And here is what people think of it. (Watch the video review here)
Apple’s iPhone is no longer ‘untouchable’
The phone has some nifty hardware and software features which compete head-on with the iPhone, and even surpass it in some areas:
- A slider QWERTY keyboard
- An exclusive software, the new version of Google Android 2.0 which handles numerous applications at super-fast speeds
- Sleek body
- 5 Megapixel camera
- 24-hour battery life
- Built-in Amazon MP3 Store
Now let’s look at the phone in detail.
The exclusive Android 2.0 MOPS software
Behind Droid’s plastic is the latest version of Google’s Android 2.0 MOPS (Mobile Operating System) and this lends exclusivity to the phone, giving it feature not seen in previous Android Phones. Among these are:
- Seamless integration with Google Voice
- The free Google Maps Navigation software
- Voice navigation
- Easy toggling between different programs
- Greater agility in opening and running a wider range of applications, and
- Integration of phone book with Facebook contacts.
Although Android's Marketplace is primitive compared to Apple’s AppStore, which offer ten times the applications offered for Android, it wont be long before both stores compete neck and neck. Google is keen to attract third party developers and current Android apps cover many basic utilities that allow you to view MS Office documents and access Facebook, and so on.
One area the Droid lacks in absolute terms is its gaming utility, whereas the iPhone and Nokia N-Gage phones have firmly established themselves.
As a music phone, there is room for improvement
Although the speakers are pretty loud, using the Droid as a music player is a hassle because there are no media synchronisation features, no smart playlists (that generate almost automatically) and no feature to store and view TV shows and movies. In other words, the Droid cannot replace the iPod, where as iPhone can.Two Keyboards – that’s a first
Droid has both a touch keyboard (which is smarter than those in previous versions of Android) as well as a physical slide-out keyboard with a brown navigation key. The physical keyboard isn’t hard to get used too but offers no auto-correct option like the touch-pad does. Plus, the physical keyboard makes the phone noticeably heavier, so if you’re not used to it, the feature is simply redundant.An impressive camera
Droid boasts a 5 MP camera which makes iPhone’s 3.2 MP device look dull. The picture quality is in stark contrast to that of the iPhone as well as previous Motorola phones, even though the flash isn’t exceptional.
The look – a bit of this and bit of that
Droid’s touch-screen definitely wins; it’s got way more pixels per inch than the iPhone (267 ppi versus 160 ppi) and the screen is larger too (854 x 480 pixel versus 480-by-320-pixel).
The body of the phone, Motorola claims, is the sleekest with a slide-out keypad, but the Droid doesn’t look half as gorgeous as Motorola’s Razr V3i did, and this is a disappointment.
Navigation Button – nothing to write home about
Droid’s brown navigation button in its black and white slider keyboard is less appealing than scroll balls used in previous Android phones as well as the Blackberry. The four-way directional keys are difficult to use and seem like an unnecessary emulation of previous phone designs.Not all that glitters is gold
There are still some flaws that need to be addressed, such as:
- the arduous task of copying-and-pasting text
- the inability to delete applications (once you install an app, the phone assumes you want to keep it forever), and
- difficulty in closing certain programs
These issues will be ironed out once Android enters the maturity phase, as iPhone already has but Google is extremely efficient at learning from its mistakes.
The phone and its smartphone competitors
Droid enters a big market with a few competing products, such asRelated Posts:
- Apple’s iPhone
- T-Mobile’s G1 and MyTouch 3G, and
- HTC's Droid Eris.
But Droid’s features supersede those of Droid Eris, G1 and MyTouch 3G. The only competitor Motorola is concerned about is the iPhone, and considering Google’s ability to maneuver and improve itself to win the market, and that Droid uses Verizon, which offers better coverage than AT&T (iPhone’s provider), it’s very likely Motorola and Verizon will lead the market in the years to come with this phone.
Sources: Review by Mark Milian in LA Times, Mac Rumors, Apple Inc., ZDNet News, ZDNet Blog, Pocket Now, Reuters, ZDNet Community, Phandroid (image)
Home Page
No comments:
Post a Comment