Interfacing with MS Exchange is an important facet for many business users. I am disappointed with the Android and Fascinates interface with MS Exchange. Certain fields are not available. Certain Features and or fields are not available - such as reminders, tasks, snooze, contact fields, categories, are the Fascinate's reminder, snooze, etc. A reasonable interface is available with an app named Touchdown however, it maintains a separate contact database from the resident Android DB. Seems as though Google's battle with MS has and attempts to get users to switch to gmail, Google calendar etc. May have caused them to cut shortchange the exchange interface -- Bad form Google.
If the exchange interface issues are not resolved in a few month's I'll UPGRADE to an iPhone 5. My colleagues that use iPhone 3 and iPhone 4 Overall do not have the same issues. When I'm asked by those considering switching to Android from Blackberry's I advise them not to do it. They'll be dissatisfied. Wait for Win Phone 7 to come to Verizon or get an iphone.
I agree, I would not recommend the android to others, especially the samsung fascinate! You will be taking a huge step up by going with the iphone. They are the Lexus of cell phones. The fit and finish is superior to others and Apple delivers their updates in a timely manner. I have learned from a bad experience, my next cell phone will absolutely be the Apple iphone. I hope that you get the update that you need very soon but if you are holding your breath, keep an oxygen tank very close by!
actually, getting froyo would quite possibly fix your issues, PM me for more info. the iphone will never be able to keep up with the fascinate.
Even though Android OS gain momentum and stole some thunder from iPhone. I can speak from Business standpoint, a lot and I mean A LOT more development is going on on the iPhone front of the house than on Android.
Android is still in a toddler age still learning to walk and not to fall of the OS live stage whenever iOS already graduated the kindergarten and moved on to the first grade. Unless Android is a genius of the OS, iOS has a clear advantage.
With all of the frustration of Froyo update on Fascinate, I am seriously considering cutting my loses, selling Fascinate on eBay, pay ETF and get myself iPhone as soon as new version will be release in few month unless Froyo will make its way to Fascinate (which is I am highly doubtful about).
I would have to agree with you on that papa_leo. The Apple Iphone is better as a business phone compared to the one I have right now. And Apple makes sure that it is on the cutting edge with regard to its software and hardware. Sure there was some antenna-gate the past few months but instead of making excuses they tried to find a solution.
But going back to our phones... I just hope Samsung would give us the update and would continue to give us update in the future so our smartphones can be competitive. I am trying to convince myself that I made the right decision in buying this phone... but this past few weeks I am having doubts. I guess whenever you buy something... the 2 most important thing is reliability (which for now I think I think it is) and support (which I think is somewhat lacking) I wanted to make use of the phrase Justice Delayed is justice denied... but it really has no place with the Fascinate not unless we change some of the words in the phrase.
I know it sucks. But there are alot of alternatives posted by some of the people in this community.
1. get a root canal
2. patiently wait
3. sell your phone on e-bay
4. this is my choice though - NEVER TO BUY A SAMSUNG PHONE AGAIN.
check out th eiphone forums, there are alot of issues with exchange
while my fasc i snot on exchange out office has 20+ android phones that connect fine with it, most of them are droid2s
I'm not even sure if I fully understand the OP but it seems like rather minor complaints. I will, however, say that Exchange integration is lacking especially pre-froyo. Stock 2.1 doesn't even support security policies or accessing the GAL but the manufacturers have managed to slightly improve exchange support with their 3rd party skins (Sense, Blur and Touchwiz).
Android is still in its infancy though as it really didn't take off until the introduction of 2.0 with the Droid in Fall 09 but they're constantly making improvements in regards to corporate support. I briefly used the native support on the OG Droid when I got it in Jan '10 but quickly moved to Touchdown and found it much more enjoyable and it seems to have less problems with OS updates (see froyo updates breaking native exchange support on multiple devices). That carried over to when I bought the Fascinate in Sept '10 and I'm still using touchdown with no complaints.
I don't think it's accurate to say that "iPhone is a better business phone than Android phones" - whose business? What user needs predominate?
Every business user is different. I'm a business user who does not use Exchange (just have several POP3 accounts). Until I found out about K-9 Mail, I thought the email function of the Fascinate stunk (it did); now my email function is as good as my BlackBerry ever was. The Droid phones are far superior to BBs in their GPS functionality, and for my purposes the Swype keyboard supplied to us by Verizon on the Fascinate (thanks, Big Red!) is far ahead of any competing product I've seen. And I've found many useful free apps in the Android market that make this phone an extremely valuable business tool.
I sure don't think the Fascinate is better than all other competing smartphones for all users; I'm not even sure it will be the best smartphone for me, 3 months from now. But all things considered, it's the best for me right now. Oh, and one other thing - it's actually good for making phone calls, unlike the iPhone. Imagine that!
I've been waiting for a Verizon iPhone since it was announced for AT&T years ago.
And, just as it gets announced on Verizon, I don't want it. Who would want to do business with Apple - with all of it's proprietary crap, with it's forcing app makers to forfeit (pay) all of their own profits (to Apple), merely for the privilege of being in the Apple market? Who wants to deal with the limitations, when you can have a phone that does everything it does, without being Steve Jobs' megalomaniacal mid-life crisis?
I never in a million years thought I'd be trading in my Storm for anything other than an iPhone if one were available, but it's the only phone I know I don't want.
If Exchange is so important to you, you might want to consider a Blackberry; it always worked flawlessly with my Storm, and all of the Curves and Tours in my office. I presume that the Windows 7 phones work fantastically with it as well, and the HTC Trophy is supposed to be here soon. That might be a superior option than to supporting the company who rose based on its 1984 campaign and seems to be forgetting that.
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