Win a Trip to Austin: The Quest for Two Ultimate Smartphone Fanboys

David Pogue
·Tech Critic
Updated
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The haters and the fanboys. They’re always there, aren’t they? You can reliably find them duking it out in the Comments section of every article ever to discuss iPhone or Android. Could it possibly be true that both phone operating systems have merit? Of course not!

Well, it’s about time someone got to the bottom of this. Which is actually better: iPhone or Android?

Yahoo Tech is going to find out.

The showdown
At a Yahoo event in Austin, I will host “The Ultimate Fanboy Challenge”: half game show, half science experiment, half serious.

You, the ultimate Android or iPhone fanboy or fangirl, will be onstage, with your phone projected on the big screen for the audience — and the world — to see. We’ll give you a series of challenges, testing your phone, your OS, and your skill. The winner of each round is the person who completes the task in the least time, the fewest number of steps, or with the most style (or a combination of those criteria). Prepare yourself for a pulse-pounding Olympiad of nerdy superiority!

Help us find you
We want to find two contestants who are incredibly good at using their phones: one for Android, one for iPhone. Maybe one of those people is you. If we choose you, we’ll pay your airfare to Austin, Texas, March 15-17, 2015, and your hotel there. You will make yourself available for a rehearsal and for our show itself, which will be held on Monday, March 16, at high noon.

The winner will receive bragging rights for all time, plus the adoration of half the world’s smartphone users.

Sound good? If you’d like us to consider you, break out your smartphone and find a friend to shoot a video right now: Send us a 1-minute video of yourself that shows your personality and that illustrates your spectacular phone skills and OS knowledge. Maybe showcase your favorite secret tip. It’s up to you. Send the video link (YouTube or Dropbox) to me at poguester@yahoo.com, with the subject line, “Fanboy application,” by midnight Friday (Eastern time), Feb. 27, 2015. We’ll pick two winners and let them know that they’ve been chosen to represent their phone clan at SXSW within four days.

Here are all the official rules. Questions? Ask me at poguester@yahoo.com.

And may the best fanboy or fangirl win!