Which one is Hotter? Apple iPhone or Helio Ocean

When Steve Jobs announced the iPhone during this January's Keynote address, he made it the landmark keynote, the reason: the Apple iPhone is a landmark device, and as Steve Jobs stated a really smart smartphone. So does it mean the iPhone will have no competition when it is launched, definitely not, most mobile phone companies are popping up to announce their answer to the iPhone. So will there be a smartphone out there which can be considered as a worthy contenders to the iPhone. I believe there is definitely one smartphone, and it is Helio Ocean, it is the only other smartphone which has got me excited and might give the iPhone a run for its money. So which one is hotter?

As I had mentioned in my comparison of the Apple iPhone with Nokia N95, it depends on what you are really looking for in your smartphone. The Apple iPhone buzz can easily sway you towards it, but if you want to make an informed decision, listed below are advantages  of each of the smartphones which should help you decide which smartphone to buy.

Advantages of Helio Ocean as compared to Apple iPhone:

1. 3G support: You can surf the mobile web using Ocean like never before with Helio's lightening speed 3G network which probably will be one of the key USP of the smartphone looking at the out-cry when iPhone was announced without 3G support.

2. Dual-Slider: The Helio Ocean offers a one-of-a-kind dual-slider design and incredible messaging and Internet capabilities. You can slide the phone vertically to reveal a numeric keypad or horizontally to reveal a QWERTY keyboard. It's innovative, though it's important to note that because the keypad and keyboard are on separate layers (with the display layer on top), you can't keep both open at the same time. The sliding mechanisms are solidly
constructed, and they provide a very satisfying "click" when each layer slides into place.

3. Email: Ocean has a stellar array of messaging and Internet features. The Ocean incorporates access to all the major Web mail services like Yahoo Mail, AOL Mail, MSN Hotmail, GMail, plus Helio Mail and Earthlink Mail all in one integrated messaging dashboard. Helio plans to add push e-mail from these Web e-mail services later on. Future plans also include Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync support for corporate e-mail, calendar entries, and contacts. That will be the killer application for a lot of business users.

4. Instant Messaging: If you have contacts with saved instant-messenger IDs, you can take advantage of the Ocean's unique "Presence Detection" feature that lets you see your friends who are online. Simply type in the contact's name from the home screen, and Helio's "Smart Dialer" will show the person's full contact information and icons to show whether your friend is online. This feature makes messaging very efficient.

5. Idle Search: Searching the Web on a traditional “phone” is a multi-step process. With Ocean, there’s no need to search for a search box. Just begin typing on the roomy QWERTY keyboard from the idle screen and the device automatically switches into search mode, delivering tabbed results from Yahoo!, Google, Wikipedia, Amazon.com and Yelp on a single screen, another industry first.

6. GPS/Buddy Beacon/Google Maps: These fantastic features have been carried over from the Drift. Hopefully they'd settle on having either Google Maps or Mapquest (buddy beacon) instead of two separate mapping suites. But being able to locate exactly where you or your buddies are is priceless.

Advantages of Apple iPhone as compared to Helio Ocean:

1. iPod: iPhone is a not just a phone it is widescreen iPod with touch controls that lets you enjoy all your content — including music, audiobooks, videos, TV shows, and movies — on a beautiful 3.5-inch widescreen display (Nokia N95 only has a 2.6 inch screen). The N95 does have a good media player, however with all the iPod features and 4 GB / 8 GB space, it makes the iPhone the best music phone.

2. Advanced Safari browser: iPhone lets you see any web page the way it was designed to be seen, then easily zoom in by simply tapping on the multi-touch display with your finger which will change mobile browsing for the good.

3. OS X: All the power and sophistication of an advanced operating system that gives you access to true desktop-class applications and software, including rich HTML email, applications such as widgets, Safari, calendar, text messaging, Notes, and Address Book etc. iPhone is fully multi-tasking, so you can read a web page while downloading your email in the background. This software completely redefines what you can do with a mobile phone.

4. User Interface: iPhone features the most revolutionary user interface since the mouse. It’s an entirely new interface based on a large multi-touch display and innovative new software that lets you control everything using only your fingers.

5. Visual Voicemail: The iPhone lets you select and listen to voicemail messages in whatever order you want — just like email using a revolutionary new feature called the visual voicemail.

6. Sensors: iPhone’s accelerometer detects when you rotate the device from portrait to landscape, then automatically changes the contents of the display, so you immediately see the entire width of a web page or a photo in its proper landscape aspect ratio.

The proximity sensor detects when you lift iPhone to your ear and immediately turns off the display to save power and prevent inadvertent touches until iPhone is moved away.

An ambient light sensor automatically adjusts the display’s brightness to the appropriate level for the current ambient light, thereby enhancing the user experience and saving power at the same time.

There are probably be a lot more advantages but I decided to stop at the top 6 advantages for each of the smartphones.

So will Helio Ocean really give the iPhone a run for its money, the poll at Gizmodo seems to suggest that it might just win the race. I guess only time will tell which one is hotter.

Related posts:

Apple iPhone VS Nokia N95
Apple iPhone VS BlackBerry Curve

[images courtesy Gizmodo & Reviewzine]