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I jumped the gun. Today Android 2.2 “Froyo” was pushed by Verizon to the HTC Droid Incredible. Well, I’ve been running it since Monday. I “rooted” (gained superuser access) my phone and installed a custom ROM that allowed me to run Froyo. At first, I was reluctant to root my phone but after thinking it through and doing some due diligence I decided to go ahead. I was particularly persuaded by the fact that the Droid Incredible can be unrooted if you used Unrevoked3 for the root. While I’m not exactly advocating that one root an Android phone, I think it is perfectly defensible. Here’s why:
1. Carriers have loaded up Android phones with tons of bloatware. These apps cannot be uninstalled without rooting a phone and they sometimes hog precious resources, thereby draining battery life. For example, the Droid X comes with Blockbuster’s app, CityID and a bunch of other (usually unwanted) garbage. The carriers can even push more crap after you buy the phone. On a PC, you simple format the drive and install a new OS or you remove application by application. On an Android phone, root is necessary to clean up the phone.
2. Android phones, sans the Nexus One, come with custom skins. Sense, Blur, TouchWiz, whatever. They’re deeply intergrated into the OS. Running Home Switcher with ADW.Launcher or LauncherPro might solve some of the problem but chances are good that your phone is infected with the manufacturer’s design. By rooting, you can install a custom ROM and many come in “vanilla” flavors. Sure, you can still run widgets and apps but you can do so the way Android was intended (originally) to be experienced.
3. OS improvements like Froyo are slow to be released by manufacturers and carriers. The approval process can take months which is eons in the mobile phone arena. By running a custom ROM, you can bypass the bureaucracy and run the latest, greatest iteration of Android. This is what prompted me to root. Mashable ran a pieces weeks ago that Android 2.2 was imminent on my phone. They predicted the 18th as the day it would drop. Well, it didn’t. So, I took matters into my own hands.
4. Wireless tether. This is somewhat more controversial but many custom ROMs allow you to create a wireless hotspot without paying your carriers surcharge. Is this “stealing”? Well, one could argue it is but, on the other hand, you’re paying for your data stream. If they wanted to impose caps or tier data plans, there is nothing stopping them. So, if they’re selling you a bucket of data, I’m not sure that a good argument can be made that it should only be consumed by the phone.
5. As a general principle, and this relates to the jailbreak iPhone debate, you own your hardware. When you buy a physical object, it is yours. Nobody can sell you a fork and tell you what you can and cannot eat with it. Maybe the sample principle applies to phones. Can a carrier arbitrarily restrict your calling? No. Or insist you run Pandora instead of Slacker? No. Why shouldn’t this idea of autonomous ownership apply to the OS as well?
6. Backing up apps. You (presumably) legitimately licensed your apps. Shouldn’t you be able to archive copies in case or emergency?
7. There are compelling, specific reasons why rooting is defensible. The battery life on the HTC Droid Incredible leaves something to be desired. If someone wants to undervolt and improve battery life with Overclock Widget or another app, root is required. Why should a carrier tell you exactly how fast your processor runs? This seems like garbage to me.
In opposition to root, some good arguments can be made, too.
1. A custom ROM runs the risk of compromising your security or making your phone unstable. While these paternalistic arguments are valid for some, if someone wants to assume those risks, they should be free to adventure. Custom ROMs are usually not well tested before they are released. It takes considerable research to determine which ROM to run. I chose SkyRaider 2.5.2 vanilla over CyanogenMod6, because I read bluetooth would work better with it. In this regard, xda-developers.com is an indispensable resource. Other measures can be taken to insure the safety of your data. Go with a reputable ROM maker. Maybe ask developers who they trust.
2. You can damage the hardware (though I’ve never heard of this happening by modding a phone). Well, there’s a solution to this. The carriers invalidate your warranty if you root your phone. Seems fair on some levels. However, some roots (like the one I did) can be unrooted. So, there exists a possibility you could root, damage your hardware, unroot and file a warranty claim. However, there’s a good chance that any hardware failure would have occurred absent the root. In any event, it’s debatable.
3. The carriers make money off of bloatware. Big stinkin’ deal. I’d rather pay an extra few cents per month to preserve battery life and maintain the autonomy of hardware I purchase.
All this said, I’m not advocating rooting your phone; I simply find it defensible. Before you root, you should consider that you run the risk of bricking your phone, being unable to receive official updates from your carrier or running into unanticipated problems. It wasn’t immediately clear that I couldn’t stream music by bluetooth with the Cyanogen6 custom ROM. I learned the hard way and needed to research the issue and adapt by installing another ROM. Make sure you have some technical skills and a stomach for problems before you root your phone.
I’m sure I’m glossing over some important points but, in any event, I’m enjoying my rooted SkyRaider 2.5.2 Android 2.2 Froyo Incredible much more than I was enjoying my Sense/bloatware Android 2.1 Eclaire Incredible. For me, the trade off was well worth it.
Here’s the latest round up on the Android 2.2 (“Froyo”) over-the-air updates coming to Droids.
- Motorola Droid 1 — Froyo is rolling out now in stages. The version of Froyo being distributed is sans Adobe Flash 10.1, which will be available as a download from the Market later this summer.
- HTC Droid Incredible — Mashable’s Ben Parr stuck his neck out and predicts a Wednesday rollout of Froyo. His post suggests that the version rolled out to HTC Droid Incredible’s will come bundled with Adobe Flash 10.1. I want to point out, however, that I reached out to someone in-the-know at Verizon and the Wednesday rollout is UNCONFIRMED.
- Droid X — According to some clues in a Motorola help forum, it appears that the Droid X Froyo rollout will occur in September, not in late August as predicted.
- Droid 2 — The Droid 2 comes with Froyo installed, along with Flash 10.1. I’ve been kind of quiet on the blog but I was itching to write about the Droid 2. As successor to the wildly popular Droid 1, this phone will sell. It looks good but I’m disappointed to see that it has a processor < 1 GHz because there are rumors out there that Android 3.0 (“Gingerbread”) will require 1 GHz or better.
Froyo runs substantially faster than Android 2.1 (“Eclaire”) and brings many new features. Among them, wireless hotspots, USB tethering, and Chrome to Phone to push information from your computer’s Chrome browser right to your phone.
On the Droid Incredible, I would like to see improvements in the antenna, battery life and bluetooth capabilities. Even one of those three would make me a happy camper.
P.S. In case you hadn’t figured it out, “Froyo” stands for frozen yogurt.
It’s been awhile since I last told you what’s on my Android phone (here and here). I share with you the latest additions to my app collection which now totals 99 apps. For the full list of apps on my phone, check out my app brain page at: http://www.appbrain.com/user/mallinj/apps-on-the-phone . Titles of the apps listed below link to app brain pages.
ADW.Launcher
I just replaced LauncherPro with ADW.Launcher. Both beat the heck out of HTC’s Sense UI (which is likely to appear on HTC WP7 phones), but ADW.Launcher is simply more customizable and it’s open source. The icon grid pattern can be adjusted to support up to 8 icons by 8 icons per each of the 7 home screens. The screen can get a bit crowded but that’s the way I like it. ADW.Launcher can also be themed with various downloads that are available in the Market. Search for “ADW” to find the themes.
Caveat: One Google Buzzer pointed out that ADW.Launcher is more of a “power user” interface than LauncherPro and other launchers because it is so customizable. I tend to agree. For example, flipping the screen up reveals a hidden app shelf that is fully customizable. When the hidden app shelf appears, the buttons that ordinarily occupy the bottom line of the screen are concealed. You need to flip up again to return the phone to its normal state and re-hide the app shelf. For me, customization = good but for some others customization = bad (…but I’m an Ubuntu guy which might explain this).
P.S. Don’t forget Home Switcher which is required to switch your launcher.
SD Storage Card Widget and Internal Phone Storage Widget
These handy widgets display information about your use of SD Card capacity and internal RAM.
Facebook for Android – Updated
Seems like Mark Zuckerberg caught Android fever. Soon after he was rumored to get an Android phone, a new version of Facebook dropped. It looks good and shows photos on the main page from your friend stream.
Stonerview Live Wallpaper
Don’t let the name fool you. This live wallpaper is for stoners and non-stoners alike. It displaya high-configurable flurry of stars, squares, little Androids or other thingies. It looks much like a basic computer screen saver.
Alchemy – Game
This came by way of Google Buzz (thanks, Ryan IT Lab). Here’s the Buzz. It’s a highly addictive game where you simply combine “elements” to make new elements. Example: mix fire and water to produce alcohol. Mix worm and alcohol to make tequila. The game goes on and on and features 270 elements.
Advanced Task Killer
I switched task killers but lately I’ve been doubting the need for them based on some reading. In any event, my own experience suggests that they do prolong battery life but only marginally. It’s hard to tell.
Album Art Live Wallpaper Demo
This one is killing me. It looks awesome but it won’t work on the HTC Incredible. It is intended to display a collage of album art from the music on your SD card. You can choose how frequently it shuffles and the size of the album thumbnails.
If this app would work on my phone, I’d pay for it. I even tried installing the paid version but no luck. Returned the app for a full refund. Android FTW.
Listen [by Google]
Yeah, I’m a little late to the Podcast party but this is a Podcast player which works well.
Juice Plotter
Measures your battery over time. Good way to discover what usage drains your battery the most.
FeedSquares for Google Reader
This is a cool app that graphically displays your RSS feeds from Google Reader and an interesting and functional way.
MixZing Media Player
Installed and deleted this once. I just loaded it again today. It’s a feature rich media player that includes a graphic equalizer, gesture recognition and many other bells and whistles. I think 3 Cubed is more impressive looking but MixZing might best 3 Cubed in features. By the way, here’s the link to 3 Cubed, which isn’t easy to find in the Market or on App Brain: http://www.appbrain.com/app/org.abrantix.rockon.rockonnggl.
Hey, if there are any apps I should check out, leave a comment.
Boy Genius Report just posted the Verizon summer device catalog. Oddly, it lists the Droid X as “Coming Soon” (yeah, like tomorrow). The images are hard to make out but if you blow it up really big, it’s legible. Here are the specs for the Droid 2, which are somewhat underwhelming:
- Google Maps and Navigation
- 8 GB storage and 512 MB RAM
- Memory Expandable to 16 GB (really 32, but we’ll cut them some slack)
- QWERTY physical keyboard, (unnecessary)
- 5.0 MP camera
- 3G Mobile Hotspots
- Note: NO HD video capture. This probably requires better than a 5.0 MP camera.
The Samsung phones that are launching on a bunch of carriers will beat the pants off this phone. And, if you require a QWERTY physical keyboard, the Samsung Galaxy S Pro model has one.
Google dropped a bomb today on the mobile app market… and Apple. It made App Inventor for Android available to the public, after one year of beta testing it in classrooms. It allows people who don’t know how to code (like me) to make Android apps. It’s entirely web-based and it seems that apps can access every feature of Android phones, including GPS, bluetooth, etc.
The primary area where Apple outshines Android is in app count and, arguably, app quality (footnote 1: better Google integration with Android tips the scales the other way for me). The past six months have seen the number of Android apps skyrocket. Current unofficial counts have reached 100,000. With App Inventor rolling out to the general public, I expect Android to approach Apple’s App Store count, roughly 225,000, within the next year (footnote 2: a much higher percentage of Android apps are free than the percentage of Apple apps).While many of App Inventor apps will be novelty items and unappealing apps, it looks like App Inventor is capable of producing some really powerful apps.
You must register through Google to gain access to App Inventor.
Here’s a video that illustrates how easy it is to program a basic app with App Inventor:
Click to Zoom
I have been using a Droid X for the last three days. I’ve read the reviews that are out in the blogosphere and want to take a different approach. I’ll simply compare the Droid X with the HTC Incredible that I’ve used since early May. I’m very satisfied with the Incredible but ultimately I conclude: While they’re both great phones, the Droid X is the better phone.
I wanted to compare apples to apples as much as possible. I had both phones running LauncherPro Beta for the home screen, instead of Sense UI (Incredible) and some form of blur (Droid X). I prefer LauncherPro Beta to both so this was a “real world” modification to the phones. I used the phones in similar settings to compare antennas and Wifi reception.
Hardware
Form Factor and Ergonomics — Both phones feel solid but the Droid X weighs in at ~5.5 ounces vs. Incredible at ~4.5 ounces. It’s not enough difference that you need to wear suspenders to keep your pants up but the extra weight is noticeable. The Droid X has a massive 4.3″ screen vs. the Incredible’s adequate 3.7″. This makes the Droid X a considerably larger phone overall (basically, Motorola and Verizon’s answer to the HTC Evo). I was asked on Google Buzz whether the phone fits comfortably in a pocket. It does. I found the larger screen easier to type and Swype on. (Swype is preinstalled on Droid X, a nice touch (pun intended).) Droid X has a dedicated camera button and physical Menu, Home, Back and Search keys, oddly in that order. The Incredible lacks a camera button and has virtual or flush Home, Menu, Back and Search keys. I like the feel of the physical keys better for those functions. The Incredible has an unnecessary optical trackpad that I almost forgot about because I use it so infrequently. Winner: Droid X, primarily due to massive screen size. Admittedly, this is a highly subjective assessment and some may prefer the Incredible because it is smaller.
Screen Quality — Both screens are very responsive and do multitouch well. I couldn’t distinguish the screens based on responsiveness. To compare the displays, I loaded Beautiful Live Weather wallpaper on both phones. Side by side, the blue on the Incredible’s AMOLED was much deeper or richer than the “washed out” powdery blue on the Droid X. I initially concluded that colors on the Droid X were “washed out.” However, I crowdsourced an answer and Bud Gibson and Mark Richards on Google Buzz directed me to PC Mag’s comprehensive screen review. The review found that the Incredible oversaturates colors by 37 percent and the Droid X undersaturates by 6 percent, which means the Droid X has a more accurate display of colors. In fact, the Droid X has the most accurate display of colors of all of the phones tested, including the iPhone 4. Nonetheless, I showed the screens side by side to two tech-savvy people who both preferred the oversaturated Incredible. This whole issue may be somewhat of a red herring because of the shortage of Samsung AMOLED screens that are used in the Incredible; the later batches of Incredibles are rumored to have Sony TFT screens similar to the TFT screen used in the Droid X. Winner: IMO, Droid X for accurately displaying colors vs. AMOLED Incredibles. However, inconclusive because information about future Incredible screens is unconfirmed.
Antennas — The Droid X receives better signals than the Incredible. In the same location where my Incredible regularly drops calls, the Droid X did not. This was not a fluke; the results were repeatable. The Droid X also appeared to obtain stronger Wifi signals. Winner: Droid X.
Sound Quality — Both phones sound good and the ear pieces are loud. I don’t think a good argument can be made that one is better than another. Winner: Tie.
Battery — Battery technology really hasn’t kept pace with advances in smartphones. Battery life is probably the chief complaint about smartphones, excluding the highly-publicized complaints about the iPhone 4 dropping its signal. If I can make it through the day without a charge, I’m thrilled. The Incredible usually goes the 8-10 hours with light to moderate use. On my first full day with the Droid X, it went 12 hours with about 1.5 hours of heavy Wifi use and 0.5 hours of talk and still had more than 20 percent of its charge remaining. One reason could be that the Droid X has battery manager software baked into the OS. Also, the battery in the Droid X has more milliamps than the Incredible’s battery (1540 vs. 1300). Winner: Droid X by a large margin. Furthermore, for those requiring even more juice, an extended battery for the Droid X will be available.
Storage — Both phones have 8 GB internal and can support up to 32 GB on a card. The Droid X comes with a 16 GB card, whereas the Incredible ships with a 2 GB card (which I never received but I already owned a 16 GB). Winner: Droid X wins by a hair because the 16 GB card comes with the phone.
Other — The Droid X has microphones up the wazoo… I believe there are three of them. Frankly, I don’t know what they all do (one is noise cancellation but the purpose of the third is unclear to me) but there must be a reason for them. The Droid X has a HDMI output but it requires some type of adapter that doesn’t come with the phone. I have seen videos of the Incredible outputting to a flat screen but it was by standard video cables, not HDMI. Both phones have 8 megapixel cameras with dual stage LED flashes. I’m not a camera guy so I didn’t futz around with the cameras but the Droid X can record in 720P and the Incredible can’t. Some say a software update will enable it in the Incredible. Winner: Droid X because it has slightly more bells and whistles.
Software
Both run Android 2.1, contrary to early rumors that Droid X would launch with 2.2. The Droid X is expected to receive a 2.2 upgrade by late summer. That’s based on official word from Verizon. The best estimate on the Incredible was a statement by HTC that it will receive 2.2 before the end of the year. This may mean tomorrow or it could mean December 31st.
Stock UI — Sense UI might be a little better than Motorola’s blur. In any event, I recommend replacing almost every item that can be replaced on the phone, including the UI. You can read my recommendations here. Winner: They both lose to LauncherPro Beta. :P By the way, I noticed that on the Droid X there is a red indicator that highlights the cursor in text fields. This was helpful in locating the cursor and it continued to display even when I changed the UI. This is a nifty improvement.
3G Hotspots– Droid X can create a 3G hotspot to support up to five Wifi devices. The Incredible may get this feature by a software update. (This optional feature will cost $20 per month.) This feature is easy to use. You simply key in a hotspot password for the other devices and toggle it on. Winner: Droid X.
DLNA– The Droid X supports it and the Incredible doesn’t. This is a fantastic feature and underplayed by other reviewers. Digital Living Network Alliance is a trade organization that has created a protocol of sorts by which various devices can share media. For more information, the Wikipedia page is pretty good or visit DLNA’s page. You can play music from your Droid X on your computer or vice versa. You can also transfer music wirelessly from one device to another if you are using the same Wifi router. PS3s and many other devices support DLNA (Wikipedia has a list) and I think you’ll be hearing more about this technology. Maybe we’ll have cloud-based music solutions later this year but until then DLNA streaming is great. Winner: Droid X.
Pre-Installed Apps — Both phones come with some bloatware that cannot be removed. Other than Swype, which comes on the Droid X, I would prefer not having any of the other apps on either phone. (You might find the Blockbuster app on the Droid X appealing but I didn’t.) Winner: They both lose because bloatware sucks. :P
Conclusion
I’m a satisfied Incredible owner but, all in all, the Incredible doesn’t seem to do anything better than the Droid X. That said, I’m not paying full retail to upgrade to a Droid X. If I had upgrade eligibility or if I were a new Verizon customer, I would choose the Droid X. Speaking of upgrade eligibility, check out this promotion: if your Verizon contract expires anytime in 2010, you can upgrade to the Droid X at the subsidized price, which is competitive at $199.
Here’s a spattering of what I’ve been reading about Android lately:
- There’s a Droid X scavenger hunt going on to help promote Verizon’s flagship device. Certificates for 21 Droid X Androids are hidden around the country. Clues are being posted to twitter @DroidLanding. The scavenger hunt runs from July 7 through July 15. [via Android Phone Fans]
- The HTC Desire, hugely popular in Europe, is coming to North America. It passed the FCC certification and will end up on one or more of the following carriers: Bell, Telus, Rogers, and AT&T. The Desire is quite similar to the Nexus One with the primary difference being an optical trackpad instead of a trackball. [via DroidDog]
- I’ve touted AppBrain before. It’s a terrific front-end for the Android Market that allows you to browse the market on your computer and then load up apps on your phone. You can also share your app lists with others. Here’s my list. Now, AppBrain supports pushing apps to your phone. You’ll need to install an app called Fast Web Installer.
- Adobe has been showing off Flash on the Droid X. Here’s the video:
[via Android Phone Fans]
- The HTC Incredible, my phone, is seeming more and more like yesterday’s news (though it has specs meeting the rumored Android 3.0 Gingerbread minimum requirements). Not only is Verizon shifting its marketing from the Incredible to the Droid X, it is allowing customers who have ordered Incredibles but not yet received them to switch to the Droid X. I speculate that was done to appease those who are up in arms over the screen change on the Incredible. Future batches of Incredibles will have a Super TFT screen manufactured by Sony instead of the brilliant AMOLED screen made by Samsung. Basically, Samsung is hogging its 3.7″ screens for use in the Samsung Galaxy S which now has about a half dozen names and will launch on almost every carrier in some form. I’m being lazy with citations here but these stories were all well publicized. Many of them appeared in BGR.
This is a two-parter, neither truly shocking. First, there will be no Nexus Two; the Nexus One is the end of the line for Google-sold Android phones for the foreseeable future. Second, the Nexus One was so successful that the Nexus Two is unnecessary. (You may be scratching your head in bewilderment at this point.) Here’s the quote from Eric Schmidt:
The idea a year and a half ago was to do the Nexus One to try to move the phone platform hardware business forward. It clearly did. It was so successful, we didn’t have to do a second one. We would view that as positive but people criticized us heavily for that. I called up the board and said: ‘Ok, it worked. Congratulations – we’re stopping’. We like that flexibility, we think that flexibility is characteristic of nimbleness at our scale.
While I didn’t predict that Google would nix the Nexus Two (there were rumors swirling that N2 would be a business-oriented Android device), I agree that the Nexus One was a smashing success. I wrote back in March:
[The Nexus One] set the bar by which other Android devices are measured. Google wasn’t looking to necessarily outsell the upcoming HTC Incredible, for example. I believe it was simply looking to protect the brand by demoing Android on well designed hardware and avoid regulating the ecosystem it has fought so hard to keep “open.” Think of the Nexus One as the model by which Android should be measured. That’s what Google wants you to do.
Viewed from this lens, the Nexus One was an overwhelming success. I have come across many enthusiastic Nexus One owners on Buzz who are evangelistic in their love for Android. The Nexus One was the prototypical Android device that propelled the platform forward. It comes as no surprise to me that Google is declaring mission accomplished.
Soon the HTC Incredible will receive an update that enables mobile hotspots (see pic), allows video recording at 720P (a resolution of 1280 x 720), and changes to the boot animation. The update is also likely to patch some security issues, including the well publicized problem that a factory reset does not remove all thumbnails from the browser. Some have suggested that the grounding issue will be fixed which causes the screen to be relatively unresponsive when it in a car dock.
Solutions to the following problems would be helpful, though are not currently rumored to be included:
- Antenna issues. It may be possible to improve reception with an update.
- Short battery life. We can always hope, although I’m getting a day’s worth of use on one charge by running Advanced Task Cleaner Pro (free; Rating: 4.53/5.00). Phooey to those who say that task killers don’t improve battery life.
- Two bluetooth issues. With a Motorola T505 the phone (1) regularly disconnects from the bluetooth signal and (2) skips when streaming music while the phone is in motion.
In other good news, the HTC Incredible appears to meet the leaked system requirements for Android 3.0, which is expected later this year. Apparently a 1 GHz or better processor is required and at least 512K of RAM.
Also, if you suffered a painful wait to receive your incredible because of the shortages, you are likely to receive a $25 gift card from Big Red.
Here’s the teaser boot animation that Verizon recently leaked:
Released just in time to prevent some iPhone 4 converts, Verizon posted up a video of the upcoming Droid X. As of the time of this post, the video only has 332 YouTube views so we’re one of the first to get the word out about this video.
I’ve already written that I would opt for the Droid X over my the HTC Incredible. I prefer the larger screen and would use the wireless tethering. That post has generated significant traffic for this blog, more quickly than any other post I have written — approximately 500 views in the first few hours.
Enjoy the show.
UPDATE: Now includes full Droid X press release at bottom of post.
UPDATE 2: Replaced by a hands on review of Droid X and comparison.
Soon Verizon customers will have a choice between two top Android devices, the recently released HTC Droid Incredible and the upcoming Motorola Droid X. Here’s my take: if you have pockets or a handbag big enough for the Droid X (4.3″ screen), it’s a better choice. If you want a smaller phone, the Incredible (3.7″ screen) is the way to go.
The Droid X has everything the Incredible has plus some goodies like 720P video recording and HDMI output. The Incredible has long been rumored to support 720P video recording using its 8 MP camera but it would, according to the rumor, require a software update. I don’t put tons of credence in rumors like this because if you look around there were rumors of FM transmitters in phones that never had them and other features that never materialized.
Also, the Droid X runs Android 2.2 while the Incredible has yet to receive an update from 2.1 to 2.2. PocketNow and Engadget have good coverage of the differences between the versions. Two primary advantages to 2.2, in my opinion, are the boost in speed and built in Wifi tethering.
UPDATE: Latest press release indicates that Droid X comes with 2.1 installed, contrary to rumors, but Droid X owners will receive 2.2 OTA in the second half of the summer.
Other than the differences previously mentioned, it would be difficult to distinguish these two phones. They run the same apps (both at 1 GHz) and the overall user experience would be quite similar. I think the bigger screen and Android 2.2 would tip the scales in favor of the Droid X for me. Nonetheless, I have been extremely satisfied with the Incredible.
JULY 2010: DROID X BY MOTOROLA LANDS On the NATION’s LARGEST & MOST RELIABLE 3G Network
DROID X Delivers More Browsing, More Connectivity, Personal HD Video and Enterprise Features – All on a 4.3” Widescreen
BASKING RIDGE, N.J., and LIBERTYVILLE, Ill. – Verizon Wireless, the company with the nation’s largest and most reliable wireless 3G network, and Motorola, Inc. (NYSE: MOT), a pioneer in the mobile industry, today unveiled DROID X by Motorola. DROID X does more with ultra high-speed Web browsing; a fast 1GHz processor; 3G Mobile HotSpot capabilities; loads of memory; intuitive social messaging; Adobe® Flash® Player 10.1 ready; and access to Android Market™, which has more than 65,000 applications, along with a host of unique Verizon Wireless applications such as NFL Mobile, Skype mobile™, V CAST Video, EA Need for Speed Shift™ and more.
“Nine months ago, we made a commitment to our customers to bring the openness of Android to the Verizon Wireless network,” said John Stratton, executive vice president and chief marketing officer for Verizon Wireless. “Since then, we have introduced the top-selling Android phone in the marketplace today – the DROID by Motorola. DROID X takes that commitment to another level with exclusive content, faster processing speeds, and, of course, the reliability of our network.”
Sanjay Jha, co-chief executive officer of Motorola and chief executive officer of Motorola Mobile Devices and Home business added, “Motorola designed DROID X to push the extreme limits of Android innovation, and enable you to do even more with your mobile device. We are breaking down barriers so that you can experience the Web the way it was meant to be and create, share and view content like never before, either in your hand or in your home. Enterprise users will also find DROID X appealing with features including push e-mail and live widgets for e-mail and calendar updates.”
DROID X gives customers a 4.3-inch high-resolution screen for viewing the latest movies and video from BLOCKBUSTER On Demand® presented by V CAST Video, the newest addition to the Verizon Wireless V CAST application, which also includes access to favorite TV shows. The DROID X video capabilities let customers capture spontaneous fun, combining a dual-flash, 8-megapixel camera, HD camcorder, as well as DLNA and HDMI connectivity to download, stream and share personal HD content.
DROID X customers will also receive Android 2.2 and Adobe Flash Player 10.1 with an over-the-air update in the latter half of the summer. With the update, the Flash Player will allow mobile users to experience hundreds of sites with rich applications and content inside the browser, including games, animations, rich Internet applications (RIAs), data presentations and visualizations, ecommerce, music, video, audio and more.
“It has been an exciting time for Android momentum and global consumer adoption since the announcement of DROID by Motorola nine months ago,” said Andy Rubin, vice president of engineering for Google. “There are 160,000 new Android-powered devices activated daily and Android Market has grown to over 65,000 applications. Plus later this summer, Verizon Wireless and Motorola will update all the DROID by Motorola phones to the latest 2.2 software. For customers, this means great new features and improved browser performance. For developers, this will provide new tools such as cloud-to-device messaging and enhanced enterprise functionality.”
“We are excited about full Flash support coming to the DROID X and other devices from Motorola,” said Shantanu Narayen, president and chief executive officer of Adobe. “Flash Player 10.1, which is one of Adobe’s most anticipated releases ever, has been redesigned from the ground up to deliver the kind of highly engaging experiences that consumers now expect from their mobile devices.”
Once updated to Android 2.2, business customers will find DROID X offers the features that turn the device into a workhorse with support for both Exchange and Gmail™ for business. Corporate users can enjoy push delivery of e-mail; live widgets that stream messages to the home screen; filter widgets to differentiate work and home e-mail; corporate directory and Global look-up along with a unified calendar for Enterprise and sync with Google Calendar™. Security protocols allow remote password control and wipe via Exchange server.
Pricing and Availability
DROID X by Motorola will be available at www.verizonwireless.com and in Verizon Wireless Communications Stores beginning July 15 for $199.99 after a $100 mail-in rebate with a new two-year customer agreement. Customers will receive the mail-in rebate in the form of a debit card; upon receipt, customers may use the card as cash anywhere debit cards are accepted. In addition to subscribing to a Nationwide Talk plan or a Nationwide Talk & Text plan, customers will also need to subscribe to an Email and Web for Smartphone plan. Nationwide Talk plans begin at $39.99 monthly access. Email and Web for Smartphone plans start at $29.99 for unlimited monthly access.
Customers can add the optional 3G Mobile Hotspot service to their DROID X for $20 per month. The 3G Mobile Hotspot allows customers to turn the phone into a wireless modem for up to five compatible Wi-Fi devices. In addition, current Verizon Wireless customers who have contracts ending by December 31, 2010, can upgrade to any smartphone, including DROID X, without penalty.
For more information on DROID X by Motorola, go to http://phones.verizonwireless.com/droid/x/. For information about Verizon Wireless products and services, visit a Verizon Wireless Communications Store, call 1-800-2 JOIN IN or go to www.verizonwireless.com.
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Samsung will launch a mixed candybar QWERTY with a touchscreen, quite similar to upcoming 6.0 Blackberries. Currently named the Galaxy Q, I learned about this from Phandroid which picked up the story from the Korea Times. I can’t say that I can vouch for the Korea Times but this story is believable. Apparently, Samsung’s Blackberry-like Androids will launch in the U.S. by year end.
P.S. I am standing by my prediction that RIM will only survive the smartphone wars if it manufactures some Android devices.
The Incredible is pretty amazing out of the box but it can be significantly improved. I particularly like that the core features of the phone can be improved upon and the apps below (ALL FREE) make the Incredible user experience much better. I’ll link the apps to their respective AppBrain pages. This is a follow up to the post I wrote entitled, “HTC Incredible can be even MORE Incredible… replace HTC’s Sense UI and use these Widgets.”
- Keyboard: Swype (not in the market, try http://beta.swype.com/), runner up ShapeWriter. I’ve touted Swype before. It allows you to drag your finger key to key to spell words. It dramatically improves typing speed. ShapeWriter is similar but not quite as good at matching words with swipes.
- Browser: Dolphin Browser HD. While the Android browser is very good and roughly comparable to Safari, Dolphin Browser HD is substantially better. It includes support for add-ons and themes, multi-touch (of course), RSS feed detection, tabbed browsing, a slick UI, bookmark sorting, gesture commands and user agent control.
- Email: K-9 Mail. This easily beats the Gmail app and the lousy Sense UI mail app. It’s open source and supports search, push mail (via IMAP), multi-folder sync, message flagging and refiling, signatures, bcc-self, configurable alerts and multiple identities per account (so, for example, you can send from more than one address from within Gmail).
- SMS/Text Messaging: Handcent. This is a real winner. Handcent can be highly customized. I particularly like that it can be set so a long press on the search key brings up Handcent Quick Compose from any screen.
- Home Screen: LauncherPro. LauncherPro gets updated almost daily (which is sometimes an annoyance with apps) but it gets better each time. It clearly bests HTC’s Sense UI.
- Music Player: 3 (Cubed). The 3D graphics alone make this a better player but it also can retrieve album art and it has some nice widgets to go along with the player.
- Video Player: Meridian Media Player Pioneer. There are others in the market, but Meridian is my favorite. I like the UI and it’s easy to FF and RW.
- Market: AppBrain App Market. The AppBrain front-end is a must have app
- Phone: Google Voice. While it’s more like an add-on than a replacement, Google Voice is worth a mention. I’m a big fan.
- Search: Gesture Search. This app belongs front and center on your main home screen. It searches the phone by you swiping out letters.
That’s it. I think I successfully replaced everything that can be replaced on the phone with better apps.
I’ll also plug DropBox which allows you to share a folder between your phone and computer(s). It syncs everything up for you and you get 2 GB of free storage and more for each referral you provide. Shamelessly, I’m looking for referrals to boost my quota. Click here to join DropBox for free.
This post is more like an unpaid endorsement or, perhaps, even a public service announcement. Swype is the very popular keyboard replacement for mobile phones that allows you to drag your finger letter to letter to spell words. If properly done, this dramatically improves typing speed. If you have an Android phone and you’ve been looking for Swype, tomorrow is your lucky day. You’ll want to head over to http://beta.swype.com/ to download a legit copy.
I have been using Swype for about a month and I love it. It makes touchscreen text entry much more manageable. If you’re going to check it out, I highly recommend using the built-in tutorial before you begin. It’ll show you how to capitalize letters, double letters and use some of the more advanced features.
Plus, they have a nifty jingle… “Why type when you can Swype?”
[via TechCrunch]
Droid Scorpion? According to MobileCrunch, the rumored HTC Scorpion is heading to Verizon. This mythical beast has a 1.5 mhz processor which bests the 1.0 mhz processor in the HTC Incredible. It also ships with Foyo, Android 2.2. No pictures have surfaced yet.
While this phone will be tops in the Verizon line-up, I’m not sure it’s a real game changer if it comes out as a 3G phone. The Incredible’s processor is plenty fast and perhaps an OTA update of Froyo rolls out for the Incredible soon. I certainly hope this doesn’t become a painful wait like what happened with the Droid Eris.
The Droid Scorpion could be a real game changer if it rolls out as Verizon’s first 4G/LTE Android in 2012. This is within the realm of possibilities considering not a single picture has hit the interwebs and we’d expect that by now if the phone were to launch any time soon. Regarding 4G Androids, reports are funneling in that the Sprint 4G Evo (WiMax, not LTE) is selling like mad and new activations even brought down Sprint’s phone activation system. Apparently, Radio Shack is doing a second round of pre-orders, which could be more aptly called post-orders.
Friends and family keep asking me about whether the iPhone 4G or HD or whatever is heading to Verizon. I have two answers… no clue and don’t care. Many of the most notable tech writers who got ahold of Evos have quickly became iPhone-to-Android converts. I’ve read the first-hand accounts on Buzz from techies like Louis Gray. Unless Apple has some real tricks up its sleeve, the new features that were previewed for the iPhone OS 4.0 are hardly revolutionary. Apple is playing catch up with Android at this point.
[via Mobile Crunch]
