"Apple 3G iPhone / Samsung i900 Omnia comparison
Specification sheet
Important Considerations
1. Navigation Both products have integrated GPS units. The iPhone does not come with a licensed Navigation software package, and so uses a streamed mapping solution (Google Maps currently). It is important to understand that these mapping solutions require substantial data to be streamed in real time when in use. This pushes potentially significant costs on to the customer when the service is being used. Google maps from a mobile perspective suits the American market substantially better than the South African one due to their ‘all you can eat’ data plans. The i900 will be included in the ongoing strategic partnership with Garmin in South Africa. This provides a licensed mapping solution for the life of the product, which will incur no additional data costs to the customer when used for navigation. It is worth noting that the Google Maps application is free, and a Windows Mobile version is available. This means the i900 can offer what the iPhone currently offers, as well as the additional full mapping solution from Garmin. Google maps currently do not have comprehensive coverage in South Africa.
2. Business Features
The 3G iPhone was launched with great hype as “the best phone for business….EVER” due to its support for push mail, document management, open operating system and device management. Below we examine each of these elements: (i) Push Mail Apple now offer a push mail solution called mobileME. This service is available through Apple for $99 US per annum. For this you get 20 Gigabytes of online storage for your email solution. It is very much a consumer offering, and is not suited to Enterprise customers. The iPhone now supports Microsoft’s Exchange ActiveSync. The i900 natively supports ActiveSync, as it is part of the Microsoft suite of solutions for the business professional. As such, push mail and real-time synchronization of your email, contacts, tasks and calendar are provided. This push mail solution from Microsoft carries no additional costs to the consumer (apart from associated data costs). The only enterprise requirement for this solution is that they have a Microsoft Exchange server (Exchange 2003 with Service Pack 2 is required) installed. Most enterprise customers are already using this solution, and so no additional costs will be incurred to utilize this solution. Apple is proud of their full HTML supported email – so your email will arrive in exactly the same format in which it was sent. Windows Mobile 6.1 supports HTML mail, and as such will provide the same user experience.
(ii) Document Management Apple have built in support for the Microsoft Office suite. Word, PowerPoint and Excel documents can be viewed on the device. The i900 is a Windows Mobile Professional device, and as such offers viewing capabilities for Word, PowerPoint and Excel similar to the iPhone, but significantly, these document types can be edited on the device too. (iii) Operating System The iPhone operating system is now”Open” in that it supports 3rd party developed applications. This puts it into the powerful “Smartphone” category of devices. Many applications should become available in the coming months for the iPhone. Windows Mobile has 10s of thousands of applications already available. It was strategically important for Microsoft to deliver the same model on a mobile device that they have on the desktop for many years with clear success. From a Microsoft perspective, the focus with Windows Mobile has always been application driven instead of hardware or technology driven. (iv) Device Management Remote device management is becoming more important for the enterprise. The iPhone supports remote device management, including: Remotely enforceable security policies VPN Remote device configuration Remote device wipe
Windows Mobile 6.1 supports all of the above, with additional remote management capabilities such as remote application installation etc.
3. Pricing
The iPhone launch event has caused significant confusion about the price of the device. The announcement indicated the 8 gig version of the iPhone would sell for $199 US and the 16 gig for $ 299 US. What the announcement did not disclose, is that the quoted prices are pay-in prices, assuming a 2 year, $30 per month contract with AT&T in the US. Vodafone in Italy have shown pre-paid prices for the iPhone and they are: 8 Gig - 499 Euro and 16 Gig – 569 Euro. This link is the English translated version of the page: http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&langpair=it%7Cen&u=http://www.iphone.vodafone.it/
The indicative pricing for the i900 is directly competitive with the iPhone pricing on both 8GB and 16GB versions. Obviously we will monitor “actual” SA Rand pricing once we can get access to this information, and will market our unit(s) accordingly.
Key Points Summary
Technology: The i900 has a higher specification than the iPhone in almost every category. The only significant technology supported by the iPHone that is not supported by the i900, is their “Multi-touch” touch-screen technology. The i900 will offer the “TouchWiz” solution found on the F480 by comparison, as well as the well known Windows Mobile interface. Navigation: Both products offer full navigation solutions, with the i900 offering a more comprehensive, as well as more cost-effective solution for consumers. Business: Apple says: “The best phone for business. Ever.” This is not at all the case. Windows Mobile offers everything that Apple does with their product, and significantly more – Document Editing, remote management tools etc. Pricing: The initial prices quoted at the iPhone launch were confusing and have created a misconception in the market about the actual cost of the product. The i900 should compete directly with the 3G iPhone from a price perspective.
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