Image via CrunchBase

My mobile is banjaxed.

If you follow me on Twitter you already know that I’ve been wrestling with the decision of whether to get an iPhone 3Gs or an HTC Desire Android handset. I asked the question on Twitter and, predictably, I got a flood of recommendations both ways.

Both phones have a similar price tag, on pretty much the same mobile tariffs on the Irish networks that carry them both, and by and large, for what I need, both will do the same job.

My inner geek was screaming “Android” – because there’s a part of me that loves the open ethos of the Android operating system and rails against the closed corporate policies of Apple Inc.

Then again, there’s another part of me that values the polished sleekness of the iPhone’s design, and the absolutely top-notch user interface of the iPhoneOS. Both phones were was neck and neck in terms of recommendations: most of my techie contacts and friends recommended the Android phone, while non-techie business connections and friends came in firmly behind the iPhone.

In the end I think it was the maturity of Apple’s app-store compared to the Android marketplace that swung me towards the iPhone. There seem to be issues with buying apps from the Android Marketplace in Ireland – something that I guess curtails the scope of Android devices, at least in the short term.

So I’ve gone for the iPhone on Vodafone, and will be picking it up in Clonakilty on Thursday.

Ultimately there was little separating the two devices, and to be honest even with the app-store thing I can’t really put my finger on why exactly I chose the iPhone over the HTC. It was more of a gut feeling, an instinct, than anything else. Getting the iPhone just feels “right” for some reason.

Whether it turns out to be the right decision, I guess time will tell.