iPhone

<sent from my iPhone>

I'm biased toward iPhone, but it comes down to how you'll be using it and what you are looking for. The iPhone is a masterpiece of design and functionality, but does not offer some of the features that Android devices offer, like bigger screen size, 4G LTE network speeds, open source software, etc. 

If you decide to go with Android, I'd recommend taking a look at the Droid RAZR and the Samsung Galaxy Nexus.

If you decide to go with the iPhone, pay the extra money for the 4S. Siri is pretty amazing, and the 4S is quite a bit faster (and better camera).

I would look at the windows phones too.  Design wise, the interface (Mango) looks so much nicer than iOS.  Really, it makes iOS look ancient (imho).

I do love my iPhone, though, and it has been very reliable (gen 1, not even 3GS!).

I would go the windows route, but I've got a free iPhone coming from American Express (I am personally extremely disappointed with the 4S, over-hyped tiny upgrade and seems to be reflected by lower projected sales and the stock today).

As for Siri, do a search, I think it was CNET (or some site like that) that just had a rundown on Android-based voice activated things that have been around longer than Siri, work just as well and access the same data that Siri does to get answers.

I have a HTC Sensation and am really happy with it.  dual core, big screen, googles cloud stuff.  plus it was about $500 outright, so quite a bit cheaper than the iphone 4 my wife got.

Things that are good on it:

-when you plug it into the computer you can choose to have it just charge or to show up as a removable disc drive.  so nice.

-takes a memory card so you can expand easily.

-install apps from the android marketplace on the computer without plugging your phone into the computer

-fast

- HTC sense is a nice interface

-you can look through the folder directory

- Gameboy emulator (so many games)

The camera isn't as nice as the iphone 4/4s but it is still good

Wow, thanks guys, great info, this gives me allot to go on.

Iphone all the way. I have used Android and WinMo both, and ios beats them at everything. Android is way too cluttered to be of any use (to me, at least). WinMo has promise, but there are not enough apps. Go the ios route and yes, Siri is actually quite awesome. Android has voice search for a while, but Siri has the intelligence that the other programs do not. Yes, and do get the Iphone 4s.

It does?  How so?  From the (brief) investigations I've done, it is basically what is already out there, just a little slicker and branded/marketed well (kinda like what Apple does - take existing ideas a polish them, never really truly innovating)

I don't want to get into an iOS vs Android debate, because there is good and bad about both, but I disagree with you trace. It's true that Apple has a history of taking ideas from other companies, but they take good ideas and execute them better than anyone else, turning an often obscure idea or concept into an industry disrupting innovation.

Siri, for example, was not an Apple technology before they bought it. I downloaded the Siri app on my iPhone a few years ago, and deleted it soon after because I didn't find it useful. There are numerous Android apps that are just like that old Siri app. Apple, however, recognized the potential with their technology, improved it dramatically, and integrated it into their product.

Even Google is admitting that Siri is a true innovation:

[Google's] Schmidt's written statement said "Apple has launched an entirely new approach to search technology with Siri, its voice-activated search and task-completion service built into the iPhone 4S." - Fast Company article from a few days ago

Android phones are horrible at voice dialing. There is no voice dialing feedback or confirmation. Coming from Blackberry this was a huge downer. It is the one glaring ommission and problem with Andriod.

The thing with Android, and google, is that there is an inevitability that Siri or something like it will be inevitable. Apple is too much of a closed shop. I just bought a Samsung Galaxy S2 ans enjoying it. Chews through the battery, but otherwise its good. Google releasing revised OS soon.

"Apple is too much of a closed shop."

this is my issue w/ the iphone - as a proponent of open source, it's one of the bigger things keeping me away.

Agree. I have a mate with an iphone 4 and a macbook that is about 5 years old - cant get them to talk to each other at all. And NZ is only now getting the iphone 4s and thats quick. There is no support here. If they cant be bothered properly servicing out market, then I wont be a customer. This is from someone who has an imac (for home), a macbook air (for work), an iPod Touch and nano and an HP laptop.

Open source isn't perfect. Some of my favorite software goes ages between updates because developers squabble with each other over priorities.

As far as Android goes, go for one of the Nexus phones. They're updated directly by Google so you won't have to wait on the OEM for future updates.

Paul - that was my point, more or less, so I think we agree (mostly).  Apple takes something that is ok (almost every one of their products was out there in some capacity before they made it special).  

The best thing about Apple, and what I still am dumbfounded as to why some company can't simply copy them, is that they pick something, work on it relentlessly, and release one thing, one product, that is nearly flawless.

I do dislike their monopolistic approach (a la killing Flash, more or less, though Adobe dropped the ball in a big way too) to business.

I totally get the criticism about the closed Apple software environment, but I really think it provides a stronger product in the end. I've always jailbroken my iOS devices in order to modify the functionality, in a way that Android allows, but the 3rd party apps and extensions always end up jeopardizing the stability of the os.

I agree, the fact that no other company has been able to successfully copy Apple's approach to quality over quantity, and highly focused minimalism, is really surprising. It's proven to work, but I think is much more difficult than the quantity over quality approach.

Regarding Flash, Adobe should have listened to Steve Jobs.

I am stepping up for the iPhone 4 S today.  A friend of mind is in the IT dept of a fortune 500 company, she pointed out to me the superior security and privacy issues of being on the apple platform.  She said all their sales reps are moving to apple, they are in the medical device field and people's information is paramount.

I like the idea of Android's open platform, but I am concerned with downloading some app and having a portion of my personal info being siphoned off without my knowledge. 

When I am told that these phones (both Apple and Samsung) have like 1 gig of ram I am blown away.  When I started CAD (back in the old days) our office computers had 4 megs of ram, one had 8 megs and that was the "special" computer for large cad files or 3DS for DOS.

fwiw, i'm swapping my 'fisher-price' lg ally (android) for a 4s in a week or so, staying with verizon.

I'll be picking up one of the motorola android RAZRs. My old one was built like a tank, this one appears to have the goods as well.

Keith - I don't know if it has been changed, but as of a year ago their were several apps (Apple) that siphoned personal information and sent it back to agencies.  There was a huge  Wall Street journal article about it.  

Personally, I look at them like Facebook - Apple is in control of all the data, they are moving to sell more ads, create a completely isolated/complete service/system, etc.  Maybe just me, but I don't trust any company with my info (though I don't really care that much, as I don't really use many apps).  It is billions of dollars of info, maybe more, and any company is going to try to capture that, organize it and profit from it.

Paul - yes, Jobs won, no question.  I dont' know where the future lies, technologically wise, but I don't like it when one company kills another's efforts (and, in the aftermath, jeopardizes all those companies that provided Flash websites/programming) in the name of profit (you can debate that), a la controlling profits via the app store (in which Apple takes a very substantial chunk).

For the general web, I have still yet to see an HTML5 website that rivals the best Flash websites.  The 'tricks' I've seen look like Flash from 10 years ago.  

It has its place, for sure, but without any standardization (like the Flash Player that worked the same from browser to browser) I fear that it will continue to be a massive challenge to keep compatible (like previous attempts at using the same techniques).

Maybe I just recall the days of experimental Flash sites too fondly and hate these days of generic Word Press themes.  :-)

It's hard to say if Apple killed Flash by not supporting it, or if Jobs was simply accurate in his prediction that it wasn't fit for the future of mobile.

I know what you mean... I'm not a Flash proponent at all, but when it's used correctly (which it rarely is), it can be do a lot more than I've ever seen HTML5 do. The experimental Flash stuff made in the 90's is still hard to beat these days.

Trace thanks for the info.  Well, I did a last minute change up and got a nifty little HTC android phone!

Believe it or not, one of the primary drivers was ergonomics.  It's a smaller phone, which I like because I can stick it in my shirt pocket.  Sometimes it's just those little details.

Also, it's my first smartphone, so it has plenty of functionality to keep me busy.  In a year or two, I'll port over to the iPhone platform I think.

But also I went with a pre-paid plan w/ Virgin.  I like the lump sum approach, I hate keeping track of minutes usage and the like, so this way I have a flat fee every month, unlimited.

Thanks to all for the advice and info, you tech gurus on Archinect put all others to shame.