Verizon Droid Is The Real Deal

[jrockway]

The better CPU is what makes this a better Android phone. I have used Android on an HTC Magic, where the performance is OK, and I've used it on an Archos 5, where the performance is amazing. Web pages load as fast as they do on a desktop, screen rotation is instantaneous, and so on. It's very nice.

And FWIW, the HTC Magic performance is about the same as the iPhones I've played with... so the "Droid" could definitely be the "iPhone killer". (Because it's as fast, has the same basic functionality, and has persistent apps. It is nice to have "push" Google Talk, and it's also nice to ssh port-forward from your phone, and then run an IRC connection over the forwarded ports. All possible with Android, none possible with the iPhone.)

[hxa7241]

That all seems reasonable, but Apple has a powerful brand at the moment. That must be factored-in too.

[hackoder]

which HTC Magic did you try out? I have the one with the larger RAM and I find the performance to be really good.

[jimm]

Many friends have told me that Verizon cripples their phones horribly---removing or disabling features that are available in comparable phones on other networks.

Will this be true for the Droid?

[mshafrir]

Knowing Verizon, until notified otherwise assume no WiFi and no built-in GPS.

[paul9290]

I'll believe it when I see it...

Though after owning a HTC Hero for four days (had 2 both headphone jacks broke) I liked you could customize the device (though took hours to do so), multiple screens with widgets (Twitter, Facebook, Mail, Pandora & last.fm all controlled via widgets on phone's desktop) and the ability to run background apps, which allowed for real time updates of widgets mentioned.

Ultimately I returned both Hero's cause of issue with headphone jack and the thing ran so slow; booted up even slower. If this Droid fixes those issues I might take back iPhone (30 day trial now).

[EastSmith]

Well, I've been using HTC Hero for more than a month now and I usually spend about a hour or more a day browsing, and I found it ... fast. And the browser is great.

What's this with the boot time? I rebooted it once I think, since buying, and it was when I had to put another card on it temporally.

[jsz0]

I think Verizon is making a mistake getting so caught up with the iPhone. Android is in more direct competition with Nokia, RIM, Microsoft and Palm competing across multiple carriers. Apple is still a relatively smaller player in mobiles but has traditionally strong brand/customer loyalty. I'm not sure the average iPhone owner cares much about the technical differences/limitations. There's probably a much lower barrier of entry to Android for someone who isn't hung up on iTunes syncing for example.

[stcredzero]

If Verizon could hold their own with Apple in terms of polish, they could go on to best them with better access to a better network and more liberal policies on how customers can use the hardware they just paid a lot of money for. (Background apps.) By doing this, they could win over the techie and hipster sets who are the trendsetters.

Unfortunately, I don't think it's in Verizon's DNA to do this.

[b3b0p]

I don't understand the statement people are making when they say Apple has had no competition. They did not create the phone or smart phone market. Maybe I'm missing something, but didn't Apple only raise the bar in terms of usability for smart phones and marketing to the consumer? In what area does Apple not have any competition right now?

I have an iPhone 3G and I'm quite excited to see Android become more popular.

[bcl]

Competition is good. One small nit to pick -- The iPhone is capable of multitasking. It does it now. They just don't allow every app to do it. Battery life is bad enough as it is.

I wonder how Droid's battery drain will compare.

Also remember that most customers aren't geeks. They don't care if you can ssh and port forward from their phone.

[natrius]

I like to think that I'm capable enough to select which applications to run at the same time to do what I want without sacrificing too much battery life.

Customers do/will care when their friends show them what they can do with Google Voice that they'll never be able to do on their iPhone.

[spot]

there are all kinds of customers. android's true strength is that it's not tied to one brand, one manufacturer, one feature-set, and one network.

iphone's multitasking is hobbled. with my G1 i can run mytracks and go jogging, taking calls, photos, and using the web browser along the way. when i get home i get a map of my route with time/elevation/speed data. and that's without any privileged api.

[ygd_coder]

We can SSH in to it!?

[pieter]

I wonder what the Verizon-Motorola deal means for customers outside the US.

[chaostheory]

Since this is on Verizon, the big question for me is "Will Droid have built-in wifi?"

[iofthestorm]

All Verizon smartphones will now have wifi. This is because all Verizon smartphones now also require you to get a data plan anyway. Kind of meh, but it's not going to discourage me from getting this phone. Having a data plan is still fairly useful, and since I'm on a family plan I only would have to pay for the data plan anyway.

[ygd_coder]

I know the Cliq will (T-mobile's Droid). So I'm guessing that the Droid will get it too.

[brg]

While the specs are nice, Google needs to get its app store in much better shape.

[jamesbritt]

It needs to be easy to find and buy apps without having to go through a One True App Store.

[FreeKill]

Yeah, you still can't buy paid apps in Canada with the Google App Store. Only free apps...

[acangiano]

These are the droids that you are looking for. :)

[cbetz]

Actually, they had to pay Lucasfilm just to use the word!

See for yourself (and signup if you want)

http://www.verizonwireless.com/droid

[EDIT]

This is part of the email you get after you sign up:

"But you don't need a smartphone, you need a supergenius in your pocket. A phone that listens better than the person on the other end of the call. Apps of every shape and size. Emails that let you know what they are before you read them. The greatest web experience on a phone. All working together to get things done."

Wow. That's a lot of hype.

[protomyth]

One of the commenters of the article stated that the G1 cannot run Android 2.0? Is this just a bunch of FUD or is this true?

[klocksib]

They may not be able to update the G1 due to the limited size of the G1's internal flash. http://www.engadget.com/2009/08/17/t-mobile-g1-wont-see-any-...

[swolchok]

Price, price, price. I'll get excited when I buy a device at fixed cost, pay $30/mo for data, and that's it.

[kingnothing]

Looks like T-Mobile is in the midst of creating almost exactly what you want. $60 / mo for unlimited data, voice, and messaging and no subsidies on the phones.

http://www.brighthand.com/default.asp?newsID=15776&news=...

[timf]

You can do that on AT&T

[callmeed]

How do android phones sync with one's Mac? Is there different software for each phone/carrier?

[enomar]

Sync what? Google devices like the G1 and MyTouch sync over the network to Google's services (apps, contacts, email, etc.) and over USB for things like music. I expect the "droid" to be no different.

[sanj]

Paper tigers certainly are frightening.