Motorola Droid - New Android-powered Phone

Post by trog @ 10:10am 31/10/09 | 24 Comments

The next in the seemingly endless line of "iPhone killers" has been released recently - the Motorola Droid. A quick feature list:

- Runs Android 2.0 as the OS
- full QWERTY keyboard in "world's slimmest" profile
- 5mp camera (720x480 resolution video capture)
- Exchange support
- New Google Navigation support for GPS/turn-by-turn directions
- plays AAC, H.263, H.264, MP3, MPEG-4, WAV, WMA, OGG, eAAC+, AMR WB, AMR NB, AAC+, MIDI media natively

The full list of tech specs is available on the official site. It's obviously heavily aligned with Google. Not sure on Australian release information, but it looks pretty interesting on paper. Engadget have a hands=on with some videos as well.

motorola droid android

Latest Comments

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Spook
Posted 10:10am 31/10/09

i declare this phone superior to the iphone

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Carson
Posted 10:28am 31/10/09

I declare this better than my HTC Dream.

Now if only Optus gave a s*** to support the android platform it might actually do well in Aus.

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Dan
Posted 10:29am 31/10/09

NETWORKS3
CDMA 1X 800/1900, EVDO rev A

Whut?

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BillyHardball
Posted 10:48am 31/10/09

Haha, the overuse of the term "iPhone killer" has made the term pretty useless, so now people will just ignore it, because every iPhone killer so far has not lived up to the title. Kinda like the terms "organic", "natural", and "fat free". Utterly useless.

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Spook
Posted 10:54am 31/10/09

it means something to me billy

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Opec
Posted 11:26am 31/10/09

Yeah I really want this phone. Either that or Moto CLIQ. Android 2.0 is pretty much now ready for prime time.

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deadlyf
Posted 12:01pm 31/10/09

Motorola sure know how to make ugly phones.

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Martz
Posted 12:03pm 31/10/09

I just watched a cnet review by some asian chick, she mentioned the word "iPhone" so many times that she may aswell have put the droid down and pull the iPhone out of her pocket and talk about that haha

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Midda
Posted 12:14pm 31/10/09

I've been keeping an eye on this phone for a while now, it's looking pretty awesome. The term "iPhone killer" is retarded though. I would vastly prefer this phone over the iPhone, but it's Apple's marketing that makes the iPhone so popular, which no other phone has behind it.

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sparrow
Posted 01:20pm 31/10/09

Motorola sure know how to make ugly phones.

this.

I think this phone actually looks pretty decent, except how can they expect to compete with the iphone when it looks as terrible as it does? I'm still leaning towards the N900, at least it looks decent along with the myriad of cool features.

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simul
Posted 01:44pm 31/10/09

Engadgets review is in. Basically the best Android phone out, but not as good as the iPhone.

http://www.engadget.com/2009/10/30/motorola-droid-review/
http://www.engadget.com/2009/10/30/more-on-the-droid-thoughts-from-the-rest-of-engadget/

I think the DROID is the best phone on the market that isn't the iPhone.

If you must compare the DROID to the iPhone, then know that the Android platform still has a ways to go before the experience of using the phone is as seamless as the one Apple has created -- but also know that Apple has a long way to go before its messaging, email, and customization can match what Google is offering.

Yes, the DROID is an excellent smartphone with many (if not all) of the features that a modern user would expect, and if you're a Verizon customer, there probably isn't a more action packed device on the network. That's not to say the device doesn't have its faults; the camera was unpleasant to use, the application selection feels thin in both quantity and quality (despite the claim of 10,000 options), and the phone has bits of basic, non-intuitive functionality that might chafe on some users after a while. But even still, it's hard not to recommend the DROID to potential buyers eager to do more with their devices.

Also note the Verizon is CDMA, so its not going to be coming here for a while.

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Raven
Posted 02:24pm 31/10/09

One massive thing the iPhone has going for it is that it looks sleek and smooth - it doesn't look like a slab of shaved plastic.

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RockitMan
Posted 02:33pm 31/10/09

the s***** moving picture thing in the link was so annoying and hard to control it put me off looking at the article or phone any further.

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tequila
Posted 02:45pm 31/10/09

i think the big problem these "iphone killers" face is that so many people own iPhones, if they want to take a big chunk of the market they have to make it really something special

I dropped my N96 for an iPhone back in the day, it cost me money but it was worth it
I wouldn't get rid of my $1k iphone for anything unless it was something majorly awesome-o

The other problem is that Apple will keep making the iPhone better, so these "iPhone killers" are always going to be behind the 8 ball until someone brings out the majorly awesome-o phone for less than what the iPhone costs

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qmass
Posted 03:09pm 31/10/09

The biggest wall that all these phones face is the app store IMO.

The iphone has so much support mobilised for it now, major game publishers, squillions of utilities for everything imaginable - and the reason is because the user base is so large.

No other phone has this and I cannot see how any phone can break in now that the market is so dominated by the iphone.

If everyone developing apps for the iphone dropped the iphone and started developing for android phones then they might have a chance but that isnt going to happen and its very unlikely that a phone manufacturer will hit the nail on the head with every app you can think of and incorp it default into the phone. So althought you might be able to customize a s***load of settings inn a phone, you wont be able to do everything the iphone can do simply because it doesnt have the same development support that the iphone has.

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Twisted
Posted 03:25pm 31/10/09

Looks like s***. I like how she didn't know which way it slid to open in that video. All the android phones just look like crap...

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ViscoS
Posted 03:49pm 31/10/09

This reminds me of 'XMMO will be the WoW-killer'.

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Nathan
Posted 08:45am 01/11/09

but it's Apple's marketing that makes the iPhone so popular

No it isnt

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giririsss
Posted 08:53am 01/11/09

The biggest wall that all these phones face is the app store IMO.

Uhh, apart from the games publishers, i can't think of many apps that the Android market place hasn't got, that the iphone one does (if you discount the millions of apps that are just doubles of each other).

And quite a few of those game publishers have already said they plan to release onto the android market place too now.

So i'm not too sure thats much of a difference now.

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3dee
Posted 10:24am 01/11/09

but it's Apple's marketing that makes the iPhone so popular

The iPhone is the reason the iPhone is so popular. Apple's marketing is the reason why everyone wanted one, now a lot of it is word of mouth. "Hey, I'm thinking of getting one, are they good?" is a question I've been asked heaps of times, and I pretty much say "yes, they are good, get one".

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trog
Posted 10:36am 01/11/09

but it's Apple's marketing that makes the iPhone so popular
The iPhone is the reason the iPhone is so popular. Apple's marketing is the reason why everyone wanted one, now a lot of it is word of mouth. "Hey, I'm thinking of getting one, are they good?" is a question I've been asked heaps of times, and I pretty much say "yes, they are good, get one".

I reckon marketing was probably way less effective than word-of-mouth and playing-with-a-friends in the case of the iPhone.

It's the first real phone that has brought the relevance of software (and not being bent over by telcos) to the table. It's so mind-bogglingly different from the usual phone experience that it pretty much sells itself. And that's the single best thing about it; it has opened people's minds into what they should be expecting from a phone (and from a telco).

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BillyHardball
Posted 11:56am 01/11/09

Agreed trog. The implementation of iTunes store and app store is made so easy, that even if those options are available on other phones, they probably won't be as good. It's so easy for me to buy apps and music via my iPhone in such a short period of time, that I bought an iTunes music card, which puts me deeper into debt with Apple.

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Martz
Posted 01:54pm 01/11/09

Lol at marketing?? I don't buy something just cause someone tells me too. I played with an iPhone for 5 minutes and I was instantly sold. The only thing I hate about the iPhone is that everyone has got one and therefore everyone is being labelled an iPhone fanboi. But there is fanboi in it, it's just such a great phone.

last edited by Martz at 13:54:39 01/Nov/09

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Andrewus
Posted 02:35pm 01/11/09

<3 my nokia n97. definitely the only phone i have seen that comes close to iphone killer. 32gb internal memory + fm transmitter built in so you can play your tunes over your car radio very very easily :)

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