Since its debut in 2007, people have crowned Apple’s iPhone as the king of all smart phones, in lieu of its sleek frame, user friendly interface and numerous apps.
“My brother has the iPhone and he’s completely an iPhone fanatic,” said Sharde Torbit, a junior television production major. “It’s cool and all, but I need actual keyboard buttons; the touch screen does get on my nerves sometimes when I am trying to dial a number.”
For the last two years, other smart phone companies have been trying to dethrone the iPhone of its title as the ultimate mobile gadget.
The newest challenger to step into the ring is the Motorola Droid.
The Droid comes out swinging hard as it mocks the iPhone in its current TV ads which highlights all of the iPhone’s “iDon’ts” when compared to The Droid.
Also the arrival of The Droid was published last Thursday in full-page newspaper ads.
Prior to The Droid’s release, some analysts even dubbed The Droid as an “iPhone Killer.”
Although the Droid is not an “iPhone killer,” it is definitely a killer phone and a worthy iPhone competitor.
The Droid stands out as a strong competitor for several reasons, which includes its network carrier, software and design.
The Droid is carried by the Verizon Wireless Network.
Besides being the most reliable network, Verizon is America’s largest 3G Network.
This means that The Droid’s network covers five times more 3G coverage than the iPhone’s AT&T 3G coverage.
As far as software, it’s the first mobile device to run the latest version of Google’s Experience Device, Android 2.0.
Other phones run 1.5 or 1.6 versions of Google’s operating system.
The Google Experience Device also establishes The Droid as the first cell phone to operate Google’s new upgraded Google Maps program.
This surprisingly free software works just as well as any $500 GPS navigation device that you would find in a car or mounted to someone’s windshield said The NY Times.
The program provides spoken turn-by-turn directions, map icons, satellite views, color coding traffic indication and even street photos of any address.
However, much of its credits can be attributed to the Droid’s developers.
Although the Droid is barely broader than the iPhone, it makes up for this flaw with its 3.7-inch touch screen which is bigger than the iPhone’s 3.5-inch screen.
The 3.7-inch screen also offers a much higher resolution quality.
Its chiseled, angular exterior also hides a slide-out physical keyboard and a removable battery; both are features that the iPhone lacks.
The Droid’s battery life even surpasses that of the iPhone.
For a single phone call, the Droid’s battery can maintain for a length of more than seven and a half hours compared to only five hours of an iPhone’s battery life.
One of its features which is heavily flaunted in Verizon’s “iDon’t” campaign is the Droid’s ability to simultaneously run several apps at once, something the iPhone cannot do.
The iPhone does have a 3-megapixel camera, but the Droid’s camera is a knock out in comparison.
The Droid camera comes with 5-megapixels and is equipped with flash, yet again another feature the iPhone lacks.
Although there are some features that the iPhone does not have, the Droid does have some weak spots.
The Droid is $299.99 before a $100 mail-in rebate, required with a two-year service contract for new customers or renewing customers.
The iPhone 16GB, on the other hand, starts at $199.
Although it champions being on America’s most reliable network, the Droid does not work outside of the United States; the iPhone does.
The Droid also lacks in the number of apps it has.
The Droid’s 12,000 apps are minuscule in contrast to the iPhone app store which offers 100,000 apps.
Apple’s iTunes store allows auto synching when downloading anything from the store to the iPhone, so be prepared to manually edit and arrange your music, photos and videos when downloading from Verizon.
The Droid also requires its users to download all of its apps via the phone.
With the iPhone you have the option of using your computer or iPhone to download your apps.
The Droid’s Web browser is good; however, the iPhone’s browser is faster.
Not having a built in flash may be a problem when trying to take a picture in a dimly lit room.
Despite having a built in flash and additional 2-megapixels, the Droid’s camera is not as impressive as it may sound.
Its photos and videos appear just average, that of any cellular device currently on the market.
The NY Times says the big flaw of the Droid is with its simplicity.
Although techies may go nuts over its flexibility, normal people might find it a little frustrating to operate.
Its keyboard is a little tiny and crunched, and the keys do not protrude out, for example like a TV remote control; rather, they are completely flat which may make it difficult for some people to type. Other flaws such as the keyboard not lighting up when it should and the screen image does not rotate when it should.
“In my opinion, a phone is a phone is a phone. They all have the same bells and whistles so as long as I can make a phone call I am happy. People have forgotten that at the end of the day, it’s still a phone,” said Candice Iloh, a senor public relations major.
Simplicity and functionality are subjective so which ever phone you choose you will be making a great choice.
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