Engadget Podcast 170 - 11.08.2009
By Trent Wolbe 
posted Nov 8th 2009 4:11PM
posted Nov 8th 2009 4:11PM
Hosts: Joshua Topolsky, Nilay Patel, Paul Miller
Producer: Trent Wolbe
Song: Pistolwhip (James Talk's Arcade version)
Hear the podcast
00:00:35 - DROID mania sweeps the nation, so to speak
00:07:35 - Some more perspective on the DROID and multitouch
00:09:00 - iPhone vs DROID multitouch keyboard showdown (video)
00:15:05 - DROID ERIS hands-on and unboxing!
00:19:45 - Sony Ericsson XPERIA X10 announced, we go hands-on
00:23:43 - HTC's HD2 has landed at Engadget (hands-on)
00:29:45 - Josh reveals TwitterPeek on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, Qlorigan** (video)
00:32:48 - Dell Adamo XPS coming 'in time for the holidays' for $1799 (unboxing and hands-on video!)
00:36:32 - Unused Adamo XPS prototypes reveal touchscreen trackpads, key-less keyboard
00:41:04 - NVIDIA takes its feud with Intel to cartoonish new levels
00:50:19 - AT&T sues Verizon over 'there's a map for that' ads
01:01:24 - Spring Design sues Barnes & Noble over the Nook
01:02:50 - Spring Design vs. Barnes & Noble: all the nooks and crannies
Subscribe to the podcast
[iTunes] Subscribe to the Podcast directly in iTunes (enhanced AAC).
[RSS MP3] Add the Engadget Podcast feed (in MP3) to your RSS aggregator and have the show delivered automatically.
[RSS AAC] Add the Engadget Podcast feed (in enhanced AAC) to your RSS aggregator.
[Zune] Subscribe to the Podcast directly in the Zune Marketplace
Download the podcast
LISTEN (MP3)
LISTEN (AAC)
LISTEN (OGG)
Contact the podcast
1-888-ENGADGET or podcast (at) engadget (dot) com.
Twitter: @joshuatopolsky @futurepaul @reckless @engadget
why do you always only talk about cell phones.
Fair call.
I want more talk on freaky semi-human Japanese robots.
Droid Sound (2 links with 10 downloads each).
http://rapidshare.com/files/304234019/DROID.wav.html
http://rapidshare.com/files/304234753/DROID.wav.html
It was given out during the uStream live chat.
Or here, rightclick the download button :D
http://twaud.io/q8q
Now on my phone haha
Here's a fun drinking game: a shot every time somebody on the podcast says "like". You'll probably need an ambulance after the first ten minutes, though...
I am still waiting for the HD2 review.
In the article "HTC's HD2 has landed at Engadget (hands-on)" ( http://www.engadget.com/2009/11/04/htcs-hd2-has-landed-at-engadget/ ) they said "We'll have a full review shortly".
That was FOUR days ago dudes. I mean come on, what is "shortly" for you? :)
Geez, it took you guys long enough, I had to work out without my engadget podcast today. :(
Don't you mean the X10 is announced, not launched?
Didn't you promise some big N900 coverage last week?
Lol
"It wouldn't slam the door on the way out from the the bake-off."
best part of the whole podcast
that multitouch conspiracy theory letter needs to put up on engadget.
In regards to that multitouch denial, here's a link for josh and paul and the general audience that's rather interesting, and an useful addition to the vocabulary and ready knowledge:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_cognitive_biases
I think the reason Google didn't include multitouch in the Droid is because it's an open source device and they're protecting all the people who would potentially use the code. Google could probably defend it's self from patent litigation based on its resources and IP portfolio but it couldn't defend everyone who used their code. I think it was a decision to keep a unified code base that others could add on to even though Verizon or Motorola regretfully didn't. I would think that Motorola would have included an installed keyboard app over the stock android but that might not be the "Google Experince".
Let's do it slowly...
No built-in apps on the Droid support any multi-touch ability
BUT the Droid becuase it has Android 2.0 does support multi-touch; there are multiple apps on the market that you can download on the Droid in which you can use multi-touch including pinch and zoom. I don't understand how then can you keep saying the Droid does not have multi-touch, it does even though no built in apps support it. The way you kept saying in the podcast and in multiple articles that it does not have multi-touch, even after you admitted there were apps in the Android Market that had multi-touch that worked on the Droid.
There are 3rd party apps on the Android Market for Android 2.0 that have multi-touch. You can use them on the Droid, doesn't that mean it has multi-touch? The built in apps do not support multi-touch, but the Droid has it and it can be used through apps downloaded on the App Market. So how can you say that it doesn't have multi-touch? I don't get it. You flatly say it doesn't have multi-touch even though you admit there are multi-touch apps on the Market for the Droid (PicSay with pinch and zoom for example) .So, the "Better Keyboard" app could update and add multi-touch to it's keyboard.
You don't understand. They aren't denying it *supports* multi-touch but because nothing that comes loaded on the phone has multi-touch it's not a "multi-touch phone". That would be like saying the phone is blue because you can put blue covers over it. If you buy it and it's not blue then it not a blue phone.
Thats's a bad comparison, you have to actually purchase a blue cover, that's not the case with multi-touch.
BTW, Sorry about the double post, my initial post didn't show up when refreshed like it usually does, so I assume something went wrong and just posted again.
They already stated what you say, extensively, over 2 or 3 shows, but thanks for your input.
It depends entirely on how you define multi-touch for a keyboard. Josh is simply wrong when he said that you have to release one key before pressing another. While you can't do what Nilay was showing in his video (hold one key while pressing a series of others which all register), you definitely can press one key and then another before releasing the first and they both register. It is not one peck at a time. To my mind, this is what MT is all about, being able to roll through a sequence of letters without having to raise off of one before hitting the next.
The bottom line is that, from my experience, the Droid soft keyboard is much easier to use, and more accurate, than the Touch keyboard. So, no matter whether you want to say it has multitouch, depending on your definition, whatever it does works.
Back in March of 2004, an Asian engineer from MIT approached Peter Rojas........he then died.
Josh, I assume the intro tune was your idea. (Well, technically, it WAS your idea).
I agree with Nilay. Funnily enough, Sprint performs better than Verizon in my apartment.
There must be way to improve that sort of thing, perhaps a simple conductor from the window to the inside, isn't that what they use in tunnels?
Tricky when there's lightning though, but I mean there must be way available.
It would be easier and safer to put in a femtocell, would it not? With the conductor, there's a hell of a lot of transmission line stuff to consider.
The remark about phones dropping calls when dropping from 3G to 2G is 100% incorrect. AT&T does NOT use 3G for voice. It is ONLY used for data. This is why you can be on a phone call and use data at the same time. Just like if you use your phone only with 2G you cannot talk and use data at the same time anymore.
The bottom line, AT&T 3G is only used for data and AT&T does not use 3G for voice at all. Which you don’t need 3G for voice.
It is completely false that you get dropped call from stepping from 3G to 2G.
Enjoyed the intro song choices for previous 2 podcasts. This weeks is a remix of a song Josh wrote I think.
I have the Droid, and an iPod Touch, and I agree that the capabilities of the Touch are different than the Droid regarding the keyboard. But whether it has "multi-touch" depends entirely on how you define it. So, the boys insistence (including requisite sarcastic comments) about it NOT having it is based entirely on their own definition of what multi-touch is.
For example, one thing Josh said is simply 100% wrong. He said that the Droid did not have multitouch because you had to release one key before touching the next one, making typing very difficult. Not so. Here is what the Droid can do:
If you press one key and hold it while pressing another then release the first key, both keys are registered on the screen. You don't have to release the first key before pressing the second. I do this all the time and it makes typing very easy and even fun.
And THAT is what is incredibly important about any "multi-touch", the ability to roll through a bunch of keys in sequence rather than "peck and release" one at a time. Now, Nilay showed in his video that you can not hold down one key and then press a series of others as you can on the Touch, but really, how useful is that extra ability?
So, I guess it is all about how you define multi-touch. If you insist that it is the ability to hold one key down and type a bunch of other letters, then no, the Droid does not have multitouch. If you define it (as Josh seems to) as the ability to press keys in sequence without having to release one before pressing the other, then it DOES have multi-touch. And that is why Verizon described the keyboard as having multi-touch in the manual. Because for all *useful* intents and purposes, it does.
But, semantics aside, the point is that the on-screen keyboard works GREAT! I have the Touch and find the Droid's keyboard to be much, much better and the predictive text is dramatically better as well since it gives you a number of choices, not just one pop-up. And, I am not merely a Droid fanboy, I have many, many gripes about this phone and if the iPhone was on Verizon I might have that instead. Hardware keyboard = useless. D-Pad = useless. Weak on apps. No compatible headphones with inline remote.
Overall a great phone, and I am very happy, and I think the boys here are simply wrong about the keyboard when viewed correctly.
OK, interesting discovery which may explain why folks seem to have differing experiences with the soft keyboard. I did some experimenting and the keyboard has a feature which I find very cool, but which may explain why some don't see the MT (or psuedo-MT, if you prefer) capabilities. As I mentioned above, you could hit two keys in sequence and both keys can be down at the same time and they will register in order. But, the keyboard won't do this if the keys are close together, probably to prevent accidental double key hits. So, if the keys are more than a couple of keys away, you can press one, then the other, then when you release the first, both register in order (which is what you need to type smoothly). But, if the keys are right next to each other, it will not register the second key unless it is pressed after the first key is released (which Josh noted).
While you can call this a feature or you can call it a weak spot, it does seem to be intentional, and I think may explain things a bit.
Come on Nilay, everyone wants to see the "asian engineer who died conspiracy" e-mail :) just post a link to it somewhere even if it won't be on engadget. if you don't, you'll get your "ticket to ride" ^_^