Droid Bionic Now Available

With absolutely no lack of enthusiasm, Verizon Wireless has officially announced the release of the much anticipated Droid Bionic by Motorola. This much talked about device was first announced and unveiled all the way back in January during CES and eager Verizon customers have been waiting ever so patiently to get their hands on it.

The device, which looks stunning in my opinion, is physically available today at any Verizon retailer or online store for $299.99 with a new two-year agreement as is customary with Verizon.

The Droid Bionic is a 4G LTE device that runs the latest Android 2.3.4 Gingerbread OS. It is powered by a dual-core 1GHz processor and comes with a beautiful 4.3-inch qHD display. What's more, this beautiful screen is scratch resistant thanks to Corning Gorilla Glass. The screen also has a dual-layer anti-reflective coating to make it all the more special.

Full specifications of the Droid Bionic include:

• 1GB of RAM


• 32GB of memory with 16GB on board and 16GB on a pre-installed microSD


• Front-facing camera that allows for video chatting via 4G LTE, 3G or WiFi


• 8 megapixel auto-focus rear camera with flash and full 1080p HD video capture


• Mirror Mode with HDMI out that supports full 1080p HD video playback


• MOTOPRINT application allowing you to print through a WiFi-enabled printer


• Multi-window options for easy multitasking


• Adobe Flash Player pre-installed


• HTML 5 capabilities


• Wireless charger support


• Business ready with advanced security features

In addition to the Droid Bionic, Verizon is also offering all the bells and whistles that one might want or need when using this device. Verizon is also offering the Lapdock for $299.97, the HD Station for $99.99, the Webtop Application Adapter for $29.99, the Car Navigation Dock for $39.99 and the Battery Dock for $49.99.

Needless to say, this definitely looks like the device everybody has been waiting for. I'm just mad that I don't have an available upgrade on my Verizon account for another 9 months. But by then, something bigger and better than this will probably have already come out.

Source: TFTS - Verizon Wireless Makes It Official: Motorola Droid Bionic Coming September 8th

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Droid 3 Now Available

Droid users, rejoice! The Motorola Droid 3 is now officially up for sale and available for an in-store pickup. Lots of people have been waiting for the powerful dual-core smartphone for a while now and the sleek keyboard is perfect for people who prefer a more physical text solution.

The Droid 3 features the new OMAP 4 dual-core chip as opposed to the popular Qualcomm found in devices like the myTouch 4G slide. In addition to that, the Droid 3 is not a Tegra 2 device so it will be exciting to use the complete and full power this phone has to offer.

The Droid 3 comes with a 1GHz OMAP 4 4430 processor, which some people are saying is a bit of an upgrade over the suspected NVIDIA Tegra 2 processor that was rumored to be included here. The user interface is also different. Motoblur is no longer your UI; instead you get a cross-breed that brings in new icons, new animations between Windows and Gingerbread.

The app screen gives you three full pages of 20 apps each, which includes your regular array of Google apps with some other interesting oddities. An app version of GoToMeeting, which allows you to chat in multiple different ways, is also included as well as MOTOPRINT, NOVA, Social Location, Skype and all the V-Cast apps you expect on a Verizon device.

Physically the device is heavier than most smartphones and comes with a seemingly hardcore chassis and a solid sliding keyboard. By the looks of it, this is one phone you will be wanting to take care of. The internal speakers are loud and the chassis seems to be tightly fitted together making the Droid 3 everything a Droid lover could ask for.

If you are a devout Droid fan or somebody who is looking for a solid smartphone on a solid network, then Motorola's Droid 3 from Verizon is exactly what you are looking for. You can buy the Droid 3 now anywhere phones are sold.

Source: Android Community - Motorola Droid 3 in Verizon Stores Today

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Samsung's 4G LTE Droid Charge Hitting Verizon on April 28th

A new device has just been announced by Verizon Wireless and Samsung. The newly announced Droid Charge by Samsung will become available on April 28th in your local Verizon store or on Verizon's website.

The Droid Charge is yet another installment in the Droid family, this time coming with a 4.3-inch Super AMOLED Plus display. According to Samsung, this display should set a new standard for brightness, clarity and outdoor visibility, but don't they all say that? The Droid Charge also comes with a rear facing, 8-megapixel camera with LED flash as well as a 1.3-megapixel front facing camera. The Droid Charge also has a 1 GHz application processor and HTML 5 Web browser which maximizes high-speed 4G LTE connectivity.

Some additional features of the Droid Charge include 4G LTE, Android 2.2, which also supports Google Mobile Services like Gmail, YouTube, Google Talk, Google Search and Google Maps, Adobe Flash Player, Mobile Hotspot capability, Samsung Media Hub, virtual QWERTY keyboard with Swype and tons more.

As I mentioned earlier, the Droid Charge will be available on April 28th with a $299.99 price tag, as long as you sign a new two year agreement. You can also get unlimited 4G LTE data plans from Verizon for $29.99 a month and for a limited time you can get Mobile Hotspot for no additional charge.

If you don't want to buy one, you can always take part in this new program from Samsung. Starting today, April 21st, anyone over the age of 18 is able to participate in an exclusive Droid Charge Scavenger Hunt. All you have to do is follow the online clues to find hidden locations in 16 different cities in order to win a free Droid Charge from Samsung. Head on over to http://twitter.com/droidlanding to get all the details.

Source: Engadget - Samsung's LTE-enabled Droid Charge coming to Verizon on April 28th for $300 on contract

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New App Store for the Droid Incredible

On Thursday, November 4th, Verizon announced that their new Droid Incredible software update, which will be available within the next week, will add the V CAST App store to the phone. Basically, Droid Incredible users, who are currently utilizing Android Market for their apps, will have a second app store to browse.

Due to this new change, app developers will now have to decide whether they want to offer their apps with Android Market or the Verizon app store. The only real difference is the billing format. Unlike Google’s app store, which allows users to return their apps for a full refund up to 24 hours after the purchase, Verizon’s V CAST will only consider refunds on a case-by-case basis. One nice thing about the Verizon store though is that it will allow users to send the bill for the apps that they purchase to their existing wireless bill. With the Android Market, users are forced to utilize Google Checkout.

The update that Droid Incredible users will receive next week won’t just give them a new app store, but it will also update their Flash player, improve their visual voicemail application, enhance Yahoo IMAP email, update their Slacker application, give them the ability to attach files that are larger than 5 MB, update COX and Comcast POP3 mail, and a variety of other things.

The V CAST App store was originally launched by Verizon in July of 2009 for the RIM platform. A Verizon spokeswoman said that the company has always planned on expanding the V CAST App store to other platforms. “We think of it as sort of complementary to the other marketplace out there,” she said. "It gives consumers an opportunity for discovery and to choose.”

So far Google representatives have chosen not to respond to the question as to whether or not they view the Verizon app store as complimentary or competitive.

In contrast, Apple offers a single app store. Steve Jobs, chief executive at Apple, has said that Google’s OS itself is “very fragmented.” In an October conference call Jobs said, “Many Android OEMs, including the two largest, HTC and Motorola, install proprietary user interfaces to differentiate themselves from the commodity Android experience. The user's left to figure it all out. Compare this with iPhone, where every handset works the same."

Jobs added, “The multiple hardware/software iterations present developers with a daunting challenge. Many Android apps work only on selected Android handsets, running selected Android versions. And this is for handsets that have been shipped less than 12 months ago. Compare this with iPhone, where there are two versions of the software, the current and the most recent predecessor, to test against."

I think that having two app stores is great. A little competition has never hurt anybody. Verizon says that they are excited about the V CAST App store because it will allow them to have “the opportunity to do marketing and merchandising” for the developers. The Verizon spokeswoman did add that Verizon will offer the same 70/30 revenue split with V CAST that Google offers with Android Market. It will be interesting to see what V CAST has to offer in contrast to what is currently available with Android Market. I think that there are advantages and disadvantages with both of the app stores, so I guess it will simply come down to what apps you are looking for and which store is offering them.

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The Motorola Droid X from Verizon

Verizon’s newest smartphone, the Motorola Droid X, can be described simply as fantastic. It is one of few phones to run Adobe Flash and has everything anyone could possibly need or want from their phone.

In terms of surface space, the Droid X is the largest phone that is currently available in the United States. It measures 5 x 2.6 x 0.4 (HWD). It’s 4.3-inch screen features 854 x 480 resolution. Below the screen are four hardware buttons.

Obviously, like most smartphones available these days, the Droid X features a touch keyboard. I personally find that touch keyboards are very difficult to get used to, but with as big as the Droid X’s screen is, this is one of the easiest touch keyboards to utilize. Your typing experience is enhanced by the Swype text-entry mode that allows you to quickly write words without even picking up your finger.

Call quality on the Droid X is excellent. Motorola designed the Droid X with three different microphones, two of which are utilized for noise cancellation. Reception is also great.

When it comes to downloading data, the Droid X uses Verizon’s EV-DO Rev A network. This means that you should be very satisfied with the downloading speed. It does cost an extra $20 a month to make your phone a Wi-Fi hotspot, but that’s expected with phones like the X.

The battery on the Droid X is pretty good. In preliminary testing, the battery has shown to have about 8 hours of continuous talk time. Due to the large screen, the X does use up a lot of battery life. It will most likely need to be charged every night, but with all of the features that the X has the battery life isn’t really a deal breaker in my opinion. There will be a 1930 mAh extended battery that will be offered as an add on accessory for an extended battery life.

The X runs on the Android 2.1 OS with Motorola’s MotoBlur extensions. There is a single interface that allows users to sign into many different accounts including: Google, Facebook, Yahoo! Mail, Microsoft Exchange, Twitter, Myspace, and various mail and photo sharing services. Blur’s inbox treats any Facebook or Myspace messages and Twitter DMs simply as regular emails. The Droid X’s 1-GHz TI OMAP 3630 processor makes the smartphone incredibly fast. It beats out every other Android phone available in performance ratings.

The Droid X works great for music purposes. It plays AAC, MP3, WMA, and WAV music files. It has 8GB of built-in memory and comes standard with a 16GB microSD card. This allows for plenty of room for media storage. There is also an FM radio. The X features an 8-megapixel camera with built-in flash. It takes really great pictures. The Droid captures 720p video at 24 frames per second. Its also fantastic for watching videos.

Overall, the Droid X is a wonderful smartphone with every feature you could ever want. The phone isn’t exactly for everyone due to the fact that it is very large, but when considering performance, the X is great. It will go on sale July 15th for $199.99 with a two year contract and $100 mail-in rebate.

Click here to check out one of the Droid X's predecessors, the HTC Droid Eris.

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Motorola Announces Android 2.1 to Hit Droid

People have been skimming the internet for details about the Android 2.1 update that is coming to the Droid. Well Motorola already informed all of us that the update would be hitting the Droid this week but they have taken the anticipation one step further by unveiling so highly anticipated details on just what we can expect from the update.

A list of features that accompany the Android 2.1 update has been released and is as follows. Users will get Voice Recognition for Virtual Keyboards allowing you to speak your text messages instead of typing them . An enlarged virtual keyboard is also in the update. Users will get a new 3D gallery. The 3D gallery makes all of your photos, videos, album art and images from your Picasa Web albums account appear in 3D stacks that gently move as you tilt the phone. A pinch-to-zoom feature has also been added which allows you to pinch your fingers on selected areas of the screen to zoom in.

Among other features there is a News and Weather app and widget which provides you with weekly and hourly weather forecast updates. An update to Google maps has also been added. The update will sync to your desktop and synchronize starred items between Google Maps and your Droid as well as suggest locations based on your search history. The Android update upgrades your music application by providing new tabs at the top of the music browser. This provides easier access to and navigation to your music.

One of the biggest updates that comes with the Android 2.1 is the addition of Google Goggles. The Google Goggles App lets you take pictures of items to start a Google search. The app can also "read" pictures of business cards and add them to your contacts list. But that's not all, the built-in augmented reality feature displays information about stores, restaurants etc... around you.

The installation process for the update is simple. Your Droid will receive update messages which, when accepted, will download the Android 2.1 update. After the download is complete your phone will restart with all the features listed above. Even though Motorola said the update should roll out this week, there has been no indication. But not to worry, Droid users should get the update notification as soon as it is ready.

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Verizon's HTC Droid Eris

So as much hype as there has been about the new Verizon Wireless Motorola Droid and the HTC Droid Eris, sales have started out relatively slow. Friday was when the phones officially went on sale across the country. There were very short lines or no lines at all outside Verizon stores on Friday morning. Reports claimed that if there were any lines outside one of the many stores, they really only consisted of about 15-20 people.

A Verizon spokesmen said that the lack of lines outside the stores was not a concern at all. He said that what Verizon really wants is not a line but a steady stream of people coming throughout the day and the following few weeks to examine the new phones.

Some people claimed that they liked the look and the feel of the HTC Droid Eris better than the Motorola Droid. Compared to the Motorola Droid, the Eris is basically just a slimmed-down, lighter, less powerful Droid phone. It is based off the HTC Hero that Sprint has, but it has been reworked.

The Eris measures 4.45 x 2.19 x .51 inches (HWD) and weighs 4.23 ounces. The front of the phone features a 3.2 inch touch screen. Below the screen is a navigation trackball and several physical buttons. The Eris does not feature an actual physical keyboard but instead has two virtual keyboards.

Although the Eris and the Motorola Droid share a name and 12,000 Android applications, they are very different phones. The Motorola Droid runs Android 2.0, while the Eris runs Android 1.5 with HTC’s Sense extensions. The differences that these bring up include various things. With the Eris’s Web browsers you use mutitouch pinch-to-zoom, while with the Motorola Droid you double tap to zoom. The Droid Eris has seven home screen panels and some very useful widgets, and the Motorola Droid has only three panels and a lot less interesting widgets. The virtual keyboard is much more accurate and easy to use than the keyboard on the Motorola Droid. You can keep going and going on all the various differences between the two phones, but none of them are really huge. Most of them involve personal preferences.

The Eris handles messaging well. It supports Microsoft Exchange, Google, and POP3/IMAP e-mail. Unfortunately for some, it does not support Yahoo mail. There is an SMS/MMS application for text and picture messaging, but regarding instant messaging there is nothing included but Google Talk. Fortunately, you are able to download a free IM application from the Android Market.

The music player on the Eris is quite decent. It supports tracks in WMA, AAC, and MP3formats. The video player on the phone though definitely has some issues. The playback of most videos is fuzzy and disappointing. The 5-megapixel camera is also very frustrating with the soft images that it captures. If you looking for a good video recorder and camera, the Motorola Droid is definitely the better phone for you.

So to pick between the Motorola Droid and the Droid Eris, you really just need to consider what it is that you want in a phone. Your decision should be purely based on preferences. They are both great phones from Verizon and are both going to serve you well. I hope you are able to figure out which phone suits you best and then go on to thoroughly enjoy your new Droid smartphone.

Verizon's Droid, the first real threat to the iPhone?

There's been a lot of buzz this week because over the weekend Verizon starting airing commercials about its newest phone, Droid. The commercials are specifically targeting the iPhone and what the iPhone doesn't do. For the first time, there seems to be a real contender to knock iPhone out of the #1 position.



The official release date for Droid hasn't been released, all we know at this point in that it will be sometime in November and exclusively with Verizon. The guys over at Boy Genius Report have gotten their hands on one and as of right now, are the only glimpse the world has at the newest smartphone to hit the market.

What kind of features can we expect to see? According to the guys at BGR:

*Its running Android 2.0 (more about the Android OS)

*Its thin, a bit thicker than the iPhone

*Touchscreen along with a full keyboard

*Has a full slide out QWERTY keyboard, not spring-loaded

*Its fastest Android phone they've ever used

According to the commercial, droiddoes.com and some leaked information floating around the web some more features include:

*5-megapixel camera with flash, autofocus and video recorder

*fully customizable

*3.7-inch capacitive display (854 by 480 pixels resolution)

*GPS

*Wi-Fi

*256MB of RAM and 512MB of internal memory (with support for microSD memory cards up to 16MB)


It won't be known until it hits the market whether or not it will be the real deal and cut into iPhones market. Specifically with the apps, but the buzz around the blogosphere is that the Droid is the real deal and a true competitor in the smartphone market.