iPhone News Updated

Ditch the iPhone for an Ice Cream Sandwich phone?

In this Ask Maggie I help a reader figure out whether to leave Apple for one of the latest Google Android phones.

Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich smartphones are rolling out and they’re giving the iPhone 4S a run for its money.

In this edition of Ask Maggie I offer some advice to a reader who is considering replacing his iPhone with either the Samsung Galaxy S III or the HTC One X. I also offer some advice about waiting for the new BlackBerry 10 phones.

Which Ice Cream Sandwich is right for me?

Dear Maggie,
My contract with AT&T expires this summer, and I am torn between which new phone I should get next. I currently have an iPhone 3GS. So I am considering the iPhone 4S or even the iPhone 5 when it’s eventually announced. But the new Android Ice Cream Sandwich phones look really appealing to me, especially the Samsung Galaxy S III and the HTC One X. So which one do you think I should get? Should I ditch Apple for Android?

Thanks,
Tempted by Android

Dear Tempted by Android,
This is a tough question. For one, the Samsung Galaxy S III was only announced this week. It won’t go on sale in Europe until the end of the month. And it won’t be available in the U.S. until this summer. What’s more Samsung has not said exactly which carriers will get it first or even what the final specs will look like on the U.S. version of the device. And we still don’t know the pricing for the phone here in the U.S.

As for Apple, it’s also unclear when it will introduce the new iPhone. Some people speculate it could be announced in June, as Apple has done with previous iPhone launches. But since the iPhone 4S was only announced in October, many believe that Apple has shifted the cycle slightly and the new device will be available in the fall. Since that device hasn’t even been announced yet, there’s no way to even try comparing it to either of the new Google Android Ice Cream Sandwich devices.

So what should you do?

Well the good news is that you have a little bit of time. You said your contract with AT&T doesn’t expire until the summer. By that point, we should know where the Samsung Galaxy S III will be available in the U.S., and whether any of the specs have changed. We’ll also have pricing information.

Also by summer, we will have a better handle on when Apple will announce its next product. If you are willing to consider the iPhone 4S, which you said you were, you should check out CNET Reviews for more information. Reviewer Brian Bennett has put together comparison of the HTC One X, the Samsung Galaxy S III and the iPhone 4S.

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Twitter for iPhone, Android updated with better search and discovery features

Hey Twitter fanatics, your favorite social network for short bursts of information has released updates to its iPhone and Android applications so that you can feed the beast and find out what’s happening even faster.

Twitter for iPhone and Twitter for Android now feature a few fun goodies, including more discovery tools, better search, and additional notification options specifically aimed at the power users among us (the rest of you won’t notice the subtle upgrades).

In-app searchers, especially those looking for specific tweeps, will be delighted by the fact that search better distinguishes between people (accounts) and tweets (content) in both the Connect and Discover tabs. Search now also suggests related terms and different spellings. The improvements should make for a simpler, less frustrating search experience on mobile — because as any iTwitterer knows, search was definitely lacking on mobile.

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