: As one of the few left in the world without a smartphone wondering
: what you all use and why. And/or if you don't use one and why
: not?

: Phone contract is expired, time to upgrade :)

: Bill H.

I have the Sprint Epic 4g (android) with a custom ROM (Bonsai4All). I'm in the software industry, so am tech-oriented to begin with.

I use it for:
* Telephone (No longer use a landline)
* Email (I have 4 accounts that I access on a regular basis.)
* Reading (Google Books, Amazon Kindle, B&N Nook software all loaded.)
* Music (One program even matches iTunes playlists)
* Video (When held to view comfortably, the screen is about the same size as a 50" at 12 feet, and the res is almost as good. And it's Netflix compatible.)
* Web Surfing - yes, small screen, but handles a lot of pages fairly effectively.
* Games - gotta have Angry Birds... ;)
* Fitness tracking - one app for tracking calories and weight (trying to lose a little) and one for workouts (GPS keeps time/distance/elevation/speed)
* Map/Navigation
* Auto app makes for easy access to frequent contacts and other auto-related features like Nav, Trapster, a Dyno app, and a GPS based speedometer.
* Price comparison - Bar code reader can automatically do price comparisons (even locally) with any listed online pricing.
* Calendar - keeps track of appointments, ties to online calendar for easy scheduling with spouse/friends.
* Flashlight - Can use the LED camera flash as a flashlight if needed.
* Stock tracking/trading - ties into my TD Ameritrade account, so I can (if desired or necessary) make split second decisions (Just opened the account, so not sure how useful this will actually be yet).
* Camera - the new device cameras are getting REALLY good for general point & shoot pics, and sometimes for macro shots. Very few controls for aperture/speed though.

There's a lot more that I do with it, as I've probably got 200 applications loaded on it, some that are infrequent use items, some that are due to be removed.

The iPhone has a larger catalog of available apps. However, you are forced into using iTunes, and the iPhone interface - there are few (if any?) options for customizing the base experience. Many choices for the Android if you like to play a little.