I ran a few speed tests on both phones using the free tools at dslrpeports.com/mspeed.  The tests took place in Oakland, CA on a weekday afternoon; the Instinct showed EV-DO connectivity and the iPhone had its 3G on.  The winner? Instinct blew iPhone 3G out of the water.  First I ran the 400k download test and Instinct was the clear-cut winner, if not quite in a landslide.  Then I ran the 1Mb test twice: Instinct was more than twice as fast as iPhone both times around in terms of both kbits/second and total download time.  It wasn't even close.

The next two tests ran without a hitch, and iPhone was the clear winner.  I loaded up the ESPN home page and also an interior page (a blog article) and while Instinct seemed to grab the early lead in terms of downloading data, iPhone actually rendered the page faster and finished well ahead of Instinct on both pages.  Same with the PhoneDog.com home page: iPhone by a wide margin. 

Well, first off your mileage will vary depending on the network coverage and conditions during your test.  Location (geographic and indoor vs outdoor, etc), time of day, and other factors can definitely impact network performance.  That being said, the results weren't particularly suprising to me.  AT&T gets a lot of flack for their network performance while Sprint is generally considered to have an excellent network - particularly when it comes to moving data over EV-DO Rev. A, which Instinct supports.  On the other hand, iPhone has one of the best mobile Web browsers on the market, and Apple build iPhone using one of the most powerful processors you'll find in any mobile device.  As such, it's not suprising that iPhone 3G's Safari Web browser renders complex pages faster (and more accurately) than Instinct.

Things will hopefully get better for both camps.  Sprint is working on a firmware update for Instinct and also trying to drum up developer support for more Instinct apps.  I know Sprint and Samsung put lots of work into Instinct's HTML Web browser, but I'd love to see an Opera alternative all the same.  Meantime iPhone 3G owners can hope that AT&T's simply feeling the strain of those one million new iPhones (or whatever the real number is) hopping on the network in the past six days.  Some network tuning and reinforcement will hopefully boost 3G data speeds in the weeks to come.

Would you say the dare is better than the iphone and the voyager?

Thanks for your time, your reviews are awesome!

Thanks for the email and the kind words - glad you like the reviews.

Beyond that, I think Dare is a great phone, and I personally own and use an iPhone so obviously I like it, too.  Dare has a great camera and is nice and compact, while iPhone has the best screen and Web browser available on any phone out there.  Voyager is a bit bigger and thicker but has a ton of features and a real QWERTY board that's easier to type on than the other two. 

I hope that helps some - they're all great devices and it's honestly a matter of personal preference.  There are rumors about a Voyager "refresh" within the next several months - not sure if this would mean a software update or some changes to the actual hardware, but keep an eye out for it!

Plug your telephone line from the handset into the back of the MagicJack and then connect it to your computer via a USB adaptor. The whole process takes about 45 seconds to set up and you're off and running.

Below are listed some of the features MagicJack offers:

• Free phone number
• All US/Canada calls are free
• Free international calling (Only calls back to US from other countries)
• Free voice mail
• Free call waiting
• Three way calling
• Enhanced 911 service

You can read more about the service here

Apple iPhone	HTC Touch
Runs OSX	Runs Windows Mobile 6
Only available with AT&T	Sim unlocked for Worldwide use
5 and 8 GB available	1 GB, 4 GB, and SDHC available
Good on screen keyboard	Keyboard same as before, ideal for stylus
Limited applications available	Countless applications available

Although many people may prefer the iPhone over the HTC Touch, the fact of the matter is that not everyone can get it. Also not everyone wants to sign or renew their existing contract. The HTC Touch comes factory unlocked and will work on any GSM network while the iPhone currently can only be used with AT&T. Many people will turn to the HTC Touch or other phones as a last resort until they can get there hands on the iPhone. The Touch is available world wide while the iPhone is only available through AT&T and Apple stores across America.

The Windows Mobile 6 upgrade on new phones does add features and has a better UI, but overall it's very similar to Windows Mobile 5. What surprises me is that instead of Microsoft making this type of interface for all Windows phones, only HTC has done it for their own phone.

Microsoft has been working on a project called ZenZui however in my opinion it does not compare with the iPhone touch technology.

Microsoft may just be more concerned with their Touch Technology for the upcoming UMPC's which will have built in phone capability. See link below:

origamiproject.com/blogs/team_blog/archive/2006/03/08/4.aspx

In the near future I would like to see the iPhone come unlocked and sold at all Apple stores. I would also like to see the HTC TouchFLO technology in newer models especially the new ones with a slide out keyboard. This is the first phone released by Apple and already people are going crazy over it.

This latest bit of information points to an even more iPhone-like experience, with UI screenshots that look a lot like iPhone's UI, and even 4gb and 8gb versions of the M8 -- just like iPhone.  Meizu, however, has set price points considerably lower than those of Apple's, with the M8 Standard coming in at approximately $310 (4gb) and $400 (8gb) and a camera-less Entry Model priced at $195/285 USD.  Note that these prices are for unlocked phones, whereas the iPhone's stated $499/599 price points require a two-year service contract with Cingular.

Additionally, the M8 will have a 3.3", 720 x 480 touchscreen as well as audio-video line out capabilities.  An add-on camera module is also said to be in the works for the Entry Level phone.  Meizu lists "by the end of 2007" as their launch window for the M8, and while there's no mention of a US-specfic version being in the works, it'll be interesting to see if Apple legal decides to go after Meizu for various "copycat" infringements before either phone launches.

Read more, and see some renderings of this very iPhone-like handset, here: meizume.com/showthread.php?s=9715281955d404f676062746014e42ce&p=9522#post9522

Windows Mobile:
Windows Mobile devices usually have better specs than Palm devices. New Windows Mobile devices on the market have faster processors, built in GPS, built in WI-FI and more. The Windows Mobile OS is a lot more advanced than the Palm OS. Since it runs like your home PC you can do almost everything on your Pocket PC that you can on your home computer. Windows Mobile programming is a lot like programming for your PC and that is why there are more freeware programs for Windows Mobile than there is for Palm. Also big computer programs now have smaller versions for Pocket PC too. For example Microsoft Office includes: Word, Excel and Powerpoint and are now included on Pocket PC's. With these programs you not only view files but also edit them. Newer Pocket PC's are capable of doing video calling and have cameras of up to 2 Megapixels. At times the Windows Mobile OS is not stable and when there are a lot of programs running in the background, the OS gets very slow. With Windows Mobile you have to reset the phone every so often to keep it running smooth. 

Palm OS:
The Palm OS is a lot easier to navigate and overall is much simpler to use. People who do not want complicated devices and know which features they need often go with the Palm devices. The overall OS is very easy to use and only takes a little while to understand how it works. Palm OS is more for single handed use which Windows Mobile was missing for a long time. Just now new Smartphones are being released for one handed use. Currently Palm has a lot more applications available than Windows Mobile but not as much freeware. Palm is known for their Treo phone series and the Treo 600 and 650 did very well. Newer versions of the Treo are coming with Windows Mobile on it like the Treo 700 from Verizon. It kind of makes you think, did Palm give up? Do they think Windows is better? What ever the case may be, there is still versions of the new phones that have Palm OS on them for people who still like Palm OS better.

Different devices suit different people. You may have either of the devices but if you're not going to use the extra features it offers it is pointless. Overall Palm devices cost less because they have less expensive hardware and are capable of doing less. Windows Mobile can do a lot more than the Palm OS but usually cost more in price. The Treo 650 only has a VGA camera and so far Palm phones are not capable of video calling. Windows Mobile phones on the other hand have up to 2 megapixel cameras and are capable of video calling. So basically you have to ask your self a couple of the following questions before purchasing a new PDA:

- What am I going to use the device for?
- What am I planning to do with my device?
- Which features do I really need in my PDA?
- What is my Budget?

Overall there are a lot more Windows Mobile devices than there are Palm devices. You have a lot more variety with Windows and with all the new Windows Mobile devices being released, older versions prices drop significantly. People who like Palm OS can still get the latest phone because newer versions will be released with both Windows and Palm OS.