Smart Phone Face Off!

Today, I am going to give a basic comparison of the iPhone4, the DroidX, and the Torch (blackberry), followed by what I like best and least of each phone. Lets start with the basics: The Torch has a 3.2 inch screen with a low-res 480x360 display; The iPhone4 has a 3.5 inch screen with a high-res 640x900 display; The DroidX has a 4.3 inch screen with a 480x854 display (which is weak for such a large display). The Torch is actually quite reliable with phone calls, as compared to the iPhone4 that was released with a physical short that would drop phone calls constantly. The DroidX trumps both phones as far as calling goes, with 2 antennas for call conservation, and 3 built in mics for noise canceling and voice recognition. Both the DroidX and the iPhone4 use software-based keyboards, whereas the Torch brings back the slide panel, and extruding keyboard (my personal favorite keyboard style). Both the iPhone4 and Torch use a 5mp camera, here the DroidX uses an 8mp camera. Both the iPhone4, and the DroidX boast a powerful 1GHz processor, whereas the Torch uses an older 624MHz processor. Overall with hardware, it just comes down to preference, as each machine really has slight differences and certain advantages over the competition.

When we begin to discus security, is where all the phones really branch. The iPhone4 uses iOS4 which is probably the smoothest smart phone OS out currently. Unfortunately, this OS had key adobe flaws, and OS vulnerabilities that allowed the software to be 'jail-broken'. This meant code could be executed at kernel level, and reload firmware, or even execute arbitrary commands. Some people like this, because it allows them to switch out the software they have running on their iPhone4 (which is crazy, because iOS4 is already the best). Other people don't like this, because it introduces operating system vulnerabilities onto a device that carries an extreme amount of sensitive data. Which is why the DroidX offers a completely locked down version of Android with Motoblur. While Android and Motoblur are both a bit shaky and rough (although there have been noticeable improvements!! See previous posts about Moto Devour), the way they are implemented on the DroidX offers complete code security and assurance. The DroidX uses IBM eFuses to prevent execution of foreign code, which some users see as secure, others see as bothersome. Finally, the Black Berry Torch, which uses BlackBerry OS 6, has a reputation for being unintuitive. Torch use's Research In Motion's servers to create totally secure communications. They use 3DES and AES for most server contact, the Torch been cleared for government use, and has been certified to the Federal Information Processing Standard 140-2.