In the booming smartphone market, two phones recently introduced that appear to rise above the rest are the Motorola Droid Incredible by HTC, the latest in the HTC Droid line of handsets running on the Google Android OS, and the iPhone from Apple, with the nervously awaited iPhone 4G reputedly on the horizon. The Apple camp has not released any solid information about the 4G, but iPhone users are seeing the writing on Apple’s wall.

After Gizmodo prematurely leaked the images of a “lost” prototype on the internet, the buzz surrounding the 4G has only escalated. Meanwhile, the popularity of HTC’s Droid Incredible has made fierce competition with a device that has not even been released yet – which is pretty remarkable, though whether that’s bodes better for the iPhone or the Incredible we’re not quite sure.

The improvements made in both device model upgrades (Droid and iPhone) is immensely comparable, revealing that both camps are keenly plugged in to what their customers want.

For one, the HTC  Droid and the iPhone both have upgraded their camera features. The 4G iPhone now includes a 2 megapixel front-facing camera for chat, and has added a long-awaited flash to its regular camera on the rear of the device, now a more acceptable 5 megapixels replacing its ancient, tired 3MP. The Droid, on the other hand, boasts an 8 megapixel camera, auto focus, and a dual LED flash, which seems to give HTC the upper hand over even the 4G iPhone on this feature. But the iPhone 4G has also added a tap to focus feature that enables the camera to focus more accurately.  

Apple has also added a second microphone for better voice clarity by canceling surrounding noise (much like noise canceling headphones do). HTC has no such feature.

Both the iPhone and the Droid have improved the resolution and the overall show screen. The Droid’s 3.7 inch LED screen and a 1 GHz processor is quicker than its predecessor.  But the iPhone 4G will be offering a startling 960×640 pixels, and a oleophobic fingerprint resistant coating.

The quicker processor on the Droid makes it a most valuable player in gaming and gaming developments.

The iPhone, as always, comes in choice of 2 models, one with 16 GB, and one with 32 GB. And while the Droid offers close to 10,000 apps, the iPhone offers at least that many.

Of course, for many users, choice of wireless carrier is the dealmaker and breaker. So for those folks, let it be known that the iPhone 4G will still be locked to AT&T while the Droid Incredible is a Verizon smartphone.

Whether you are a college student wanting to listen to music in the break between classes or a business professional who wants to streamline their hectic and busy life, the Apple iPhone can be a fantastic asset to you. Whatever type of cell phone user you are the iPhone is a device that will be help you organize your life as well as entertain you in your time off. Like most people, but, you probably need to spend a lot of your time interacting with others.

All that is of course possible with the iPhone. Sometimes though you will want to listen to music or watch a movie and it may be more appropriate to wear headphones as you do so you aren’t disturbing others around you. You do need to be very careful about which headphones you choose though as picking the incorrect ones could completely ruin your enjoyment.

Up until recently there were only a few choices available when it came to choosing a pair of headphones for a portable audio device. Many people didn’t even know they had as much choice as they had. In more recent times the technology behind headphones has went on. You can now get headphones that vibrate along to the bass music in order to reduce the effect of background noise allowing to listen to your music more clearly. If you search on the internet for headphones you now head such a wide choice to select from that it can be hard to know which ones you should pick for use with your iPhone.

You could do a lot worse than opt for the V-Moda Vibe Duo headphones. These are renowned for being top of the range luxury headphones. You will be able to delight in your music in perfect clarity when you are using these. They are of the inner ear design so are very comfortable to wear and give superb sound quality. No longer do you need to carry a large, bulky set of headphones around with you. They also look fantastic too with a minimalist all metal design.

Another excellent thing about these headphones is that they have a call/music control system. If you’re in the middle of a song and you receive a phone call you can easily switch between using the built in microphone to speak to whoever is calling and then switch back to the song you were listening to at the touch of a button.

These headphones really do produce incredible sound quality thanks to the integrated noise cancelling BLISS system that is built into them. Unlike a lot of noise cancelling headphones these do not require any batteries or other sources of power to work so you won’t be getting annoyed with the batteries constantly running out when you need them the most.

BLISS gives you high sound quality and nearly completely eliminates any background noise. The bass produced from these headphones is also something else. If you are a music lover and delight in listening to your music played to you at a very high quality then you really should take a closer look at the V-Moda Vibe Duo headphones.

Apple iPhone is both a mobile phone as well as an iPod – made available within a sophisticated profile. Most of the features of the iPod are available in the Apple iPhone. A web browser, an organizer, a note taker and a camera make the Apple iPhone highly versatile in its capabilities and one of its kind. This revolutionary “handset-cum-iPod” combines the best of hardware as well as software features and is empowered to realize quite a few fantasies of tech-savvy users. As a matter of fact, the high-end functionalities of the Apple iPhone make it immensely well loved among ‘next-generation’ users who are interested in trying out the latest gadgets – as soon as they hit the market.

Some features of the Apple iPod has been substituted and made all the more user-friendly in the Apple iPhone. The inaccuracy of the round click-wheel of the Apple iPod, for instance, has been done away with. The click-wheel has been replaced with a touch screen featuring Cover Flow in the Apple iPhone.

Users could take advantage of the Cover Flow feature to flip though their collection of music files. Another merit of the iPhone is that the quality of audio is quite excellent. There is a built-in speaker that reproduces a range of audio frequencies during audio or video playback.

A physical mute switch is located above the rocker volume control. Users could use this switch to set the phone ringer and other audio signals to ‘vibrate.’ The Apple iPhone comes with earbud headphones; users need to just pinch these buttons to pause the music during incoming calls. But, there are some demerits to using the Apple iPhone as well. Users cannot copy files directly to the device. A direct access to a file system or a command line is conspicuous by its absence.

Apple’s design sense has always been splendid; the iPhone 3G doesn’t break conformity. The first time you look at it; you’ll reckon iPod Touch on a high-stout diet. It’s better looking than its predecessor (the iPhone 2G). The black model we received was perfectly finished; thankfully the rear resists normal smudging and scratches. It’s not a very thick device but feels large to hold; although with a 3.5-inch screen this isn’t exactly a design flaw. Build quality is brilliant. Quality of buttons and switches on the device are top-class. Even the SIM tray fits flush; attention to detailing is very excellent.

The buttons on the sides, top and the headphone jack are chromed, and the black bezel and chrome trim add further visual appeal. Apple’s menu system is brilliant with the single main menu button being perfectly functional. The 3G’s appeal lies in its blatantly simple and usable interface and the sheer joy and funkiness of a touch and finger swipe navigation system that works flawlessly. The proximity sensor and low-light sensor work flawlessly.

The iPhone menus work well, but the on-screen keypad is a small small and you will make a few incorrect key taps for a month or so, which won’t please SMS junkies. The phones number pad is huge though; and you’d be a clod to goof up dialling numbers. SMS’ sent and received to and from a single number show up as a single entry with the last message exchanged as a preview; the rest of the messages are showed in small green conversation boxes that become visible on selecting the relevant entry; a novel concept that takes getting used to.

There is still no way to delete or select multiple messages. For some, the text entry box may also appear too small for practical use. If you try to edit a message after typing it out; the inbuilt magnifier helps as it magnifies the spot where your finger touches, but cursor navigation within the text body remains a tough affair. You also cannot save a typed out SMS as a draft, and the inbuilt email option allows you to save multiple email IDs and password information for uick use; though the on-screen keyboard raises its hideous head again to spoil the party.

Its Safari web browser is very basic — no support for Java or Flash. Copy/Pasting is also not supported — a serious omission. We also noticed that the touch interface works with fingers only, not a stylus or fingernails — ladies beware. If you reckon you can get a Bluetooth keyboard to make up for the on-screen keyboard, reckon again; the iPhone’s Bluetooth works with headsets only — no keyboard, and no file transfers.

The bundled GPS and Google Maps work well in tandem — better than Nokia Maps. Apple’s inbuilt scheduler and calendar work well; as excellent as any PDA. A lot of games come preinstalled, but there’s no serious office application with document and spreadsheet support. Some of these applications slow down the phone — huge time; though for the most part it’s honestly responsive.

The iPhone is a decent phone when it comes to signal quality — it’s a small behind Nokia’s best Mobile Phones in this regard. Voice quality is pretty excellent but the volume is a small low. Sadly the loudspeakers’ quality is very terrible — like a cheap CDMA unit — and a lot of distortion occurs when a voice call is place on loudspeaker. The headset looks like Apple’s earbud headphones but incorporates a small microphone unit that is compact enough to be easily missed. Voice quality on this handsfree unit is absolutely top notch; and the volume level is fantastic.

The claimed battery talk time is ten hours; not right, we measured this to be more like five hours.

MP3 quality is very excellent; no other Mobile Phone comes close. It has a gorgeous screen for video. Just make sure to ditch the bundled earplugs for music. Eight or 16 GB of inbuilt storage is enough for most; if it isn’t, you should remember that expansion is not an option. The camera is a mediocre 2 megapixels, and isn’t this phone’s forte — you can’t even record video!

Sadly, the Apple iPhone 3G only comes as part of a service provider’s scheme — you cannot buy it unless you’re an Airtel or Vodafone customer. Our device was provided by Airtel and is available for Rs 31,000 and Rs 36,100. The first 500 MB of data usage from Airtel is free, after which you pay a nominal charge of 30 paisa per 50 KB.

Apple’s design sense has always been splendid; the iPhone 3G doesn’t break conformity. The first time you look at it; you’ll reckon iPod Touch on a high-stout diet. It’s better looking than its predecessor (the iPhone 2G). The black model we received was perfectly finished; thankfully the rear resists normal smudging and scratches. It’s not a very thick device but feels large to hold; although with a 3.5-inch screen this isn’t exactly a design flaw. Build quality is brilliant. Quality of buttons and switches on the device are top-class. Even the SIM tray fits flush; attention to detailing is very excellent. The buttons on the sides, top and the headphone jack are chromed, and the black bezel and chrome trim add further visual appeal. Apple’s menu system is brilliant with the single main menu button being perfectly functional. The 3G’s appeal lies in its blatantly simple and usable interface and the sheer joy and funkiness of a touch and finger swipe navigation system that works flawlessly. The proximity sensor and low-light sensor work flawlessly. The iPhone menus work well, but the on-screen keypad is a small small and you will make a few incorrect key taps for a month or so, which won’t please SMS junkies. The phones number pad is huge though; and you’d be a clod to goof up dialling numbers. SMS’ sent and received to and from a single number show up as a single entry with the last message exchanged as a preview; the rest of the messages are showed in small green conversation boxes that become visible on selecting the relevant entry; a novel concept that takes getting used to. There is still no way to delete or select multiple messages. For some, the text entry box may also appear too small for practical use. If you try to edit a message after typing it out; the inbuilt magnifier helps as it magnifies the spot where your finger touches, but cursor navigation within the text body remains a tough affair. You also cannot save a typed out SMS as a draft, and the inbuilt email option allows you to save multiple email IDs and password information for uick use; though the on-screen keyboard raises its hideous head again to spoil the party. Its Safari web browser is very basic — no support for Java or Flash. Copy/Pasting is also not supported — a serious omission. We also noticed that the touch interface works with fingers only, not a stylus or fingernails — ladies beware. If you reckon you can get a Bluetooth keyboard to make up for the on-screen keyboard, reckon again; the iPhone’s Bluetooth works with headsets only — no keyboard, and no file transfers. The bundled GPS and Google Maps work well in tandem — better than Nokia Maps. Apple’s inbuilt scheduler and calendar work well; as excellent as any PDA. A lot of games come preinstalled, but there’s no serious office application with document and spreadsheet support. Some of these applications slow down the phone — huge time; though for the most part it’s honestly responsive. The iPhone is a decent phone when it comes to signal quality — it’s a small behind Nokia’s best Mobile Phones in this regard. Voice quality is pretty excellent but the volume is a small low. Sadly the loudspeakers’ quality is very terrible — like a cheap CDMA unit — and a lot of distortion occurs when a voice call is place on loudspeaker. The headset looks like Apple’s earbud headphones but incorporates a small microphone unit that is compact enough to be easily missed. Voice quality on this handsfree unit is absolutely top notch; and the volume level is fantastic. The claimed battery talk time is ten hours; not right, we measured this to be more like five hours. MP3 quality is very excellent; no other Mobile Phone comes close. It has a gorgeous screen for video. Just make sure to ditch the bundled earplugs for music. Eight or 16 GB of inbuilt storage is enough for most; if it isn’t, you should remember that expansion is not an option. The camera is a mediocre 2 megapixels, and isn’t this phone’s forte — you can’t even record video! Sadly, the Apple iPhone 3G only comes as part of a service provider’s scheme — you cannot buy it unless you’re an Airtel or Vodafone customer. Our device was provided by Airtel and is available for Rs 31,000 and Rs 36,100. The first 500 MB of data usage from Airtel is free, after which you pay a nominal charge of 30 paisa per 50 KB.