So concludes a new study put out by User Centric, Inc.

User Centric conducted usability tests comparing the iPhone to Blackberries and Samsung's E300 phone. The point being to see which is more user-friendly for text messaging: the iPhone, a numeric phone or phones like the Samsung with a QWERTY keypad.

Here are some of the more interesting nuggets from their findings:

- iPhone and QWERTY users text at about the same speed. BUT, big but, iPhone users make more mistakes.

- Numeric phone users go a little slower. But guess what? Duh, they make the fewest mistakes.
In fake, they made fewer mistakes migrating even when using an iPhone or QWERTY keypad unfamiliar to them.

In defense of the iPhone, it does self-correct somewhat. The key word in that sentence, however, is somewhat.

Bottomline: if you rely on your handheld for heavy texting or email, think twice before taking the iPhone plunge.