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Is Apple’s iPhone the best smartphone on the market? Well, it depends on how you use your smartphone. Many features introduced by Apple’s iPhone have set a new standard on how smartphones should operate and how we as consumers come to expect these devices to work. In this article we are going to look at some reasons you should consider when choosing between Apple’s iPhone, a Palm WebOS, or Google Android devices.

While Apple is seen as the leader in the market several other smartphones OS’s namely Palm’s WebOS and Google’s Android have a great chance of gaining significant market share at the expense of others mobile OS’s. When you really look at how you interact with digital content and your social networking circles the question on which device you should choose becomes clearer.

 Social Information

If you are the type of person who interacts with your social circles on a regular basis then maybe a device from Palm or Google is your best choice. As both companies have embraced syncing information with social networks like Facebook and Twitter directly within the built-in applications like contacts, calendar, and photo albums. In both cases information from Facebook is sync’ed to your smartphone so this information is accessible from the contacts application.

They depend on an active data connections as the information is truly just displayed inline with your other contacts not downloaded. This is extremely useful when you have a large circle of friends online and want to keep their contact information updated on your smartphone.

Palm and Google have chosen different approaches in addressing this need of consumers. Is one approach better than the other, again this depends on your usage and your need for information. My suggestion is to play with both Palm WebOS and Google Android device to understand how and what data is displayed. The key here is to understand both Palm’s WebOS and Google’s Android are new comers to the smartphone market and are both releasing OS updates on a regular basis.

This is in my opinion one of the iPhone’s biggest shortcomings besides true multitasking.

Media

Apple is the clear winner in the category no matter what you think of Apple’s iTunes music management/store. The strange thing about this is both Google and Palm almost have conceded this fact. Neither Google nor Palm seems to be addressing this aspect of consumer’s usage of smartphones. Both WebOS and Android have the ability to play/purchase music, as well play un DRM’ed video. However the experience on both of these smartphone OS’s are less than noteworthy. Not to mention that no desktop management software has been included with a purchase of your new smartphones running these OS’s. This is a major oversight of Palm and Google’s behave in this reviewers opinion. If you listen to the executives from both Google and Palm they will tell you they are not competing with Apple’s iPhone, rather the larger market of feature cellphone manufacturers. However again Apple is setting the standard in which other devices will be measured against.

What makes the iPhone stand out the most is, Apple’s attention to the end-to-end customers experience using their solution. This has made the iPhone more than just a smartphone, it is a music player, internet connected device, gaming device and finally a video playback device all in one. Instead of like years past where I would have to purchase separate devices if I wanted to do all these things while out and about. I can just purchase an iPhone and in the long run come out ahead in the terms of the money I have to spend to get all of these things.

Until Google and Palm decide to take this aspect of the user experience seriously they will lag behind Apple in terms of mass customer acceptance. When you look at the Palm Pre™ or the HTC Hero™ offered by Sprint™ they both has great possibility for being first-rate music and video playback devices.

Applications

There’s no doubt that Apple enjoys the largest support from 3^rd party developers. However both Palm’s WebOS and Google’s Android app selections are growing everyday. Being a year behind Apple in Google case and two years behind in Palm’s case does not mean they cannot have great applications developed and released for their platforms. Both Google and Palm development environments have a lower bar to entry in terms of understanding how to program. When you add these facts along side of Apple’s selective approval of apps and little to no reason why apps are declined entry into the iTunes app store is making some developers reconsider if they should spend the time developing for the iPhone.

Final Thoughts

Hopefully you see it not a clear answer on which device to purchase, not only do you have to consider which carrier has the best coverage but how you intend to use your smartphone.

Palm’s WebOS offers a great user experience with multitasking as a core component to there approach. Additional, Synergy™ Palm’s syncing of online content is a game changer in many ways. Palm is also controlling the OS and the devices themselves to ensure the best customer experience. Additionally Palm has device a visually pleasing OS. Why this may not seem important I would suggest you look at other devices where action just don’t make sense in the way they look or operate.

Google has chosen the approach to allow the most customization of the device so it operates, as you want it to. Less focus was placed on the User Interface (UI). This is extremely useful when you wish to use online services like Google Voice™. Android offers a deep integration with a Google Voice application available for free for the Android Market. The potential pitfall Google may face is not controlling the devices themselves.

I own a iPhone 3Gs 32GB, a Palm Pre, and a HTC Hero (Sprint) and very much enjoy all of these devices. Clearly anyone of these devices will deliver an excellent smartphone experience. My desire is for Google and Palm to work to develop a desktop application like iTunes for music and video management. Since both Palm and Google have partnered with Amazon for an application loaded on their devices allows users to purchase music directly from their smartphones. The logical solution would be for Amazon to create this app as they have a lot to gain in this battle as well.

The commentary was written by: R. Corey McLaughlin owner of Mobile Minds Media all questions can be posted in the comments area or emailed at coreymcl AT mobileminds DOT com