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.

You might also enjoy:

--Motorola Droid X vs. HTC Droid Incredible [Verizon/Android] --Updates Coming to HTC Droid Incredible [Verizon/Android] --Android Showdown: HTC Incredible vs. Motorola Droid [Verizon] --Droid X Full Review [Hands On] vs. HTC Incredible — Verizon Android Showdown --Confirmed: Google Nexus One Phone Coming to Verizon in the Spring

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:

You might also enjoy:

--Sony XPERIA X10 meets Google Visual Search [VIDEO] --Google Docs, New and Improved [VIDEO] --Best. Browser. Ever. Google Chrome. [Video] --Unbelievable 3D Google Earth with Street Views [VIDEO] --Apple iPhone dual-booting Google Android… Really. [Video]

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.

You might also enjoy:

--HTC Incredible Full Review [Verizon/Android] --Android Showdown: HTC Incredible vs. Motorola Droid [Verizon] --Motorola Droid X vs. HTC Droid Incredible [Verizon/Android] --Updates Coming to HTC Droid Incredible [Verizon/Android] --Droid 2 Specs Confirmed [Android/Verizon]

• 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.

You might also enjoy:

--Mashup of Best Tech Stories of the Past Few Days --HTC Desire on Camera with Latest Sense UI [Video] --Demo of HTC’s Latest Sense UI (HTC Legend, HTC Desire, HTC Incredible…) [VIDEO] --Referring Readers to Scobelizer’s Latest Post --Blackberry vs. Android

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.

[via IntoMobile]

You might also enjoy:

--Android too Versatile? Google’s Response: Nexus One --Google Nexus One being reviewed in the blogosphere… --Hacker Porting HTC Desire ROM to Google Nexus One Phone… --Confirmed: Google Nexus One Phone Coming to Verizon in the Spring --Jolicloud Netbook OS – Major Improvements

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:

[via DroidDog via Phandroid]

You might also enjoy:

--Motorola Droid X vs. HTC Droid Incredible [Verizon/Android] --Android Showdown: HTC Incredible vs. Motorola Droid [Verizon] --Droid X Full Review [Hands On] vs. HTC Incredible — Verizon Android Showdown --HTC Incredible Coming to Verizon in Two Weeks? --Droid 2 Specs Confirmed [Android/Verizon]

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.

You might also enjoy:

--Motorola Droid X vs. HTC Droid Incredible [Verizon/Android] --Droid X Full Review [Hands On] vs. HTC Incredible — Verizon Android Showdown --Droid 2 Specs Confirmed [Android/Verizon] --Nokia N900 Walk-Through Video from YouTube (a re-run for some and an eye opener for others) --Android Showdown: HTC Incredible vs. Motorola Droid [Verizon]

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.

# # #

You might also enjoy:

--Android Showdown: HTC Incredible vs. Motorola Droid [Verizon] --Droid X Full Review [Hands On] vs. HTC Incredible — Verizon Android Showdown --Updates Coming to HTC Droid Incredible [Verizon/Android] --HTC Incredible Full Review [Verizon/Android] --Droid 2 Specs Confirmed [Android/Verizon]

P.S. I am standing by my prediction that RIM will only survive the smartphone wars if it manufactures some Android devices.

You might also enjoy:

--Android Monster – HTC Scorpion heading to Verizon [Rumor] --Upcoming Blackberry Slider to look like Palm Pre [rumor] --Samsung sets the bar high with the Halo i8520 --Blackberry vs. Android --Blackberry support waning; RIM should make some Android devices

• 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.

You might also enjoy:

--AppBrain.com: My First 53 Free Android Apps on the Incredible… --HTC Incredible can be even MORE Incredible… replace HTC’s Sense UI and use these Widgets --Android Market grows to 50,000 Apps --Two promising Blackberry apps you haven’t heard of… --Blackberry Apps Now Available from Verizon’s V Cast App Store

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]

You might also enjoy:

--Google Voice: “Lite” is a Myth — Pick Your Number --Google Voice Lite Users Can Now Pick a Number [Instructions] --Blackberry vs. Android --Previewing Android OS on a Computer --Android Developers Complain

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]

You might also enjoy:

--Samsung Galaxy Q: Android takes on RIM’s Blackberry [Rumor] --Where Google is heading… Google Translation for Android --HTC Incredible Full Review [Verizon/Android] --Droid X Full Review [Hands On] vs. HTC Incredible — Verizon Android Showdown --Verizon confirms HTC Incredible, Android Superphone

• Android 2.1
• 9 Home Screens with Default Launcher
• 8 MP Camera with Dedicated Camera Button
• HDMI Out

This phone looks good, really good. Here’s a taste of what Droid-Life has posted:

And for the rest of the photos, try this link and this link.

You might also enjoy:

--Android Showdown: HTC Incredible vs. Motorola Droid [Verizon] --Motorola Droid X vs. HTC Droid Incredible [Verizon/Android] --iPhone 4G Photos on Engadget… Yes, They’re Real. --Upcoming Blackberry Flip-and-Slide? [Patent Photos] --Pre-Release Device Photos … Mobile Phone “Porn”

Sense UI Pictured

I am a recovering Sense UI (video here) fanboy. At first, I thought it was the best thing since sliced bread. Now, I am happily using another home screen which dumps the flip clock/weather widget (4 x 2) and the extremely limited bottom dock (3 button). This post is a how-to for replacing your Sense UI home screen along with some recommendations, including widgets. I have linked apps to their respective AppBrain pages.

A word of caution, if you rely heavily on HTC’s proprietary widgets, then you may not want to replace your home screen. Frankly, I found them to be clunky and oversized in many cases, using up valuable real estate on the screen.

If you want to replace your home screen, there are a number of options available to you. OpenHome ($3.99), aHome ($4.99) and GDE (2.60 Euro) are popular home screen replacements in the Market but they are all paid apps. I chose to redesign my UI on the cheap and selected LauncherPro, a free beta home screen replacement (over 8,300 ratings and an average of 4.73 out of 5.00). Other free options include HelixLauncher, HelixLauncher2, Home++ and Tag Home. But, first things first. You will need the free Home Switcher app or another similar app that allows you to switch to a different home screen. Using Home Switcher, you can pick a home screen on the fly, without a reboot. You can also designate a default home screen.

LauncherPro is a terrific home screen replacement for many reasons. Some earlier versions were force closing but the latest version is very stable on the HTC Incredible. I have noticed that on rare occasions the app drawer will lag when opening but this happens very infrequently. These are the reasons I prefer LauncherPro to Sense UI:

1. The bottom dock (which is present on any of the home screen panels) has five buttons, four of which can be customized. The fifth is the app drawer. I used the four customizable buttons for phone, HandCent (SMS), Gmail and Dolphin HD.
2. LauncherPro is very configurable. Menu -> Preferences to change them. I selected 7 home screens with 4, the middle one, as my default screen. I also enabled auto-rotation (a feature Sense UI does not support). I left “home button to default screen” unchecked because I prefer that the home key show me thumbnails of every screen; this is the same as pinch-zoom on Sense UI, a feature that also works in LauncherPro.
3. The screen animations are impressive. If you click the app drawer, icons fly into the screen and when you return to the home screen they fly back out. Apps also fly in and out.

These are some of the widgets I have found that you might find appealing (all free with two noted exceptions):

• 3 (Cubed) — This is my preferred music player and the 2 x 2 widget shows album artwork along with controls. (This app is hard to find in the Market. Just click on the AppBrain link to add it.)
• Advanced Task Manager Free — This is a good task manager and it is easy to exclude processes. I use it sparingly but it does come in handy at times.
• Android Agenda Widget — This is the best calendar widget I have found and you can select different sizes beginning as small as 2 x 2.
• AudioManager Widget — Displays all of the volume settings on the widget.
• Battery Widget — One of the best for displaying %s. Click to enable and disable services.
• Beautiful Widgets (1.49 Euro) — This package has many 1 x 1 toggles but, more importantly, Beautiful Home (4 x 2) and Beautiful Smaller Home (4 x 1) clock/weather widgets are amazing. They can be reskinned with downloadable apps and heavily customized. You can even choose what programs launch when you tap time, date or weather. To customize the widget after you slapped it on the screen, tap weather icon -> Menu -> Skins or Configure. There is also an accompanying weather live wall paper that you can download from within the app.
• Extended Controls Bar (0.79 Euro)– A bar that can range from 1 x 1 to 4 x 1. This works like the power widget in stock Android but you can customize the toggles. I have 7 toggles on a 4 x 1 bar.
• Fancy Widget — This is almost identical to the HTC Sense UI flip clock/weather widget. Frankly, I don’t care for it but if you want a Sense looking environment with a customizable bottom dock, this widget might appeal to you.
• Gmail Unread Count — 1 x 1 Gmail notification icon that is very customizable in terms of icon, colors and label.
• Google Buzz — 4 x 1 widget because I’m a big fan of Buzz and, particularly, mobile Buzz.
• HandCent SMS — Previously mentioned but I throw down a 1 x 1 widget to alert me to new text messages.
• Last.fm — 4 x 1 because I really like Last.fm and prefer it to Pandora and Slacker.
• NYTimes — 4 x 1 of all the news that is fit to print.
• Reader Widget — I use this for displaying my Google Reader RSS feeds.
• Twitter (Official) — This is a very good widget and I prefer Twitter (Official) to other twitter apps (though I’m looking forward to TweetDeck).
• Wifi Toggle Widget — Last but certainly not least, this 1 x 1 widget displays the SSID of the Wifi network you are connected to beneath the icon, glows different colors to alert you to status and, of course, toggles Wifi on and off. This is a must have widget.

Drop a comment down there if you know of a widget I should check out or have opinions about customizing the home screen.

You might also enjoy:

--Demo of HTC’s Latest Sense UI (HTC Legend, HTC Desire, HTC Incredible…) [VIDEO] --HTC Desire on Camera with Latest Sense UI [Video] --Google, Buzz could replace Blogs if… --HTC Incredible can be even MORE Incredible… Part II. Install these Apps. --HTC Incredible, first 10 things to do with Android…

• Android 2.2 “FroYo” debuted at Google I/O. Many people have it up and running on rooted Nexus Ones. It supports the creation of mobile hotspots which basically turns a FroYo device into a wireless router.  IntoMobile has been providing good coverage. It recently reported that the “leaked” version is not the final version, according to Googler Romain Guy, but it is apparently very stable.
• Google I/O attendees found HTC Evo 4Gs in their goodie bags, Oprah style. I’ve written about the Evo 4G before (which should have stayed with the codename “Supersonic” but, anyhow…).  What happens when you give an hot Android phone to hundreds of developers? Well, someone figures out how to gain superuser access by rooting the device (video). Robert Scoble started a high traffic Buzz comparing the Evo to the iPhone platform. Many newly minted Android fans weighed in and dueled with Apple fanatics. The iPhone 4G (or HD or whatever they decide to call it) has a fierce competitor comprised of Google and virtually every major device manufacturer.
• Mark Zuckerberg conceded by email (which he agreed to make public): “I know we’ve made a bunch of mistakes….” Captain Obvious? I wonder, however, whether they did as big a land grab as possible with a slight retreat in mind from the onset. Don’t know.  In any event, it remains to be seen what Facebook intends to do about the mistakes. I suggest that they include a lockdown button in the privacy settings which basically toggles off all information sharing except with friends. In my opinion, that would be a step in the right direction for Facebook.
• Gizmodo found or stole another prototype, depending on your perspective. This one appears to be the Motorola Shadow which runs Android. The story goes that a gym employee found one laying around and Gizmodo got ahold of it (follow link for pics). This phone looks great and it’s almost certainly Verizon bound. It could be branded as the “Droid 2.”
• The Google Orkut experiment is still ongoing. A number of Google Buzz users are playing around with Orkut and enjoying it. If you’re at all interested, check out my post about it.
• Finally, this blog has been getting very heavy traffic lately compared to historical numbers. I attribute that primarily to my posts about the HTC Incredible which is still back ordered at Verizon. I’ve loaded up on apps and if you don’t know where to start, check out my AppBrain page. Also, I redid the TechBottle logo in the header of the blog. Do you like it? Be honest. I’m on the fence about it but I’d rather read and write to the blog than tinker with the logo more.

P.S. I have something brewing with a major carrier. Expect good but very honest hands-on cellphone reviews.  It’s also possible I’ll have some leaked info about upcoming phones soon. Stay tuned!

You might also enjoy:

--Mashup of Best Tech Stories of the Past Few Days --Apple’s Lesser News of the Day… VOIP on the iPhone --Bad News for Blackberry [Survey] --If you missed Buzz this week… all the buzz is about… Buzz. --Google Finance Updated… Real-Time News Streams

Reasons you might want Google Voice:

• A second phone number
• A vanity phone number
• Simultaneous ring
• Free long distance to U.S. and Canada
• Free SMS
• Bulk SMS
• Voicemail transcription
• Voicemail archives

Android and Google Voice, not surprisingly, integrate amazingly well. Just head over to the Market or load up AppBrain and install the official Google Voice app.

[via Official Google Blog]

You might also enjoy:

--iPad Jailbreak happens in under 24 hours; more appealing now? --Google Voice Asks Users to Donate Voicemails --Google Voice definitely going VOIP --Google Voice finally opens up to all (in U.S.) --Google Voice: “Lite” is a Myth — Pick Your Number

Verizon CEO Lowell McAdam has confirmed anecdotal reports that demand for the HTC Incredible is outstripping supply. According to McAdam, there are kinks in HTC’s supply chain and components for the Incredible are scarce, particularly the AMOLED touchscreen manufactured by Samsung. Shipments to stores are selling out within hours and those who order online must wait for more Incredibles to be manufactured. Had supply met demand, the Incredible would have broken initial sales records set by the Motorola Droid. 100,000 Incredibles were sold within the first two days of release.

One takeaway from today’s news is that a phone can be a tremendous hit without a $100 million advertising campaign, which was rumored to be the promotional budget for the Blackberry Storm 1 and the Motorola Droid. In the case of the Incredible, much of the demand was generated by carefully planned “leaks” of photos, videos and specs dating back to December. One particularly nifty trick was leaking that the Incredible’s snapdragon processor would be underclocked to around 75% speed. That rumor was eventually dispelled and the Incredible boasts the fastest processor on the market today, tying it with the Nexus One — a full 1 Ghz.

[via BGR]

You might also enjoy:

--HTC Incredible Full Review [Verizon/Android] --Droid X Full Review [Hands On] vs. HTC Incredible — Verizon Android Showdown --Verizon confirms HTC Incredible, Android Superphone --Updates Coming to HTC Droid Incredible [Verizon/Android] --Android Showdown: HTC Incredible vs. Motorola Droid [Verizon]

I don’t think we’ll see anything surprising with Chrome OS other than possible improvements in speed. Afterall, it’s just an OS that boots a browser. It doesn’t support software installation. Chome OS will appeal to enterprises and anyone looking for a really inexpensive netbook (think: WebTV replacement).

It’s been confirmed that Google’s tablet will run Android, not Chrome OS. This makes perfect sense because the gesture/multitouch support is already built into Android. Also, Android is all about widgets and customization. Chrome OS can barely be customized because, as I always repeat, it’s just boot up to a web browser. Sure, you can install a Chrome browser theme but it’s fairly plain vanilla.

Hexxeh’s build of Chrome OS continues to garner media attention, including an impressive mention by the New York Times — Not too bad for a 17 year old computer hobbyist. You can download it today and begin playing with it.

[via Chad Catacchio at The Next Web via VentureBeat]

You might also enjoy:

--Ubuntu Netbook Remix vs. Google Chrome OS [Netbooks] --Chrome OS Netbooks — Hell Yes, Google will give away computers. --OnLive Broadband Gaming coming June 17, 2010 --Civilization Beta Tests on Facebook in June --Chrome OS Flow by Hexxeh Review

In other Flash news, it appears that Apple has another trick up its sleeve. Apple is working on its own Flash alternative.

[via the 50 or so blogs that posted this today]

You might also enjoy:

--HTC Incredible Full Review [Verizon/Android] --Droid X Full Review [Hands On] vs. HTC Incredible — Verizon Android Showdown --Android Gaming [Video] --Apple iPhone dual-booting Google Android… Really. [Video] --New Phone Roundup [Video]

Hardware

Navigation/Input – I won’t insult your intelligence and point out the difference between touchscreens and physical keyboards. Go to the store, talk to friends and decide which you prefer. If you want a physical keyboard, you’re in the Motorola Droid vs. Blackberry Tour camp. If you think you’ll be smacking a lot of keys, I think the Tour’s keyboard bests the Droid’s. Also, a revised version of the Tour (the Bold 9650) is on the horizon with a trackpad instead of a trackball or think about the new Curve with the trackpad. If you’re in the touchscreen camp, then you’re looking at the Storm 2 or HTC Incredible. The HTC Incredible has a more responsive screen and it’s a large (3.7″ vs. 3.25″), bright, impressive AMOLED screen. It has a resolution of 480 x 800 vs. a barely adequate 360 x 480.

Speed/Processor – While exact specs are unknown, Blackberries use much slower processors than competing Android phones. The HTC Incredible runs at 1 Ghz and the Droid runs at 550 Mhz. Blackberry specs are not released but it is assumed that they are much slower based on lag when installing apps, multitasking or doing processor intensive tasks.

Cameras – Currently, Androids have better cameras. Who cares?

Stock Software

Operating System Overall - Android 2.1 bests the Blackberry OS 5.0 and almost certainly OS 6.0. Blackberry OS is simple but subpar by today’s standards. No widgets. You can “lose” icons by placing them in folders. It lacks core features that are included in stock Android even on the Droid. However, Blackberry OS is a tad bit easier to use (if you don’t hide or misplace an icon).

Email - Blackberry whips every device out there in push email. RIM has patented technology that makes your emails push almost as soon as they are sent. Bam. If you need real time email, then the Blackberry is an easy pick. For real time communication on an Android device, you can use SMS/text messages or IM apps. Speaking of which, Blackberry has a proprietary IM system, Blackberry Messenger, that only runs on Blackberries. I think it’s overrated and the interface stinks but some swear by it.

Browser – The Android browser is very, very good. The RIM browser in OS 5.0 is a complete failure. OS 6.0 will incorporate a better browser but based on the leaked screenshots, I don’t think it will measure up to the Android browser which even supports Flash Lite on the HTC Incredible. Also, Android supports many third party browsers (Dolphin HD, SkyFire, Opera Mini and others) that best the third party browsers available on the Blackberry (BOLT! and Opera Mini).

Media – Blackberries lag in this category but the upcoming OS 6.0 sports a new media player that looks right up there with stock Android.

Apps and Third Party Software

Android walks all over the Blackberry in app development. Google has programmed some amazing apps for Android (Googles/Visual Search, Google Maps with Navigation, Sky Map and others). Third party developers have really taken the ball and run with it. Replacement keyboards, SMS clients, games, browsers, media players, etc. are available for free or cheap in the Android Market. RIM’s Blackberry App World is a joke compared to the Market or the Apple App Store. Sure you can load Pandora on both but once you really evaluate the two, Android wins the apps category easily.

My Opinionated Conclusions

Blackberries are very functional devices and they’re terrific, industry standard email devices. They’ll probably stay numero uno in enterprise use for a couple years and maybe longer. On the other hand, the Android experience is “fun” and app-centric.

If it’s your first smartphone, you’ll probably love either one. Maybe the Blackberry is the gateway drug to the smartphone world. If you’re a seasoned smartphone user, you will probably find the Android experience much more appealing.

You might also enjoy:

--Blackberry support waning; RIM should make some Android devices --Switching from Pandora to Slacker (available for Blackberry, iPhone and Android) --Samsung Galaxy Q: Android takes on RIM’s Blackberry [Rumor] --FourSquare for iPhone & Android (Blackberry Beta App Very Soon) --Citrix Receiver Coming for Blackberry and Android Phones

Click to Enlarge

So, I’ve blabbed and blabbed about the HTC Incredible but hardly made a keystroke about the HTC Evo 4G (“Supersonic”) coming to Sprint. Latest rumor is that this device launches on June 6th. It’s going to be sold at, of all places, Radio Shack. Don’t let the venue discourage you. This could win the “Android-of-the-year” award, if there were such a thing.

It’s basically the HTC Incredible plus a forward facing 1.3 MP camera for videoconferencing, an enormous 4.3″ screen, 4G WiMax data speeds and the ability to serve as a Wifi Router (which requires extra bucks per month, most likely). This launch could breathe some serious life into Sprint. Incidentally, if you mention to a Verizon rep that Sprint is launching 4G this summer and Verizon is lagging with a planned 2011 launch, the company line is that 4G technology isn’t ready for prime time yet.

P.S. If you missed all the fuss, Oprah Winfrey had an HTC Evo 4G  in her hand on television the other day.

[via IntoMobile]

You might also enjoy:

--Updates Coming to HTC Droid Incredible [Verizon/Android] --Citrix Receiver Coming for Blackberry and Android Phones --Blackberry 9650 Released, What the Tour Should Have Been [Sprint] --Happy First Birthday Google Voice; It’s Been a Long Year [Criticism] --HTC Incredible Coming to Verizon in Two Weeks?

Likes:

• Hardware Overall: The phone feels very good. It’s like holding a well balanced kitchen knife. It’s a solid build with good weight and shape. The screen is made of Gorilla Glass which resists scratches and allows for a very good touchscreen experience.
• Software Overall: This is my first Android phone and it can do some amazing things. It comes preloaded with Google Maps with Navigation and a few other goodies. However, the beauty of Android is how well the 3rd party apps complement the phone. Also, widgets on the home screens (all 7 of them) spruce up the phone quite a bit and make it much more functional. I have a music screen, a calendar screen, an email screen, etc. With a swipe or two, I’m looking at what I want.
• Screen: AMOLED screen is a piece of beauty. It produces vibrant colors and displays videos well.
• Phone: Sound quality and reception are very good. The speaker in the earpiece is quite loud, perhaps too loud at full volume. The phone gets knocked for its reception. Here’s why: “bars” on a phone are not a standard measure. This phone will show fewer bars with a very strong signal than a competing phone. People have confirmed this by testing the raw numbers. Even at one “bar”, reception can be very good. It has an equivalent signal strength to the Blackberry Tour which had a great antenna.
• Browser: The stock browser is good, roughly comparable to Apple’s Safari iPhone browser. However, the Market has some free browser replacements that really shine. The revised Dolphin HD is the best mobile browser I have ever used. It supports gestures, it can be reskinned, there are many plugins, the app exits properly (more on this later) and it renders pages properly. Both the stock browser and Dolphin HD can display the flash-based category cloud in the right column of this page. I made Dolphin HD my default browser. Another good, free browser alternative is SkyFire which is in beta.
• Music Player: The stock music player is very functional but doesn’t have any pizazz.  Check out Cubed (3) in the Market for a nice 3D navigation system. Other good music players in the market include MixZing and Meridian. Also, one nice thing about Android is that you can make a 3rd party app default for a certain action.
• Video Player: Nothing wrong with the stock video player but some people prefer Meridian.
• Email: The Gmail app (which I prefer to the Sense mail program) is very good if you use Gmail (and why don’t you, I ask?). Some people have problems with some other email systems but, based on my skimming of the Android forums, these problems can be solved.
• User Interface: Sense UI is splendid. I played around with some alternative UIs using the app Home Switcher and Sense UI is the best in show.
• Keyboard: How can I forget this one? The stock keyboard is acceptable. Swype is a keyboard replacement that eats it for lunch. There’s a problem, however. If you want to do voice commands, there’s no button on Swype to listen for a voice command. You need to revert to the stock keyboard and then speak your command. Frankly, I think voice commands are overrated. With Swype (which is not available in the Market, you can find it here), I can type much faster than I did on the Blackberry by dragging my finger key to key until I swiped a word out. After a couple days of practice, this method of input is a breeze.
• App Development: It’s like being a kid in a candy store if you’re coming from a Blackberry. I think when you factor in the quality of the apps, the App Store and the Market are very comparable. And, toss in that the Market is basically wide open for all kinds of apps. On the iPhone, you can’t replace a keyboard, music player, video player, SMS interface, etc.

Dislikes:

Overall

The HTC Incredible is the best smartphone on the market that is available on any carrier. Not perfect. 4.7 out of 5.0. This will be Verizon’s best offering for a very long time because the 4G network won’t be deployed until 2011 and the next gen iPhone won’t be available to 2011 at the earliest, according to credible rumors. If you’re in the market for a new phone, you will probably be very, very happy with the HTC Incredible.

You might also enjoy:

--Droid X Full Review [Hands On] vs. HTC Incredible — Verizon Android Showdown --Verizon confirms HTC Incredible, Android Superphone --Updates Coming to HTC Droid Incredible [Verizon/Android] --HTC Incredible ~ Demand Outstrips Supply [Verizon/Android] --Android Showdown: HTC Incredible vs. Motorola Droid [Verizon]

So far, I have 53 apps on my phone, all free ones. Soon I’ll decide which paid apps I want on the phone.  These are the apps I have on my HTC Incredible with a brief description of each. To download any of the apps, visit my list on AppBrain. The 53rd is a bonus app, not available in the Market. Read to the bottom if you want to know what it is. The other 52 are in no particular order…

AppBrain Market Sync — Keeps your phone and web account matched.

Movies — this is Flixster which has been renamed Movies. It gives local showtimes and trailers.

Pocket Empires Online — I downloaded this because it’s very popular. It’s a Sid Meieresque MMO game.

SNesoid Lite (SNES Emulator) — Self-explanatory.

MixZing Media Player — A very good media player recommended to me on Google Buzz. Great for MP3s.

3 a/k/a “Cubed” — Another media player with a 3D navigation system. If you want this app, search for the word Cubed and scroll way down until you find it. Searching for “3″ isn’t feasible because it returns too many hits.

Meridian Media Player Pioneer — This is a very good movie player. This also was recommended to me on Buzz.

Gesture Search — This rocks. I put the icon on my primary home screen. You swipe letters on the entire screen and it pulls up matching contacts and apps. It’s a Google product.

Layar Reality Browser — An augmented reality browser for Android. It overlays information on a real life scene your camera is pointed at.. you can view tweets in your area, etc. This is a great one for showing off the phone to others.

AudioManager Widget — This puts volume sliders on your home screen.

What is my remote IP? — Does what it says.

Woot Checker — Monitors woot.com. There are a number of apps like this one and I’m not sure I picked the best one.

Seesmic for Twitter — Very good Twitter app, supports multiple accounts.

FourSquare — Located-based social networking app.

NexusMod Live Wallpaper — The Nexus One wallpaper with the colorful bursts.

Shopper — Google Product search by barcode.

BarCode Scanner — Scans barcodes and QR Codes.

Wifi Analyzer — Lots of data. Good for picking the strongest signal.

Hypnotic Spiral — Not particularly useful.

Earth Live Wallpaper — If you are going to run a live wallpaper, this is one of the best. You can spin the globe.

Metal Detector — This thing really works.

Handcent SMS — The BEST SMS interface available. This is great and can be configured to emulate the iPhone and a few other platforms.

Reader Widget Free — If you use Google Reader, this widget is a good one.

Gmail Unread Count — Widget that shows Gmail unread count in the corner and you can open Gmail by tapping it.

Robo Defense Free — Popular game.

Twitter (Official App) — This is a great app but, unlike Seesmic, it doesn’t support multiple accounts.

GamBoid Lite (Game Boy Advanced Emulator) — Self-explanatory.

Pandora Radio — Works well but, note to self, need to download Slacker.

ASTRO File Manager — Must have. For manipulating files on your SD Card or in the internal memory.

PDANet Free Edition — USB tether and Bluetooth DUN.

Battery Widget — Shows remaining battery life in %s.

Super KO Boxing! 2 — This game is great. It’s like PunchOut! for Android.

Shazam — Listens to music and tells you what it is.

Finance — Google Finance.

Advanced Task Killer — There’s debate over whether one should use this app. I use it to kill processes from time to time. It was recommended to me by people I trust.

Toss It — Throw a paper ball into a trashcan. Addictive.

Bonsai Blast — Good game.

Mp3 Music — Type the name of an artist or song into this app and it looks through public search engines to find a download link. You can download the Mp3s directly to your phone.

Cuboid – 3D Rubik Cube — There are tons of apps like this one. This might not be the best but it does work well.

Flikie Wallpapers HD — Browser wallpapers.

UrbanSpoon — Restaurant reviews in a fun format.

Nesoid Lite (NES Emulator) — Self-explanatory.

Google Translate — Self-explanatory.

Talk to Me — Another translation app.

iStockManager Bold — For TD Ameritrade customers and those without accounts who want market data.

Remote for iTunes (beta) — This works really well. It’s just like the iPhone/iPod app.

Facebook for Android — This app needs work. No chat, no favorites, etc.

Google Buzz Widget — Well done, Google.

Google Goggles — Google Visual Search. This app amazes me. Shoot a picture of something and it tells you what it is. I shot a picture of a Comcast remote control and it identified it as a Comcast remote control. Not that I didn’t know what it was, but it did a Google search for the remote control too. This does have some practical implications with other objects.

Google Voice — Must have, if you’re a Google Voice person. You can set it up to ask you each time you place a call whether you want to place a normal call or a Google Voice call.

Google Sky Map — Great eye candy… and useful if you’re into astronomy.

Google Maps — Comes preinstalled with Navigation. Navigation is very good but not perfect.

SkyFire Browser — This browser is amazing. Some people report that they can get Hulu to play in this browser. I had trouble with flash content but maybe I did something wrong.

53rd app is Swype, the keyboard replacement. I can now enter text at warp speed. It’s been pulled from the Android market but you can download Swype from the web and install it with Astro.

Leave a comment if you know about a must-have app.

You might also enjoy:

--HTC Incredible can be even MORE Incredible… Part II. Install these Apps. --Android Market grows to 50,000 Apps --HTC Incredible, first 10 things to do with Android… --HTC Incredible Full Review [Verizon/Android] --Verizon confirms HTC Incredible, Android Superphone

I recently left the Blackberry platform (anyone want to buy a Verizon Tour? :)). About two weeks before the release of the HTC Incredible, I picked up an iPod Touch which runs the current iPhone OS. I played with it extensively for two weeks. I liked it quite a bit, more than I expected. My experience was not soured by AT&T’s shoddy network. I also have been playing with an HTC Incredible Android phone which will be my primary phone on Verizon. I think I have enough experience with both to formulate informed opinions about iPhone vs. Android.

The iPhone platform is a closed environment which sounds like a bad thing. It isn’t necessarily. If someone came up with the best phone in the world with the best apps in the world, open or closed, it would still be the best phone. Well, the iPhone is a damn fine phone. It has a nice user inferface, a terrific web browser and a ginormous app store. What was most striking to me, however, was how well it worked right out of the box and how easy it was to use. I didn’t have to read anything. I just started poking and swiping away and I learned the ins and outs of the phone probably in under an hour. You don’t customize an iPhone except for maybe the case you use to protect it. You basically use it the way Apple intended for you to use it.

Android is an open environment which sounds like a good thing. It isn’t necessarily. If an OS sucks and app developers don’t fill the gaps in the OS, then openness fails to produce a meaningful benefit. This is not the case with Android, however. Android openness is key to its success. I’ll explain that later. However, I would argue that even the best Android phones available today when unboxed fall slightly short of the iPhone in some regards. They are not quite as easy to use. You need to put some time in and navigate a bunch of settings. Androids can be tweaked which is a good thing and a bad thing. You can make the phone behave the way you, not Apple, wants it to behave. If you’re not good with gadgets, however, the tweaking could be difficult for you. It’s actually quite similar to the “Macs are easier to use” principle. Apps for Android are fairly extensive and fill gaps in the operating system. This is where openness shines. If you don’t like the video player, replace it with another one. Same with the virtual keyboards, text message implementation and even the UI (Open Home is a home screen replacement). Androids are more configurable to your liking but it takes some time and some effort to tweak an Android phone. They’re capable of outshining the iPhone in almost every area if you devote yourself to improving the phone. Although I have only had the Droid Incredible a few days, I would say that I now prefer it, the way it is configured now, to any iPhone. But, not everyone wants a fixer-upper or a machine with too many knobs and levers.

That’s my take on the whole iPhone vs. Android scene. It’s not “10 reasons” this or that but I think it gives you the flavor of both OSs and their relative strengths and weaknesses.

If you have other thoughts, feel free to share them in the comment section below.

You might also enjoy:

--iPhone 3GS vs. Android 2.1 — Five Advantages to Each --Switching from Pandora to Slacker (available for Blackberry, iPhone and Android) --Apple iPhone dual-booting Google Android… Really. [Video] --iPhone vs. Android [User Metrics] --FourSquare for iPhone & Android (Blackberry Beta App Very Soon)

Click to Zoom

Welcome to the HTC Incredible! I came from a non-Android phone so everything was new to me. I scoured AndroidForums.com and Google Buzz to learn the ropes. I’ll briefly summarize some of the valuable tips I learned from Android veterans.

1. Charge your battery before you turn the phone on. The indicator should be a solid green before you turn it on for activation. This may take a couple of (painful) hours.

2. Learn the HTC Sense keyboard but consider a replacement. It’s not hard to use but you might be faster with a keyboard replacement. One popular one is Swype (you drag your finger key to key and only lift between words). It was in a limited beta but you can still download and install it. Instructions and download link can be found here. If you go with Swype, you MUST do the tutorial or you will be lost. Tip: You might also want to disable the haptic feedback (the short vibrations) when you keypress. The feedback gets annoying.

3. Extending battery life is important for enjoying this phone. Consider turning off mobile web (3G) when you don’t need it. Because I’m usually in a Wifi hotspot, I often don’t have a need to keep the 3G data connection going. You can add a widget to your home screen for switching mobile web on and off. Long press in an empty cell and select widget. Scroll down to Settings and then select Mobile Web. Voila, you have a toggle on your home screen. Also check out the Power Control widget bar that allows you to toggle on and off GPS, Bluetooth, Wifi and some other stuff.

4. Make good use of your seven home screens. Throw down helpful widgets but be careful not to put down too many that update frequently or you will drain the battery. Try to group icons with similar widgets to keep your screens organized.

5. Download doubleTwist on your computer to transfer music to your phone. It’s basically iTunes for everything non-Apple and you can also use it to purchase MP3s from Amazon.

6. The first app you should install is AppBrain. After you install it, go to the computer and login to appbrain.com. You can now browse the Android Market and mark items for download with your computer. When you’re ready to load a batch of apps on the Incredible, launch the AppBrain app and sync each one. Note: use the back button after each install and the next one will come up automatically. This is a real time saver.

7. Here’s a list of 39 really cool Android apps that Matt Cutts blogged about.

8. Choose between the HTC mail app and the stock Android Gmail app. You can actually do both but you will get double notifications unless you tweak one not to notify you of new mail. I threw the stock Android Gmail app icon on my primary home screen. Later I replaced it with a widget that shows me an unread count and launches Gmail. I also have the HTC mail app running as a widget on an entire home screen because it provides a good preview of new emails.

9. Visit AndroidForums.com and register for a free account. Post any questions you have in the HTC Incredible sub-forum.

10. Experiment! You’re not going to mess up your phone too bad. :) Really, install a bunch of apps.. you have the space.. keep the winners and delete the losers.

I offer my sincere gratitude to a bunch of random people who have helped me learn the ropes in a few hours of time. I specifically want to thank the some people who follow me on Google Buzz who offered tips and encouragement:

Mark Richards

Roy Ruhling

Robert M

If you’re on Buzz, you want to follow these three.

You might also enjoy:

--HTC Incredible Full Review [Verizon/Android] --AppBrain.com: My First 53 Free Android Apps on the Incredible… --Verizon confirms HTC Incredible, Android Superphone --Updates Coming to HTC Droid Incredible [Verizon/Android] --Android Showdown: HTC Incredible vs. Motorola Droid [Verizon]