hey naaman? did you get a new iPhone yet? i figure you must have since you tend to geo-code maps into most all of your day to day activities. recently a friend of mine pointed out that the GPS is not accurate enough to give turn by turn directions. as a result, we resulted to using me (ayman) to navigate from south park to the in-n-out at pier 39. so i got to wondering, how does a friend compare to your iPhone? lets take a little run down of the features:
iPhone |
iPhone 3G |
ayman |
|
|---|---|---|---|
| GPS Technology | SkyHook | SkyHook/GPS/aGPS | Born Sense of Direction |
| Navigation | Google Maps | Google Maps | Turn by Turn with routing redirection with visual landmark recognition. Able to learn unmapped areas. |
| Interfaces | Touch Screen Input and Display, Bluetooth | Touch Screen Input and Display, Bluetooth | Voice I/O |
| Music | iPod software (plays: music, video, playlists) | iPod software (plays: music, video, playlists) | Sophisticated DJ technology finds music to fit the mood of driver and surroundings (requires iPod, iPhone, or mp3 player). |
| World Support | USA Only | Works in 22 countries (subject to map and 3G coverage) | Works Internationally (see country list). |
| Features | Installable Applications, Voice mail, Hands free capable | Installable Applications, Voice mail, Hands free capable | Voice I/O w/NLP, Vision Input, Hands free out of the box, can call your friends and answer calls via proxy, finds objects in car (quarters, pens, even iPhones), holds 2 cups or 1 cup and 1 burrito. |
| Cost | People scrapping them to get 3G model | $200 plus annual contract, $600 no contract | Free for friends in beta program; expensive annual contract with hefty activation (startup bonus) fee. |
so you see naaman, while its a tough heat when you look at the feature list, i am clearly more superior than the iPhone 3g. the question is, do you still have that beta invite code? b/c if not, i dont think you could afford the upgrade.
You forgot the “Friend Finder” feature, clearly important for navigating cityscapes!
iPhone:
No official application that helps you find your nearby friends.
iPhone 3G:
A number of apps will find any friend who walks by (if they stood in line for their own iPhone 3G and signed up for the right app).
Ayman:
Friend already there.