ThoughtSpark.org

Well, I've not done this in a while but I bought the latest toy the day it came out and this time around, it was the Motorola Droid from Verizon Wireless. I was very excited about this primarily because I could get a good smartphone on Verizon that ran on the Google Android platform. Well, after having the phone for the past three days, I am very pleased with the phone's hardware and the Android 2.0 operating system running the device. (For the complete hardware specifications, visit the Motorola Droid site. For the new features of the Android 2.0 platform, visit the Android 2.0 Highlights page.) As you probably have heard, people call this phone "The iPhone Killer" and in some ways, I agree but I also have just as many discrepancies in this statement, but not because of the phone's hardware or core operating system. What makes the phone so good and yet, not an iPhone killer? Let's find out.

The first thing most notice about the phone is its impressive hardware list:

• Arm® Cortex™ A8 processor running at 550 mHz
• 16 GB microSD (pre-installed and upgradable to 32 GB)
• 3.7" WVGA, touch-screen display
• Physical QWERTY keyboard
• 5.0 MP camera with 4x digital zoom, flash and capable of doing DVD quality video
• WiFi (B and G) access
• Accelerometer
• Proximity, ambient light and eCompass sensors
• Many more...

This is one of the most powerful phones, from a hardware perspective, released to date. Using the phone, you'll see how nicely all of this hardware comes into play. First thoughts are how responsive the UI is to touches and gestures. I'm yet to run into a situation where my Droid hangs, becomes unresponsive or "lags" when using it. The next thing I notice is the keyboard. While I've heard many people complain about the keyboard, I've not had any problems with it. It's responsive and not as small as people say. You'll also notice that when you take pictures, they are very clear. Don't expect DSLR quality out of it but the built-in camera does shoot as well as a comparable digital point-and-shoot camera which should make for good on-the-go pictures for Facebook, Twitter and other social services that run on Droid. To keep from writing a full blown dissertation on the Droid, below is a quick list of short hardware features that got my attention:

• A full-sized, 3.5mm headphone jack means no more proprietary headsets and the ability to reuse existing headphones when listening to music
• The built-in speaker is very clear and more than loud enough to listen to music
• USB charger is great to have because you can charge anywhere
• 4 physical buttons on the display make browsing much easier
• The back of the Droid has raised parts at each end to keep the phone from getting scratched and to protect the camera on the back

Well, the Droid's hardware is impressive for sure but how usable is the phone? Well, let me say that the Android platform is very, very nice. It's intuitive, easy on the eyes and Android includes many of the necessary applications that you'd need out of the box to transform your phone into the ultimate business tool. From what I can tell, Verizon didn't make any big changes to the Android platform, which is good because many others and myself were worried about how "bastardized" Android would be on a Verizon phone. When you start using your
Droid, you'll notice that the expected applications are there:

• Email clients (Gmail and regular)
• Calendar
• Web browser
• Android Market
• Maps
• Etc...

You should also expect to see others like the Amazon MP3 Store, YouTube and others. Do you use Google services like Gmail, Google Calendar, Google Voice or any other Google service? If so, you'll be glad to know that the Droid's Google integration is flawless. Attach your Google account to your Droid and your calendar, email and contacts are instantly available and bi-directionally synchronized. What about turn-by-turn directions? Tired of having another device in the car? Well, the Droid offers turn-by-turn directions natively and it's implementation is very solid. If you can't find something you need already pre-installed, open the Android Market and look around there. Most of the included applications are top-notch and "just works".

Unfortunately, the Android's included applications and Android Market applications are where I think the chance of the Droid being "The iPhone Killer" diminishes. Sure, there are great applications on the Droid and there are great applications on the Android Market but in the end, there are not nearly as many high-quality applications available for the Droid. I feel like the quality of the included applications on the iPhone are of higher quality than their Droid equivalent. For example, the email application on Droid does not properly delete POP3 emails and you cannot choose which folders in IMAP correspond to their Droid email equivalent, like what IMAP folder should be used for deleted mail. It just seems the depth of control/configurability is lacking in many cases. The good news is that the Android is open source and these problems will ultimately be fixed. iPhone killer? Maybe not but do not let that take away from the awesome handset that it is.

One last, brief thing is that I've traveled a bit since I got the phone, primarily up and down the I-25 highway within Colorado, and I've never had reception or call quality issues. I also haven't seen the 3G icon disappear, unless I was using the fast WiFi when I was at home just to save unnecessary 3G usage. For most, they forget about the carrier when evaluating a phone and in the Droid's case, I think Verizon's network is a very important selling point.

In the end, the Droid is an amazing smartphone. It runs the highly-regarded Android operating system, which includes many high-quality applications, and has some very powerful hardware. While the Droid isn't an iPhone killer yet, it sure could be with a more refined set of included applications and variety/quality in the Android Market. So for the general populous, I wouldn't call the Droid an iPhone killer but I sure have no desire to own an iPhone anymore.