A lot has happened since Apple launched its iPhone5. Most intriguing is the failure of Maps on iOS6 and Apple firing its executives and project manager in the Maps team ! Are the iOS maps really that bad ? Well, they might look visually good, apparently they are not accurate. I have not personally used the maps on my ipad but I do miss the google maps which disappeared after I upgraded from iOS5. I now use the browser version of google maps on my ipad, the best alternative for apple users.
Mobile space has heated up with Samsung Note 2 doing incredibly well, and also by the launch of nice-looking Windows 8 based Nokia Lumia Phones. Google Nexus 4 by LG has made its appearance as well, (finally, was much awaited), but it sold out even before it went out for sale (literally, if some tech journals are to be believed). With the Blackberry 10 coming up next year in Jan, this is going to be exciting.
And since I am in the fray to get a new mobile phone after my blackberry curve contract ended few months back, I am interested in the seeing how the market responds to the new handsets, all of whom have good reviews and are 'best-selling' (!). I have my eye on the iPhone5 but its too pricey (and even out of my budget, apparently, as suggested to me by one of the phone gurus from phones4u !). Well, to be fair, yes it is too pricey, especially after paying a meager £25/month on my blackberry contract for the last 2 years. It appears that the cheapest iPhone contract I can get is for £39 / month. An unlocked one in the UK costs £529, and after doing all NPV calculations etc, came to a conclusion that a contract worth 35 or below will be cost-efficient, and for anything more than that I will be better off buying an unlocked one ! As price-sensitive I am, I decided to wait and watch the market for few more months. The iPhone prices have come down, from a min of £42/month to around £38-£39/month now.
Also had a look at the Samsung Galaxy note 2, and found it really smart ! Its big, on the look and feel of it, but its quite easy to use, responsive and full of features. After using it for a while, I thought I could handle it ! The stylus adds an extra bit of weight to its already huge list of features. So this phone is definitely another option which is worth exploring.
Another phone I am looking for is the Nexus 4 from LG, which is a powerhouse of an android device with Jellybean 4.2 and a powerful processor, high RAM etc. It lacks 4G LTE, but in the UK I don't think its going to be affordable in the near future (at least for me). However, its hard to get hands on, and sold out everywhere (tried the US and Canada stores as well). Carphonewarehouse are selling it at a premium over its advertised price of £279 (16GB) on google play.
