iPhone OS To Appear On Rival Mobile Phone Handsets! (April Fool)

Remember I was going to recommend a phone that was better that the iPhone? Probably not, but here it is anyway. After pre-emptive action on Apple’s part following recent negotiations with the EU, this is the first, but it certainly won’t be the last phone that incorporates much of Apple’s patented technologies. So let’s have a look at the Nokia A88…

First off, it REALLY looks like an iPhone. It’s a little larger (because of the removable battery, SIM card slot and enhanced camera, I suppose) and you can forget about using it with iTunes (although it does support iPhone apps and purchased iTunes content). Nokia have decided to include a back button (halleluiah!) as well as an analogue volume wheel. This is just the sort of thing that you only appreciate when you have it.

This is the first device (apart from the good old “Hackintosh”) to run OSX that wasn’t built by Apple. So how does it do? Well, it’s all right actually. I sometimes think it’s locked-up, but it will get there in the end. Let’s hope this is a “feature” of the pre-production model.

Interestingly, Safari doesn’t feature at all in the A88. Like many successful smartphones, the A88 uses the Opera mobile browser. I’m not sure that this is a good idea, because although Safari is rubbish on Windows, it’s pretty good on the iPhone, and 20 minutes of browsing will make you miss it here. Opera is ok, but it seems a lot slower.

The tilt-control is spot-on, and all my iPhone driving games work wonderfully. Voice calls are clear and crisp, although I did have a bit of trouble with dropped calls. I don’t want to excuse every flaw of the A88 to the fact that it’s pre-production, but I suppose it might be a factor.

There’s a lot more to say about the A88, and in the coming months, we can expect similar offerings from Motorola and Sony. Pricing isn’t fixed yet, but you can expect a “does more, for less” philosophy from most vendors. If you want to see the A88 in action, Stuart Ashen has done a nice little demo of it which you can take a look at below, personally, I think his assessment is spot-on, what do you think?

UPDATE: April Fool!

The Average Windows Nerd

Related Pages:

1. GTA: Harbour City Details Leaked (April Fool)
2. SteelSeries Headset Mobile Phone Adapter (inc iPhone)
3. Windows Mobile iPhone Theme
4. Cheap Mobile Phone Deals
5. April Fools 2009 Roundup

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