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youtube.com - You don't need to get a phone. You need a phone that gets you.
197 Comments
- Gudeldar, on 10/29/2009, -7/+125What a terrible article.
"I have come to appreciate the iPhone's on-screen keyboard and may not like the feel of the Droid's keyboard."
So he hasn't even used the Droid yet and he is giving it a scorecard based on his speculation of what the Droid MIGHT be like? WTF?
"The Droid has Microsoft Exchange support, which is very important to many business users, but not to me."
Who cares what is or isn't useful to you personally? "This feature is popular but I don't need it so who gives a *****!"
"If I were a big Google apps user, I would be more interested in the Droid right away. However, my Gmail account merely forwards messages to the iPhone and I am happy with that."
You can use Google Apps through the browser which both phones have. As for the second part, who cares? - thewhits, on 10/29/2009, -3/+82Strange how he didn't mention the one thing that's preventing me from buying a iphone...
AT&T
I'm getting a Droid so I can stay on my Verizon service that's waaay better than what the iphone is stuck with... - labizau, on 10/29/2009, -3/+75"The Droid has Microsoft Exchange support, which is very important to many business users, but not to me."
This article sucks - it is from the "Business Center" of PCWorld, but ignores the business functions of Android 2.0. - Frankzulla, on 10/29/2009, -10/+77The iPhone is a great device, but I'm sure I'm not the only one that's been waiting for something just as sleek that didn't drop the keyboard. Touch screens are neat, but I still prefer an actual keyboard for typing.
- NoNamesLeft, on 10/28/2009, -2/+57The Droid is not the only phone which will have a lot of these features. I've got an HTC Magic (MyTouch) which is definitely not as sexy as the iPhone or Droid in terms of hardware, but overall the Android experience has been solid and I have been seeing it get better and better with each update. 2.0 looks to be a real winner, can't wait till they roll it out to my Magic.
I think Apple have definitely got something to consider with Android 2.0 and Droid. - Zomgondo, on 10/29/2009, -7/+48Well, he sums up the Apple fanboy argument pretty well anyway.
- antoniuk, on 10/29/2009, -4/+38Nothing matters until the phone is out in the wild for 3-6 months. The pre had all sorts of wow offerings and while it is a great phone, has not taken off.
So long as the Droid series of phones are solid and built to last, Android 2.0 is useable at launch and the user experience is fluid and not overly complex, I can see this becomng a dominate phone for tech geeks. - BookaShade, on 10/29/2009, -2/+32The author implements his own experiences and loyalty to this "score card"
He stats he likes the iPhone key board better then the Droid slide key board cause it has "grown on him" He hasn't given the Droid a chance.
I think Droid's biggest strength is multi tasking or widgets. I can play music, look at news, watch a video, and look at updated scores of games all on one screen. - BobTurtle, on 10/29/2009, -2/+28I couldn't agree more. All of the author's Droid scores are based on hypotheticals. He hasn't actually touched a Droid phone yet. Buried.
- Dougman82, on 10/29/2009, -0/+18Coolness of these devices aside, I just simply can't come to terms with the idea that people believe paying $100+ per month is an acceptable price to have a smart phone. I'd love to have a Droid or an iPhone, but it is simply too cost prohibitive.
- bloominoctober, on 10/29/2009, -1/+19FTA: "I will update this when I have Droid-specific experience to relate."
How can you write a 'review' when you haven't actually USED the product you're 'reviewing'??? - secretdiffusion, on 10/29/2009, -7/+24I don't see how Apple could win the Ecosystem portion. How does not wanting to sell all apps, videos, or music make Google lose? Apple is exploiting the fact that even the most useless app will cost $5.
- cwcentral, on 10/29/2009, -7/+23"I have come to appreciate the iPhone's on-screen keyboard and may not like the feel of the Droid's keyboard. This could be a tiebreaker later on."
WTF? try typing a 100 character message. Nuff said, virtual keyboards suck--that's why we don't see them on laptops. Even in landscape mode, you'll be likely to type 20 characters before going nuts.
"Right now, Android appears to be the better smartphone operating system, but it is too early to tell."
Huh? If this was a iPhone vs. WebOS/Pre, the iPhone wins hands down, even though the Pre is evolving as well... None of this it's too early to tell. Android is built with Java-like principles and is highly modular and SAFE. Obj-C and OSX, not so in a small device...all previous iPhone reviews have been about NOW and iPhone always win (cough), why not this review?
"100,000 iPhone apps can't be wrong!"
Pure BS! I've said it over and over. Apple's appstore: 2% apps made by 1 vendor, 10% dictionary apps (most same), almost 1% fart apps, 20% sound bite apps by a handful of developers. Nearly 50% of the appstore apps follow the paradigm: 1 codebase (1 real app), different content. hell, I sell 4 apps: IT'S THE SAME APP, I 2 code lines changed to point it to a different directory, but different content for each--so it's defined to Apple as independent apps!!!!!! Apple is treating every bit of content a different app! It's typically the other way around. What this ends up is customers being nickelled-n-dimed. Come-on, 2% of the appstore apps by 1 vendor on essentially the same product!! (look up the travelto app, multiple destinations). This is pure BS marketing and does not represent the quality, diversity of apps!
The only thing Apple wins in his review is the only subjective criteria: ECOSYSTEM?!! Obviously, he thinks a DRM-controlled, 1 hardware vendor ecosystem is better than an open system. That I need to copy my music from iTunes onto DVD and then back onto my G1 to get it OFF iTUNES is a panacea as he points to! Huh? WTF? Why can't I just drag-n-drop my files to my new mobile device?.... He's disillusional.
This article smells of 100% Apple Astroturfing. - falcon3ds, on 10/29/2009, -3/+19Apple with the iPhone is becoming the Apple of desktop OS, Android is the Windows of desktop OS. The Apple II sparked the whole PC industry, everybody loved it, then Microsoft and IBM came out with the first PC(the G1) and with it an stampede of PC clones, you had a lot of companies pumping out PCs like crazy of every shape and color, can you see the connection? It's the same thing that's gonna happen with Android and iPhone, Apple with two phones can't compete with every phone manufacturer (except Nokia) having hundreds of Android phones out there.
- amcnair, on 10/29/2009, -3/+17The Google Maps app is really the killer here. Combine that with the fact that it's NOT on AT&T, and I believe Verizon will have a real winner.
- jcaino, on 10/29/2009, -1/+13Lame article which is based on pretty much nothing but opinion and speculation.
- BabySinister, on 10/29/2009, -0/+10actually RIM is dominating the smartphone market still. look at that article i think its on the front page
- jv2k, on 10/29/2009, -0/+10The score card doesn't make sense because in the end the iphone wins because despite being the losing or tying most of the categories.
- chockster, on 10/29/2009, -2/+11Or charge it? I mean, I have a computer at home and a computer at work. It's not inconceivable that I could have a USB cable at both places. So even if I get usage-heavy in the evening, the daytime charge will carry it.
- theOster, on 10/29/2009, -1/+10i also love seeing the apps comparison - 100,000 to 10,000 - the iphone is an order of magnitude better!!! *****. how many of those apps are redundant? and how many are you really going to install? all 100,000?? then you're an idiot.
- phyx726, on 10/29/2009, -0/+9Droid has a separate GPU for graphics. So it'll be like comparing a computer with a slightly faster cpu running an onboard video card versus a computer with a video card. For gaming, Droid is said to be faster than a PSP. The cpu on the droid is clocked down for battery life, but you can clock it up with Android.
- Samohtneas, on 10/29/2009, -2/+11This is pretty ridiculous. I stopped reading when he said the iPhone keyboard had grown on him, and then that he hasn't even tried the Droids? And he's going to make a judgement based off of that?
***** this biased fanboy *****. - rholland356, on 10/29/2009, -1/+8I have to agree, this article needs polish. This author needs an editor! Everyone please raise a toast to the memory of the tough-as-nails editorial profession.
I fail to understand why having 100k apps in the Apple apps store has an influence on this writer. How many apps can one person truly use on a phone? There must be no more than, what, 25 very good apps and only a handful of killer apps. All the rest are meant for whimsy. - EdgarG8, on 10/29/2009, -1/+8Lol, thats what I thought as soon as I read that line. If someone is writing for a business website it should include the business part of what they're writing for.
- potamkin, on 10/29/2009, -4/+11I actually think the iPhones virtual keyboard is brilliant, but only because the predictive text on the iphone is epic in my opinion.
- jv2k, on 10/29/2009, -1/+8Well said. Not counting nokia's huge market share, the iphone made smart phones "cool" and apple's one platform strategy is going to kill it while android is going to win.
There are going to be about 7 different android phones by the end of the year on different mobile networks running on different hardware competing with the iphone on one network. All projections are showing that android is going to surpass apple in a few years and it's not much of a surprise. - BookaShade, on 10/29/2009, -0/+7It's hard work when I have to prove someone wrong.
http://www.engadget.com/2009/10/28/motorola-droid- ...
Watch the video at 1 min 20 seconds.
Shows all of Droid's multitasking capabilities.
Its ok we all make mistakes sometimes. =P - Samohtneas, on 10/29/2009, -1/+8Wrong. The iPhone 3GS and the Droid share the same Cortex A8 processor. I imagine the Droid has been underclocked for the sake of battery life. (Spreadsheets will show the Droid has about one hour longer life than the iPhone 3GS, assuming you are loading it down with nonstop usage of net, music, apps and messaging)
It probably means the Droid won't be burning a hole in your leg either! - Samohtneas, on 10/29/2009, -0/+6Mommy had enough sense not to buy a contract on AT&T then.
- BubblesTheChimp, on 10/29/2009, -0/+6If you're willing to wait that long to get an iPhone on another carrier, then you don't really need one.
- illinest, on 10/29/2009, -1/+7Having just picked new Verizon phones recently I think it's safe to say that this phone is poised to succeed if only because there's not much competition at the top of the Verizon lineup. They haven't had anything too attractive in the 'premium' segment, so it's exciting that users can finally get a full-featured smart phone to go along with the best cellular network.
Your experience may differ of course, but when we switched from AT$T to Verizon we had a noticeable decrease in the number of dropped calls. - BabySinister, on 10/29/2009, -0/+6what i mean by my previous post is that the inherent nature of the iphone store inhibits actual development. apple keeps too close a tap on whatever comes out there (google voice, layar and the like) whilest on android (in part because it is currently backed by the open source community) we see a major uprising of new technology being tried, and (not always) succeeding.
dont get me wrong, the iphone has done tons to polish the development that was already there to a point where the general public becomes interested. however (sadly) a lot of apps on the iphone serve either no actual purpose, or are copies/ripoffs of other services.
id say on android the people vetting the apps are the community, in my mind thats a positive thing. are we going to see ***** apps on android? most definetly! however we are also going to see the bold new innovations.
Layar is extremely important since at this point Android seems to be the only smartphone OS currently offering Augmented Reality, AR is going to play a major role in the future, and Layar is paving the way.
since Android is open source, we will see the development in terms of actual new software ideas there first. however this comes with a downside, it makes it less user friendly, less slick, and less "fun". therefore i dont think android poses a real threat to the iPhone. casual gaming and the like are the way to go if you want to reach the mainstream. iPhone is the system to introduce new technology to the masses, however if you are interested in keeping up with innovation, you are going to have to look at android. - jv2k, on 10/29/2009, -0/+6Extended battery.
All I gotta say. $20/30 investment and your phone becomes a functional beast. - lukas88, on 10/29/2009, -3/+9As an android user, I am extremely happy to see what google can do with a phone's OS. It is extremely functional and infinitely less "locked down" than apple software. Like the computer market, we are likely to see a division with people who are attracted to freedom, choices, and functionality going with the android platform and people who are more concerned about finesse, fashion, and quality of hardware going with the iPhone. And people who aren't sure what an "operating system" is going with windows mobile.
- secretdiffusion, on 10/29/2009, -2/+8The scorecard is: He would buy the iPhone because it has "grown on him"
- EdgarG8, on 10/29/2009, -3/+9AT&T sucks balls it drop calls left and right. The iPhone is good but slow at times. As soon as my contract is over I'm jumping into something that isn't AT&T. Maybe not this Droid but probably something with better coverage.
- bluehouse, on 10/29/2009, -4/+10I had an iPhone and I switched to the HTC Hero because I got sick of Apple dictating to me what I can and can't do with my phone. Want to change the wallpaper? Want to change the icons? Sorry you're going to have to hack the OS. Seriously? Get with the program Apple
- CBKBAMF, on 10/29/2009, -3/+9I'm with you... I'm hoping that TMO will release another Android phone (with 2.0 or Sense) and retain the keyboard sometime soon. I need a good option (besides the Cliq) to upgrade my G1 to.
- Antialias, on 10/29/2009, -0/+6I haven't jumped on board yet mostly because of the cost, but when you really think about it you already pay $50-60 a month for the phone so the only difference is the $30 a month for the data plan(more like $40 with taxes/fees). $40 a month for always on net access wherever you go seems a lot more reasonable than $100+.
- amcnair, on 10/29/2009, -0/+6@greggerm: Point well taken. The Google Maps app will cache mapping data along the route when you enter it in. So it takes a little planning if you are going to be going rural. Keep in mind that Verizon's network is far superior to everybody else in rural coverage. (No, I'm not shilling for Verizon, but I do know a little about cell providers.)
More preliminary info:
http://www.engadget.com/2009/10/28/google-navigati ... - lukas88, on 10/29/2009, -0/+5Maybe you read a different article. On several key points they sided with the iPhone. In fact, the overall verdict was to get the iPhone instead.
Please point out this bias you speak of. - BabySinister, on 10/29/2009, -1/+6im pretty psyched about this,
a keyboard, open system, real software development (most notably Layar).
finally a smartphone worthy of replacing my ancient HTC TyTn - lilbitmoreslyk, on 10/29/2009, -0/+5I can understand this guy being biased its a personal review, but the dude at CNET writing this article, please just don't be biased especially when according to your scoring the Droid is better. Of course better is nowadays opinion.
- Samohtneas, on 10/29/2009, -1/+6Clock speed ≠ Processor speed
- inactive, on 10/29/2009, -1/+6The iPhone is currently enjoying a generous because it matters how entrenched a product is in the consumer awareness (how do you think MS Word beat Word Perfect?). People think "Smartphone" and they instantly think "iPhone". That and the fact that the range of applications you need are there. Though this review is a good one, he doesn't give any nod to the fact that certain categories are a hundred times more important than others... and there, largely, are the categories in which the iPhone comes out on top.
Don't get comfortable with this, however. As we can see from this article, things change. There are a lot of smart people out there figuring out how to do it better, and the iPhone rules primarily because it caught other companies sleeping at their post. I don't think that this time next year Apple will be enjoying the easy ride that it is right now. - SpiderTeets, on 10/29/2009, -0/+5totally agree
and if you hate physical keys (and no one does) then use android's on screen keyboard!
and 100000 apps cant be wrong? as long as VZW markets the droid correctly then android will have 100 000's of apps soon enough, esp on such a huge network - Railz, on 10/29/2009, -0/+5Having any dropped calls is bad. I've had zero dropped calls on Verizon - except one, and I was walking into a concrete underground room so...
- jv2k, on 10/29/2009, -0/+5No he means that image behind the buttons on the OS's desktop.
- nutmac, on 10/29/2009, -0/+5Summary: Droid might be the winner if I ever get to use it. On the other hand, iPhone might be the winner if I ever get to use Droid.
- rhythmchanges, on 10/29/2009, -1/+6This grinds my gears.
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