We knew
good and well this thing was coming sometime in November, and now Verizon Wireless has made it official: the Motorola DROID will hit Big Red on November 6th for $199 on contract (after a $100 mail-in rebate). Naturally, the
DROID itself is just the first of what
could be many Android-laced phones coming to the carrier, and Verizon Wireless CMO John Stratton even stated that the phone "is wide open" -- pretty big words from a company like VZW. Android 2.0 will be front and center, along with Visual Voicemail, a 3.7-inch display (854 x 480 resolution), 5 megapixel camera (with dual-LED flash), a bundled 16GB memory card and a beta version of
Google Maps Navigation(!). For those wondering, yeah -- the DROID is the first phone to offer that, which transforms Google Maps into a turn-by-turn routing system that'll have your dedicated TomTom / Garmin trembling in fear. There's also a slide-out QWERTY keyboard, 3G, WiFi, voice-activated search and over-the-air Amazon MP3 downloads. With all that, who needs the iPhone,
right Ivan?
Update: Check on our
in-depth hands-on coverage on the DROID, Google Maps Navigation and the accessory dock!
posted October 28th 2009 10:23AM
You're usless without a data plan.
A phone's features are not usually locked into a data plan (unless it's a provider feature like Verizon's GPS stuff). Simply fiddle with the phone's settings or download an app that disables the 3G communication. You will not loose any of the phone's features.
Looks like they will require a "connect" plan (unlimited data) at the least. Hopefully won't require the top-end premium plan to use the Google Navigation (like VZ nav).
I think I'll stick with my iphone, not really into physcial keyboards. Dorid looks nice though.
Hmm, after watching the video, i want that phone even less.
I love my iPhone now, I will not hesitate to look around when my contract is up. Competition is good for all of us, we now have so many toys to choose from.
Come on HTC!! Do something!!!
I'm going to buy this phone but the website Verizon put up is terrible. Way to write upside down on half your page. Way to make hard to tell what's a hyper link and what's just text so I have to play Myst all over again (I was always terrible at point and click adventure).
$29.99 is too much for me to spend on data...
Worst video. Ever. Perhaps the best phone. Ever.
My AT&T contract expires soon - this is looking out to be the iPhone killer.
The funny thing is I probably wouldn't mind the iPhone's ill-conceived Mail management, the lack of memory expansion, the crappy camera (with no video except for the 3Gs), the brutish Apple controlled App review process, no battery accessibility, etc., - it all comes down to AT&T's crappy network. I keep it on Edge now just to guarantee 100% call/SMS receiving abilities and greatly improved battery life. 3G blows on AT&T.
I have a theory that I will prove on nov 6.
I will use bloggers as part of experiment.
It's simple if android sells over a million in first week I'm wrong.
If it sells less than million in first week then bloggers that were overhyping the crap outta this are just that all talk. Talk is cheap muthaf******.
Damn it's hot!
This is not a comment on Motorola, but this introductory mail-in rebate business should be illegal. In the past, peoducts would be introduced at MSRP, and if they weren't selling well, or a new version was coming out the company would offer a rebate. Many of the new phones come with a rebate from day one. First, they are counting on some percentage of buyers to forget to mail in the rebate. Second, they are able earn interest on the rebate money for a period of weeks before they send you back your own money. The interest earned from keeping the money of thousands of people is not insubstantial. In this example, the Droid phone will never be sold for $299.00, so it's not really a rebate in the spirit of the word, it it just an excise tax. People should be upset about this, but no one seems to care.
Phones like this will keep me from ever leaving Verizon. At my next update a little less than a year from now there will be a wide variety of smartphones on Verizon. This thing looks awesome, plus they have a variety of Blackberrys, they'll have the Pre, and more Android devices. Finally Verizon is stepping it up on the hardware side of things.
Ok, two questions. Is the G1 going to get Android 2.0? If not, is this unlocked out-of-the-box?
If no to the former and yes to the latter, then papa's gettin' himself a new phone.
Lots of things to like about this Droid, but one big deal breaker for me: it's not big enough.
Not the screen.
Not the keyboard.
Not the hard drive.
It's a phone trying to be a computer. As I wrote in my blog post today about the failings of the Nook, Kindle, and Sony e-readers: Put the phone and camera into a full featured device about the size of a netbook and THEN we'll have something!
http://www.booksblogsandbeyond.com/2009/10/who-needs-a-nook-kindle-or-sony-ebook-reader.html
Google Maps with navigation is best suited for Verizon's huge network, where you never have to worry about not having a connection. I know it may seem awesome, but if you're not on Verizon, this isn't quite what I need...I need it to work partially off the microsd card on my G1, otherwise as any T-Mobile user knows, this won't work with all the holes in coverage.
Will this be buy one get one?
Oh my good. I need to have this thing !!!!!!!
Sorry, am I missing something here? What's the fuss about? I'm honestly not seeing anything here that hasn't either been done before or that I would actually want. I'm more in the market for the iPhone but the Pre looked more elegant than this, particularly with respect to the notifications. This just looks like another "also ran", although the video probably didn't do the device any favours. Is this just another "it's not an iPhone so let's all get excited" scenario?
Wow. How many iPhone wannabes are they going to come out with before they realize that they will never be as good as Apple?
I was interested but I'm not liking that keyboard. The keys appear really close together and pretty flush. Can't be flatter than the iPhone I guess so it might be better than glass. We shall see.
I'm sick of AT&T so I will definitely be following this product.
People bashing the iPhone: you have to understand that the iPhone came around three years ago. This and all other iPhone rip-offs are so late. All these companies are now copying the iPhone and enhancing what Apple wasn't perfect on, because they have had the time to do so (THREE YEARS)
Apple will always have my respect because they are always the pioneers, Motorolla and whatever other companies are just copying Apple's homework and turning it in for credit.
In all fairness, Apple took about 3 years to fix those things too, like good ol' copy and paste, MMS, and exploding batteries. Really, I think everyone else is doing just fine.
You want a netbook, then go buy a damn netbook. This is a phone. Do you know what people do with phones? They hold them up to their ears. Try holding your huge ass netbook next to your ear for an hour, see how that feels. And please go shamelessly plug your blog elsewhere
A swing and a miss by Engadget's comment system. Was aiming for Mr. Tom Collins up there.
Android 2.0 owns. Finally some competition for the iPhone. This device looks promising, will have to see how the build quality holds up. The only complaint I have so far after actually using the device is the weight, but with keeping in mind the high quality feeling of the all metal enclosure + keyboard + large screen, I cannot say the weight isn't justified. Google is becoming a titan in the wireless/information world...it only will get better. The apps are for the most part is quality over quantity (not 10 different versions of a calculator application). And with now more android devices coming out for multiple carriers while the iDont just sits alone with AT&T its only a matter of time before we have mobile domination. This OS is Google's own "1984". Seems people aren't talking about the iPhone so much anymore are they. FTW
I want this soooo bad but im a poor college student who cant afford to dish out 30 dollars every month for data especially when i get free wifi everywhere on campus and in my dorm. is there a way to get the droid without the data plan?
But is it a world phone can someone answer that?
I have heard that you can use the phone world wide
Sorry is this posted already but I wanted to tell everyone the DROID is amazing! I tried it out last night in NYC. Street teams came up to me talking about it and it is truely great. camera takes amazing pictures are night, it is insanely fast, high res screen and google maps! I also got free tickets to a private concert with the YEAH YEAH YEAHS just for demo'ing the phone. Thanks VZ!
I know that the Droid is going to have multi-touch and its also going to have tethering capabilities (you can use it as an aircard for the internet)
http://fakekiwi.com/technology/motorola-droid-has-multi-touch/
http://fakekiwi.com/technology/can-you-believe-it-tethering-for-the-droid/
Check them out because I know im getting excited about the Droid...that new commercial is really cool and I wonder if they are going to have like a 5 part series or something. I think that would be baller.