The Verizon Droid Rises to the iPhone Challenge
Verizon is soon to launch its answer to the popular Apple iPhone with the Droid smart phone. The Droid (sometimes mistakenly called the Droit) is the result of a partnership with Google, the tech giant whose omnipresence is hard to ignore. The two industry powerhouses partnering to challenge the Apple behemoth will certainly pique the interest of those in the market for an iPhone alternative. The question is, with all the hype surrounding the impending Droid launch, can Verizon live up to the sky-high expectations of discerning smart phone customers? The answer is simply, yes. The Droid combines a wide variety of compelling features and a comparable price point to recommend itself as an alternative to other popular smart phones, particularly the 800-pound iPhone gorilla.
One of the Droid’s most compelling features is its 3.7-inch screen, which is larger than the iPhone’s 3.5-inch screen. Rather than relying solely on touch screen keypad, the Droid offers a full slide-out QWERTY keyboard. This is a feature that is bound to attract those who dislike being restricted to touch screens. Surprisingly, this does not dramatically change the thickness of the phone, and the Droid retains an attractive slim line appearance. Add to that Google’s Android operating system and a 5-megapixel camera – complete with flash, digital zoom, and video recording – and you’ve got yourself something truly full-featured and powerful. Of course, the phone includes Wi-Fi, 3G via Verizon’s EV-DO Rev. The phone is equipped with a 16GB memory card, to which users can download from Android Market with its 10,000 apps, as well as Amazon’s MP3 store.
Android 2.0 appeals to the business user, with support for Microsoft Exchange built right in. For today’s professional who is often juggling multiple e-mail accounts, both personal and business, Android features a unified inbox that allows users to check several different Exchange, Gmail, and other e-mail accounts. This is all done in a single interface that makes checking multiple accounts a breeze. Instant access to Google Maps is another attractive feature that will help those who travel often and need quick map access.
The Droid answers on command, which means, thumbs are optional. The speech recognition software allows the user to get turn by turn directions by simply asking the phone to “navigate to…”. The phone will speak back the directions, a nice safety feature. The Droid attempts to create a web surfing environment as close to a home or office experience as possible, with multiple browser windows, and screen resolution that makes YouTube easy to enjoy on the go.
The Droid hits the shelves on November 6th, at a price of $199 including rebates and a standard 2-year service contract. At this price, it’s not a surprise that the words “iPhone killer” have been bandied about. Whether it lives up to its high expectations is yet to be seen, but the powerful, full-featured phone certainly has the potential to put Apple on the run to up the ante in the smart phone realm. The result can only be positive for American consumers hungry for the next big thing.
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