I'm just going to add a little Windows Phone in here.
I have a Nokia Lumia 920 and the camera is vastly superior to the majority of Androids and Apples, I've done comparisons! The picture quality is much higher and with a larger screen on the Windows Phones you can see a much clearer picture. The low light pictures are beautiful, I was at a disco/party a few weeks ago and even without the flash on the pictures came out very vibrant! Even my friends have commented on Facebook that my pictures look amazing.
In terms of reading and writing, you have the majority of Windows Office preinstalled on the phone and it easily connects to Microsoft Skydrive for easy PC to Phone file sharing. There is a free Amazon Kindle app which can connect with your Amazon account and allows you to read your Kindle books on the phone that you have already bought or you can buy more through the app.
The main downside to the Windows Phone is there are noticeably less apps and games available, but all the necessities are there... Though there is no free Angry Birds.
I even wrote this post on my Nokia! You are stuck with IE on here but you can download other browsers from the store. You can also connect your Xbox account onto a Windows phone and there are some Xbox games that can be played on the phone!
I hope you consider the Windows Phone in your phone hunt as it can compete and surpass the Androids and Apples in many areas, especially price!
Sadly, the Windows Phone is not an option at all!
I have heard the Windows Phones have outstanding cameras, but for me to get into photography, I don't need anything so powerful. (I heard the latest Lumia phone has 43 MPs of camera? Again I'm not familiar with the numbers or how they really compare but that's a lot higher compared to the 9 MP camera the iPhone offers, and to the 13 MP the Samsung Galaxies do ^^; ). It's really, really great but I'm not even a "photography aficionado" yet so I don't need that much power hahaha.
The problem with Microsoft Office is that it feels too boring and executive-ish for me. I hate using Microsoft Office. I hate doing homework on it. Most writing apps I have used on my brothers' iPhones are beautiful and not necessarily "crippled" in functionality. iA Writer is really simplified and distraction-free. NOTE'd is beautiful, allows you to add pics to your notes, and the app is nicely designed. Day One (the journal app I'd probably use the most) is incredibly beautiful and I actually use most of its features when I have the chance. They're all writing apps and they don't feel so plain like Microsoft Office does ^^. An app I will use a lot has to feel nice, because otherwise I will just ditch it after a while.
Sadly the e-book alternative to the iTunes Books store isn't beneficial in any way, because no one sells Amazon giftcards down here, aaand I'd have to beg my dad to be allowed to make an Amazon account. Google Play Store cards and iTunes Giftcards area abundant here so I can get them if I ever run out of them. Amazon giftcards don't exist down here (I know they do in the USA, but I don't live there ^^; ) so it's a big no-no for what I want in terms of books.
The app selection is a big problem too, not only because there are little apps for Windows Phone, but because I have never seen Giftcards for Windows Phones hahaha, so I'd be stuck with free apps and if I ever saw a pay app I really want I wouldn't be able to get it.
The amount of websites I visit is really small, and I just use whatever browser I have available, so even if I was extremely limited to IE I wouldn't mind (unless none of the websites I use worked properly). I am not on the techie side of the world and I just know people hate IE, but I don't know why ^^. Browser doesn't matter, I will just use what is available on the phone I use.
Xbox connect and the like are not part of my needs. I have played very few Xbox games, aaand I'm not allowed to have an Xbox Live account -.- . So it's not something I want in a phone. It doesn't matter if I can play Xbox Games or not because chances are I wouldn't do it even if I could.
My main goal is to choose a phone I will like and that will be with me for a long time. It will be my first cellphone after all. I don't want to rip-off my parent's wallets, but I don't want to get something I won't be able to enjoy. I'd love to try Windows Phone someday, but that day has yet to come hahaha. No one I know has that phone so I have never touched one. But I don't want to buy one simply because I don't know how they are. The good thing about iPhone and Android is that I know both and I can use both when I ask, so I know both of them have a chance to fulfill my needs.
Thank you for your input anyway! ^^
