Motorola Droid

[Captain Gary]

I gave in to the hype and bought a Droid yesterday.

First impression; I LIKE IT!

Battery life is quite good. The slide out keyboard will take some practice.

Most reviews mentioned the 5MP camera as a negative, but I think it is fine. Works well in low light and has a strong flash.

Thousands of apps, and the Verizon network can't be beat.

Took me about 3 minutes to write this post. I hope to get faster with practice.

Gary (with his new toy)

[Chicago Jake]

Cool! That's the Verizon Android phone, right? Same operating system as my G1.

I recommend an app called "Where" that finds stuff around you, wherever you happen to be. Like restaurants, cheap gas, the weather, etc.

Also - the Google Maps feature makes a nice replacement for a GPS. It gives you turn-by-turn directions, AND it has real-time traffic info.

[Captain Gary]

Yes, Ver. 2.0 Droid OS. The turn by turn directions seems to work quite well. I need to get that application, it worked well when you used it here.

Gary

[♥ COVID-19♥]

Thanks for the review, Capt. -- I have Verizon also and was wondering if this phone would be any good (I like to give Google benefit of the doubt). A year ago, I got an LG Voyager, which I'm not crazy about, so I have to wait another year before getting a new phone. I was considering a Blackberry, but maybe I'll have to keep this one in mind.

[Chicago Jake]

If you are interested in the Android (Google) OS, this is a good time to keep your eyes open. There are only about four phones on the (US) market right now, but probably a dozen more or so scheduled to come out by the holidays.

I've only had mine for five months, so I have a ways to go before I upgrade, but I'm already watching to see what I'll get next. The innovations are coming in leaps and bounds.

[Captain Gary]

There are 2 great apps I found over the weekend that are just great!

One is a price checker. You scan the barcode in with the camera then it goes out and finds the best price.

The other is Google Sky. Once you start it up and tell it where you are, you just point the phone and the display shows what is visible in the sky. It is quite amazing and VERY accurate.

Gary

[Chicago Jake]

I use the Google Sky Map all the time. Even made a buddy of mine, who is very proud of his iPhone (which lacks the hardware to run it), jealous.

[♥ COVID-19♥]

FWIW, very nice review on ZDNet...

With Motorola Droid, Verizon puts doubts about Google Android platform to rest

Motorola’s Droid made a big splash two weeks ago when it debuted in a Verizon teaser ad during prime-time across the country and slammed America’s favorite smartphone, the Apple iPhone. Now that it’s finally been fully revealed, it’s clear that the Droid has become the yardstick by which all Android smartphones are to be measured.


The Droid is Motorola’s second smartphone using Google’s free mobile platform, joining the Cliq on T-Mobile. While that phone focused on social communication integration by adding an innovative layer of software and services called Motoblur, it was at times sluggish, much like the T-Mobile G1 and myTouch 3G handsets that also run on Android.

Up until now, Android hasn’t had enough horsepower — by hardware or software — to give the well-thought out iPhone serious competition. That’s no longer the case, as the Droid is bulging with premium features both outside and in