Hasta La Gadget!

Turns out that the DROID does support multitouch after all — it’s just not as baked as the MILESTONE’s, and it’s certainly not the kind you’ll see out of the box. The DROID’s European cousin features multitouch right in the phone’s core software load (most notably pinch-and-zoom in the browser, which we’ve seen demoed on video) whereas the DROID itself still features multitouch capability in APIs but doesn’t expose it through any built-in app. Translation: the apps you use every day — Google Maps and the browser, chiefly — get left out in the cold for some reason that neither Google nor Motorola (nor Verizon) have thus far been willing to adequately justify. Where you can experience the magic of pinch-and-zoom is in third-party apps written to take advantage of Android 2.0’s new APIs (Phandroid demos it on a fresh version of Picsay, for instance), but at the end of the day, that’s a consolation prize — we still want a spin-free explanation of why this was all turned off for the base apps. Follow the break for video of Picsay’s support for the good stuff in action.

[Image via mobile-review]

Continue reading Motorola DROID’s built-in apps don’t have multitouch support, third-party stuff is another story

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Motorola DROID’s built-in apps don’t have multitouch support, third-party stuff is another story originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 04 Nov 2009 05:05:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We’ve already seen the MILESTONE showing off multitouch capability, something the DROID clearly lacks in the States despite the fact that Android 2.0 rocks kernel support for it — and now we’ve got another smoking gun: the official spec sheet. A quick glance at Motorola’s tech specs for the Euro-flavored handset lists “pinch and zoom” as an interface feature, so yeah, it looks like this’ll be in the shipping firmware. There’s speculation out there that Apple was somehow involved in making sure that multitouch “fell” down a flight of stairs before reaching US-bound Android devices, but really, it’s anyone’s guess what’s going on here — and Moto’s official statement isn’t helping much:

“We work very closely with our carriers and partners to deliver differentiated consumer experiences on our mobile devices. At times, similar devices come to market with different features, depending on the region, carrier preferences and consumer needs.”

Nor is Google’s:

“The Android 2.0 framework includes support for multi-touch. As with other platform technologies, such as the text-to-speech engine, carriers and OEMs can choose to implement it.”

So let the speculation — and the firmware hacking — begin.

[Via Gearlog, image via mobile-review]

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Motorola MILESTONE does what DROIDon’t originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 02 Nov 2009 19:14:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Hey, HTC — we’re onto you. We know you’re a little upset that the lower-end Droid Eris isn’t getting much attention now that the DROID is all over Verizon’s marketing agenda, but it’s not like we don’t feel your pain. For those interested in spending a full Benjamin less on their next Android handset (on Big Red, anyway), the Droid Eris looks to offer that very solution, and now a few more sneak peeks have shown that a 5 megapixel camera (with a video record mode) is gracing the rear. We’re also told that WiFi will be onboard (right, VZW?), and a bundle of joy will also be thrown in after mail-in rebate. Whatever that means.

Read – Boy Genius Report
Read – phoneArena

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HTC Droid Eris peeks its head out once more, shows off 5MP camera originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 29 Oct 2009 14:24:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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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.

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

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Motorola DROID first hands-on! (update: video, impressions, more pics) originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 28 Oct 2009 13:51:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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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!

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

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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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