If you’re trying to decide between the hot new Nexus One vs. the iPhone 3Gs, here’s the skinny on what sets them apart. Both phones sport the aesthetic appeal of that sleek “wow” factor sheen, but there are a few differences you should know about which may make one a better fit for your needs than the other.

Despite its light weight compared to the iPhone 3Gs, the Nexus One picks up where the iPhone left off in the bench-press department. Its faster processor and more efficient Organic LED screen will keep your video sizzling sharp and your images pinpoint crisp while making the overall screen color reproduction more accurate (though strangely enough the orange colors on some of the YouTube videos I streamed to the Nexus One appeared a little too red for my liking).

The built in camera flash on the Nexus One is a very useful feature in low-lighting. It’s also a feature that the iPhone currently lacks, though rumor has it that Apple already put in a big order for flash devices for its next generation of iPhones. No doubt Apple will also be ramping up its camera resolution which is currently only 3-megapixels on the iPhone compared to the whopping 5-megapixel deliciousness of the Nexus One camera.

Unlike the iPhone, the Nexus One sports a full hands-free driving GPS navigation system with turn-by-turn directions functionality included right out of the box. On the iPhone, you only get the standard Google maps directions right now which is basically a little dot moving around on a 2D map…not very impressive unless you are willing to shell over the cash for a third party navigation application such as the $70 Navigon or the $80 iGo My Way.

Aside from these extra perks included with the Nexus One, the main point of difference I encountered between the two phones was their dependence upon wireless connectivity. iPhone applications run as smoothly when you are out of wireless range as they do when you are in range because your data is largely saved to the phone and is re-synched when your phone reception returns. This approach keeps your most of your data on your physical phone device, at risk of being lost along with the device if that data has not been synchronized and backed up first.  The Nexus One takes the opposite approach. It seems geared toward storing as much of your personal data as possible on Google’s computer clouds rather than on your phone’s memory. Unfortunately, while it does mean that your data is theoretically safer, it also means that you have to have a strong wireless connection for many of your applications to be useful. This is particularly true if you’re looking to leverage some of the coolest features Google provides such as voice recognition (see below).

The included Android Calendar application is a perfect example of why storing data on the cloud isn’t always the best solution. The included Calendar application is barely functional without a direct link to the internet, and it will not operate unless you have first assigned it to a preexisting Google Calendar account. While these limitations may not be an issue for someone who already uses Google Calendar and who has frequent internet access, I found it an unnecessary burden, and wasn’t thrilled about being forced to use a the Google Calendar which was only recently endowed with integrated Task features.

There are a few other ‘gotchas’ you should be aware of before you buy, such as the not-so-multi-touch feature of the Nexus One’s touch screen. The iPhone’s multi-touch feature is more than just fancy hand-waving; it allows you to use more than one finger at a time to interact with your mobile phone screen. This makes the phone easier to operate and cuts down on the number of buttons that would otherwise clutter its interface. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said of the Nexus One. Though the Android interface itself has been given an appealing facelift, (with live animated backgrounds and the like), it is currently limited to single touch functionality. [Note: You can enable multi-touch yourself if you are brave enough to attempt a ROM hack on your Nexus One].

Another iPhone feature I missed in the Nexus One was a simple notepad. You may be able to download one from the Android Market, but not having one pre-installed is inconvenient, and it makes taking notes or jotting down ideas difficult when no pen and paper are handy. If you’re creative, you could record videos of yourself talking and then sync them with Evernote, but if you’re looking for more direct digital copies of you paper masterpieces, check out the Scan2PDF Mobile application which instantly converts phone photos of your notes into fully searchable PDFs.

As any personal trainer will tell you, you won’t see your best results until you’ve put in the necessary hard work and preparation. In the same way, the Nexus One really starts to shine brightest once you start using one of its most underappreciated yet most awesome features, its voice recognition technology. Leveraging the technology it has long been toiling over for its Google Voice telephone service, Google’s Nexus One makes searching as easy as pressing a button and telling your phone what you want it to find. Seriously, it’s that simple! After a few tries, the phone will train itself to recognize your voice patterns and will identify pretty much any word you throw at it. And since every search you do is logged with Google, I’m guessing that your subsequent search patterns will be used to teach the software so that it continually gets better at recognizing which of your verbal commands it interpreted successfully.

Even more useful, and novel by comparison to what the iPhone offers, is the voice-to-text feature which magically transcribes whatever you say to your phone into an email or text message. This voice recognition feature, in particular, turned out to be a big time saver for me, just like using voice recognition in the built-in GPS navigation made hands-free navigation that much easier and safer while driving.

If you currently have an iPhone and are looking for those extra features that will squirt a few more ounces of productivity into your life, you may want to wait until the next iPhone iteration comes out. The additional benefits the Nexus One offers are mostly under the hood, and while they do add up, the margin of difference they make depends upon how ambitious you are about tackling the learning curve burn cycle, especially if you’re already acclimated to the iPhone interface. On the other hand, if you aren’t in love with the iPhone or if you are upgrading from a previous non-iPhone model and are looking for a top of the line phone with tremendous long-term potential, the Nexus One is probably your best bet.

And in case you’re still deliberating over the technical details behind the gloss, I recommend checking out Gizmodo’s definitive smartphone comparison chart for a great side-by-side comparison of these top two contenders.

~jp

Justin Palmen is a recovering technoholic with a passion for everything fast, mobile, and cloud enabled.  When not working in cyberspace, he enjoys traveling to exotic locations and would love to travel in real space some day.  He’d also love to receive your questions or comments at jp@justanasterisk.com

Number 1:

Hi Alex, it’s Peter Weiss calling. I’m just calling to see how your day is going. I love you I should be home by about 5:30 tonight. We have lots of offers for different parties this weekend so I want to see if you’re up for it. I love you tell.

It’s actually from my wife.  Who is not a man named Peter Weiss.  In fact, this is Peter Weiss (courtesy of Wikipedia).  Although he seems like a very nice guy (and such an accomplished painter), I don’t think we’re compatible. 

What I love about this is how accurate most of the important details were – “I should be home by 5:30 tonight” was crystal clear.  “I’m just calling to see how your day is going”, again perfectly understood.  Unfortunately, the “who it’s from” part was what ended up misunderstood… (to the point where it sounded like it was from a dead Swedish painter).  I have to admit that I wasn’t annoyed though – it made me laugh (my wife less so).

Number 2:

Hello, this is your wife needs store. We are calling to remind [ab] that your order is ready you can pick up your order until November. Hey if you can. Thank you for choosing right needs and have a nice day.

This one was great too.  This one is not actually from my wife (surprise).  In fact, it’s from the local pharmacy.  I love that my “wife needs store” and that I should “hey if I can”.  Important lessons to be sure.

Anyway, I just wanted to share.  Two great messages in one day.

Hey if you can

~ab

However, times change, products improve and blog writers recant.  Google recently introduced the ability to use Google voice for your primary phone – without migrating your number.  Now that this is the case, I can describe to you exactly what I do with Google Voice… and it’s awesome.

Here is the scenario:  I’m in Turkey, my cell phone works, but checking messages costs me $1.99 per minute.  In fact, I pay while the phone rings and while people leave messages, driving my phone bill through the roof (that 1.99 per minute continues…).  This is not uncommon – most phones work these days when you travel internationally, but the rates are still obscene.

Enter Google Voice with their new feature – GV now allows you to forward your current cell phone’s voicemail to Google.  This means that when you get a call, people receive a custom message from you (or the standard if you choose), but the service is handled by Google instead of your carrier.

Cool Point 1:  When I get a call on my cell, the Google voicemail kicks in  and then rings my other phones on my account!  So if I have my cell phone turned off (because the battery died), automatically calls could be redirected to my home phone.  This is snazzy, but doesn’t really help me with the Turkey Situation above.

Cool Point 2:  When the caller can’t find me, because I’m in Turkey and I’m ignoring their calls, they can leave a message.  Here is where it gets pretty amazing.  The resulting voicemail is transcribed (!) and sent to my email and as a text message to my phone.  I get the text message immediately (almost) and can figure out how I want to respond, knowing what the person ACTUALLY SAID.

Amazing eh?

There are things that I’d change about the service, it’s not perfect.  I’d love to see a way to give the caller a menu of options (go straight to voicemail, send a standard message like a page, or simply would you like us to try to find ab?).  There are custom voicemail greetings that you can set, but to be honest, I need  a way to switch between them quickly, perhaps even with a text message.  Logging into the service is cool, but what if I could use an app from my blackberry?  The product is in it’s infancy – but it’s still very, very cool.

Now for the bad news…  Google voice is not open to everyone yet.  It’s currently in very limited beta.  I would be happy to provide an invite to the best comment below (but only 1 this time).  Let me know what you think, or if you can think of better uses for this service.

~ab