Tenomania.com

Like a child star making the inevitable transition from puberty to probation, the two biggest names in the smartphone game also suffer from some serious identity issues. The BlackBerry is by nature a business device trying desperately to appeal to consumers, while the iPhone is the ultimate consumer trinket clamoring for acceptance in the corporate world. Neither one is categorically better than the other. Each excels at certain tasks and falters when it comes to others. Which one you should purchase depends wholly on the features your lifestyle requires. And with that little disclaimer out of the way, here are ten areas in which the BlackBerry spanks the iPhone.

1. Choice of Carrier

We’re not sure where AT&T is getting its claim of having "more bars in more places" (maybe the same wishing well where Microsoft got its "people-ready software"), but in our experience, in locales all over the country, AT&T’s coverage is plagued by more holes than a Swiss cheese dartboard. Unfortunately, with the iPhone, you’ve got no other choice (at least for now). BlackBerry, on the other hand, is available on every major U.S. carrier, and loads of smaller ones, too.

2. Choice of Device

Apple makes one iPhone — a few more if you count the older models and various capacities that are available. But, they all look almost exactly the same. You know what that sound is when you put your ear up to a seashell? It’s not the ocean. It’s the resonating echo of the world’s collective sigh of disappointment when the iPhone 3GS was announced and not a single cosmetic change had been made. For those interested in such luxuries as "options" and "individuality," we count no fewer than nine vastly different BlackBerry models, including touchscreens and QWERTYs, clamshells and candy bars.

3. Multitasking

One thing’s for certain, the iPhone is all about choices. For example, should you browse the Web, or should you send a text message? Should you play a video game, or should you update your Facebook status? Unlike BlackBerry (and the Palm Pre), the iPhone doesn’t allow third-party (and many first-party) apps to run in the background, thereby forcing us to do things one at a time. Read an e-mail. Close. Update Twitter feed. Close. Listen to Pandora. Close. Meanwhile, BlackBerry users get to walk and chew gum at the same time — and that Bubblicious smells mighty good.

4. Multimedia Messaging (MMS)

Maybe multimedia messaging (MMS) isn’t important to you. Then again, how else are you supposed to convince friends of how adorable Mr. Peepers looks in the mini-sombrero you bought for him on your vacation? Yes, MMS is on its way to the iPhone by the end of summer, but what’s that? Another two months? The fact that this feature hasn’t been available on the iPhone since launch is laughable; it makes you wonder how slowly AT&T will be to add new services and technologies to future iPhone models. For BlackBerry users on AT&T, it’s a non-issue.

5. Tethering

Much like MMS, the ability to use your iPhone as a laptop modem was announced as part of the 3.0 software update — it just wasn’t actually included in it (for American iPhones, anyway). Unlike MMS, however, AT&T isn’t even venturing a guess as to when tethering might be available. What’s more, AT&T PR folks won’t confirm if tethering is going to be allowed on all iPhone models or if it’ll just be for the 3GS. It doesn’t take Sherlock Holmes to deduce from the title of this article that, yes, tethering has long been possible on AT&T with several BlackBerry models. Hey, even Watson could have figured that one out.

6. Better E-mail and Corporate Integration

With the release of it’s 3.0 operating system, the iPhone made some inroads toward being taken seriously as an enterprise device. But, its continued lack of offline access to e-mail should be a red flag for business users (not to mention anyone who wants to read and respond their e-mail in the middle of a flight or while on the subway). And, the fact is most CIOs and corporate IT managers still view Apple’s phone as either a security vulnerability or a toy. RIM’s platform is practically classic at this point. Buy a BlackBerry and there’s a 99.9-percent chance it’ll work with your company’s e-mail. Pigs will fly before the iPhone gets that kind of deployment in the corporate sphere. Remember, the folks holding the keys to this castle are the same one who wet their pants at the very thought of upgrading your work computer past Internet Explorer 6.

7. Keyboards Options

Smartphone keyboards are kind of like your Senior Prom: Touching is good, but getting touched back is even better. You could do one-handed ‘Dance Dance Revolution’ on your iPhone all day and never know without using your eyes if you’re actually pressing keys or not. Some folks don’t mind such a one-sided relationship. A recent patent application filed by Apple hints at the possibility of haptic feedback on the iPhone touchscreen someday — then again, that idea could already be dead and buried in the Apple patent graveyard. Whether you’re tapping on a physical QWERTY keyboard or catching a buzz off of the Storm’s tactile touchscreen, BlackBerry is the partner that gives back.

8. Memory Card Slot

Internal memory on all BlackBerrys is meager at best. The Cadillac of iPhones, on the other hand, has 32-gigabytes (GB) of built-in memory, making its lack of an expansion slot a near non-issue. But, imagine being able to instantly double your iPhone’s capacity with a 32GB SD card. That extra beef sure would come in handy with the new video goodies on the 3GS. Plus, there are plenty of situations in which an SD memory card slot would be nice: instantly moving media between a variety of devices, for one; or, printing photos at a kiosk without your PC playing middleman. The iPhone’s Big Gulp hard drive is nice, but the microSD holes on BlackBerry are convenient and (almost) endlessly expandable. Internal or expandable, McDonald’s or Burger King, Seacrest or Satan — we’ll leave this one to personal preference.

9. Removable Battery

It’s a trend more troubling than Capri pants on men: Apple’s total boycott of removable batteries across its entire product line. Stripping us of the right to bear backup batteries for our cell phones is something only Apple would ever have the hubris to do. Yes, a built-in power cell begets a smaller form factor, but at what cost? How useful is a trimmer iPhone when the thing goes limp after five hours of talk and there’s not a thing you can do about it? The reality is, there are going to be times in life when a power outlet isn’t immediately accessible. And in those times, it’s sure nice to be able to swap a backup battery into every BlackBerry model available.

10. Sports to Go

Though probably not a deal breaker for the ‘World of Warcraft’ set, sports fans should be aware that AT&T has crippled the Sling Media app for iPhone. If you’re not familiar with Sling, it’s a set top box that allows you access to your home TV and DVR over the Web. If you purchase a season pass to watch your favorite games on TV, you can watch them via Sling even if you’re 1,000 miles away from home. With a Sling app for both iPhone and BlackBerry, it stands to reason you can catch live games virtually anywhere. Oh, except that AT&T only allows iPhone users access to Sling over Wi-Fi, while BlackBerry users get to stream over Wi-Fi and 3G. Smells rather discriminatory to us.