On paper, many of these devices really are better than the iPhone, feature for feature. The Samsung Omnia II/Jet (S8000) has a faster processor and a better screen than the iPhone, the Sony Ericsson C905 with a better (far better) camera than the iPhone could even dream of (ditto the LG Arena). And then there’s the Palm Pre, the first of the new generation of “killer” devices that are trying to wrest the title of coolest phone from Apple. The latest attempt to take the crown comes from Nokia, which recently released the N97, and its somewhat older little brother, the 5800 XpressMusic, which I recently acquired.

There’s a lot to be said for the Nokia phones (which I will say below). But before I am accused of shilling for the Finns, let me say it clearly: The N97 (which I spent some time with) and the 5800XM (which I use) are not iPhone killers, simply because they are not iPhones. The two cameras, the video recording capacity, the mini flip-out keyboard (on the N97), the extreme memory capacity on the N97 (32 GB built in, expandable to 48 GB), and so on, will never be enough, simply because they’re not made by Apple.

Why? Can a brand name really trump features to such an extent? The only thing I can think of is that the 1984 Apple commercial introducing the Macintosh, with the jogger smashing the “Big Brother” screen controlling all the automatons, has really sunk deep into the Western psyche, forever branding Apple as the counter-culture, rebellious upstart that always knows better than its “elders” (As the owner of no fewer than five Macs – two Macbooks, two Mac Minis, and an iMac), I’m just as susceptible to this mind-melding (note that I didn’t say the Macs weren’t better than anything anyone else is offering – but as a “Machead” I am very familiar with this mindset. Is a $1,600 Macbook Air really so much better than a $400 netbook?). The only devices I see as having a chance of really “killing” the iPhone are perhaps the phones built on Google’s Android, because Google has that cool counterrevolutionary cachet as well.

But I digress. As much as I and you would like a “real” iPhone, we don’t want to shell out the huge sums they can be expected to cost here in Israel (even if they are offered at a subsidized price, you are going to end up paying a goodly – perhaps a princely – sum). With the arrival and the clamoring for the iPhone, however, prices on other wannabe killers have dropped somewhat (the N97 is too new, but a number of other touchscreen etc. devices were on sale at Orange when I paid them a recent visit). They may not be iPhone “killers,” but they are good enough to compete in the same space, allowing them to maybe beat up and “injure” the iPhone, at least on some features.

Always on the lookout for a bargain (or, always cheaping out, depending on how you look at it), I picked up a Nokia 5800XM at Orange recently for NIS 499, far less than the $299 I was prepared to spend on an unlocked version of the phone at Amazon. According to Nokia, some 7 million of the things have been shipped since it was introduced in late 2008, so I guess I was in good company.

I mentioned earlier that “perceived coolness” is one of the major reasons for the iPhone’s success, but there is also one thing the iPhone has over any other device sold by any other manufacturer – and that’s is the iPhone Appstore and the iTunes store for iPhones. Having perfected the touchscreen/accelerometer etc. device first, Apple was able to get many developers to write applications for the iPhone – and there are currently over 65,000 applications in the App Store’s bevy. By now, every phone maker has an app store for its platform – but according to this handy chart, the Apple version has far more – far, far more – applications than any other version.

If the App Store is the real secret behind the iPhone’s continued appeal, despite the its relative feature deprivation compared to the other “killers,” both Google and Nokia intend to remedy that situation. The Android Market (as the store is called) already has thousands of apps, and Nokia just recently opened its app store, Nokia Ovi (which is supposed to mean “door” in Finnish). The applications in the store are specifically for Nokia’s higher end N-series and touchscreen phones, with the major in app development and sales to come as Nokia moves more N97s. Fortunately for me, the N97 and the 5800XM share operating systems (Symbian OS 9.4 + S60 platform 5th Edition), so the majority of the upcoming N97 apps will work on the 5800XM as well.

Browsing the Ovi store, I came across a couple of great titles. JoikuSpot is a nice Symbian app that lets you share your phone’s 3G connection as a modem for a laptop when you’re away from a wifi hotspot. Even though the official Nokia internet radio application for the N97/5800XM is still under development, I found a great application called Tunin.FM, which lists hundreds of stations that can be accessed with my phone, including some of my favorites. And then there’s Fring, the be-all communication program that lets you use Skype (including Skypeout), Twitter, Facebook, MSN Messenger, ICQ, and a slew of others. And of course, there’s the built in GPS, location finder, voice-driven driving directions (in Hebrew or English!), etc.

My favorite app, though, is one of the few I actually opened up my wallet to purchase. Called Myphone, it lets you turn your Symbian device into an “iPhone,” at least in look and feel. From the “slide to unlock” to the little iPhone-like icons for your favorite applications, Myphone (from a site with the unlikely name MMMOOO.com), is enough iPhone for me – considering the 5800XM didn’t cost me the thousands a “real” iPhone would!

So what’s the first thing a good Jew yells when confronted with such a situation? Anti-Semitism! But hold on – it could be that, in this case at least, Apple is actually doing us a favor. True, we may be excluded from the new iPhone party (at least for now), but thanks to the 3G iPhone, the opportunity to get a iPhone device we can actually use – and afford – has never been better.

First, the details: The new iPhone is, according to Apple, “twice as fast and half the price.” The new version works with 3G networks, provides GPS style maps, lets you work with Microsoft Outlook Exchange servers, and allows users to access the “App Store,” the first Apple-sponsored centralized depot of free and for-pay iPhone applications. And, the new device has a 3G radio, allowing streaming radio as part of the built-in applications (courtesy of AOL). The biggest change, of course, is the price: Instead of the $399 it cost until now to buy a device, you can get a more advanced, 3G iPhone for just $199. It’s like “two for one” day at the supermarket!

Why We Can’t Buy One Here: After the worldwide success of the iPhone, with millions of the things being “unofficially” used around the world (the original iPhones were offered only in the U.S., and later some European countries), Apple got the hint, and has struck deals with cell phone service providers all over the world to sell iPhones and calling plans. It appears that Apple is selling in just about every country where it was able to strike a deal – how else to explain the wide diversity of countries on its list, which include hi-tech “giants” like Cameroon, Burundi, Jamaica, Equitorial Guinea, and Uruguay- as well as Jordan and Egypt? Like Israelis wouldn’t snap up many more iPhones than Egyptians, Jordanians and Burundians combined!

Israel isn’t the only country Apple is skipping: Notably absent from the list are several countries one would have expected see, like South Korea, China, and Thailand. Qatar is in, but Dubai and the UAE aren’t. And Russia’s not there either. Each country has its own story on why its citizens can’t get a 3G iPhone with local service, according to a number of Web sites I reviewed (in South Korea, for example, there seems to be a lot of pressure from local cellphone manufacturers Samsung and LG against Apple’s inroads among service providers). Israel, too, has a “story” when it comes to its exclusion from the club.

It actually doesn’t take much brainpower to figure out what the problem is. In much of the Middle East and Africa, the preferred service partner seems to be Orange, so I assume they have some kind of multi-country zone deal with Apple to provide service. After numerous attempts to speak to someone at iDigital, Apple’s local representative, I couldn’t find someone official willing to make a statement on why Orange Israel hasn’t adopted the iPhone, but a brief perusal of Orange’s website provides the likely answer. Orange, like other Israeli cellphone service providers, makes a good chunk of change on the devices it sells, not just the service. Orange currently sells phones that can be considered iPhone competitors – the Nokia n95 and the Blackberry Curve 8310 – for NIS 3,205 and NIS 4,294 respectively. How’s it gonna look for them to sell an iPhone for NIS 805 ($199 at the current exchange rate plus 15.5% VAT)? That’s cheaper than almost all of the “cheap” phones Orange sells! Like they say in Brooklyn, fuhgeddaboutit.

What to Do If You Want an iPhone Anyway: While many Israelis who have gone abroad over the past year have brought back with them iPhones purchased on their journeys that they unlocked and used with their GSM Sim cards here, that may no longer be an option with the iPhone 3G. In the U.S., iPhones are available in two places – Apple Stores and AT&T service centers, which provides all the official calling plans for U.S. iPhones. The reason the new iPhone is half the price of the old one is because AT&T is subsidizing the price – which means that if you buy a 3G iPhone, you will be required to sign up for a two year calling plan (which, according to many sites, such as http://tinyurl.com/5k55nq, will make it more expensive than the $399 device with a calling plan!). That will also be the case in the Apple Store; until now you were able to buy a phone without signing up for an AT&T plan, but under the new system, you are obligated to join one within 30 days of purchase – and if you don’t, they’ll charge your credit card like you did anyway (it’s not clear if you will be able to pay a penalty to get a phone without joining a plan; I’m betting no, at least at the beginning).

Then there’s the issue of the cost – and benefit – of 3G service in Israel (the 3G Internet package for the Blackberry costs NIS 175 a month!). Do you really need 3G anyway? Probably not. If you’re looking for a cool replacement phone you can easily swap out your Sim card into, the “old” iPhone (which just two weeks ago was the height of cellphone technology!) will do just fine. And now you have an opportunity to get one at a bargain price! If you’re traveling in the U.S. this summer, check out an Apple Store and check out one of the now surplus iPhone models, which will probably be on sale beginning in mid-July – and for those who can’t make it to an Apple Store, you can be sure there will be a flood of “outdated” iPhones on sites like eBay available for a bargain price, as many current iPhone users with proper AT&T calling plans upgrade to the new model. For you and I, though, last month’s technology can become this year’s bargain cellphone buy!