So Verizon’s Droid is official, and officially arriving a week from Friday. I’m smart enough to know it’s pointless to call any phone an iPhone killer, or even a potential iPhone killer–and that competing with the iPhone is much more about software and overall integration than it is about hardware specs. (If you could kill the iPhone through trumping its specs, it would already be a goner.) But the Droid does pack better specs than the iPhone 3GS does in many areas–including its screen, which has well over twice as many pixels. It runs the promising Android 2.0 OS. And it’s on a network that doesn’t provoke much in the way of squawking from customers. In short, it’s the most formidable Google rival since the Palm Pre.
I have a Droid in hand (lent to me by Verizon) and will report in with a hands-on report soon. But as is my wont, I’m going to begin with a features comparison. Note that the information that follows mostly doesn’t take third-party applications and products into account.
This T-Grid is a work in progress, subject to expansion and revision.
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The phones
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Verizon Droid by Motorola
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Apple iPhone 3GS
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Platform
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Google’s Android 2.0
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Apple’s iPhone OS 3.0
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Availability
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November 6th
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June 19th
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U.S. carrier
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Verizon
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AT&T
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Price
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$199.99 with two-year contract after $100 rebate for 16GB model
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$199 for 16GB model or $299 for 32GB model with two-year contract
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Service (Unlimited voice minutes, data, and text messages)
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$150 per month
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$150 per month
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Locked?
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Verizon-only
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Yup, to AT&T
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Colors
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Black
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Black and white
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Size and weight
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4.56” by 2.36” by 0.54”; 5.96 oz.
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4.5″ by 2.4″by 0.48″; 4.8 oz.
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Screen size, resolution, and technology
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3.7″; 854 by 480; LCD
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CPU speed
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600 MHz, reportedly 550 Mhz
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600 MHz
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RAM
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I’m not sure 256MB
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256MB
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Multitasking
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Yes
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Openness
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It’s hard to sum up in a chart; Android Market occasionally has apps yanked but apps can also be distributed outside of it; apps can customize interface and otherwise tweak OS; Verizon Wireless rep told me she knows of no apps forbidden to use Verizon network
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It’s hard to sum up in a chart; Apple approves (or doesn’t approve) all apps; apps are sandboxed; some bandwidth-intensive apps prohibited from using AT&T network
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Input
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Single-touch touchscreen, onscreen keyboard, and slide-out physical keyboard
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Multi-touch touchscreen with on-screen keyboard
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Connector
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Micro USB
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iPod Dock Connector
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Memory slot
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MicroSD
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None
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Accelerometer
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Yes
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Yes
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Wi-Fi and GPS
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Got ‘em both
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Got ‘em both
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Compass
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Not that I can tell Yes, although Google Maps doesn’t seem to know what direction I’m facing until I start moving
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Yup
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Headphone jack
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Standard 3.5mm
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Standard 3.5mm
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Bluetooth
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Stereo
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Stereo
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Voice dialing
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Yes
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Yes
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Visual voicemail
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Yes
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Yes
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Voice recording
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I’m not seeing it as a standard feature
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Yes
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MMS
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Yes
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Yes
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Camera
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5 megapixels; dual LED flash; autofocus; scene modes; does 720 by 480 video at 24 fps
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3 megapixels; no flash; no digital zoom; autofocus; does 640 by 480 video at 30fps
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Voice
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CDMA
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Quad-band GSM
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Data
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EVDO Rev. A
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HSDPA
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Use as tethered modem?
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Through third-party apps at least, I think
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Yes in countries other than the U.S; stateside, only by ignoring your AT&T agreement; AT&T says it’ll offer tethering someday, but I’ll believe it when I see it
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Battery
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up to 385 minutes talk time; 370 hours standby; removable
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Up to 5 hours talk time; 300 hours standby; 5 hours Internet use on 3G; 9 hours on Wi-Fi; 10 hours video playback; 30 hours audio playback; non-removable
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Copy and paste?
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Absolutely
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Finally
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Note-taking app
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Not standard
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Yes
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Flash
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First half of 2010, supposedly
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Maybe, someday
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Web searching
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Yes, via Google, with voice search
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Yes, via Google or Yahoo
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Web browser
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Webkit-based browser
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WebKit-based Safari
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E-Mail
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IMAP, POP, Gmail
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MobileMe, Gmail, Yahoo Mail, AOL; other services supported through IMAP
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Calendar
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Yes, no to-do list that I know of
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Yes, no to-do list
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Microsoft Exchange support
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Yes
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Yes
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Instant messaging
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Google Talk, others through third-party apps
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Yes, but through third-party apps
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Office Apps
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Microsoft Office-compatible and PDF viewers, but no editing
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Microsoft Office-compatible and PDF viewers, but no editing
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Maps
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Yes
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Yes
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Turn-by-turn navigation
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Yes, in Google Maps
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Not as a standard feature
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Music
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Music player and Amazon music downloads; supports MP3, AAC, WAV, WMA, OGG, MIDI
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iPod player and iTunes Store; supports MP3, AAC (with or without Fairplay), WAV, Apple Lossless, AIFF, VBR, Audible formats
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Video
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Video player; YouTube; no standard store for buying commercial content; supports MPEG-4, H.263, and H.264 formats
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iPod player, YouTube; movies through iTunes Store; supports H.264 and MPEG4 formats
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Photos
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Yes
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Yes
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Wireless syncing
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Yes, including Gmail/Google Calendar and integration of Facebook friends
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Yes, through MobileMe
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Desktop syncing
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No, although you can copy files over via USB
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Yes, through iTunes
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Application store
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Yes, through Android Market; 12,000 apps so far
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Yes, through the iTunes App Store; 93,000 apps so far
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October 28th, 2009 at 5:51 pm
Harry – I asked Verizon about the RAM today. They said it’s 256MB.
October 28th, 2009 at 6:37 pm
According to Moto, there is a compass, gthough no standard compass app to take advantage of it. The compass sensor is important mainly so augmented reality apps like Layar can figure out the phone’s orientation.
October 28th, 2009 at 6:49 pm
3 more columns would have been great.
the best phone with Windows Mobile 6.5
Palm Prē
the best phone with Symbian
October 28th, 2009 at 7:06 pm
MS Office documents can be edited on an iPhone with several third party apps with QuickOffice and Docs-To-Go being two of the better ones! They are inexpensive also.
October 28th, 2009 at 8:10 pm
Droid is multitouch, it has 3 point recognition.
October 28th, 2009 at 8:11 pm
The showstopper = Itunes. Apple knew after they had this in the bag they could own the mobile industry. Many of my friends ALWAYS argue that they don’t care about tunes on their phone. BS. Itunes is so much more then music – videos, podcasts, music, etc. all in one place. Unless someone can add Itunes to this thing, it’s going to have a rough ride.
October 28th, 2009 at 8:41 pm
The phone you should be comparing to the most is the MOTOROLA CLIQ.
As that currently avaliable to current t-mobile customers. (I just got mine yesterday)
I can tell you the kernel version is: 2.6.27.
As far as I know, the only real difference beside the shell is google voice navigation.
October 28th, 2009 at 8:52 pm
I suppose it depends on what you mean by “turn by turn” but I think the iPhone has this in their Google maps app that comes standard.
October 28th, 2009 at 9:09 pm
According to the official website, the Droid’s processor is only 550 MHz. However, comparing spec on devices running such different operating-systems is pretty much pointless. The 3GS will undoubtedly be faster in certain situations, but if you want to check the weather while listening to Pandora, the iPhone isn’t capable of doing that.
October 28th, 2009 at 9:14 pm
Anders: “Turnby turn” means that the GPS tracks your movement, tells you when to turn, and then notifies you of the next turn. The iPhone does not do this with Google Maps. Even if you buy an expensive GPS app for the iPhone, the iPhone’s lack of multitasking severely limits its usefulness.
October 28th, 2009 at 11:50 pm
Billshrink did a comparison as well, chart here: http://www.droidforums.net/forum/droid-general-discussions/67-motorola-droid-cost-ownership.html
October 28th, 2009 at 11:56 pm
Like the chart. I was fortunate to get one to play with as well. I see the comments have hit a lot of the small misses, but the biggest to me is Exchange support. It took me a few minutes to set up my exchange mail account on my Droid. Also, the syncing of contact information between the Google contacts I already had and my exchange accounts contacts AND my Facebooks friends is incredibly slick and helpful. Similar to the Pre’s feature.
I have a couple posts on details at The-Gadgeteer.com, more to follow: http://the-gadgeteer.com/tag/droid/
October 29th, 2009 at 1:52 am
Wow, nice comparison. Could give iPhone potential run-for-money, but won’t force exisiting iPhone users away – the App Store set-up and lock-in is too great.
October 29th, 2009 at 5:49 am
This comparison is useless to be honest. You compared things that you know most about iPhone. I would say next time when comparing use Bing :) maybe you got overloaded with Google. Couldn’t find Ram? :)
Compas: Yes , App- Yes its an android for got’s sake.
Ahhh… bye
October 29th, 2009 at 8:26 am
Another key difference is the the Droid supports the AVRCP Bluetooth profile, which allows you to switch songs from a headset or your car stereo. The iPhone is capable of this, but Apple hasn’t enabled it yet, which is very frustrating!
Also, your processor specs fail to take into account the Droid’s GPU which allows it to offload multimedia threads and for the end user will make it a smoother experience than the iPhone.
October 29th, 2009 at 8:41 am
I was looking at this grid and thinking yeah the Droid is very tempting, especially and it’s with Verizon, but then I realized why I’d still prefer an iPhone even though it’s on AT&T and that’s because of iTunes. In that regard I agree with Mike.
Not to mention all the iPhone apps, and oh yeah, it syncs with my Mac.
October 29th, 2009 at 10:25 am
DoubleTwist negates much of the iTunes advantage, and Android does sync with a Mac, but there is not much reason for it. Podcasts are synced OTA with Google Listen, and transfer of files, music, videos, etc, is simply drag and drop from any OS, Windows, OS X, Linux, etc.
And you can’t overestimate the benefit of multitasking – i.e. follow google map while playing music, while podcasts download.
October 29th, 2009 at 11:27 am
I think the LG VX8100 is the best phone ever made…
October 29th, 2009 at 12:07 pm
The Droid can handle MicroSD card up to 32GB.
October 29th, 2009 at 12:11 pm
As Stephen said, third party apps exist for editing office files. I’m familiar with Docs-To-Go on Palm(Garnet), and it is available for both iPhone and Android. I’m not familiar with QuickOffice, but a quick glance at their website seems to indicate iPhone but not Android. Both only seem to support MS Office, but that is what most people care about. I’m still looking for something that works like DtoG with OpenOffice files…
October 29th, 2009 at 12:44 pm
The writing of this article is so poor that it distracts from the content. While blogging is the big equalizer, it’s always nice to see someone work a little hard to put out something readable. This is just awful.
October 29th, 2009 at 1:55 pm
Any idea if either one can transfer files to/from Linux without jailbreaks?
adéu,
Mateu
October 29th, 2009 at 2:33 pm
Mateu, Android mounts like a usb drive, so you can transfer files back and forth from any OS, including Linux. iPhone transfers via iTunes, and there is no itunes for Linux that I know of.
October 29th, 2009 at 3:12 pm
Not sure who would win in this bout… until we hear people’s comments about the new Motorola Droid. Based on this detailed comparison, technically the Droid wins over the iPhone. Although the iPhone has an edge over apps (which BTW is obvious since Android store is new). Just wait til T – 0
http://pinoytutorial.com/techtorial/motorola-droid-official-release-on-november-6-for-199-with-contract/
October 29th, 2009 at 6:58 pm
I have a iphone 3GS 16GB model and it sure looks to me like I only have 128MB of RAM. I suspect the 32GB model is the only one with 256MB RAM.
October 29th, 2009 at 7:49 pm
You need to add a column for “Developer startup costs”….obviously cheaper for Driod devs. And, “Required Developer OS” (for the iPhone its Mac OS, for the droid it’s anything that can run Java i think).
October 29th, 2009 at 9:12 pm
Does the Droid provide true hands-free operation using a bluetooth headset? Specifically, when there’s an incoming call from a number in the phone’s address book, will the phone announce the NAME of the caller through the bluetooth headset?
October 29th, 2009 at 11:19 pm
another joke 256MB! People don’t give two hoots about the ability to root either. I don’t (no pun intended) see anyone flocking to linux based OSes, even though they are perhaps more “powerful”. So much for “open source”. Maybe hundreds of basement nerds will line up excited to call themselves “black hat”. What are crap marketing call.
Also, why does anyone give a hoot about extra megapixels on the camera – are you framing the picture on a wall? why do you need 8278×10000 resolution anyway? please. I NEVER use the camera…it’s a non-factor. As long as the pictures are viewable, who cares. What are you, a pixel addict? It’s like someone trying to buy a new car and race your old car. WHO CARES, NON FACTOR. 3 MP, 40 MP, its stupid.
How about usability? Every video I have seen so far shows the same issue as the Storm had, you cant go from potrait to landscape without a 30 sec delay. LOL. Or how about the hundreds of different interfaces on one screen. Pick one layout already. You don’t need 399 menus. It took the Google Nav app 20 sec to load satellites. YIKES! You sure the GPS isn’t crippled like in every other Verizon device? How did VZNavigator not end up being the choice? Wow, Verizon is going to take a hit on that 9.99 a month junkz.
Why do I need to multitask 93 items at once on 256 MB of internal ROM? I could care less about multitasking 2 items on my phone now. And again, who is Verizon targeting? Normal phone users dont even know how to dial, let alone run two “apps”. MAJOR EPIC FAIL dummies. Who markets this without asking real users their opinions?
They should have waited a little longer. Google needed to work some kinks out, and tinker with design. The thing looks like a VCR tape. Come on. Round edges idiots. People dont want sharp jabby items in their pocket.
And so what you’ll have flash. Do you honestly think Apple isn’t working on getting Safari to support it? Please, its coming, as well as Google Nav on the iPhone.
You might as well call the phone VOID…
The iPhone is faster, lighter, more useable,
AND is more fun. PERIOD. Out of the box fun. The phone sucks for call, but who wants to talk to anyone anyway. Most people are boring.
And futher if you jailbreak it, the iPhone is unbeatable. sn0w. if you want “open” source, its right there to be found…
last time I checked, droids are all alike. Looks like this one is the same as every other VERIZON marketing strategy – 200% lies, 500% hype, and hidden contract charges by customer service reps who can’t tie their shoes. I went to the Verizon store today to ask about this “KILLER”, and they told me that the “Storm 2″ is coming in a few days,
TALK ABOUT BEING UP TO TRENDS! ROFLOLz!
October 30th, 2009 at 3:46 am
The main difference to me is iTunes and multi-touch. I’ve played around with many touchscreen phones and they just frustrate me. After getting use to browsing with a multi-touch all others fall by the way side. As for multi-tasking I solved that problem easily. I jailbroke my iphone and it opens up everything. Its a totally different phone and it is fully customizable and has a app for running programs in the background so you can multi-task.
October 30th, 2009 at 7:21 am
Mark/Space have announced Missing Sync for Android, to provide syncing services for Android devices and Windows or Mac OS X.
October 30th, 2009 at 9:11 am
Hey hoagies or grinders, fanboy much?
October 30th, 2009 at 11:42 am
Does the droid have a missed call reminder buzz and can you text images to someone else? These two amazingly absent basic and standard features on the iphone are a mind boggler in this day and age
October 30th, 2009 at 12:59 pm
I’m looking at this list and see one HUGE non-starter. It appears that the Droid has only a SINGLE touch screen. If this is correct, it’s a major drawback in my opinion. When I first saw the iPhone, it was the first time I saw reasonable web browsing on a screen that small. The zooming was intuitive and easy to use. I can’t imagine how they’re going to implement that on the Droid to make it a real competitor. Also, the lack of a multi-touch screen means that there can NEVER be multi-touch apps on the Droid.
No one in other forums seems to be commenting on this particular issue. Is the Droid spec list incorrect? Hard to believe that no one would care about no multi-touch screen.
October 30th, 2009 at 1:16 pm
The specs on the droid aren’t very accurate. Its multitouch and its completely open… Google can ban apps or approve/deny them from the Android Market but you can still download them from any other websites that you want. With the iPhone, every single app must get approval, regardless of delivery channel. You should also mention that MobileMe features are extra charges, whereas all of those are also free on Google.
October 30th, 2009 at 8:27 pm
iPhone has turn by turn nav standard as part of google maps.
October 30th, 2009 at 9:18 pm
No voice recording? Voice recognition but no voice recording, who ever made that decision is lackng in IQ.
November 4th, 2009 at 2:10 pm
Itunes is garbage. Pay for what. That is why limewire is popular. Even I don’t know why it is so popular. Most of the podcasts, music, and etc. can be found using alternative ways anyway. I hope this phone kicks its a$$. I am so sick an tired of hearing about that phone. Most people with it have problems on the ATT network anyway.
November 5th, 2009 at 12:09 am
So which is actually better aside from the price comparison, anyone really tried it, without really doing it for marketing purposes? please share. Thanks.
November 5th, 2009 at 4:20 pm
Droid will be a solid competitor to the iPhone. It has good handset technology, Google’s support, 2 killer free apps with Google Voice and Google Navigation. It is also rumored that my favorite app NeuroMobile will be available on the Droid soon. It’s not enough for me to switch but I can see why others might.
November 7th, 2009 at 11:30 am
So its judgment day today for Droid, was it? According to Cnet it was a little bit slow nonetheless a good start of droid, other “critiques” says otherwise. But I say, “Hell yeah! droid conquered US for a couple of hours today”. We just hope that their ROI is profitable compare to the hunderds of thousand worth of ads they spend during the promotion period and err.. did I say, their impending “lawsuit” with AT&T too?
Collation of info about droid release today: http://bit.ly/did-droid-conquered-USA-today
Hope Droid will serve as a hand of midas to Verizon Corp. Soweet
November 9th, 2009 at 5:09 am
Hi Harry,
Intereting side by side review, but reviewers somehow keep missing is THE REASON I will never buy an iPhone:
MUSIC!
With the iPhone, you have to use quicktime, itunes, a proprietory cable. You cannot drag and drop folders of music to and from your phone.
I detest all of that (and I own two mac computers of my own). I like being able to plug in to a generic USB, on ANY computer anywhere, and just add or remove or copy music to and from the device as much as I want, no interference from a freak controlling Apple.
This makes iPhone (or an iPod for that matter) completely unacceptable to me.
Mark UK.