Ed Burnette’s Dev Connection

Motorola DROID on Verizon: Is this the iPhone killer you're looking for?

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Android
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Google

Motorola and Verizon officially announced the DROID this morning, surprising many with an earlier than expected release date

(November 6) and a lower than expected price ($199 after rebate). Droid is the first phone running version 2.0 of the Linux-based Android operating system (which itself was just announced yesterday). Droid boasts a glorious 3.7" FWVGA (480x854) capacitive multi-touch display, which works out to 260 dots per inch and a true 16:9 HD aspect ratio. By contrast, the Apple iPhone is only 3.5" HVGA (320x640), at 160 dots per inch and a 1.5:1 aspect ratio. Bottom line: on the Droid you'll get crisper graphics, smoother letters, high definition movies without letterboxing, and web pages with less scrolling.

In addition to an on-screen keyboard it also features a super-thin QWERTY slide-out keyboard. Yet somehow Motorola managed to squeeze all that in a package that is almost exactly the same size as the iPhone. It's a little heavier, though:

	Motorola Droid	Apple iPhone
Width	60.0mm (2.36in)	62.1mm (2.44in)
Height	115.8mm (4.56in)	115.5mm (4.55in)
Depth	13.7mm (0.54in)	12.3mm (0.48in)
Weight	169g (5.96oz)	135g (4.76oz)

In a departure from other Android phones, the Droid has no physical keys on the front. Instead, it has a touch sensitive area below the screen that accesses the back, menu, home, and search functions. If you've ever tried to apply a screen protector to a phone with lots of buttons on it, or you've gotten dirt and grit in the tiny cracks around the buttons, you'll appreciate this "slab" approach. Other features:

Webkit HTML5 based browser with geolocation and video support; Flash 10 on the way next year
Exchange, Gmail, IMAP, POP, Macmail, Hotmail, Yahoo, AOL mail support
Bluetooth 2.1+EDR Stereo, 3.5mm Headset jack, microUSB 2.0 with charger
Advanced video record/playback at D1 resolution (720x480) with up to 24fps capture and 30fps playback, MPEG-4, H.263, H.264
5.0 megapixel autofocus camera with dual LED flash and image stabilization (digital I presume)
16GB microSD card included, 32GB supported
aGPS and sGPS, turn-by-turn directions
TI OMAP 3430 Cortex A8 ARM CPU with GPU for faster graphics

It looks like Motorola and Verizon have a hit on their hands with the Droid. Related articles:

posted by Ed Burnette
October 28, 2009 @ 11:12 am

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