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Motorola Droid: The “iPhone Killer”?

Dan Thompson — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 04:05:33 +0000

There seems to be a whole lot of buzz surrounding the new Motorola Droid phone, so much so in fact that people are now referring to it as the “iPhone Killer”. With all that hype I just had to check one out for myself and try to answer the question; does it have what it takes to knock the iPhone off it’s perch as the coolest phone on the market? Since I’m including it in my Black Friday series for the WBIR Morning Show, you have probably already guessed that I like it… but just how much do I like it? Let’s take a look around the device and see what it’s strengths and weaknesses (Hint: there aren’t many) are, and I’ll let you decide for yourself.

What did you say?

Before we dive in, lets take a quick vocabulary break, as this has the potential to get a little confusing. Android is an operating system, designed by Google and the Open Handset Alliance, to run on phones and like devices… much the same way Microsoft Windows runs on your PC. Droid actually refers to a model of phone manufactured by Motorola and is currently available on the Verizon network in the US. So, while there are several phones on the market running Android, there is only one Droid phone.

Now that we’ve got that cleared up, I know there is another question looming in everyone’s mind… YES, there is a fart app. Moving right along.

It slices, it dices!

Lets cut right to the chase. From a feature standpoint, there was nothing I wanted the Droid to do that it couldn’t do. The Droid can be configured to check multiple email accounts, including your corporate Microsoft Exchange account (Android 2.0 supports this natively now), and then leaves it up to you whether you want see all those emails in a combined inbox or in separated mailboxes… and you can easily change this view at any time. In the combined mailbox configuration, email accounts are assigned a different color flag which is displayed to the left of each message, so even though all the emails are displayed at the same time you can still decipher which account the message came in on.

Composing emails can be done with an onscreen keyboard in either portrait or landscape layout, however if you don’t particularly care for the touch screen, slide it over and there is a keypad underneath (although, call me crazy, but I swear I can’t find the question mark on the keypad). This is a particularly nice feature as some people seem to just not quite get the hang of the onscreen keyboard. I would suggest that new users at least give it a shot though, as the word recognition seems to be pretty intelligent at determining what it is you were meaning to type… even if you fat finger the word pretty badly, and doing so in portrait mode is really the only way the phone can realistically be operated with one hand.

If you are using an Exchange account, all your contacts and calendar events can by synced to the phone in one easy step, which greatly simplifies day one of using your phone. You will note, however, that you now have a “Corporate Calendar” and a “Calendar”. The “Corporate Calendar” is obviously the one from your Exchange environment.

Surfing the internet is extremely easy as a Google search bar is built right in to the home screen. Tap twice and your recent searches are displayed. Favorites can be saved and placed right on the desktop as well, so you can quickly get to the websites you visit often. Non-mobile enabled websites render very well in the built in browser, and while the zoom feature is nice, I will admit it’s not quite as sexy as the iPhones’ two finger zoom in / out feature. Zooming is done by double-tapping the screen and selecting the zoom in / out button for the function you’re after. The browser will also log in to Google Wave as well, despite there being pretty stern sounding warning that it is not yet supported on the Android browser (apparently this is possible on the iPhone as well). While I was playing around with Wave on the Droid, the browser did crash a few times during certain actions, so clearly this is still being sorted out, but the mobile version of the page promises to be very user friendly and easy to navigate.

These days, everyone is concerned about the amount of apps that are available for a particular phone, and this is certainly an area where the Droid doesn’t leave anything on the table. Verizon claims there are over 10,000 apps for the Droid, and while I didn’t count them all, I can say there are a LOT of them out there. Android has a “market”, which is similar in functionality to the Apple App Store, that allows you to download apps and install them to your phone (which, like the App Store, may be free or have a small fee associated). One edge the Droid has over the iPhone (unless of course you want to void your warranty by jail breaking the phone) is that you don’t have to get your apps from the Android Market… you can download them from anywhere. I personally appreciate the openness of this platform in that light, however users need to be aware that installing apps that aren’t written very well could cause overall stability issues. All the popular apps; like Facebook, Twitter (checkout Twidroid), Pandora radio, YouTube, and so on, are readily available from the Market… some even come pre-installed on the phone (like Facebook and YouTube). Want to tether your phone to your laptop so you can surf the internet there (queue famous and now trademarked slogan regarding apps)? Check out an app call PdaNET.

An app that really stood out to me as a “game changer” was the total integration with Google Voice. If you haven’t checked Google Voice out yet you should really give it a look. The service allows you to consolidate all your phone numbers in to one number which can then forward to all your phones should you choose to set it up that way. The (free) service also provides visual voicemail and call blocking just to name a few. With the Android phones, you can configure the dialer to dial out as your Google Voice number or your actual cell number and there are no extra apps to launch before dialing… just open your address book and call someone. This is a great improvement over Google Voice integrations I’ve seen with other phones out there (read: Blackberry and iPhone). Additionally, the integration can be configured where it does not even prompt you, it simply dials everything through Google Voice (or not at all).

GPS / Navigation, while not singular to Android phones, is also another cool feature of the device and one of the more impressive apps. Using the maps from Google Maps, and audible turn-by-turn directions, it is as good or better than any of the dedicated GPS units on the market today. Turn on the satellite layer and zoom in and it will take you all the way to “street view” where the image on the screen is literally what you’re seeing out our windshield (FYI, this image doesn’t advance forward as you drive, you actually have to zoom back out to continue with the visual navigation. I would venture a guess that as hardware and connection speeds increase, this will be changed). Pretty amazing stuff really… so much so, it could be a little dangerous! I’m kind of a map geek anyway, so playing with all the functionality is best done in the parking lot… or the passenger seat. Oh, and by the way… because I know someone will ask, I had my wife drive me around while I was jumping between nav views and grabbing screenshots. I was not operating a vehicle AND doing all that at the same time. I have to draw the line somewhere. Note to entrepreneurs out there; someone make a windshield mounted holder for the Droid like all the other GPS units have and you’ll make some sales I promise (I require a 10% royalty fee for the idea though). In addition to driving routes, you can also search walking routes, bus routes, find local favorite restaurants, movie theatres… you name it.

…But is it the iPhone killa?

I could go on and on about the features, but really, you get the idea. The phone is awesome. So how does it stack up against the iPhone? In my opinion it fares very well against the iPhone. It might not be as rounded, and some would argue it is not as pleasing to the eye; but does it do everything that the iPhone does? Absolutely yes. Would this be a good alternative to the iPhone to people who want better coverage than AT&T has to offer? I mean, after all, Verizon is going to great lengths to tell everyone their network is better (to which I would agree). Absolutely yes. So will the Droid knock the iPhone off its perch as the coolest phone in the land?? No. Why? Because in my opinion there is so much more to the iPhone than just the device. I think people who make statements like that miss the fact that Apple turns each of it’s products into a franchise. Their marketing people are geniuses, their brand recognition is off the charts, and THAT is something that can’t be outdone by simply releasing a device that “does the same thing”. Six months (or less) from now there will be another phone, by a different name, and probably running Android, that will hit the market… all the while, there will always be an iPhone. Is it possible that the sum of all Android phones sold will be greater than that of iPhone sales? Absolutely… unless of course Apple adds more networks to the fold and then I would say you can forget it.

Should you check out the Droid if you’re considering the iPhone? YES!

Okay, so let’s talk price. As of this writing, the Droid can be had for $199 with a mail-in rebate and a contract commitment. The plans for the phone start out around $69 a month ($39 / month voice plan + $30 / month data plan), which lines it up exactly with the 16GB 3GS iPhone (which I might add here that the Droid comes with 16GB of storage but is upgradable… try THAT with an iPhone. Oh yeah, and you can replace the battery yourself instead having to send it off).

That’s what I think… what do YOU think?

– Dan Thompson

P.S. Special thanks to my friends over at Cellular Sales for hooking me up with a Droid to demo… I promise I’ll give it back one day.

Goodbye analog, hello… analog?

Dan Thompson — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 01:43:00 +0000

Well, it’s finally here folks… After a brief 4 month delay the switch to DTV is finally here. I got together with my friends at WBIR to talk about some things you’ll want to know going into the conversion which takes place tonight (video below), as well as to bid a fond farewell to analog. As Russell mentions in the spot, analog TV has brought us amazing images since the dawn of TV itself; everything from the lunar landing to the wedding of Prince Charles and Lady Diana. Television, with the help of analog signaling has truly changed the world. But, how did we get to this point and where are we going from here? Well, lets take a look.

As I have mentioned before, this whole thing started back in 2005 when the US Congress passed the “Deficit Reduction Act of 2005” which mandated the move from analog TV to digital by February 17, 2009. Along with this mandate came $1.5 billion (see the irony?) in funding to give to the American people to help them purchase converter boxes so they wouldn’t be left with “snow” after the great switch. The next great twist in the story comes with the election of President Obama. He and the current Congress decide that the people aren’t ready, and so push the deadline back to June 12, 2009. I’m pretty sure it’s going to happen this time. =)

So why make the change in the first place and how in the world could this possibly help reduce a deficit? Great question. The FCC’s knee jerk response to the first part of that question is that it provides a better viewing experience for everyone, and allows for more channels. You didn’t know they cared so much, did you? Keep reading and you get to the good part. They also mention that these freed up frequencies will be used for emergency responders like police, ambulance services, etc… AND some of it will be sold off to private companies. Ahhh… there we go. Turns out the FCC turned that $1.5 billion investment into $19.6 billion by selling off some of the analog channels… the largest purchasers being AT&T and Verizon Wireless. What are they going to do with it? Awesome question. Heard of 4G yet? Verizon plans to increase the speed and footprint of it’s network with part of the frequency block it purchased into what is now being called the “4G” network (due out 2010). There are also rumors of more “TV type services” being relayed to phones as well talk of public WiFi offerings from both companies. Faster phones, faster internet connections, and cool new stuff on our phones? I’m in. It’s looking like our dear old friend Mr. Analog (or at least the airspace he used to occupy) isn’t going that far after all.

Take a look at the spot and let me know what you think, oh, and don’t forget to rescan those channels!

– Dan Thompson

Finding a Job Using the Internet

Dan Thompson — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 02:51:59 +0000

I recently sat down with my friends at WBIR to discuss a couple of ideas on using the internet to help find a job. Now, we’re not talking monster.com or other resume mills… we’re talking grassroots style stuff.

The first website we looked at was the Work at Home Mom online magazine. This site was setup to help stay at home moms, be work at home moms. If you’re a guy, don’t look away yet, this is by no means a “women’s only” club… it’s really a great resource for finding legit internet based jobs. So if you’ve got some free time, a computer / high speed internet connection, and a telephone… this is a good place to start. Jobs listed there are things like telemarketers, transcriptionists, reservationists, and things of that nature. Also, checkout the “scams” section. It does a good job at shedding some light on what to look out for so you don’t end up losing money trying to make money.

The second site we discussed is destined to be a Knoxville classic. Friends Casey Peters and Brandon Clarke started knoxify.com about a year ago to highlight things about Knoxville that make it unique. Touched by the recent lay-offs in our area, the pair decided to start the "Hire Me" series as a way for locals to get their resumes out there… best part is, it’s a free service they’re providing the community. Very cool stuff.

Here’s the video from the spot, check it out and let us know what you think!

– Dan Thompson