DISQUS

Jay Goldman · 1 month ago

Louis —

Great article! I'm also watching the Droid with interest (and trying to get a review unit for http://mrmobile.tv, which is a whole other story :) ). Thought I would correct one thing though — the iPhone 3.0 update brought A2DP support, which means full stereo streaming over Bluetooth. I can personally verify that since my 2010 Mazda 3 supports A2DP and I regularly stream my iPhone's music to it whenever I drive anywhere. Not to distract from your point about multitasking (which is a very, very important one), but I don't see any reason why I couldn't start music playing in the iPod app and then switch over to ALK's Co-Pilot (our review: http://butterscotch.com/show/Turn-By-Turn-GPS-N...) or Tom Tom and use turn-by-turn. Neither are free ($39 and $99 respectively), and you can't stream audio from a third party app like Pandora and use them, but it should still work.

Albert Willis · 1 month ago

Every time someone says the iPhone can't multitask, there needs to be a link to an explanation that Apple's apps can run in the background; 3rd party application cannot at this time. You can certainly play your iTunes library through a car stereo via Bluetooth in the background and run a different app in the foreground, also known as multitasking. ;-)

Louis Gray · 1 month ago

Jay, you are not the first to mention that bluetooth out works with the 3.1 release. I got that feedback on FriendFeed and via Google Reader as well.

Sascha Pallenberg · 1 month ago

i totally agree with you Louis. As a crackberry user and 2nd generation iPod touch owner, i have the feeling, that this phone can bring the 2 usage scenarios of these devices together.
The momentum of Android is amazing. Everytime i am attending a tradeshow or mobile monday event here in Taipei, i see new apps, new ideas and i see new devices.
There is only one iPhone but there will be dozen of Android 2.0 phones in the future and the Droid is definitely on my list....
I have to admit that i need to check out the Nokia N900 first before i am making a decision cause my 2 podcast fellas over at http://www.meetmobility.com are testing it for some weeks now and they are always telling me, how cool the device is.

Louis Gray · 1 month ago

Exactly. Amusingly, this morning a friend was trying to convince
another friend of mine (who happens to work at Apple) that someone he
knew had purchased the new mini iPhone from Apple while in Japan, and
that it had a keyboard. The Apple employee simply held out his iPhone,
and said "there is only one iPhone."

While he was clearing up the young man's delusion, it had me thinking,
there is only one iPhone. There will be many other Droids - lower case
or upper case.

Nikolay Kolev · 1 month ago

When I bring up in a iPhone OS vs Android polemic the significance of Android being open source, my opponents then quickly respond with: "Linux didn't beat Windows" or with: "Firefox didn't beat Internet Explorer". Well, OS X didn't beat Windows either, did it?

Feature-wise, Android has more to offer than iPhone. Some say iPhone has a better UX, which is relative, of course, but as we've all witnessed, Motorola, HTC, and Sony have built their own UX on top of the core platform and that's the beauty of Android - more choices! In the long run, there will be more devices running Android than iPhone OS - that's a fact and those devices won't be just phones.

Apple is a good hardware company, probably the best, which unfortunately is forced to write software, and it doesn't really shine at it, so, the best would be if the open-source community ports Android to the iPhone hardware and then you'll have the best software running on the best hardware. :)

Louis Gray · 1 month ago

The likelihood of Apple giving Android access to the iPhone, given their revenue on iTunes, is pretty close to zero. :) But I like your different approach.

Nikolay Kolev · 1 month ago

Well, there's no problem to launch iTunes on yet another platform - Android.

ZuDfunck · 1 month ago

I knew I let the contract on my iPhone expire for a reason
Could it be a Droid is in my future?
Thanx for the encouragement Louis
These are most exciting Times.

DGentry · 1 month ago

I'm currently using a very old SonyEricsson phone, clearly overdue for replacement. I'm actually surprised I never picked up an iPhone, but being out of contract with AT&T means I have lots of options. I suspect I'll end up with an Android phone of some type, Droid or otherwise.

Nikolay Kolev · 1 month ago

If you like your old Sony Ericsson, you should get their 1GHz Android handset Xperia X10 that's gonna be announced this coming Tuesday.

bradleyjoyce · 1 month ago

if I buy an android phone, does google get paid??

Louis Gray · 1 month ago

I can't speak officially for Google, but assume they may have a licensing agreement for the OS or apps to each mobile carrier? Maybe I should Google it. :)

scott · 1 month ago

I believe that if the device says "with Google" on it then Google has licensed their apps to the carrier. I have no idea what the terms are. However, there are carriers and device manufacturers that are not partnering with Google and enhancing the base OS with their own UI and bundled apps. It will be interesting to see the reception the Sony Ericsson XPERIA receives ...

hardware: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GKv4OXLWZqE
software: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lvsl5IBSZh0

Cole · 1 month ago

I am an avid iPhone user, but have always found myself fighting the locked-downedness of Apple's offering and the wonderful world of open source. I played around with an original Android phone, but the experience was not enough to break me away from my iPhone. After reading a few posts similar to this one today, I am eagerly anticipating Droid...let's just hope it comes to Canada!

Great post!

Louis Gray · 1 month ago

Thanks, Cole. The Droid is the first Android device that I have been impressed with. I don't think it will be the last.

rdweatherly · 1 month ago

Simple, plain-language comparative review of Droid vs. iPhone. Very helpful. I'm a Mac addict, too, but I hate AT&T too much to leave Verizon for an iPhone. Now, maybe I don't have to.

Michael · 1 month ago

Louis,
I've read negative things about the rollout keyboard. It looks like it would be very akward to type on it. I can comfortably hold a BlackBerry with two hands and have two thumbs free to type on its qwerty. Can you do this on the Droid? Also, while this is a phone I want to love, but it seems so clunky and..not to mince words...ugly.
Michael

Rick Anderson · 1 week ago

Louis -

There's a different angle of Droid which you missed in your review - and let's just say all Android phones using "with Google" from T-Mobile, Sprint, and Verizon (although I'd recommend Android 1.6 or higher) - and that is the instantaneous integration with Google Apps.

Any business using Google Apps and Android phones has a powerful, integrated system that takes 30 seconds to setup (simply enter your google apps e-mail address into your Android phone). No IT folks, no blackberry servers, no exchange servers, no routers, no headaches, no setup configurations. Just instant access to your contacts, mail, calendar, messaging, tasks, and documents without the headaches. Everything you need to be productive without the high cost of hardware or IT staff. And since all your data is in the cloud, it's shared access to your information no matter the device - phone, netbook, laptop, desktop.

To me it's not about the phone, it's about having a complete integrated system that works in the office and on the road - and isn't that what we really have these devices for to begin with?