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Apple Losing Touchscreen War

Posted by samzenpus on from the what-about-the-battle dept.

An anonymous reader writes "While Apple's iPhone may be the first device most people call to mind when they think of a touch interface mobile, the 3G device is still lagging behind in the touchscreen shifting stakes — it's getting a sound thrashing from Moto and Samsung, who've cornered the Asian market where touchscreens are popular for their ability to let users input Asian languages without all that fiddly Qwerty nonsense."

5 of 392 comments (clear)

  1. Apple is a niche player? by bigtallmofo · · Score: 5, Insightful

    "All the other handset vendors - including Apple - are essentially niche players," ABI Research noted.

    For some background, I'm in IT and I work almost exclusively on Microsoft products and groan all you want but I'm a fan of theirs. I recently wanted to buy a smart phone. Mostly, something that was good at general web surfing, reading email and more. I saw my friends' iPhones and it was exactly what I was looking for but I have a natural anti-Apple bias so I didn't get one.

    Then I started a search for a phone that met the requirements I have that didn't have an Apple on the back of it. Last Friday, I eliminated the final contender (AT&T Tilt) and gave up and bought an iPhone 3G.

    It's not perfect, but it is amazingly good. I've yet to see a Windows Mobile device come close to it. The Samsung Omnia and Nokia Tube mentioned in the article don't appear to be available and to be honest, I didn't realize the other Windows Mobile devices sucked until I held them in my hand.

    Does anyone know of a Windows Mobile device that matches the iPhone in web surfing? I'd love to hear about it.

    --
    I'm a big tall mofo.
    1. Re:Apple is a niche player? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

      If you don't have proper Internet on your phone by now, I really don't think you have a right to call it a "smart" phone.

      The technology is there, the computing horsepower is there, and some phones have had it for a while. There's really no excuse at this point.

      If you can't install arbitrary applications on your phone by now, I really don't think you have a right to call it a "smart" phone.

      The technology is there, the computing horsepower is there, and some phones have had it for a while. There's really no excuse at this point.

  2. Re:one day all screens will have touch/stylus inpu by omeomi · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Somewhat offtopic, and forgive me for being ignorant, by why havent tablets caught on? I'd buy one in a heartbeat if it Just Worked(tm).

    Looks like you just answered your own question there...

    --
    ZuluPad, the wiki notepad on crack
  3. Re:one day all screens will have touch/stylus inpu by jfim · · Score: 5, Insightful

    There are "slates", which are only the screen and a stylus, but text input is very annoying. Think of the amount of text you might enter in a single day, or just even in a single slashdot post. Would you rather write it with a stylus or type it?

    --
    Jean-Francois Im's blog
  4. Re:It was HP, not Apple by bryhhh · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Frankly, who gives a flip which was the first!

    What I'm interested in, is which device does it best, and I think it's pretty damn obvious which the winner is.