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Much has been made of the fact that Apple's iPhone App Store has roughly 100,000 applications available for download, while the Android Marketplace has "only" around 10,000. Let's be honest, though: an awful lot of those apps do very similar things. Just how many restaurant finders, digital "levels," and tip calculators do you need? Granted, I'm not the heaviest user of the App Store, but for everything that I need or want my iPhone to do, I was easily able to find a fairly useful Android version--and most were free.
Yes, I encountered more app crashes and general "bugginess" with Android applications and widgets than I have with iPhone apps. But none of the crashes were severe enough to destabilize the phone. The rating system on the Android Marketplace is also not yet as robust as that on the App Store. But as the number of Android users increases, so will the number of developers and applications, particularly since the Android Marketplace is completely open, unlike the iPhone App Store, since Apple must pre-approve an app before it's available for download.
The one area where the Droid trumps the iPhone hands-down is in coverage. On one trip, I drove about 30 minutes south of Austin, TX, to visit family, and the Droid never lost 3G coverage on the Verizon Wireless network. In the meantime, my iPhone (on AT&T Wireless) dropped a plain-vanilla voice call on one lonely stretch of road. The Droid's built-in Google Navigation Beta also performed flawlessly, guiding me from door-to-door in two of Austin's newer communities (which don't always show up accurately even on current maps on dedicated GPS devices). And because of its full integration with Google Maps, the Droid (rather creepily) showed me a street-view picture of my uncle's house, just in case I wasn't sure which one was his.
The next morning, I headed out of Austin with a friend to give the network a real test. We drove two hours north on US-183, out past Lampasas, a small city in the middle of farm and ranchlands. Just 30 minutes outside of greater Austin (Leander, to be precise), my iPhone 3G and my co-tester's 3GS both lost 3G signal and remained on AT&T's slower EDGE network the rest of the trip out. The Droid, meanwhile, speedily fetched e-mail, YouTube videos, and Web pages from Verizon's 3G network until we were about 15 minutes north of Lampasas--pretty much the definition of the middle of nowhere. I'm now a believer in Verizon's coverage claims, and I think its network will give the Droid--and the Android operating system along with it--a big boost.
In the end, though, gadget lust, an open development platform, and even the superior network weren't enough to convert my copilot--or me. The iPhone is just too simple to use and integrate into daily life. In my friend's words, "Even as much as I hate AT&T and dislike Apple's closed ecosystem, [the Droid] isn't enough to make me switch. But if I were a Verizon subscriber, it would definitely make me think twice about switching away for the iPhone."
And a year from now, when my AT&T contract is up, I'll definitely take a hard look at Android before recommitting to the iPhone.
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That's a great suggestion... but one that I already tried. Thanks, though!
Not getting the wifi to work is a showstopper. Did you discuss this Verzion? They've crippled wifi access in the past to force use of their network.
I emailed my press contacts at both Verizon and Motorola. The Motorola rep (at an outside PR firm, not within Motorola) said that she hadn't had any trouble connecting to the Wi-Fi in her office. Haven't heard back from Verizon yet, but I'll update when I do!
Verizon does NOT cripple WiFi access, and hasn't in the past. Any device that HAD WiFi has been able to use it to get on the internet. It's just that in the past, very few Verizon devices have actually HAD WiFi; they've been quite reluctant to include it in their phones. But that is becoming a thing of the past with their new devices.
What Verizon DOESN'T offer is UMA, where you can access the Verizon network via WiFi. You are either on VZW 3G or WiFi, but not both at the same time. IIRC, UMA is a feature that has to be enabled on the network, and VZW hasn't implemented it yet. Sort of silly, IMHO, as it would help take some load off of their 3G network. Perhaps as WiFi enabled devices become more prevalent.
Having grown up in Lampasas, I know how in the middle of nowhere you were 15 min north. That kind of coverage is important for all those people that live out of major metro areas. Maybe this is one market the Droid will dominate, a great smart-phone for the more rural user. Not as huge as the other markets but still important if you add it up.
If it has a manual qwerty keyboard rather than than using the touch screen qwerty keyboard on the Apple Iphone you have lost me.
As a senior citizen those dang manual keyboards are a pain in the butt.
Small buttons that are difficult to use, give the touch screen option any day!
It has both! But yes, the QWERTY keyboard gave me hand cramps.
ejonietz, I just invented a truly mobile keyboard that you can type with one hand. Would you be interested in seeing it?
Such a keyboard is ideal for a mobile device and overcomes the suckiness of being too small. The keyboard has a mouse and can work on a PC as well. I am writing a business plan to get funding and start a business.
doanwon@lycos.com
Am I dumb or just plain stupid,(don't answer that), why would you go to the trouble of designing two data input devices?
Surely it would be more practical to have the touch screen for input of information?
Yes, but the QWERTY is very useful if you are into console emulators, or playing Quake ports.
Nice article E. I really like the iPhone but coverage is my #1 concern, so I'm with Verizon for now. Being a Verizon customer, this unit is what I was waiting for when I read Motorola and Verizon were teaming to create a Gen2 Android smartphone. Your article has all but sold me. However, one comment you made regarding the sound quality was unclear to me. You stated that the handset, BT headset, and built-in speaker had a "metallic" quality when talking on the phone. This I can deal with as I've yet to hear a quality stereo BT setup that come close to my M-Audio in ear monitors. However, since I'm looking to reduce the number of gadgets I tote, quality of music playback (i.e. iPod-like) is paramount to me. I couldn't tell from your description of the sound quality if you meant that music playback was poor (metallic) also. Can you also comment on the music software UI the Droid uses?
Thanks in advance :)
Sound quality is superb. I got a droid when it came out and haven't set it down since. The playback thru head phones sounds the same as laptop and ipod both. The speaker that plays music through the droid sounds as good as laptop speakers, not amazing but great for a phone. The metallic sound is from talking to the network, not the phone. I read tech review everyday on my droid :)
Sprint and Verizon both offer MiFi, credit-card-size devices connecting to their more extensive networks and linking by WiFi to iPods, iPhones, etc.
After just a few days of Droid ownership, only one clear problem. The Droid cannot voice dial through a Bluetooth headset. Both the Motorola and Google Android forums are full of comments from people who either have already or are planning to return the phone because of this obvious feature lack. Otherwise, the keyboard takes some practice, but is OK after some experience, and everything else is really well done and works fine.
I have the iPhone but am intrigued with the Droid. I like the openness of the development in the long term and think it will evolve into something more, maybe not bigger but not much farther back.
It is less costly for sure, so that helps.
We have actually chosen to develop on Android over the iPhone, at least for now. See www.warrantylife.com
Thanks!
Richard
Manufacturing in the United States is in trouble. That's bad news not just for the country's economy but for the future of innovation.
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nagapradeep
1 Comment
solving wifi jinx
I face this issue when I try to connect a new device to WiFi. Try switching-off bluetooth radio (which one might use to pair with headset - plantronix in your case) and you might get lucky.
As Bluetooth and WiFi operate at the same frequency, there is high chance of interruption (especially with new devices)
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chrisjmiller
64 Comments
Re: solving wifi jinx
Bluetooth and WiFi both operate at around 2.5GHz (as do many other devices - it's unlicensed spectrum), but don't use the same channels and frequency hop to avoid interference. Bluetooth operates at a tiny fraction of WiFi power (it's designed to operate over a few metres rather than hundreds of metres), so if there were any problems, I would expect the Bluetooth device to be the one to suffer.
If turning off Bluetooth fixes your WiFi problem, there's something wrong with your device configuration.
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Dave12308
3 Comments
Re: solving wifi jinx
Actually, it doesn't seem to have anything to do with a misconfiguration amongst devices, my Moto Droid does the same thing. I will get a poor quality WiFi connection at best with Bluetooth enabled. Turn off Bluetooth, and it's back up to full signal. It's probably a limitation in the Droid's radio chipset, radio driver code, or antenna system. My guess would be the two signals are close enough in frequency and suffer from crosstalk. Note, my Droid's bluetooth doesn't affect other WiFi devices in my home.
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