RSSVerizon's Droid claims 10,000 apps, graphics co-processor, and 'a map for that'
By Jacqueline Emigh | Published October 29, 2009, 4:18 PM
At a sneak preview in New York City on Thursday night, execs from Verizon Wireless, Motorola, and Google gave reporters from Betanews and elsewhere a point-by-point illustration, supported by a few of Android's 10,000-plus apps. They also showed off some features not even mentioned in Verizon's anti-iPhone marketing blitz: a stellar 3.7-inch high res display, turn-by-turn GPS voice navigation with Google Latitude and Street Views, and innovative peripherals like a car mount and multimedia station.
In a scathing new ad campaign, Verizon takes aim at everything Apple's rival iPhone doesn't do. "iDon't have a real keyboard," according to an ad. "iDon't run simultaneous apps," and so on, and so forth.
But as they say, seeing is sometimes believing. As I witnessed during demos on Wednesday, Droid does have a "real" slideout keyboard, although some have criticized it as kind of cramped.
"At 13.7 millimeters, this is the thinnest slider QWERTY around," said Juan Ignacio Sarmiento, a Motorola marketing evec, as he pulled the slider out from the Droid during the demo.
Also aboard the Droid are two software QWERTY keyboards -- one in horizontal (landscape mode) orientation, and the other in vertical (portrait mode).
As advertised, too, the Droid runs multiple apps simultaneously -- a feat achieved, of course, through Android multitasking capabilities. Essentially, you don't need to close out of one app before launching another app, something the iPhone still forces you to do.
In fact, Android is gaining ground fast against Apple's App Store for iPhones, with more than 10,000 applications already online in the Android Market, Sarmiento contended.
I haven't even come close to viewing all of those thousands of Android apps, so it's unclear to me how well all of them will work on the Droid. But also during the meeting, Verizon's Menniti told me that he expects a lot more apps for the Droid to spring from Google's just released SDK 2.0.
Other claims from Verizon also ring true. The Linux-based Android environment supports open development. Some of these apps -- such as a calculator, for example -- are widgets. The Droid's batteries are indeed interchangeable.
I haven't had a chance yet to try out for Droid's 5-megapixel autofocus camera to take night-time photos (another advertising assertion). But Menniti shot some pics successfully in a dimly light corner of the demo room.
Sarmiento attributed the Droid's night-time photo abilities to a dual LED flash, along with work the Droid partners have done around photo issues like color resolution and white balance.
And yes, the Droid is definitely customizable -- and then some. The choice of three different QWERTY keyboards is a help here, and so are the 10,000+ apps and Droid-specific peripherals.
The Droid's high-res display -- specifically, it offers 480x854 WVGA resolution -- is another stunner. With resolution that high, you can view most Web pages at full size, according to Menniti.
To accommodate this high-res screen in a 4.56-by-2.36-inch gizmo, Motorola's engineers might possibly have made some trade-offs in overall processing speed. The Droid's main processor runs at 550 MHz, rather than at the higher rates possible with a heftier chip. But the main processor is also accompanied by a separate on-board graphics chip. And all of the apps I saw operating on Wednesday seemed to be running quite fast enough.
All of the Droid's rich functionality is accessible just by touch, without the need for a stylus. By comparison, Microsoft's Windows Mobile is just starting to reach that goal in its own new version 6.5.
Also in the plus column is the Droid's very broad 3G reach. On maps supplied by Verizon Wireless, you can graphically compare Verizon's huge US coverage area to the much scantier areas served by T-Mobile, Sprint, and even AT&T -- whose 3G network is used by Apple's iPhone in the US.
Sitting in its pint-sized multimedia station, while running clock and radio apps, the Droid becomes a digital alarm clock. Pop the Droid into its car mount, and the gizmo turns into a voice-capable on-board GPS system.
Although earlier Android phones have run Googe Maps, the Droid is the first to integrate turn-by-turn navigation, said Google's Michael Siliski, during another demo. This integration also includes Google Latitude and Street Views. According to Siliski, you don't even need to give a street address to get turn-by-turn instructions for driving to a restaurant, for instance.
Siliski told me that it's way too early to tell whether Google will ever market its GPS navigation outside the US.
"We're still in beta with this," he noted. Yet the Droid's just announced Google Maps Navigation is due to leave test mode when the phone ships on November 6.
I am a mac guy.... I have had the iphone and I now have the DROID....who gives a rats azz about the keyboard or the running multiple apps....Its all about the SVC....ATT SUX AZZ I paid to cancel and sold my iphone to someone that paid more then I paid for it. I cant txt and drive with a phone thats touch screen only...I have had the phone all day, was first in line to get it and I have been running my music player and taking pics and txting all day....the bat is JUST NOW orange....9 hours l8r...who gives a crap about xtra batts, Plug the damn thing the car charger or the charger if your at work and move on...Jesus christ....
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|Steve is going to show multitasking at the next conference and declare it the best new idea he has had.
Bets? ;)
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Score: -5
|Did everyone with an iPhone want me to send them a MMS text with screen shots of the difference between an iPhone and Droid? Oh, that's right... sorry.
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|I really like the mobile phone which has QWERTY keyboard
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|"As advertised, too, the Droid runs multiple apps simultaneously..."
If it doesn't have two cores or two processors, it runs them concurrently, not simultaneously.
There are a lot of conditions to the success of this phone, but hopefully Motorola won't have messed up another of their big deal phones.
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|And drains the battery faster than the iPhone.
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|Good thing you can swap batteries then, eh?
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|So for decent battery life I have to spend even more money to get an extra battery. I don't have to carry an extra battery around for my iPhone. Multitasking is not a good thing on any smartphone whether the battery is user replaceable or not. Despite what a lot of people seem to think, a smartphone is not a laptop.
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|"Multitasking is not a good thing on any smartphone"...in your opinion.
For me? I'd love to be able to run more than one app at a time...and if that means I have to plug my damned phone in every night so I can? Big deal.
A few extra bucks for a spare battery (or plugging it more often) so I can have the functionality I want (along with a better camera, better screen, and better OS) is nothing.
...and how do you know the battery life is so horrible? This device ain't even out yet. Source please.
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|FYI:
From techcrunch's Droid/iPhone match-up:
"Battery Life:
lemon
I’ll be honest: I haven’t done a formal battery life test with the Droid. Hell, I’ve never done one with the iPhone, either. That said, I’ve been using both devices equally throughout the day, and they’re both hovering around a 50% charge. This holds true with what I’ve seen for the last few days of testing; the Droid’s battery life is right around par with the iPhone’s. The Droid’s 1400 mAh battery is slightly larger than the iPhone 3GS’ at 1150mAh, but the battery hungry multi-tasking probably cancels that out. Without any formal testing, I’ve got to declare it a tie.
The Winner: Tie (With a slight lean in Droid’s direction as it has a swappable battery – but really, what percentage of the population carries one?)"
So... :p
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|@PC_Tool: I used to carry an extra battery for my Samsung A900 because the 3G connection drained the battery quickly, though the 800 mAh battery wasn't quite enough for much use. Thin may be "in" but what good is a sophisticated phone when the battery is dead?
I wonder how good iPhone's battery is with music playing in the background while you're surfing the web, even on WiFi. Can you even do that with Droid?
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|Playing music while browsing?
You can on the Driod. The iPhone? Probably not so much... (That pesky multiple apps running thing)
FWIW: The link I posted leads to others and one of them states the battery life @ like, 6 hours of active use and 27 in suspend. Not sure on them...read 'em friday. The suspends may have actually been in days, though that would surprise me.
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|@smarterthanyou, Your serious? So of all the things a smartphone can do means nothing and the ONE thing that defines it, to claim the title 'phone', is the fact it can make phone calls? I don't think so.. They're all super small computers that can make phone calls...
With all due respect, your name sake doesn't suite you very well...
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|It may act like an iPhone, look like an iPhone and work like an iPhone but it's not an iPhone.
Wannabe's aren't good enough. I'll take the iPhone thank you.
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|Sarah_1 I do not want and iPhone everyone I know has one. Think different that is what I'm doing by getting this the day it comes out. Better option than the iPhone in my "opinion"
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|Except it doesn't look like an iPhone or act like an iPhone and isn't locked to a horrible 3G network and isn't under Apples control and has better features and so THANK GOD IT'S NOT AN IPHONE!
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|I see, so having a real keyboard is trying to be just like an iPhone? And running multiple apps concurrently is trying to be just like an iPhone? OK, you want an iPhone? Go get one. But try a bit harder to resist making ridiculous comments.
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|I think the point of the article is that it's NOT an iPhone. I detest apple's controlling platforms, so yeah, I'm gonna seriously look at this. Getting sick of hearing how iPhone is the end all beat all phone. Ya gotta be open to different functionality, not just what Apple feeds you.
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|As advertised, too, the Droid runs multiple apps simultaneously -- a feat achieved, of course, through Android multitasking capabilities.
It could be a miracle for Apple fans but I used it since more than two years ago with my poor BlackBerry Curve.
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|"I haven't had a change yet to try out for Droid's 5-megapixel autofocus camera"
Chance? :p
Nice to see the specs and some usage cases. Can't wait to hit a Verizon store and check 'em out for myself. Still going to wait a bit to buy one...not sure how a system that small with 2 processors is going to handle the heat.
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|"...not sure how a system that small with 2 processors is going to handle the heat."
I think the top picture may be an indication of just that. =)
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|Dang. I thought that was his eye. :p
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|Sounds like what the iPhone should have been. Only time will tell I s'pose.
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