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My Nokia e71 has been through alot, it is without a doubt one of the best phones I’ve ever had, surviving an underwater adventure in Mexico which knocked it out for three weeks but coming back and working like a champ.    It’s been almost two years since I got it however, and since submerging it in the swimming pool at Puerto Vallarta I have been looking at options for upgrading.    For a time, I was ready to jump ship from TMobile to Verizon and get a Droid or a Droid X, and even considered an iPhone on ATT’s shady network  (shudder).   When I found out about the TMobile G2, momentum swung back to TMobile, and remained that way as news broke of the Nexus S.   Yesterday, while reading about the buzz created by dual-core devices at the recent 2011 CES, I discovered the LG Optimus 2X, and was sold almost instantly.   The decision has been made – although I will have to wait 4-8 weeks, I am officially holding out for this one.

First, I’ll break down what I perceive as the weaknesses/dealbreakers for the (now former) contenders:

iPhone 4 on ATT – well that’s easy.   After briefly owning an iPhone 3g in 2008 (which turned out to be a lemon), and having what was undoubtedly the worst customer service experience of a lifetime, there is no way I will ever patronize ATT again.

iPhone 4 on Verizon – two reasons:  a)  CMDA vs GSM is a no-brainer, and b)  long term  contract + outrageous monthly fees

Droid / Droid X / Droid Pro on Verizon – long term  contract + outrageous monthly fees

HTC Evo on Sprint – long term  contract + this phone just seems too big

TMobile G2 on TMobile – I was really tempted to get this one and would have paid full price to have an unlocked, contract free set, but ultimately decided against it due to the lackluster processor (Qualcomm MSM 7230 at 800MHz)

Google Nexus One – when I found out about the lame processor in the G2, I seriously considered getting a new Nexus One by becoming a certified Android Developer ($25), however I just couldn’t bring myself to get this as it is now one year old technology.

Google Nexus S – Really nice phone, however it is lacking some key features – HDMI, removable SD card, and by the time it hit the market I had my eye on dual core processor phones, which brings me to the winner:

LG Optimus 2x – this thing is just a beast: dual-core Tegra 2 1Ghz processor, full 1080p TV-out via HDMI and video capture through an 8 megapixel primary camera plus a 1.3 megapixel cam for face-to-face calling, 4-inch WVGA display, 8GB of on-board storage (expandable with up to 32GB of microSD) and a 1,500mAh battery.  Battery capacity is a potential issue given all the aforementioned shizzle this phone is running, but that’s a risk I am willing to take.

I’m sold.  Only question is should I hold out for the rumored launch on TMobile in February, or pre-order now from CellHut.com, unlocked for $519?

On April, 1, J.D. Power and Associates a released study which shows that among consumers who use smartphones, touch screen phones achieve a higher level of customer satisfaction than QWERTY devices.

According to Kirk Parsons, senior director of wireless services at J.D. Power, “It’s all about getting what you need to get done quickly.”

Apple has the highest customer satisfaction rating among smartphone owners, with a score of 810 (on a scale of 1,000), performing well in categories such as ease of operation, operating system, features and physical design. RIM’s BlackBerry trailed in second with a score of 741.

LG had the highest customer satisfaction among traditional handsets, scoring well in all five areas, particularly design, features and operation.

The question is – will high levels of consumer satisfaction among mobile users translate into success for other touchscreen devices, such as the iPad, or a possible Android-powered Google tablet?

Source: JD Power and Associates

Location-based social networking broke out at SXSW Interactive in 2009 when Foursquare and Gowalla made their debuts.   The rivalry that was established has heated up significantly and reached a new peak at SXSW 2010.   Since then the battle for supremacy over this white-hot  social networking channel has continued at a fever pitch.

I had not joined either of these sites until a couple weeks ago when I was in Austin for SXSW Interactive, my first trip to SXSW.    The buzz about Foursquare and Gowalla was loud, almost deafening.    After discussing them over lunch with @rmmdc, and watching him check into both on his iPhone, I decided to try them out side by side, then blog about it.  What makes my comparison interesting is that I don’t have an iPhone, a Blackberry, or an Android phone, so experience on both has been via their respective mobile sites (http://m.gowalla.com and http://foursquare.com/mobile) on my Nokia e71 smartphone running Symbian.   (yes go ahead and laugh – I think I was the only person at SXSW who didn’t have an iPhone or a ‘Berry)

The Foursquare Symbian experience:  has been good.    Foursquare gets major props for clearly stating that users can either download their apps for iPhone or Blackberry – if you dont have either then use their mobile site.  The e71 remembers my login credentials, 4sq’s mobile UI is easily navigable and responds quickly.   Overall it has been really positive, almost flawless.

The Gowalla Symbian experience : has been bad.   Gowalla told me up front that the service is currently available only for iPhone, Android, and Palm, however they then go on to offer up a link to their mobile site as an alternative (just like Foursquare does), which is somewhat confusing/misleading because it seems to indicate that the mobile site replicates the function of the apps, but its not even close.   When i try to log onto their mobile site from my e71, browser, nothing happens.   Failure to load is the best way to describe it.

The bottom line?   Gowalla is missing a major opportunity to gain audience share by failing so miserably with their mobile site.   According to most stats I have seen recently, they are running behind Foursquare by anywhere between from 400 – 600k users.  It’s not as if they couldn’t afford to test on the e71 and other Symbian platofrms – FastCompany details the advantage they had early on in investment dollars.

This analysis by Gartner explains the value and cost of developing mobile business architectures on alternative platforms – and its quite clear that with such a large share of the mobile audience, investing in Symbian development is well worth it.

I really want to like Gowalla.  Maybe they will read this and make a better effort to extend their user experience to Symbian devices.  Until then, I will be using Foursquare.