Computer911-11.07.09: Day of the Droid

“Don’t you wish you had a robot sidekick that moved at light speed, could get you out of any problem and lived in your pocket?” That’s Verizon’s pitch, but does the Droid live up to the hype and “iDont’s”?  We find out today, along with your questions, comments, and thoughts in episode 33 of Computer 911 with PC Medic, “Day of the Droid.”

In the News

• AT&T vs. Verizon: There’s a Lawyer for That
• Three Strike Law Going Global?
• Skype Founders Settle With eBay And Others, Get 14% Stake In Skype
• Dutch hacker holds jailbroken iPhones “hostage” for €5
• LHC Shut Down Again — By Baguette-Dropping Bird

FEATURE: Day of the Droid

PROS:

There’s no denying that the Droid lives up to the hype and then some.  With a 5 megapixel camera, built-in sat-nav, and Android 2.0, this is most definietely the phone that Verizon customers have been waiting for.

• Android 2.0 is sleek, refined, and after spending a half hour with it, easy to use.
• Google Maps with sat-nav. Love it. The sattelite GPS works great, and the ability to overlay satellite view, and street view makes this not only fun, but very useful.
• Simultaneous apps. Run up to 6 applications at once, and check your messages easily.
• 16GB of storage shipped! And because it is on a microSD card, you can easily upgrade to 32GB. That’s alot of space for the pictures taken off of the Droid’s 5 megapixel camera, and videos it shoots at DVD quality.
• The screen is crisp and purty. Thought the iPhone had a nice display? Well the Droid packs in roughly an extra 100 pixels per inch that makes those glossy iPhone icons look blocky.
• You want apps? Droids got apps. Right around 12,000.  And while Scott loves the completely pointless nature of some of the apps, there are more than a few that will make you take advantage of the speed that snappy processor affords you? Google Skymap, Shazam, Shopsavvy, and Ustream Broadcaster just to name a few.
• Oh, and did we mention that this thing makes really great calls too?

Just because we’re showing the Droid all this love, doesn’t mean it is without flaws. Both from Motorola and Verizon.

• The physical keyboard becomes less of a feature, and more of a novelty.  While it is true that many smart phone users prefer a physical keyboard to an on-screen one, the Droids keys fall flat.  As with any keyboard, there is a learning curve to establishing the muscle memory that will help you crank out your messages and mail in a flash. This is hindered on the Droid by its very tiny keys, and the tacticle bumps being offset from the on key letter.
• Search Button pops up randomly.  There is a button dedicated to search, and being that this is a Google expierence phone, why shouldn’t there be?  The problem though is that the button is located on the bottom-right corner, and easily bumped by the side of your hand.  Bringing up the search utility at inoportune times.
• Verizon.  While their customer service may be a head and shoulder above what Alltel’s was, there’s no denying Verzon’s love of locking you into their features to nickel and dime you to death.  First, Verizon would like you to pay an extra $15 per month in fees just to use Droid’s flaunted Exchange support. Then, VZW announces this week that they will be increasing their early terminiation fee to a ludicrious $350 for “advanced phones.” And if that weren’t enough, Big Red would like to charge you yet another $30 per month to tether your phone with and unlimited plan that’s anything but (capped off at 5GB per month).  Verizon, you really want to quit loosing customers to AT&T and the iPhone, cut the nickel and dime crap.
• Lastly, and its a big one for those who are already iPhone users: Media playback is nearly non-exsistent…naitively. While there is a built in music player, you’ll have to do some searching through the Android Market to find a way to playback your video files.

Totally Free Download: Google Voice for Android

Just cause Verizon wants every penny they can get, doesn’t mean there aren’t ways of getting around it, and Google Voice is one of them.  While it is still in closed beta, if you can get your hands on an invite, not only can you let it handle your voicemail online, but you can also get free visual voicemail with it and not pay the $2.99 a month that  VZW would like you to to use their app.