Of course, I doubt that a perfect system exists. I just prefer the Apple sort of imperfection to the so called open sort. I suspect quite a lot of people do.

It may be that I don't quite understand this peer review concept but to me it seems that of I allowed to pick up an app from just any old website then I am putting my device at risk from buggy software and blatent malware.

clicky
Doesn't do flash, doesn't multitask, doesn't have cut & paste. Remind you of anything?

Jon

The early versions of the iPhone? (Though I think that did multi-task)

Even the current iPhone SDK (3.2b) doesn't allow for multi-tasking for non-Apple apps. Mail and iTunes, for example, can run in the background, but it's not possible for devs to do something similar in their own app. The HIGs & dev guide suggest that an App should be able to start and close quickly, and allow the user to carry on where they left off if appropriate, but the app is completely stopped whilst the user is doing something else. The only possible exception to this is push notifications, which are managed by the OS.

Which is why the OS is so stable. If it works better that way it is fine by me. I don't restart my Mac from one season to the next I want a similar experience on my phone. However to say it does not multi-task is wrong. It does with most of the Apple applications that are designed to do just that.

Maybe in the future there will be room for "trusted developers" to include a degree of multi-tasking in the future till then I am happy enough as it is.

I couldn't agree more. It's just not a fully multi-tasking OS, not that I think this is a problem.

Android FTMFW!

Can you multi-task with the iPhone if it's hacked? If so, what's the performance like out of curiosity?

Yes you can. Jailbroken iPhones will multi-task with ease. I am not sure how you would measure performance. I guess it depends what you are doing on it. The main problem with such iPhones is that they tend to become unstable. You are multi-tasking, the phone rings and then the phone crashes and forces a reboot. Sometimes you are forced to go back to reconnect to your computer and reboot from there.

Not a problem if you don't leave the house. More of one if your phone is your main business tool.

Anecdotally the main issue with the Nexus One is that it is not as stable as some would like. This may be due to it's much vaunted ability to multi-task.

I'm guessing mobile processors aren't really up to much for all sorts of reasons, but I guess the upcoming dual-core chips might help...

An interesting take on the whole Android thing.

Android

The mobile phone war is just beginning.

That's making a big deal out of nothing. After-sales support is down to the manufacturer, if they won't update your version of Android then you know not to buy Sony/Samsung again. I've got the HTC Hero and whilst the new handsets look gorgeous, I'm not worried about losing functionality because HTC have promised both Android 2.1 and the updated SenseUI for Hero owners.

Therefore when my contract is up for renewal again I fully intend to buy another HTC phone, if only for the excellent post-sale support.

This is a positive aspect of the iPhone. I suffered the same with my old Windows phone.

With Windows, they bring out new and better models on a regular basis and any software improvements mean buying a new phone.

With Android, they bring out new and better models on a very regular basis and any software improvements mean waiting several months, if you are lucks and you might need the new hardware to get some of the new features (like multi-touch).

With the iPhone, Apple bring out an annual update and they update the operating software on the older phones at the same time. You won't get improved speed and and you won't get access to the new features that require the updated hardware, but the rest of the updates are yours.

Although the iPhone is the most closed off and has the least freedom, it is probably the better user experience.

Getting back on topic, WP7 looks very interesting, as a ground up re-write of their mobile platform, using Zune as the base. I just have a feeling it is taking too long to come to market. The manufacturers are in damage control, they can only sell the "old" version for the next 8 months or so, whilst Apple is still top of the heap and everybody is waiting for the next update and Android is moving at lightning speed and catching up with the iPhone, whilst the existing WM phones are starting to look creaky.

I agree selling Windows Phone 6 devices will be tricky this year. But Dave IS Apple top of the heap? I thought both Nokia and RIM were outselling them by quite a margin.

Yes, the iPhone is top of the heap, I'm talking about the device itself, not the number of sales.