An editors opinion on the state of mobility

I have had a busy couple weeks of travel and have not been able to post as much as I would have liked. I spent most of yesterday and into the night reading and catching up on what the discussion has been here on Mobility Digest. It is a given that the device debate between arch rivals Android, iPhone and Windows Phone will always rage with passion and remain with both sides circling the wagons around their device of choice. But I was so blown away with the passion between writers and readers on so many issues that it gave me pause to think. First, I wanted to really thank all of you for a great evening of reading. I so blessed to be part of this and call so many of you friends.

At some point during the long hours of reading and catching up it occurred to me that I was not even sure how I felt about a lot of things and most importantly mobility in general. So many things read and learned that my head swelled and I found myself sinking faster into an abyss of anger, frustration, and even self doubt. I decided to take a short break from my sojourn of mobility self discovery and fly my brand new remote control heli recommended to me by fellow mobility Digest writer and Editor-in-Chief at XBOX360Digest, Patrick Kortendick. Had a blast for the full 5-6 minutes advertised and put it back on the charger. Editors Note: This is the best low end Heli I have ever flow. Absolutely NO adjustment out of the box, incredibly stable, and excellent forward and reverse motion! As I sat back down to start writing up some news and it finally hit me that the reason I am not so engaging on issues as I may have once been is that I am truly thrilled with the present state of mobility. I seem to have little or no fight for issues of indifference because of the constant distraction of all the new device releases in 2011! Damn you Google for piracy! Damn you, darn you, ah…….who? NVIDIA Dual Core processors to finally be released in mere days. What was that again about Google? You get the idea of how my brain is working these days huh?

I can remember it was only two or so years ago that we were using devices 400mHz processors, VGA screens, and limited with only Windows Mobile or iPhone for a high end smartphone experience.  Today we have Android solidly replacing Windows Mobile as the smartphone platform that will usher in the latest of innovations in hardware advancements.

I mentioned processors didn’t I? In just a few short days we will witness the first dual core processor to hit a US Carrier ironically by AT&T. The Motorola ATRIX 4G will be released by AT&T which to date, has been the most under performing Android device carrier here in the US. Even though we considered the Samsung Galaxy S in the guise of the AT&T Captivate a solid performer, GPS concerns and lack of a Froyo, Android 2.2 update kept the Captivate ever in the shadows against rivals Verizon, Sprint, and T-Mobile. It appears the once great heavyweight AT&T has woke up from several middle rounds of coasting on it’ lost iPhone dominance and stands ready to break it’s clench and step back and fight. In other words, and perhaps as my buddy Doug Simmons would say, AT&T has seemingly pulled their head out of their ass and brought a real device to the table! Doesn’t the thought of a dual core processor in a mobile handset just make you smile?

Does Size really matter? Well, for some of you, and including myself it does. AT&T with all it’s bandwidth woes has this category locked up as king. The retina display on the iPhone was a first and it’s match has yet to be met. Motorola has thrown it’s hat in the resolution ring with the QHD displayed ATRIX 4G (960 x 540). Then the Super AMOLED screen devices are simply brilliant and now become standard for Samsung. To protect these gorgeous screens we have seen plenty of Gorilla Glass all but eliminating the need for screen protectors except for the most OCD like me. Getting back to more is better, look at the assortment of plus 4 inch screen devices available. HTC knocked it out of the park with the HD2 and it’s 4.3 inch screen. The HD2, otherwise known as the master of many disguises keep reinventing itself with solid hardware capable of NAND flashing wither Android or Windows Phone operating systems! Let’s leave AT&T and talk Verizon, the Motorola Droid X, the Sprint EVO 4G (we’ll get to 4G in a minute), and even the Dell Venue Pro with it’s 4.2 inch screen all shine in displaying multimedia.

I know I am getting long winded here and may have lost a few of you. So I let me hit some more highlights quickly. Look at the choices! Sprint and T-Mobile customers have been enjoying the speed of 4G and awesome devices to match. AT&T and Verizon to come on board later this year and have already started releasing devices like the AT&T HTC Inspire 4G. I am not done. 1080p Video recording! That’s right High Definition video recording is already possible with several devices at 720HD, but we will see 1080 this year! Cameras on high smartphones are still awesome compared to what they once were. I can now take a picture that I know I can treasure for the rest of my life and even print without pixilation above a 3 x 5! I have babbled non stop about the Sony XPERIA ARC.  The Arc is not only another AMAZING device from a resolution standpoint not mentioned above, but will also come with the Sony Exmor R CMOS sensor that will finally allow for low light photos on your “cell phone”!

We are now streaming video content from Slacker, Netflix, Pandora, Mobi, Zune, and a ton of others. Facebook and Twitter are integrated so well that I find myself using my laptop less and less for Social Media. Face time and Tango front facing camera apps along with Skype to allow video conferencing. Yeah, you have to jailbreak to allow Facetime over 3G, but how long ago was this only a dream? I realize I am only scratching the surface but these are just some examples of what we can do TODAY!

Gaming. Need I say more? Look at where we are and where we are going. Infinity Blade and host of others coming out for the Retina Display. Before I get pounded by the WP users out there. Tell me how sick XBOX Integration is on Windows Phone and the future promise of even more greatness? The ease of porting games to mobile platforms will bring more layers of usability to the mobile handset. I know everyone has been talking about Nokia and Microsoft, and where I may not be a huge fan today, there is no question in my mind the power and potential in this platform. (There am I back in your good graces now David and Ramon?)

I am a little worried about this article being reviewed by our readers as scattered and all over the place, my hope is that my excitement will come through and remind all of you how far we have come in such a short period of time. Yeah, I will still complain about the lack of updates by AT&T on the Captivate and the Streak and the dismal failure in some markets to provide advertised quality and speed on their networks. The list could go on and on of course. Each carrier could at any time be bludgeoned to death by host of issues similar to those mentioned above by AT&T. But at the end of the day, I believe the state of mobility to be pretty damn good and I look forward to sharing my excitement with you and hopefully sharing some of yours.