DROID!
OMG. OMG. OMG. OMG. I WANT THE DROID! (DROOL!!)
Ok, now that thats over, let me talk for a moment about why I love the new Motorola Droid coming out for the Verizon network and why, sadly, I can't get one. In case you haven't heard, Motorola has teamed up with Verizon and Google to produce a new Android 2.0 phone simply called the "Droid". Its taken direct aim at the iPhone and its going to be big. I mean really BIG.
The first thing that I love about this phone is that it comes with a slide-out qwerty keyboard. Not many phones have this and its a very handy thing to have when your texting and web browsing. A bunch of phones have the on-screen keyboard, which is nice, but doesn't have quite the same feel as the slide-out. If you do like the on-screen keyboards better, the Droid also has one at the expense of your screen real estate. It looks as though the keys are flat, which may pose some uncomfortable moments at first, but I'm sure can be adapted to over time.
While we are talking about real estate, why don't we just stare in awe of the 3.7 inch high resolution screen thats coming with it. I mean, it looks beautiful. I love the standard UI it has with it already and I am in total awe of the docking stations that transform my cell phone into a clock or GPS system. Of course, it seems as though those docking stations are going to run a feller some more clams as the unboxing of the Droid over at Engadget simply came with the cell phone and charging hardware. Which, by the way, is a micro-usb format charger. If your not familiar with the micro-usb format, it is a format that is interchangeable between many other cell phones out on the market today. Yet another bonus if you already own devices and/or chords that are of the micro-usb variety. I myself, have about two or three other items that have charged with micro-usb. Not buying another proprietary cable is one more expense I don't have to worry about.
Have we talked about the awesomeness that is the GPS integration from Google yet? Below is a short YouTube video I found on BoyGeniusReport.com which details a little bit about the navigation system. The whole new "street view" integration with the mapping software is totally awesome. How cool is it to be driving down the road and having the GPS unit visually give you turn-by-turn directions from the hard work that the Google Street Team has put forth? Something that is especially nice to have in a bigger city where exits may be easier to miss. If you are a visual person, thats probably a very cool feature that will be the "norm" going forward in GPS units. Garmin and TomTom have got to be pissing their pants right now and their stock prices are showing it.
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hv24LrvGGSQ
Another cool thing about the Droid is its contact management system that syncs with Google, Microsoft Exchange, and Facebook. I've enjoyed my Facebook integration on my current phone using a 3rd party application and can only imagine having that capability out of the box on the Droid. It makes it easier to pull down contact pictures for a more pleasurable receiving/dialing experience. Its nice to see a picture of someones face when they are calling rather than just a name and number.
The Droid also offers a 3.5mm headphone jack on the top of the phone. Along with the capacity to hold a 16GB micro-sd card, it would be wonderful to have for listening to music and watching videos. I would imagine one could also use that output as a way to interface with many of the newer cars on the market that make it easy to plugin to your vehicles sound system. I haven't seen the navigation system turn into multimedia system at the same time. I find that an attractive feature that should be available through future software updates and 3rd party applications. Cnet actually has a lot more to say about the phone and features that I haven't touched on. If your looking for more specifics, I'd suggest going over to their review or Engadget and BoyGenuisReport for more info.
Now for the sad part. It looks like the price point for this bad boy is going to be $299 with Verizon for new contracts. I just bought a Samsung Omnia back in March and can't get into a new phone until sometime in 2010 using the New Every Two plan. Not to mention, I used my VIP option to upgrade which takes me out of commission on that front as well. Of course, I could shell out $599 to buy this without contract which would be totally insane. What to do. What to do.
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