The Apple iPhone has been available for almost a year and a half now--the was released in June of 2007; the came in July 2008. And though it , Apple has largely worked through the initial hiccups, so new iPhone users can expect a relatively seamless experience.

Not so with the BlackBerry Storm. Today, --a different version than the 9530 edition that Verizon will sell in the U.S.--and though there have been some of pre-production units, it's still unknown exactly how well will work and/or hold up over time.

If you're anxious to get your hands on a touch screen smartphone before the holidays, it might be wise to choose the iPhone 3G--at least until somebody really puts the Storm through the motions.

7) Built-In Memory

The iPhone 3G currently comes in two versions: the 8GB iPhone ($199 with new AT&T contract); and the 16GB edition ($299 on contract). Both the 8GB and 16GB iPhone feature internal storage that cannot be swapped out. That means new iPhone users have immediate access to either 8GB or 16GB of storage, and there's no need to purchase or manage multiple memory cards--it also means memory cannot be expanded.