The Motorola Droid is into the release of a smartphone on November 6
. It will be $199 with a two-year contract and a $100 mail-in rebate (just a note, Verizon, those are terribly annoying). Apparently, the Droid will be more than one phone; it will be a line of Android phones coming from Verizon, the next one being the Droid Eris.
Engadget: relayed: That big screen is killer. Bright, crisp, and tons of room for your icons and widgets. The Speed is noticeably improved -- particularly when moving from app to app. We did notice that some of the home screen scrolling looked laggy…. Android 2.0 is definitely cleaned up -- but it's most definitely still Android.”
Boy Genius Report: "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.... We love the build quality of this phone. It's mostly metal, and while it's heavy, it gives you a reassuring quality feel that you just don't find much nowadays as handsets get thinner, lighter, smaller, and cheaper.... It's the largest capacitive screen we've ever seen and it's positively amazing. It's crisp, sharp, vibrant, bright, and really, really responsive.... Sure, there's a little hype sprinkled in because this is the first Android 2.0 device I've had the pleasure of using, but once you move past the initial "wow" factor, the Droid really delivers."
CNET: The Droid is a real competitor to Apple's device. Perhaps one of the top highlights of Android 2.0 is the expanded capabilities of the personal information management tools, including e-mail, calendar, and contacts. The Droid now offers native Microsoft Exchange synchronization out of the box for e-mail, calendar, and contacts, in addition to support for Gmail and POP3 and IMAP accounts."
Engadget: "That big screen is killer. Bright, crisp, and tons of room for your icons and widgets.... Speed is noticeably improved -- particularly when moving from app to app. We did notice that some of the home screen scrolling looked laggy.... Android 2.0 is definitely cleaned up -- but it's most definitely still Android."
Boy Genius Report: "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.... We love the build quality of this phone. It's mostly metal, and while it's heavy, it gives you a reassuring quality feel that you just don't find much nowadays as handsets get thinner, lighter, smaller, and cheaper.... It's the largest capacitive screen we've ever seen and it's positively amazing. It's crisp, sharp, vibrant, bright, and really, really responsive.... Sure, there's a little hype sprinkled in because this is the first Android 2.0 device I've had the pleasure of using, but once you move past the initial "wow" factor, the Droid really delivers."
Gizmodo: "Not to mix droid metaphors here, but I feel like it's the phone Darth Vader would use. And after a couple of minutes using it, I'm still excited about it.... It's not a light phone-it's mostly metal and glass, which is why it has that little chin on the bottom (for the RF antennas).... You can really feel the screen's extra resolution-it's nicer than the Moment's AMOLED screen.... Facebook powers are built-in, and contacts integration isn't all or nothing like the Pre-you can assign by groups and stuff."
This Motorola Droid comes with an 3.2-inch HVGA screen, Wi-Fi, 5-MPx camera, and a GPS receiver, but no hardware keyboard. This model has the code-name HTC Desire, and it was under that designation that it received FCC approval late last month. It will run Google’s Android OS, but the standard user interface will be replaced with HTC Sense.
