Verizon Stores Will Open Early on the Droid's Launch Day

Ed Hardy · 11-05-2009, 07:01 AM

Many of Verizon Wireless’ retail stores will open early tomorrow for the launch of the Motorola Droid, a hotly-anticipated Android-powered smartphone.

Some stores will open at 7 am and others at 8 am Customers should check local stores for their opening hours. No Mall stores will open early.

The Droid will launch exclusively at Verizon stores and online on Friday, Nov. 6, where it will cost $200 with a new two-year service agreement after a $100 mail-in rebate.

This model will be releassed at Best Buy stores later on, where it will cost $200 without the mail-in rebate.

An Overview of the Motorola Droid
The Droid will be a slider, with a landscape-oriented QWERTY keyboard. It is going to have a 3.7-inch, 854-by-480-pixel (WVGA+) capacitive touchscreen with haptic feedback.

It will run Google Android 2.0, and will come with a suite of applications that can wirelessly synchronize with this company's services, including Gmail, Calendar, Contacts, and Maps.

For professionals, the Droid will offer Exchange ActiveSync and a Microsoft Office file viewer, and there are thousands of additional apps available in the Android Market.

Verizon's version of this device will have EV-DO mobile broadband, while T-Mobile's will apparently sport the 3G service HSPA, in addition to Wi-Fi, and Bluetooth.

This smartphone will include a microSD card slot plus it will have a 5 megapixel camera, 3.5 mm headset jack, a GPS receiver, and a 1400 mAh battery.

Source: Verizon

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MotionApps Classic · 11-05-2009, 08:11 AM

Well deserved. This phone is really stunning...

ward.smith · 11-05-2009, 03:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MotionApps Classic

Well deserved. This phone is really stunning...

I would prefer getting the Droid over the Pre after my Centro contract ends. Any chance you would consider creating an app to use Palm apps and sync with the Droid? I know this question was posed on another thread.

Varjak · 11-05-2009, 05:11 PM

I'm almost as eager to see this phone as I was to see the iPhone (although I'm not a line-sleeper). Still, my fires were banked a bit by David Pogue's (NY Times) review (which was generally positive but raised a few serious issues).

Edit: The biggest issue for me was the lack of internal memory for programs/apps. How much of an iPhone's memory (the whole 16/32 GB?) is available for apps? That seems like a MAJOR oversight on Motorola/Android's part.

Ed Hardy · 11-05-2009, 05:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ward.smith

Any chance you would consider creating an app to use Palm apps and sync with the Droid? I know this question was posed on another thread.

It was, and MotionApps is seriously considering an Android version, based on their comments. You can read these, and take part in this discussion, at:
http://forum.brighthand.com/showthread.php?t=272821

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Mi An · 11-05-2009, 06:29 PM

It seems like the review community treats this phone with kid gloves in reviews. Even while acknowledging the keyboard blows chunks to the point where an onscreen kb is almost preferable, despite the camera sucking all the chunks blown by the keyboard, despite jittery menus (completely unnecessary given the processor), android 2.0 lack of polish and quirks (incl more app crashes than normal), GPS result issues -- it's still mostly the best thing since sliced bread (err... the iPhone) because it's thin and sexy (and has great ads).

I don't blame Android fans for being excited about the resolution (though I don't consider 1st-to-WVGA to be much of a selling point--now that android supports it, there will be lots of wvga options soon enough), or to a lesser extent, the cortex cpu, and I definitely get the appeal of 3.7" of screen real estate in comparison to some anemic measurements on many phones. But where's the snapdragon? Is the thinness worth losing a trackball, hard buttons on the front and a usable keyboard? It gives you a kb option! shout the reviews, well congrats, you now have the option of crappy hardware text entry or crappy software text entry. When did the review world get so overwhelmed by function following form?

When they commonly dock huge points for units that are above average thickness as compared to phones that don't have a keyboard, but only marginally add points to dramatic usability increases, but their eyes roll into the back of their heads when it's thin but a pain in the asterisk to use then reviews stop meaning crap. I just hope most of the reviews I read on this were paid for by the manufacturer. It would suck if reviewers were doing all this hocking for free. I think if you're going to kiss ass, you ought to get paid for it.

There are plenty of phones that aren't for me that I don't hate on (Blackberry, Treo et al, Pre and even the iPhone (though I do hate on iPhone hype)) because I get their utility and user target. And I'm not going to hate on the droid (it looks like decent phone), but I will hate on the hype. I find android compelling in several ways, but this has to be the most over-rated phone rollout since the iPhone (and razrs before that--oh look, a theme). I don't consider anything I've read about as truly setting a high bar for future manufacturers to meet (WVGA will be plentiful in short order, and expect snapdragons soon)--the only bar being set here is a hype bar.

If you're the type of person who replaces phones every 6 mos, this as good a spot to go droid as any--it's a nice enough starter phone to get your feet wet. Otherwise it strikes me as a really bad long term buy both for 1) someone with real text entry needs or 2) someone who would have been satisfied with just 1 crappy text entry method where kb space could have been reallocated to other uses.

Ed Hardy · 11-05-2009, 07:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mi An

But where's the snapdragon?

A 1 GHz Snapdragon processor would have been a nice bonus, but it's not really necessary on Android. This OS isn't a bloated mess that needs a very powerful processor to plow through. The performance of the Droid is quite good on a 550 MHz processor.

Now Windows Mobile, there's an OS that can really benefit from a Snapdragon processor.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mi An

Is the thinness worth losing a trackball, hard buttons on the front and a usable keyboard?

I don't agree with you that the trackball was sacrificed. The trackball vs. D-pad debate is one that has fans on both sides. A trackball lets you whip the cursor from one side of the screen to the other, but when you get there you have to very carefully move your finger to hit Select, as a slight movement will cause you to select the wrong item. A D-pad, on the other hand, makes your cursor plod across the screen, but once you get there, you never hit the wrong item. It's a choice between speed vs. accuracy, and Motorola chose accuracy.

The lack of physical buttons on the front are a non-issue in my book -- there's nothing wrong with virtual ones. Just my opinion, of course, but that's all reviews are, someone's opinions.

The Droid's keyboard is definitely controversial. It's flat arrangement isn't ideal, but I think your comments are overly harsh. It is quite usable, something I can attest to with the way I've been using it for the last week. Is it my favorite hardware keyboard ever? No. Is it better than the keyboards on the Apple iPhone or Palm Pre? Absolutely.

Incidentally, if you haven't read my full review of the Droid by now, it's at:
http://www.brighthand.com/default.as...OS+2.0+Verizon
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jigwashere · 11-05-2009, 07:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ed Hardy

Just my opinion, of course, but that's all reviews are, someone's opinions.

Opinions of someone who is experienced, knowledgeable, articulate, and respected, that is.

Varjak · 11-06-2009, 05:39 PM

Mi An, you raise a bunch of issues I hadn't heard yet (other than the keyboard). I too think the 'thinness' thing is overdone, and said so in an early Droid thread. I'd easily allow for another millimeter or two to get slightly better keys and a bit more key travel and maybe a trackball or d-pad on the FRONT of the device.

You imply that the favorable reviews are 'paid.' I sincerely doubt that DAVID POGUE at the TIMES (who is routinely marked as an Apple fanboy and a Palm fanboy) was paid, and he generally liked the phone (while making what sounded like reasonable criticisms). While it's just one opinion, it's a fairly reliable, well-experienced opinion.

Hook · 11-06-2009, 06:10 PM

I notice Droid gets free advertising on the Google front page. Not bad to have the world's most popular search engine be underwriting your OS.

I'm not sure what the fuss over hype is-- that is what it takes to get your product out there. If you want to be an iPhone killer, you'd better first be an iPhone marketing killer. Verizon/Google/Motorola are doing a good job.

The thing is, hype doesn't do anything if the device doesn't live up to it at least partly. As many have said, it isn't about the feature list, it's about how they come together, the experience.

If all the reviewers are paid hacks, then we'll know soon enough and the device will wither away. Frankly, I think the Droid (which doesn't appeal to me) is doing a great job of marketing.