Cell Phones

What's important:

Need texting. Maybe phones. Wifi (via xfinity when on the move) may be enough. Beam Uber and Lyft Some kind of map app. Alexa - not a great option available for either, but more available on iPhone. http://www.techhive.com/article/3068187/software/apps-that-put-amazon-alexa-on-your-phone-arent-as-good-as-they-could-be.html Some platform I can hack. Android is better than iOS: Scala v Swift. Phone insurance - Definitely want that.

Keyboard?

Consumer reports - http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/cell-phones-services/buying-guide.htm

Which carrier?

Small carriers - Consumer Cellular, Ting, and Republic Wireless - may be cheaper. Big carriers - AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile, or Verizon Wireless - may have a better deal for multiple devices. (I have to pay per-device??)

Deb already has a prepaid plan. Maybe piggybacking on that would be OK.

? Look into GoogleFi

How much data?

I'm likely to use 2-4 GB/month. Dev instead of gaming, plus the commute. "4G LTE networks beating many home Internet connections in terms of speed"

OS

Latest android OS is Marshmallow, 6.0. Previous was 5.1. ? what's the difference between 6.0 and 5.1 ?

Latest apple OS is iOS 9

Devices

Latest iPhones are iPhone 6 and 6S, for about $700.

Open Questions

Can I use a tablet (iPad ?) as a phone? Is that the right fit? (Or an iPad and a watch?)

Alexa interface?

Watch-sized texting/phone?

Cost-to-own per month?

Android vs ioS? Hack in Scala vs Swift?