Smartphones, grass is greener on the other one?

Few days ago, I switched back from the HTC G1 to the iPhone. As I was doing so, my wife made a comment about my action, that "with so many phones I've gone through, I can't seem to be satisfied with any of them". I chuckled and proceeded with the SIM card transfer and update the iPhone w/ iTunes.

Just today, I am planning a potential road trip for this coming weekend. I was thinking to myself, lets switch to the Nokia N95 and update its GPS map from Nokia so we can reliably pin-point our exact location w/o relying on 3G data. That is when it dawned on me that the reason why I am perpetually changing smartphones is because there is yet to be one "it" phone. While the iPhone is a very strong device, it lacks the flexibility and independent functionality as a Symiban or WM device. Meaning iPhone can be rendered useless outside of what is tolerated (3G data area, iTunes, etc...). Whereas WM and Symbian OS tends to allow you, as a user to customize and run various programs on the fly.

On the other hand, iPhone's total market domainance with applications and mobile websites optimized for Safari makes it the most entertaining and web friendly device. I suppose a user really has to decide what his or her lifestyle is about and choose a smartphone wisely. I am fortunate enough to have a few phones to switch around and will likely to do so until the "perfect" smartphone arrives.

Skyfire Beta Update: Beta Availability Timeframe

Since my last reporting, I have gotten a couple more of emails from the fine folks at Skyfire. First email was to tell me that the phone number I provided during Beta 1 signup did not work for them, hence an email instruction to signup. At this point, I regret to inform you that I do not have a WM5 or 6 phone so I will attempt to sign up anyways just to see what happens. However, I know this beta is purely for Windows Mobile Devices.

Carrying on with the second email (click picture to enlarge) I've received from them is a more thorough update addressing why they've been slow in reaching out to the people who's signed up to Beta 1. In short, there are two batch of people who signed up for beta testing. Anyone who signed up before March 1st is considered beta 1 and will likely to get notifications soon. After March 1st, is considered Beta 2. They estimate Summer 2008 as available time frame to allow Beta 2 people to test. Skyfire is trying to regulate beta users and feedback so they can manage the process. Thoughtful!

There is a Symbian update from the second email:
In addition to adding features and building a robust Windows Mobile Skyfire, we also have development underway for a Symbian version of Skyfire. Stay tuned as we extend our beta to the Nokia N-series and E-series phones in the U.S. this summer. Beta 1 and 2 users who have signed up indicating that they have Nokia phones do not need to do anything. We’ll contact you as soon as it’s ready.

Windows Mobile to Get Flash Lite

Microsoft has finally inked a deal with Adobe for the Flash Lite support in mobile IE along with PDF-support. With Flash Lite, YouTube video support may be in the near future for all of you Windows Mobile 6 folks as well as handling webpages running SWF files. While this is nice, I am generally not a big fan of Flash technology. It has a been a kind of a nightmare for online marketing folks since inception. SWF files are nice to look at but offers zero visibility from an SEO standpoint. Furthermore, SWF renders eCommerce sites useless because you can't send customers directly to a section or allowing bookmark for a specific page. Personally, I would like to see more support in the area for JAVA and AJAX, allowing a Web2.0-like interaction over smartphones.

Other news: Microsoft is on schedule to bring out Silverlight to Windows Mobile. Silverlight is a flash-like solution competing with Flash Lite.

Yahoo GO 3.0 Beta Released

Got an email from Yahoo! today. Annoucing the beta version of Yahoo! GO 3.0. It is compatile with iPhone, WM5/6 and Nokia S60 devices. Yahoo! GO is composed of an array of web services designed for your handheld device (Maps, Mail, Messenger, etc.). In addition, there are some 3rd party mobile widgets available for download (MTV News, eBay, etc.) I'll give it a go and report back shortly. (Note the Nokia N95 8GB used in the photo... sweet!)