From PC World:
Verizon Droid's Secret Weapon: Android 2.0
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Tony Bradley | Wednesday, October 28, 2009 7:52 AM PDT
The Verizon Droid is coming. You have probably seen the clever ‘iDon't' ad campaign attacking the iPhone and ending with an ominous, you-will-be-assimilated sort of message. They left something off of the ‘iDon't' list: ‘iDon't integrate well with business tools and networks.'
Actually, Verizon did sort of put that on the iDon't list, just not in those words. The original iDon't list includes both ‘iDon't allow open development' and ‘iDon't customize', both of which imply that the Droid does those things which means the Droid provides a customizable, open development platform that business customers can work with.
The Droid, which is Verizon's rebranded version of the Motorola Sholes device, is slated to be the first of the Android 2.0 generation. Rumors suggest that the cryptic alien message on the Verizon Droid site can be decoded to say the Droid will be coming on October 30. Verizon is officially unveiling details about the Droid today.
According to the leaked specifications, the Droid may very well live up to the iPhone killer hype. The 3.7 inch, capacitive display has significantly higher resolution than the iPhone. The Droid has a fast processor, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, a 5 megapixel camera with zoom and flash. It sounds like it has the features and functions to go where previous iPhone killers like the Pre have failed.
But, from a business perspective the most impressive feature of the slick new device may be the operating system. Lots of phones have cameras, or GPS, or Wi-Fi networking, but not many are as open to custom development as devices built on Google's open source Android operating system. And, no other device yet is built on the latest Android 2.0 operating system.
Not only does the open source nature of the operating system allow for easier development and customization, but it also results in a much faster development timeframe for the operating system itself. While platforms like the iPhone and Windows Mobile take a year or more to roll out new versions, Android has gone from Cupcake to Donut (SDK 1.6) and now to Éclair (SDK 2.0). The public collaborative nature of open source projects allows for faster development.
The success of the device though is a combination of the operating system and the hardware. There are plenty of other Android-based devices, including the Motorola Cliq and the Samsung Behold II. They are also very capable, but they don't have the impressive hardware specs of the Droid and they aren't available from the number one wireless service provider in the United States.
Referenced Review...:
Motorola Droid Preview
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by Boy Genius on October 23rd, 2009 at 1:28pm
If you’re a Droid-chaser, you’ve no doubt been hooked to BGR for the past few weeks (more than normal, maybe?). We have our very own Motorola Droid handset, and although the software isn’t final, it’s solid enough where we feel comfortable giving you a nice preview of the unit. Remember, again, this isn’t a final unit and things can and will change for the better. Read on for our Motorola Droid Preview!
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Hardware / Build quality:
When the Motorola Droid is released in the coming couple weeks, it will be the most advanced Android device on the market as far as specifications go. Software too, as it’s the only one said to be running Android 2.0 until months from now, but that’s for another section. There’s a 550MHz Texas Instruments OMAP3430 processor, separate PowerVR GPU, 256MB of RAM, CDMA Rev A., Wi-Fi, GPS, a digital magnetometer, accelerometer, proximity sensors, a 5 megapixel autofocus camera with dual-LED flash, notification LED, four touch-sensitive navigation buttons, a slide-out full QWERTY keyboard, 3.5mm headset jack, microUSB port — jesus. In the last year or two, spec sheets really haven’t meant all that much to people. Rational people, that is. What means a lot more is the OS your phone is running since that’s what going to enable you to take bad ass pictures and immediately share them with a close group of friends, or edit work documents on your phone while conducting an online presentation, and so on. But what’s actually pretty funny is, Android devices have been a little underpowered, so the spec sheets do matter, and the Motorola Droid absolutely topples every single Android device ever released as far as the hardware specifications are concerned.