Motorola, Verizon and Google behind the Motorola Droid
Motorola has launched its first GSM smartphone running the latest Android 2.0 Éclair. Its new Motorola DROID is not only the world’s first Smartphone on the new Android OS but is also the world’s thinnest QWERTY slider and Touchscreen smartphone at 13.7mm in depth.
Google is understandably behind the DROID with a slew of applications sitting on its OS. Verizon is getting into the act as its carrier in the US while Europe might get under the O2 carrier. It will launch in Europe by end of November under the Milestone name. There are some differences between the handsets going into each side of the Atlantic. The US Droid will get the much anticipated Google Maps Navigation system while the European Milestone version gets Motorola’s proprietary MOTONAV GPS application.
Flagship Features
The Droid could be Motorola’s last hope to reclaim its market standing in the mobile community. It does carry some of the finest features one can find in a flagship smartphone costing a lot more than the €481 initial SIMN-free price that O2 Germany has on its website.
The Motorola DROID is a quad band GSM and twin-band 3G/UMTS with HSPA broadband data connectivity. WiFi, Bluetooth and GOPS round off its Data connectivity options. Its all metal body and glass cover on its 3.7” capacitive touchscreen display account for its heft at 165g but it’s still the thinnest QWERTY slider at 13.7mm. It has a powerful engine underneath its slim casing and has OpenGL support for mobile gaming. Imaging gets a 5 megapixel autofocus camera with LED flash, geo-tagging and DVD-quality video recording. Internal memory may be modest at 256MB but you can add a 32GB external memory from its microSD slot.
Conclusion
With Google and Verizon forming a formidable Triad with Motorola, the Motorola DROID seems destined to be a hands-down winner among Android smartphones in your shopping list this Christmas. With a clearly affordable price for all those features, nothing really comes close to it.
