Charles Anadu is not new to mobile phones. He has owned more mobile devices than he can count. He’s been part of the mobile revolution in USA from the early days of GPRS to EDGE, to 3G and now to LTE. He has been a mobile device geek since the first time he owned his first mobile phone – A Nokia 3360. Charles picked up an Apple iPhone 4 as soon as it was launched few days ago. We asked him some questions about the iPhone 4 and Mobile Phones in general. Charles worked for Nokia at one time and says he loves the company to death and talks about their identity crisis. He also talks about Android and Blackberry. We also ask him about the iPhone 4 Death Grip – Reception Issue. More after the break.
1.What do you like about the iPhone 4 ?
- The first thing that I like that stands out for me is the design. IMO the current look with the metal band is attractive.
- Next is the fact that iPhone is supported by a world class software team (granted that this infringes on the freedom of a few) that manages to support and ensure each hardware feature is optimized for practical use. This is important based on my history with Nokia where we would spend r&d money on new hardware feature but never implement it in the real word…example would be the fact that Nokia introduced front facing cameras in Nseries devices as far back as 2004 but never implemented it an applicable feature.
2.What do you hate about it ?
- I hate the fact that the iOS is a very controlled and locked environment.
- Reception issues that pops up where signal strength is not excellent.
- No stereo speakers
- No ability to save as or save to location
- Safari browser that does download content besides images nor can it save to a specified location
3.Are your dropping fewer calls or more or no change ?
After almost 3 days of heavy use, I will note no change to fewer dropped calls….but I live in Atlanta and coverage is strong here. I will be in NY this week so I’ll test it out there
4.What do you think about the whole ‘way of holding’ the phone drama that has emerged. ?
- I think that’s PR nightmare. I believe Apple should be forthright about telling people that signal strength can be hampered based on where your finger are placed. With an opposed antenna, I don’t know how apple neglected to test that out. Free bumpers to everyone!!
5.Where do you see the latest iPhone stack up against the competition – Android , Blackberry , Nokia
- Android – will be iOS‘s biggest challenge. Android at this point still lacks the polish that apple has had time to create over the past 3 years. With that, I believe Android combined with the refinement from HTC, Motorolla, SE, etc can produce a polish OS for mobile devices and in some cases with features that Apple can only wish for…i.e. myfi With all the combined resource, google runs the risk of fragmenting their os amongst so many manufacturer that is makes it difficult for developers to polish their games and apps for multiple devices.
- Blackberry will continue to bleed market share as more and more IT staff start realizing how to play nice with an iPhone. Currently, I’m lobbying for corporate access for my iPhone to get exchange access to my mails/calendar.
- Nokia is the truly sad case here because I love Nokia to death. With an identity crisis AKA Symbian/meego/whatever else they playing with, they cannot move forward nor effectively market an os. Symbian has failed to deliver or compete over the past 3 years and I was there when everyone laughed at apple and google joined in the game. Apple has eaten Nokia’s lunch by forcing people to rethink they way they use their smartphones and services from it. Apple has also redrew the price point for subsidized device at 299 USD here in the US and this has made it difficult for Nokia to rake in cash from selling high end devices at high end prices…example was the N97 price point which matched the 3GS unsubsidized.
- N8 is so promising but so was the N97….and N96.
6.What phone were you using before
- I was using two devices….primary was a 3GS 32gb and the other was a Nokia N97.
7. Tell is a little more about yourself
I have a degree in Communications with a focus in PR but I have a career in Leadership Development/performance management. I began as an application training for the local government here in Atlanta and progressed to sourcing and managing virtual education technologies to being recruited by Nokia to support North America’s then Sales/Marketing as well as the r&d team in California. I was part of the marketing team as well supporting initial Nseries launch to moving on and joining NSN supporting the global customer marketing team. I left Nokia a year after the NSN JV because I lost passion in what we were doing and lost interest in the U.S. telecom business. Currently, I serve as the Sr Instructional Technologist and consultant to for Aetna, a top healthcare management company here in the U.S. Thanks for the opportunity to share my thoughts.
Thanks Charles for your time !
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