iPhone

Freedom has been specifically written to work on all versions of the iPhone, from the original one released in Australia 2008 to the most recent version, the iPhone 4.

The iPhone is an excellent all rounder, with good battery life, nice and simple to use and well built.

The only real drawback with the iPhones is their telephone reception is often considered slightly weaker than most phones in areas where weaker signals exist (eg. regional and country areas).

Android Phones

The Android phones have more flexibility but in most cases that comes at the expense of a little more complexity. However, each hardware manuafacturer can customise their version of Android, which can remove that flexibility. HTC are an excellent example of a manufacturer who "roll their own" Android to improve the phones ease of use.

Freedom should operate on all Android mobile phones. Common Android phones available in Australia at this time, include:

• Motorola XT701
• Samsung Galaxy S
• HTC Aria
• HTC Desire
• HTC Wildfire
• HTC Legend
• Sony Ericsson Xperia
• Sony Ericsson Xperia X10
• LG Optimus GT540f
• Blackberry PlayBook

There is only one Android phone that we currently don't recommend, its the Sony Ericsson X10 Mini. Although a great little phone, its just not big enough to use with Freedom, even though it actually works.

Blackberry Phones

The new Blackberry OS6 should now support Freedom. You'll probably want to choose one of the phones with a full size touch screen.

At the moment the best choice appears to be:

• Torch 9800
• Blackberry PlayBook

At the moment we are unsure if either the Style 9670 or Bold 9780 will prove usable, even though they meet the technical specifications.

Nokia Phones

Nokia have some new phones called the N8, N900 and S60, which has some simularities to both Android and iPhones. For those people more comfortable with Nokia's phones and they don't want to move to iPhones or Android phones, it looks like a great choice.

Its just been released. Unfortunately at the moment its not completely compatible with Freedom. Nokia have an upgrade planned which may rectify the situation. We'll keep you posted when we test the new upgrade.

• Nokia N8*
• Nokia N900*
• Nokia S60*

Windows Mobile 7

Windows Mobile 7 is the new mobile phone software from Microsoft. Currently they are not compatible with Freedom. We have tested these phones and an upgrade to Freedom is likely to provide compatibility. However, due to the limitations of Windows Mobile 7 it will not be as attractive as iPhones or Android phones.

A listed of common Windows Mobile phone are:

• HTC 7 Mozart
• HTC HD2
• HTC Touch Diamond2
• HTC Snap
• HTC Touch Diamond2
• LG GM730f
• LG GU290f
• LG Optimus 7Q

Incompatible Phones

There is a huge range of mobile phones with ever changing technologies. Freedom is designed to run on as many as possible. However, there are various phones that for some reason or another Freedom either doesn't work or isn't suitable.

Its important to remember you will be typing information into the phone and viewing information, so any phone without a large screen and proficent method for entering information is out of the running straight away.

• All BlackBerry's preceeding OS6.
• No Nokia's. The new Symbian^3 operating system should have supported our necessary technology but unfortunately in a rush to get their phones to market some features were incomplete. We are still, almost a year later, waiting on a patch for the N900, N8 and S60 to allow them to be compatible with Freedom.
• No non-Smart phones

iPad

Although there had been other tablet style computers, until the iPad they had not really caught consumers attention. Essentially they were notebook computers with a touch screen. Compared to the iPad they were large, heavy, had ordinary battery life and took similar time to a notebook computer to boot up.

The huge leap forward in usability and accessability is what set the iPad apart. Also you don't feel so much like a technology cowboy handing it to a client

Galaxy Tab

Samsung's Galaxy Tab is intended as serious competition for the iPad. Unlike the Telstra T-Touch which is a cheap alternative more suited to casual use. The Galaxy Tab is like the BlackBerry playbook, a serious contender.

The smaller size may be a benefit as the iPad can sometime be a bit cumbersome as a portable device.

The price is estimated at $1000, which puts it in the same ballpark as the iPad. But with Android 2.2 onboard you'll be able to use it for wireless, 3G, Text and Voice, which makes it more universal the an iPad. Also all major Australian carriers have plans that bundle the Tab with voice and data.

Thanks to Android 2.2 it supports flash (a very common technology used on many websites), whereas the iPad doesn't.

Telstra T-Touch

Telstra has entered the tablet market with the T-Touch, a branded version of the Chinese made Huawei S7 tablet. It runs Android so Freedom will work on it, and all for $300. Thats pretty impressive since an iPad costs closer to $1000.

Significantly, unlike the iPad which you cannot make calls on, the T-Touch you can. That saves you having an additional SIM and data account with your telephone carrier. So there is a potential saving on monthly data fees.

The T-Touch operates on a prepaid account with Telstra, which may not suit everyone. However, you can buy 10Gb of data for $150 that lasts for a year.

For a $300 (i've seen it for as little as $150!) device its good value, however, the most noteable shortcomings are average battery life and the resistance screen is not as responsive as the more expensive contenders. Capacitance screens generally give a better experience and more responsive feel.

Blackberry PlayBook

This is one for the Blackberry fans out there. The iPad and iPhone came under critisim from corporate types who were not impressed with it enterprise features.

The PlayBooks email claims enterprise strength, so looks like that issue is addressed. However, at the moment it appears that its only WiFi... which means unless you do a lot of business in Qantas Club lounges and McDonald restaurants you are out of luck. Back Blackberry say it can be connected (paired) with your blackberry phone so it can piggyback off its 3G data connection.

All of this will become clear once its hits out shores. What we do know is according to the published specifications it will run Freedom.

Other Android Tablets

There is going to be a flood of cheap Android powered tablets on the market shortly. If you are considering purchasing a tablet specifically for Freedom, contact our office for our latest advise as to the best value.

• Motorola Xoom
• LG Optimus Pad
• Acer Iconia Tab A500
• HTC Flyer
• Viewsonic Viewpad 7
• Dell Streak

Remember some of these tablets are Wifi only which means you'll need to pair them with an iPhone4, Android phone or other phone that will share its 3G connection.