Game of Phones

When Steve Jobs unveiled the first iPhone in January 2007, he declared it was five years ahead of any other mobile phone. He was, as usual, eerily prescient. Only now, as the iPhone nears its fifth birthday, have Google and Microsoft designed mobile operating systems that are remotely Apple-like in terms of overall polish and power.

Google's Android system, which research firm Gartner says ships on 52.5% of the world's smart phones, was always bulging with features. The latest version (code-named Ice Cream Sandwich) removes much of the visual clutter that made the system tougher to use than the iPhone. Android...