iOS:
iOS does many things right, but the one thing it does exceptionally well is act as a media player. Thanks to a simple and intuitive design with the iPod app (now known as Music and Videos), iOS is the staple media player software. iOS 5 improved on that with wireless syncing and cloud storage, which makes it surpass the more user-friendly WP7.
iMessage is another addition in iOS 5, which provides free texting to any iOS 5 device, include iPods and iPads. iCloud allows for instant syncing and backups of music, photos, apps, and documents, all under one username. Siri (for iPhone 4S owners only) allows for users to tell the phone what to do, be it send an email or set a reminder or find a local movie theater. There is nothing quite like it to compare to, and Siri blows away the competition when it comes to speech commands.
Because gaming is so prevalent on iOS, every device comes with Game Center installed, which mimics Xbox Live with achievements, an easy way to connect with friends in games, and a repository for your game data. It includes cloud storage, so games played on one device can be immediately continued on another, like starting a game of Infinity Blade II on your iPhone and continuing on an iPad.
Android
As a Google device, Android is the best OS to connect all of your Google webapps in one phone. Both included apps and downloadable apps (Google Voice, Google Music) instantly sync in the cloud, so maps will have previously-searched locations so you don’t have to type them again. Upgraded in Android 4.0 is turn-by-turn voice navigation, which is available through 3rd party apps on most smartphones, is free on the newer Android OS. On older Android firmware, users still get Navigation, but without voiced directions.Android also supports NFC (near-field communication), which is so far used for paying through the phone at compatible terminals. They are hard to find, and the technology is limited to a few hundred stores nationwide, but Android is the first to offer the feature with the ability to actually use it.
Windows Phone 7
“With Mango, WP7 has caught up with Android and iOS in nearly every way, and in some areas it’s even surpassed the other two in functionality.” – Engadget
Microsoft released WP7 with limited features, but supplemented its mobile OS with a wide array of updates. In many ways, WP7 is the most convenient phone to use in day-to-day activities as-is, without any 3rd party apps. Built-in apps like Local Scout, which takes user locations and finds restaurants, attractions, shopping, and local highlights, has no direct comparison. The iPhone 4S’ Siri is a close second, because of the realistic talking experience, but Local Scout is just as fast and easy to use with the press of a button.
WP7 also has direct compatibility with Xbox Live and the Xbox 360, so users can control their consoles with their phone. Games played on WP7 share Achievement Points cross-platform, and users can do basic Xbox Live functions like communicate with friends, check who is online, and watch videos all through the single built-in app.
Every WP7 device also comes with Microsoft Office for free, which includes OneNote, Word, Excel, and Powerpoint, all of which are connected to the cloud via SkyDrive, Office 365, or a SharePoint address. The closest comparison is Apple’s iWork for iOS, which is a separate $30. Photos can also automatically be stored in the cloud.
Finally, WP7 has the biggest assortment of social media integration, including Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Windows Live. These all work in tandem with the address book, messaging, and sharing.
All of these features are supplemented by powerful, though comparatively primitive voice recognition software. It isn’t nearly as robust as the iPhone 4S’ Siri, but it is far more practical and capable at speech recognition than Android.
Winner: iOS
Unified cloud storage, as well as a personal assistant via voice recognition, are a step above both Android and WP7.
Part 1
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