Ripe for picking: Apple or BlackBerry

They’re the Cadillacs of smartphones, and the choices of the über-hip. How do you decide whether to go the iPhone or BlackBerry route?

With a new iPhone announced Monday, and new BlackBerry models launched this year and still coming, competition between Apple and Research In Motion is hot.

The two companies have the highest customer satisfaction among smartphone brands, according to ChangeWave Research, which surveyed nearly 3,600 consumers in March. That’s good news, but makes choosing between them even more difficult.

Each company has the other in its sights. The new iPhone model announced Monday, and available July 11, is a more business-friendly phone, mainly because of Apple’s iPhone 2.0 software upgrade, which also applies to original iPhone users.

The upgrade includes Microsoft’s Exchange Active Sync software, which can synchronize with a PC for e-mail, calendar and contact info. (Msnbc.com is a joint venture of Microsoft and NBC Universal.)

Conversely, Research In Motion, a stalwart among business users, has beefed up its consumer offerings with its BlackBerry Pearl and BlackBerry Curve series of phones.

Another model, the BlackBerry Bold, is due for release this summer, and not too far off may be the BlackBerry Thunder, the company’s first touchscreen device.

“The BlackBerry Bold is the first big hedge against the iPhone, and the Thunder is a direct attack,” said Rob Enderle, president of The Enderle Group, a consulting firm that studies technology trends.

If you think you’re ready to buy, here are some points to consider about each brand:

3G: The good news and bad
Perhaps the biggest change to the new iPhone is that it is a third-generation, or 3G, wireless development phone, something the vast majority of current iPhone owners said they wanted so they could have faster e-mail access and Web surfing.

The 3G speed means the phone is capable of more quickly processing data, at rates of up to 2 megabits per second. The original iPhone was 2.5G, which generally transmits data at a rate of between 144 and 384 kilobits per second.

Many smartphones, including BlackBerrys, on the market now, are 2.5G. The BlackBerry Bold will be RIM’s first 3G phone, but it will not be available until later this summer.

Because 3G allows for more intensive uses, “what you give up when you go to a 3G phone is battery life,” said Enderle. Apple has said the new iPhone will have "great battery life," and that the phone will have between 5 and 6 hours' of Web browsing time before needing to be recharged, about about 5 hours' talk time in 3G mode.

The iPhone's battery - like the one on Apple's iPod music player — is not removable. So, carrying a spare is not an option, like it is with other devices, including the BlackBerry.

"People have always been happy to forgive Apple for their battery issues, because other things are so compelling about their devices," said David Chamberlain, principal wireless analyst for In-Stat Research.

The e-mail/Web factor
The iPhone is touted for its facile Web browsing, the BlackBerry for its sturdy e-mail experience.

There’s little question that the iPhone’s Internet capabilities, including the use of Wi-Fi, as well as its Safari Web-browsing software, has made the mobile Internet more appealing.

Apple “catalyzed the telecommunications industry to think more creatively about devices and mobile Web experiences,” Mark Donovan, senior analyst for M:Metrics research firm, said in interview earlier this year with msnbc.com.

M:Metrics, which has been researching the mobile market since 2004, said in a report that the iPhone is “the most popular device for accessing news and information on the mobile Web.”

The BlackBerry, which began life in 1999 as a combination pager and e-mail device, is still considered one of the best mobile devices for e-mail. One of the reasons is its physical QWERTY keypad, which the iPhone lacks, instead providing a touchscreen keypad.

Another is RIM’s e-mail security software. If you’ll be using your phone to check business e-mail, the company’s IT department probably will lose less sleep if you have a BlackBerry.

“With the BlackBerry, especially among enterprise users, there’s a history of what it can do, and that’s a great thing, especially if you’re an IT manager – you know how it can work, and how important security is to you and your network,” said Ramon Llamas, senior research analyst for mobile technology and trends at IDC Research.

ChangeWave Research, in its survey, found that “by a huge margin,” BlackBerry owners say the device’s “exceptional access to e-mail is the feature they like best,” while for iPhone owners, it’s the “extraordinary integration of phone, iPod and Internet browser capability.”

Rubicon Consulting surveyed 460 iPhone owners in March who said that reading — but not writing — e-mail is the No. 1 function on the iPhone.

That’s not a surprise, the firm said, because the iPhone lacks a physical keyboard.

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