek needs, these jailbreak and native apps are for you.

It's difficult enough to keep plain-vanilla mobile phones charged for a busy day of just talking. But these days, we also use our smartphones for e-mail, surfing the Web, editing documents, accessing corporate networks, text messaging, enjoying music and video, playing games, managing our personal information and much more -- making it all the more catastrophic when our devices run out of juice.

Six common complaints about the iPhone 3G including dropped calls, slow data and MobileMe follies