iDont know if Verizon’s marketing angle for the new Motorola Droid will actually work.
iDont think the iPhone is perfect, but iCan guarantee the Droid won’t make people forget it.
Yesterday, Verizon Wireless unveiled the new Motorola Droid smartphone, according to CNET.
The Droid is a new smartphone based on Google’s Android operating system.
The phone is actually installed with the upgraded Android 2.0, rather than the current version of Android that’s running on the T-Mobile G1 and MyTouch 3G, and that’s the reason the Droid is worth watching out for.
Apple’s iPhone is not going to be running scared from Motorola, because the iPhone has never been about how great the hardware is.
Has anyone raved about how great the iPhone’s two-megapixel camera was when it first came out?
Perhaps people were cheering about the blistering fast 2G Internet speeds in a world that was beginning to roll around in the fun of 3G speeds.
People loved the iPhone because of the ease-of-use and all the eventual applications that came with the iPhone App Store.
Until Google upgrades Android to make it perform as smoothly and come with as many applications as Apple’s mobile flagship phone, then Android won’t even touch it.
iDon’t care how pretty the Droid looks.
iCare how great it works for me, and until the Droid and it’s operating system prove otherwise, iWill still consider the iPhone the king of all smartphones.
Husain Sumra
-Staff Writer
3 Comments
November 1, 2009 at 9:49 pm
I imagine you’re writing this for the masses — people who know little, if anything, about the Droid or the Android platform — so perhaps you should spend at least part of your article saying what it is rather than saying why it’s not as good as your precious JesusPhone.
Most people may not care about a phone OS being open-source, or Android versions being named after pastries, or the Droid having a 600 MHz (underclocked to 550 MHz) processor. They probably don’t even care about multitasking, or the higher-resolution display, or the 5MP camera (though admittedly, megapixels are useless in judging a camera’s quality, especially on a sensor this small). The mainstream cares about the final product, and I understand that. The Droid is certainly a geeky device, down to the 80s-era sci-fi aesthetic, the Lucasfilms-licensed name, the ominous HAL-like eye, and even more ominous “DROOOOOID” alert sound. That’ll turn off a lot of users right off the bat.
But it’s not trying to be the iPhone. It’s trying to be the anti-iPhone. The iPhone has a feminine figure, like a slim but curvy woman, inviting you to hold it, caress it. The Droid is more sharp, masculine, even robotic in appearance; it’s only a hair thicker than the iPhone, but it looks so much more intimidating. Even the interfaces are in such stark contrast, with the iPhone being touted as easy enough for soccer moms to figure out, while stock Android is seen as too complex for average consumers to use, so it is often skinned by such companies as HTC before reaching market.
I know that Apple claims to have like 85,000 apps for the iPhone, while claims regarding Android hover around 10,000 apps. But, let’s face it, how many of us are going to download that many to begin with? Having a lot of options is nice, but Apple is known to have arcane, draconian, almost nonsensical methods for approving apps (see: NinjaWords, Google Voice, and all the fart apps). App numbers are just numbers, and I don’t care how many apps there are as long as the ones I want or need are available.
Both devices seem to deliver in that regard. Both have their share of good apps and bad, free apps and paid. But here are a few things to consider:
The TomTom navigation app for the iPhone is expected to cost $100, while the Droid comes with a free Google Maps-based app that provides turn-by-turn directions with layers and voice control.
The Droid has a physical keyboard. I can’t judge it until I use it myself, but a lot of people do prefer a physical keyboard over a virtual one. And a virtual keyboard is still available on the Droid, in both portrait and landscape modes. Admittedly, the stock Android virtual keyboard is often criticized as being inferior to that of the iPhone, but users can create or install another keyboard instead, and even download skins for it. That’s the beauty of Android: You aren’t locked into a system the way you are with Apple. You can create or download an app that “duplicates functionality” already present in the device, without the OS’s company getting its panties in a bunch because you want to think different from their mold.
Not everyone can or wants to be on AT&T’s network. One of the biggest complaints about the iPhone is that it’s on the wrong network. In my experience, Verizon’s network is very reliable, and it’s incredibly rare for me to have a poor signal or dropped call. It makes me feel lucky to be bound to a family plan on Verizon, even though the carrier’s smartphone offerings as of late have been underwhelming.
That, to me, is what makes the Moto Droid so exciting: Motorola and Verizon are shattering all expectations by launching a device that actually seems compelling. It’s a frickin’ beast, and I look forward to playing with one next Friday to see if it’s right for me.
I understand that the Droid isn’t for everybody, but writing off a device before using it yourself is premature at best. I don’t expect the Droid to destroy the iPhone, but I don’t think that Apple should rest on its laurels. Maybe competition from Moto/Google/Verizon will push Apple so its flagship product doesn’t grow staler with every iteration. (Seriously, it took them three generations to include MMS and video recording?)
It’s about time Apple goes back to its old mantra of “Think Different.”
November 9, 2009 at 12:27 am
“It’s about time Apple goes back to its old mantra of ‘Think Different’”
I think all smartphone companies need to adopt this mantra and think differently–every smartphone other than a BlackBerry has looked like a cheap knock off of the iPhone.
November 19, 2009 at 4:57 am
I really like the design of the Motorola Droid. Got mine about 2 days ago.
Love the alarm clock feature with the dock station. Hope they make a new version without the keyboard so it can be thinner. The digital keyboard is good enoug for me.
Navigation is really fast thanks to Android 2.0. Typing is kinda hard on the keyboard because of the 4 way navigation pad that is in the way.
Nah, whatever I think the Droid is awesome and can easily take the iPhone.