> I don't know what you mean by hackability. The iPhone is good because with the amount of attention it has received, you can get a huge number of cracked applications, something you won't find on the BB. If you were planning on actually buying apps, this won't be a problem.

That is not what we mean by hacking around here, or it shouldn't be.

> The OS is rock solid > I used about 12 different BBs for a year and half

I've used a Blackberry, an iPhone, Nokia N95, and Windows Mobile 2005/6 in the last 4 years.

Blackberry was by far the most stable. Mine never ever crashed, after about a year and a half of daily use.

Is there a BB with a gecko / webkit / opera browser?

You can download Opera for the BB (at leas the Curve, whatever model that is) but I honestly found that I preferred the built-in Browser app over it, and I am a long-time Opera user. Trying to use the mobile Opera is when you really start to feel constrained by the BB's UI.

The Bold does sound pretty interesting:

http://apcmag.com/blackberry_bold_handson_review.htm

I'm confused, though. Can you explain why you used a dozen different BlackBerries during a year and a half? If you're so happy with them, why replace them so frequently and why get an iPhone?

What's this $20 API Key? what does it do for me? Also, can I find an essentially unauthorized tethering app for a BB? Also, if I get a BB, I'll have to "hide" that fact from T-mo, they use a different set of plans for them. (I don't need exchange server syncing, so I want the cheap data plan). Do any blackberries have a good web browser? Is it an open platform? Do any BBs have native GPS?

$20 for an encryption key which allows you to digitally sign your app and get to the more interesting parts of the API - system event listeners, background processes, auto-startups, system modules etc. For the iPhone you need a $99 key to do anything, and I don't know what the situation is with WinMO.

BB's have been tetherable for years, though I don't know about unauthorized ways to do this. The browser is decent, and every model has a GPS variant.

As for the platform, its fairly open. Its much more capable than the iPhone and regular cell phones, but not as open as Android (which is obviously about as open as you can get).

For Windows Mobile, you might be able to get away with the old free Embedded Visual C++ (eVC++) and Embedded Visual Basic (eVB) tools. I don't know how well they will work, and you probably won't be able to take advantage of the latest features.

You could potentially do development with the C# command line tools. But that is probably extremely difficult

Otherwise you will need Visual Studio.

Android effectively doesn't exist yet and is as good as vaporware to me until I see some phones on sale.

Hm. So far I'm leaning towards a jailbroken iphone, but! What particular blackberry model would you recommend?

The blackberry bold is coming out soon, maybe you should hold off until then.

Symbian is being open-sourced, and Nokia is known for being developer friendly as far as I know.

iPhones are cool, but don't seem to be particularly developer friendly. Also, FYI, I think you need a mac to develop for them.

Yes you do need a mac. The only mac in my room out of the many, many computers I own is a PowerMac G4 I got with 768mb of ram (500 mhz proccy! :( ) for $30 a month or so ago.

Got a fresh install of Tiger on it, then stopped using it. I like OS X, but the lag kills me compared to my primary server/desktop machine with quad xeons and 4 gb of ram :\

Sigh. I'm not paying what apple or second-hand sellers want for a mac. Period. Unless I get a steal or Apple invents the second-coming of performance.

I run Tiger inside VMWare on my Dell.

I second waiting for the bold. It's quite capable, and has a screen with double the pixel density (screen has the same resolution, but is smaller to make room for the keyboard) of the IPhone. It's beautifully sharp, and I'd have to say that the tactile keyboard leaves any touchscreen in the dust when it comes to actually doing input to the device.

Disclaimer: I'm a co-op student at RIM for the summer. This means that I've gotten to play with the Bold, but it also means I'm a bit biased =P

I looked at the bold, and as long as I can subvert the tethering fees that T-Mobile has, I'll be okay. It seems to have all the features I want, and the processor looks beastly. This is important (TM) to me, because laggy interfaces make me want to fling devices across rooms. namely, my room.

What was your experience, in detail, you'd say, with the bold?

I'm not actually using the Bold (I'm beta-testing a different device as my personal device) but I've played with it, and I'd say that it's a major improvement over the curve.

It's much faster, the screen is beautifully sharp. It's browser isn't great -- especially when compared to WebKit -- but it works decently well.

Really though, I think the best option is to find one and play with it when it comes out. Try everything you can out yourself. Still, if you were considering getting the Curve before, I strongly suggest waiting for the Bold.