The iPhone 3G and the BlackBerry Bold show two sides of the smartphone story: the consumer turning pro, and the professional that lets its hair down.
Smartphones live and die by their handheld computing applications, and these two handsets show professional and consumer users can get all the essentials on either platform.
While the first iPhone had a limited range of applications, the iPhone 3G has its iTunes App Store, with thousands of applications launched in a matter of months.
Software covers the gamut, and there is a wide range of business offerings already available from all the major players, integrating online business data into the iPhone’s slick touch interface.
The BlackBerry Bold has delivered BlackBerry’s smoothest interface to date, and on top of its business applications pedigree you can now find many consumer applications and games to enjoy in your downtime.
And in the same way that the likes of Facebook have moved from purely personal to often-professional usage, the BlackBerry Bold offers these social tools so you can mix business and pleasure with ease.
Mobile email still the killer app
Perhaps the best example of the app-centric smartphone world is email.
Email is at the heart of a smart device, and BlackBerry has been synonymous with email on a handheld for many years.
But while BlackBerry email has business users at its heart, the ease of use makes it comfortable for any user.
The iPhone comes from the other direction, offering a very simple and elegant email interface.
The latest iPhone 3G added features like Exchange support to ensure the professional inbox of choice is also nicely catered for.
Mobile music and video for downtime
The most consumer-oriented feature of all is support for music and video.
If you come from the consumer end of the curve the iPhone offers all things iPod at its Apple core.
But the BlackBerry user can now find in the Bold a very nice set of multimedia features.
The Bold has the most beautiful screen ever to grace a BlackBerry, and in fact it offers the very same resolution as the iPhone 3G.
Video looks smart, and while on-board memory is limited a multimedia lover can expand that storage with microSD to take their tunes and TV everywhere.
Smartphones for work and play: a personal choice
With all the key bases covered, it is clear that very few users will have to choose a handset based on which device has the essential features they need.
And that means you can choose based on what everyone prefers — how does the experience work for you?
For many the deciding factor may be a physical keyboard versus a touch screen interface.
For others it may come down to the way it sits in your pocket, or how quickly you can find a song. And for many more it may be all about style.
Whatever the case, we should take pleasure in the fact that our choice of smartphone may not have to come down to examining spec sheets and feature lists anymore.
It is now about spending a little time in a store, playing with the devices and deciding what feels right for you, whether that means mixing pleasure with business, or business with pleasure.
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