First Look: Motorola’s Droid Is Memorable, But Won’t Make You Forget the iPhone

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Like it or not, Motorola’s new Google-powered Droid smartphone will be compared to the iPhone.

The good news is that this feature-rich handset, running version 2.0 of Google’s Android OS, compares very favorably to the Goliath of the smartphone world as a utility mobile-computing device — and, oh yeah, a phone.

The bad news is that there may be too many good things going on to make using this device the quick, intuitive, out-of-the-box experience it should be. That’s a problem, given that the iPhone has set the usability bar so high.

An embarrassment of riches shouldn’t be a negative, and it really isn’t overall on the Droid, which goes on sale Nov. 6 to Verizon customers only. The tight integration of all things Google — maps overlaid on GPS, voice input all over the place, search that does not ask you to decide whether you are looking for something locally or on the net — are now more fully realized in this major upgrade to the mobile operating system that the search giant first released on a single handset, the T-Mobile G1.

This is very good thing for those who have become Google citizens and are already used to entrusting their contacts, documents and discovery needs to that cloud.

If you have a Gmail, Facebook or Microsoft Exchange account, it integrates seamlessly with the e-mail app. You can also configure the Droid to work with standard POP3 or IMAP internet mail accounts.

On the down side, there is no provision for syncing to an address book (or calendar) on your desktop. Nearly everything is in the Google cloud, which — given the recent Sidekick data-loss debacle — may not be the greatest selling point just now.

Like the iPhone and many other handsets this is a primarily a touchscreen device whose face is almost 100 percent screen — and a bright, crisp screen it is. Rather than take sides in the virtual-vs.-hardware keyboard debate, the Droid provides both. The hardware keyboard slides out in a familiar landscape mechanism, and it includes a 5-way directional pad, the better to allow you to keep your hands on the keyboard once you have them there.

The virtual keyboard appears when appropriate, landscape or portrait. And while the software keys appear to be narrower than those on the iPhone, they seem at least as easy to use. Another familiar feature is the “reality check” of a small pop-up displaying the key being pressed. And there is a type-ahead function which displays possible words, potentially saving you keystrokes.

On-board music purchase is from Amazon (at least), but when the Droid is connected to a computer, it’s read as an SD card, and dragging any tracks onto it makes them playable within the music app. The Droid also sports a 5-MP camera with autofocus, on-demand flash and video.

The Droid goes beyond the iPhone in two key areas: Like the Palm Pre, applications can run in the background, and switching among them is a smooth process. And as a robust GPS device it accepts and gives turn-by-turn verbal instructions, making it the closest approximation yet to a total GPS solution that obviates the need for a dedicated vehicle device. One caveat: It’s necessary to be connected to the 3G data service for course correction and other dynamic route features to work (and to even plot a course), so this is not a replacement for a GPS device in locales where Verizon 3G coverage is nonexistent or spotty.

Available apps? Android only offers about a tenth of the nearly 100,000 Apple has available, but that should change as Android handsets become more common. The first app I downloaded was Google Voice which, strangely, is not preinstalled — but then again, it isn’t available at all on the iPhone. On the Droid, you can set your Google Voice number to be the one that everyone sees when you call or text them, so you can switch to Verizon without worrying about giving everyone a new number or waiting for your old number to port over. That’s assuming you’re already using the phone-number-for-life that Google provides.

Navigation is not a touch-screen experience: Unlike the left-right/swipe metaphor there’s a hard “undo” button that takes you back step by step. In fact there are four hardware buttons to the iPhone’s one: Back, Menu (which does not activate from any given screen), Home and Search (which does).

The customizable screens can contain dozens of shortcuts — to contacts, bookmarks, anything — but there are only three of these screens: the “home” screen plus one to the left and one to the right, accessible by swiping. Think of these as a speed dial, with your entire collection of app icons in a sliding drawer. But these icons can be moved anywhere using touch/hold, and there is the gentlest of vibrating feedback to confirm your gesture. (This “haptic feedback” is the default and activates in too many contexts, including for every number you hit when manually entering a phone number. Fortunately, it can be turned off in the settings).

There’s one “feature” that is is sure to draw fire. On certain events (including when you connect to a power source), a computerized voice announces: “Droid.”

On version 2.1 please remove that, Google.

Check out Wired’s feature comparison chart below, and continue reading for more photos of the Droid.

  • Droid
  • iPhone 3G S
  • Network
  • Verizon/CDMA
  • AT&T/GSM
  • Display
  • 3.7-inch touchscreen
  • 3.5-inch touchscreen
  • Keyboard
  • Slide-out physical QWERTY, or virtual keyboard
  • Virtual keyboard
  • Weight
  • 6 ounces
  • 4.8 ounces
  • Connectivity
  • 3G, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth
  • 3G, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth
  • Operating system
  • Android 2.0 (Eclair)
  • iPhone 3.0
  • Multitasking
  • Yes. Answer e-mail and two-click access to six most recently run apps/shortcuts.
  • No multitasking capability. Only one app can be viewed at a time.
  • Camera
  • 5 megapixels, dual-LED autoflash
  • 3 megapixels, no flash, autofocus by tapping
  • Video
  • Capture & playback at 720×480 pixels, capture at up to 24 fps
  • Capture & playback at 640×480 pixels, 30 fps
  • App store
  • 10,000 apps available through Android Market
  • 92,000 apps available
  • Music support
  • Access to Amazon MP3 store through over-the-air wireless downloads
  • Syncs with iTunes
  • Talk time on 3G*
  • 6.4 hours*
  • 5 hours*

* As claimed by manufacturer

CORRECTION: The Droid does work with POP3 and IMAP email accounts, so a Gmail, Facebook or Microsoft Exchange account is not required as we stated in an earlier version.

The edge of the Droid features a headphone jack.

The edge of the Droid features a headphone jack.

 

5 megapixels! Take that, Cupertino!

5 megapixels! Take that, Cupertino!

 

It's black. It's rectangular. It's the bad-ass-looking Droid.

It's black. It's rectangular. It's the bad-ass–looking Droid.

 

Choose your weapon: use the touchscreen, or use the keyboard and D-pad.

Choose your weapon: Use the touchscreen, or use the keyboard and D-pad.

Photos: Jonathan Snyder/Wired.com


Google Navigation video hands-on: you want this

We apologize for being fanish, but Google has pulled off something with its new Navigation elements in Google Maps (or is it Google Maps in a Navigation app? It’s hard to tell) that has serious ramifications for a navigation device industry used to charging money for functionality. The introduction of satellite view, a tasteful touch of street view (peep a still of your next turn, or see your destination), and of course regular stuff like spoken directions and street names, and Google’s voice recognition applied to search (anywhere on the device just tap voice search and start your phrase with “navigate to”) make this a pretty astonishing offering for what’s essentially a free app with the purchase of an Android 2.0 device. The biggest worry here is that if you lose signal you won’t be able to pull maps, but while there’s no whole-map caching, it does cache a route when you enter it in, so as long as you don’t stray too far from the beaten path you should be fine with a dropped signal here or there. But enough of our blather, check out a video walkthrough after the break.

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The game has changed

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Motorola DROID first hands-on! (update: video, impressions, more pics)

We’ve got the DROID in our hands… and it is sweet. Moto claims that this is the thinnest full QWERTY slider on the market, and we’re apt to believe it. The phone is incredibly slick and solid, and we’re definitely looking forward to putting it through its paces. We’ll have more photos, video, and a full review coming, so stay tuned!

Some quick observations on the phone:

  • That big screen is killer. Bright, crisp, and tons of room for your icons and widgets.
  • Speed is noticeably improved — particularly when moving from app to app. We did notice that some of the home screen scrolling looked laggy.
  • Android 2.0 is definitely cleaned up — but it’s most definitely still Android
  • The browser seems significantly improved — pages now load up in a fully zoomed-out mode, and the load times and scrolling are way snappier.
  • The keyboard takes some getting used to, and it suffers from a similar hand-position issue as the G1, but it’s fairly usable. We think it’ll be second nature once we spend some time with it.
  • Facebook is integrated into accounts, which means some of that BLUR functionality is here (though now it’s part of Android 2.0 natively). The good news is that when you add a Facebook account you can choose to pull all Facebook info and contacts, or just info related to your existing contacts — a real clutter buster.

Update: We’ve added a new gallery, and video is on the way!

Update 2: Video is up after the break! More coming too…

Update 3: And we’ve got a browser speed test to round things out.

Update 4: We’ve added another gallery of the car and home docks, which are pretty neat — the phone detects the dock magnetically, and switches to the appropriate mode. We’re told that there’ll also be third-party docks, and that Google’s the one behind the different interface modes, so this could be just the tip of the iceberg.

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Motorola Droid unboxing!

We just got a stack of Droid review units at Engadget HQ, and we’re told that this is in fact the final packaging. The charger is just Micro USB, and that’s really all you get in the box — the docks will cost you extra. We’re digging for pricing info on those, we’ll let you know.

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Motorola Droid unboxing! originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 28 Oct 2009 13:50:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Google and the Deadly Power of Data

Today, as soon as Google showed off its beta GPS navigator, the stocks of Garmin, TomTom and other companies in that industry fell into the toilet. It’s hard to compete with free Google apps, but that’s not why they’re screwed…

TomTom owns Tele Atlas, who drives the roads of the world in order to make maps, and until recently was a major map provider for Google. Nokia owns the only major competitor, Navteq, who has also provided maps for Google. Look at Google Maps now, though, and you’ll see that the entire US bears just one single copyright: Google’s.

Street View wasn’t just a neat way to get imagery to accompany the data already found in Google Maps. As it happens, it was a way to drive the same roads that were already in Google Maps, tracing them with Google’s own road teams, and—through efficiency and brute force—do away with those costly map licenses. Google has mapped the US, and will surely map the rest of the world soon enough.

This is just a timely example of Google’s monstrous growth, and the destruction it causes. Any business that trades in data or packages it for public consumption may one day face the same issues. It’s not just whether or not to compete with the behemoth, but even whether or not to go into business with it. In either case, there is a chance of being destroyed.

Garmin might have a long-standing relationship with Navteq, but they don’t own any maps. How can they compete with a free Google app when they still have to pay? (Worse, Garmin is still stuck in the hardware business, where profits are extra thin.) TomTom owns the maps, but charges $100 for their own app because they also make money licensing maps to car makers, competing GPS makers and web services—like Google. Before, Google was a fat revenue source for TomTom; now Google is a sprightly competitor.

If a unique supply of data was the only thing keeping TomTom and others on the Google chuck wagon, who will be next to fall off?

I was always afraid of spiders growing up, not because of the eight legs or the umpteen eyes, but because of the way they kill their prey. They get them in a nice convenient position, then they use their venom to hollow out their victim’s insides, until they’re just dead-eyed shells. To be killed in such a manner is my worst nightmare; perhaps I should ask TomTom how it feels.

I am a fan of Google products, and a daily user of them. This is not an attack of Google’s business practices, but an explanation of the sort of destructive innovation that has made them so huge so fast. (It’s also a warning to consider carefully any entities that gets this strong, especially if you plan on going into business with one.) Though predecessors like Microsoft experienced similar explosive growth, and grew a similar sudden global dependence, we’ve never seen the likes of Google. The GPS business isn’t the only one that will be consumed by its mighty maw before it’s had its run.

We’ve already seen the devaluation of the office apps that make Microsoft rich; we’ve already seen how Google’s experiences with Apple and others helped it create telecommunications platforms (both mobile with Android and completely virtual with Google Voice) that threaten its former partners’ existence; we’ve already seen how Google converts photos, videos, news wire stories and other former commodities into freebies by smashing the false notion of scarcity that “service” providers had literally banked on.

So who is next? What other hallowed brands will go the way of Garmin and TomTom? Corbis and Getty? Reuters and AP? Warner and Disney?

This is a tale already told, bound to be told again, but the fundamentals are worth studying—even if we use Google Docs spreadsheets to do it. I have never spoken with a spider, but I am certain they’re not evil, despite what fantasy lore tells us. They’re just doing what comes naturally, and doing a hell of a job.

Motorola DROID spotted in fine GSM form (video)

While the newly launched DROID is keeping us plenty busy, we’d be remiss if we didn’t hep you to this hands-on video that’s recently popped up on the YouTubes. Of Vietnamese origin, we do believe that this is the first GSM version of the phone we’ve caught on tape. All seems to be going well until about 2 minutes 7 seconds, when the viewer encounters a considerable lag in between gesturing to open the app drawer and the event itself. But don’t take our word for it — see for yourself after the break.

[Thanks, Vincenzo]

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Motorola Droid First Hands On: It’s a Terminator

The Motorola Droid. Not to mix droid metaphors here, but I feel like it’s the phone Darth Vader would use. And after a couple of minutes using it, I’m still excited about it. Updated with fresh impressions, photos and video.

The Droid

It’s heavy. And the construction makes it feel like one of the substantial phones I’ve used in a while. It’s not like anything you’ve got in your pocket. The way the screen—the best one on an Android phone yet—ponderously slides up, using only the manual power of your thumb, without the spring assistance our weak fingers are used to, adds to that feeling of weight. At the same time, it doesn’t feel like a fatass. While it has a thickness inherent to all sliders, it’s not unpleasantly plump. It works with the rest of the phone.

There’s also something weirdly refreshing about such a straightforwardly utilitarian design. There’s nothing here that’s trying to be sexy. Or particularly clean. There’s all kinds of lines and marks and bumps and details. It’s a strange kind of retro, with the black and the gold accent. It’s, well, Imperial.

The 3.7-inch display, packed with pixels, looks simply amazing. Text is ridiculously crisp, thanks to a 854×480 resolution that makes for 267ppi. Seriously, looking at my inbox is kinda making me drool. (The iPhone is 163ppi.) Besides clarity, touch response seems dead on. The keyboard works way better than it looks. It appears flat, but there’s a slight bump to every key that, combined with the soft rubber texture, just works. It’s way better than the Palm Pre keyboard. The d-pad, I don’t think anybody would miss it if it was gone. The touch sensitive keys on the front, I sorta wish were real buttons. (Seriously, what’s the point, except to save space?)

I think it’s my favorite piece of Android hardware yet, at least until I see the battery life.

Android Two Dot Oh Yeah


The Droid’s running a basically stock build of Android 2.0. You’ll be able to download Verizon apps later from a special channel in the Android Market, but you get a totally unpolluted phone out of the box.

It’s faster, in almost every way possible. (This in part, is thanks to the Droid’s ARM Cortex A8 processor, the same kind in the iPhone 3GS and Palm Pre.) Apps open quicker, transitions are instant and smooth, scrolling rarely drags in the browser or maps.

Android’s grown up. The icons have been redesigned—they’re cleaner, more serious, less cartoony. Contacts, as you’ve seen, improved, with Facebook integration and a new feature called Quick Contact, that lets you ping somebody however you want to. Facebook contact stuff works better than the Pre (which gives you all or nothing options) or the Hero (where you have to manually link each contact), with the option to bring in all of your Facebook contacts, just the people that are also in your Google contacts, or manual linkage.

The cool bedside interface, that turns the Droid into an alarm clock with weather and stuff when you plug into the dock, is apparently something that’s just between Motorola and Google, so we might not see it on other Android 2.0 phones. The dashboard interface, that comes up automatically when it’s plugged into the car dock, can also be accessed via the Car Home app, and it gives you quick access to contacts, navigation, voice search, search and maps.

Voice is a much bigger part of Android 2.0—holding down the search button for a second engages voice commands for search, navigation (just say “navigate”) and other features. Speaking of navigation, Brian has a lot more here on Google’s new turn-by-turn service with data layers. It might be the single most significant upgrade in Android 2.0, actually. One thing that’s not upgraded? The onscreen keyboard. It’s still sorta crummy.

Universal search—thank god. It’s amazing to me that the phone OS from the search company fell behind Palm and Apple on this. It’s here now, and it can search your contacts, browser history and bookmarks, contacts, apps, your music and YouTube. (Why you have to separately search SMS and email, I don’t know.)

The browser, besides being simply faster and working better, has a slightly refreshed UI—multiple windows are managed via a simple text list, for instance. Some of the other benefits, like HTML5 support, are obviously a little hard to easily quantify.

We’ll have more for you over the next few days, but for now, just know that yes, it’s okay to be excited about this. It may very well be the Droid we were looking for.

Motorola DROID official on Verizon: $199 on contract, coming November 6th (video)

We knew good and well this thing was coming sometime in November, and now Verizon Wireless has made it official: the Motorola DROID will hit Big Red on November 6th for $199 on contract (after a $100 mail-in rebate). Naturally, the DROID itself is just the first of what could be many Android-laced phones coming to the carrier, and Verizon Wireless CMO John Stratton even stated that the phone “is wide open” — pretty big words from a company like VZW. Android 2.0 will be front and center, along with Visual Voicemail, a 3.7-inch display (854 x 480 resolution), 5 megapixel camera (with dual-LED flash), a bundled 16GB memory card and a beta version of Google Maps Navigation(!). For those wondering, yeah — the DROID is the first phone to offer that, which transforms Google Maps into a turn-by-turn routing system that’ll have your dedicated TomTom / Garmin trembling in fear. There’s also a slide-out QWERTY keyboard, 3G, WiFi, voice-activated search and over-the-air Amazon MP3 downloads. With all that, who needs the iPhone, right Ivan?

Update: Check on our in-depth hands-on coverage on the DROID, Google Maps Navigation and the accessory dock!

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Motorola DROID official on Verizon: $199 on contract, coming November 6th (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 28 Oct 2009 10:23:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Motorola Commits to Releasing More Than 20 Smartphones in 2010

At the Verizon Motorola Droid product release event this morning, Motorola CEO Sanjay Jha said Motorola was committing to releasing more than 20 smartphones in 2010. He first used the phrase “multiple tens,” but then when asked for clarification, agreed to at least 20.

The Motorola Droid, announced today, is the first Android 2.0 smartphone.