Comments on: Should medical professionals get an iPhone, Blackberry, or Android phone? It’s complicated.

By: Iltifat Husain

Iltifat Husain — Fri, 18 Jun 2010 19:52:54 +0000

Yea, at the end of the day, it’s about controlling the user experience. Apple has a right to control the user experience how they see fit on their device, but those who don’t agree with Apple’s idea of a “user experience” have legitimate arguments. But their idea of a “user experience” has obviously been successful….

By: Iltifat Husain

Iltifat Husain — Fri, 18 Jun 2010 19:51:21 +0000

Yep, and the new blackberry OS will finally be supporting Webkit…

By: Iltifat Husain

Iltifat Husain — Fri, 18 Jun 2010 19:50:52 +0000

Yea, I heard about Verizon being approach by Apple initially. I would think the CDMA hurdle wouldn’t be the linchpin though – the Droid works great on Verizon, etc. Verizon has more subscribers than Apple, and for them to not partner up in the future to make more money seems almost “anti-capitalistic” to me.

I think who’s responsible for the lack of a partnership is still left up to debate…

By: Iltifat Husain

Iltifat Husain — Fri, 18 Jun 2010 19:48:53 +0000

Your welcome Becky – glad we could be of help

By: Iltifat Husain

Iltifat Husain — Fri, 18 Jun 2010 19:48:21 +0000

Egross, we don’t have a list yet of good medical web apps, but thats something we are definitely planning on working on in the future. Also, since you are planning on getting a Palm check out the website http://www.palmdoc.net – its a great resource for those with a palm phone – and its done by a doc

By: Egross

Egross — Wed, 16 Jun 2010 13:41:29 +0000

Thanks, great article. Do you have a list of good medical web apps?

By: Iltifat Husain

Iltifat Husain — Wed, 16 Jun 2010 11:42:24 +0000

Webapps will work just fine with the Palm OS web browser. We have an
article below that discusses this some more.

/20...

By: Egross

Egross — Wed, 16 Jun 2010 11:39:02 +0000

Thanks. One question I still have is what are the main sites accessible thru the net that the Palm Pre Plus would then be as good as any? Google maps is essentially navigation plus Fandango and many others for non-medical uses are great. Epocrates works w/ Palm well uploaded but what about some net sites that function as medical apps?

By: Iltifat Husain

Iltifat Husain — Wed, 16 Jun 2010 11:15:59 +0000

I think the palm pre plus is a great device. You really have to strike that
balance between reception, and ability to use native applications on your
device. The only thing with Palm is, since they have been bought out by HP,
how their app store is going to fair is still questionable - but i'm 90%
sure they will come out on the better side because of the acquisition.

At the end of the day, I'd also tell you to consider the iPhone 4, the
newest iPhone. They are using a new antenna technology, that is supposed to
increase reception in this phone - but I wouldn't hold my breath. The nice
thing with ATT is they will at least let you return the device if you don't
like it within the first week or so (You'll have to check up on the exact
return policy).

The iPhone has by far the most vibrant app community - and many of the new
technologies for medical professionals first start with the iPhone because
developers want to reach the largest crowd first. But at the same time, if
you're not going to use apps that much, than the Palm platform is great.
The hardware on their phone is secondary to the new Android and iPhone
devices though, but if you're not a power user, it shouldn't be a concern.

By: Egross

Egross — Wed, 16 Jun 2010 09:19:50 +0000

I’m not sure if most physicians who read your comments are in my category or not. I am over 20 years out of med school, began w/ the Sharp Wizard in the 80′s and progressed thru all the Palm products and want to stay w/ Palm. I don’t need all the bells and whistles (apps). I need a reliable smart phone w/ easy net access, e-mail, etc. that allows me a great network here in NJ which AT&T doesn’t. That rules out the iPhone. The great new Android seems to freeze a lot on the people I’ve spoken to and seems to have a lot of kinks they need to work out. The Blackberry has a lot of what I want but so does the Palm Pre Plus. I played w/ them all in both a store and whenever I see someone w/ them. I like the feel of the Palm. I have 20 years of stored info that I would like to seemlessly transfer to a new Palm. I recently played w/ the Android Incredible, i phone and the Palm Pre Plus and just love the feel and look of the Palm.
So now to my question. What do you think of the Palm Pre Plus. Wouldn’t you expect HP to take this good product and build upon it? I don’t need a lot of apps and doesn’t the web connectivity make a lot of the apps I use immediately available anyway?
Thanks, EGross

By: drrjv

drrjv — Tue, 01 Jun 2010 22:44:41 +0000

SAKAI is based on JAVA not FLASH and probably will not work on the iPhone because JAVA typically requires that a JAVA applet be downloaded.

Webkit, the basis for the iPad/iPhone Safari browser, along with the browser on Android, PalmPre, Google Chrome, Nokia S60, Symbian, etc. Expect most if not all major websites to eventually support Webkit.

By: drrjv

drrjv — Tue, 01 Jun 2010 22:32:43 +0000

Isn’t it really Verizon’s decision as to whether to let the iPhone on their network?

Verizon uses CDMA, an end-of-the-road standard that will soon be replaced with LTE (which is closer to ATT’s GSM network). The iPhone will not work on Verizon’s network.

Reportedly, Apple went to Verizon before going to ATT when the iPhone came out. Verizon wouldn’t deal so Apple went with ATT.

By: drrjv

drrjv — Tue, 01 Jun 2010 22:25:12 +0000

I think Steve Job's explanation of why iPhone/iPad is not supporting Flash is logical and clear and should be read before believing all the FUD being spread around by various blog 'pundits'.

Apple has good reason not to support Flash (and personally, I don't miss the Flash ads and various slow downs.

In my experience, Apple is usually ahead of the curve on various standards (remember the floppy?)

http://www.apple.com/hotnews/t...

By: drrjv

drrjv — Tue, 01 Jun 2010 22:17:08 +0000

There are NO problems with Apps working with the new iPhone software (version 4.0). Fragmentation is a non-issue.