Phone
Other smart phone makers have been trying since then to dispel the notion that the iPhone is the be-all and end-all of mobile gadgets. The latest push comes from Verizon Wireless and Motorola, whose Droid is a good alternative for those seeking a feature-packed smart phone with a full keyboard and strong wireless service.
The Droid stands out from the crowd of iPhone wannabes with a slim but weighty body, noticeably angular look and large touch screen.
Its 3.7-inch screen is bigger than the iPhones 3.5-inch one, and the extra real estate really makes it easier to navigate Web pages and play with applications. It also offers plenty of space on the home screen (and two side screens that you swipe to see) for software “widgets” that give a quick look at such things as your friends Facebook status updates or the song youre playing on the built-in music player.
And the Droids cost is comparable with the iPhones – $200, after a rebate, with a two-year service contract with Verizon Wireless, its exclusive U.S. distributor.
The Droid runs the latest version of Google Inc.s operating system, Android 2.0, which includes some enhancements such as the ability to zoom in on Web pages and photos by double-tapping on the screen. With one tap on a photo in your contacts list, you can also quickly see the ways in which you can contact your friends.
When it comes out on Friday the Droid will also be the first phone to include a cool, free mapping application from Google that can announce turn-by-turn directions.
Google Maps Navigation is easy to use and helped me out on a late-night ice cream run – I put the Droid in my pocket, turned up the volume and followed its female-robot-voice instructions while riding my motorcycle across town.
I was glad to see that the application quickly recalculates your route if youre prone to making wrong turns as I am. And if you live in a busy city with unpredictable traffic, you might like an option for getting alternate routes, all of which you can see overlaid on the same map along with their distances and estimated driving times.
Like other Android phones, the Droid has a voice search function. It can be used, for instance, to help navigate routes when youre in the Maps Navigation application. Saying “Navigate to Starbucks in San Francisco” should give you a list of Starbucks Coffee shops. Pick one, and youll get turn-by-turn directions.
Ill probably stick with using the Droids keyboard to get directions, though, as it had a hard time understanding me. The phone tried to send me to Ikea when I asked it to take me from my office to my apartment. It offered me all sorts of unrelated results when I tried to get directions to a French restaurant near my home.
Thats not to say the keyboard is perfect. Unlike many other phones with standard, “QWERTY” keyboards, the Droid has keys that are pretty much flat, which often made it hard to type accurately. This wasnt helped by the fact that, aside from the space bar, the keys are all the same size. Two blank key-sized spaces on the bottom of the keyboard – one on the left, one on the right – made me wonder why Motorola didnt try to at least enlarge the often-used “return” key.
One Droid feature touted heavily in Verizons television commercials is its ability to run several applications simultaneously, which is something the iPhone cant do. Generally, I found that the Droid does this pretty well.
I did like the Droids five-megapixel camera, which matches the resolution of another new Motorola phone that runs Android, the Cliq, and can take sharper shots than contemporaries like the iPhone, whose camera hovers around 3 megapixels. Theres also a very bright flash – another thing the iPhone and Cliq lack – so you can take photos in low light.
The Droids big screen makes for a nice viewfinder, and a small menu of camera settings slides out from the left side of the screen so you can adjust the white balance and use different color effects. Youll have plenty of space to store the photos you take, too, because the Droid includes a 16 gigabyte microSD memory card.
The Droid runs on Verizon Wireless network, and I was pretty impressed with its speed as I surfed the Web, looked up directions or checked e-mail. It also got a generally solid reception for making calls, and while my friends voices didnt sound as clear as they could, I didnt have problems with dropped calls.
Motorola has been struggling to come up with a phone that comes close to matching the popularity of 2005s Razr, and the Droid is the latest indication that Motorola is really trying to figure out what consumers want.
Its also one of the most promising challengers to the iPhone, a field that now includes Palms Pre and Research In Motions BlackBerry Storm2.