First Moto Droid Review

Cnet has graced us with the first (official) review of the new Motorola Droid, set to drop in a little over a week. Without further adieu... Cnet's Review (No rhyming intended)

Google Wave...the future? Wave needs to assure a future for themselves first...

As none of you may know I was one of the blessed few (100k) to receive a Google Wave invite. While I was extremely excited over this hyped up "email-killer," after further use I was deemed with disappointment. I invited a few friends hoping, functionality and the overall "would i use this?" factor, would go up. Once again I was massively dissapointed with its lack of "killer" features, "it's just a sandbox with no toys". This analogy sums it up perfectly, it has no features that everyday internet users would use. It's for the developer intensive and the early adopters, once again not for the typical consumer. BUT! I'm hoping we've been blessed with good news that puts the hype and hopeful functionality back into over drive...(*drum roll please*) an Application Marketplace. Most likely playing off the success of their mobile OS Android Market, there will be a Google wave specific app store opened for developers to submit applications that increase the functionality of Google Wave. Hit the link for more info on... The Google Wave App Store

Iphone 3gs vs. Palm Pre vs. Moto Droid

Here's a great comparison chart of the top smart phone offerings for the upcoming holiday season, again the Moto Droid looks like it will be giving the Iphone 3gs a run for its money for the smartphone king of Christmas '09...

Comparison Chart

This comparison chart was provided by "Bill shrink," this completely interactive tool puts the features that you want in a phone with the plan you can afford. For more on the first completely interactive "handset-finder" check out their site.

Motorola Droid Official Pricing and Release Date

The "Motorola Droid" for Verizon Wireless had its pricing and release date officially released today. This is sure to be the flagship product of Android and VZW alike. As speculated by many online media outlets, the Motorola Droid will be released Nov. 6th and for the price of $199 as part of 2 year product this is sure to be the Iphone's biggest competitor to date.

The key features of the Droid will consist of:

-Android 2.0, also a full "Google Experience" device

-3.7" in. touchscreen display

-Sliding QWERTY keypad

-Wi-Fi & Bluetooth

-5.0 Megapixel Camera w/ auto focus & dual-LED flash

-GPS (the Droid will be the first device to feature Google Maps turn by turn navigation)

-16 GB of on-board memory

-"DVD quality" Video recording (720x480, 24 fps)

For the full press release and more infromation on the Motorola Droid hit the link:

Press Release

Android 2.0 Press Release

All the juicy (exact) details of Android 2.0 were officially release today. As stated in the post before this, this is the game changing software update the Android handsets were waiting for. For more on the details and an official walkthrough of the updated software check out the video.

Invasion of the (open source) body snatchers

It's an Android Invasion and you should be very happy.

It's true that competition makes consumers winners, but to me its a win/lose. You always will have the same golden rule of technology, "after a while everything becomes obsolete." Competition makes technology giants like Sony, Toshiba, & Samsung (to name a very limited few) push out products like their going out of style...and that seems to be the ideal behind it all. They constantly strive for something newer, better, and seemingly more expensive. BUT i think Google's Android OS has found something different to bring to the mobile industry.

The Innovative company "Google" has always seemed to have the priority of driving the industry before even their own self growth. They've done that once again with their introduction of a completely open source code OS. They've given the consumers a gift in some eyes, an ideal that your phone should be modeled in the light that you want it and not something major manufacturers stereotype you as. This model has truly taken off now with the announcement of Android 2.0. The recent (leaked) press release shows the new phone "Droid" made by Motorola (partnered with Google, made for VZW) shows the first android handset running Android 2.0. While the Android SDK has been around for over a year it hasn't really been been taken seriously till now. The newly announced code has been said to bring great increases in UI functionality coupled along with a plethora of features from ground-breaking Social networking integration in contacts to a streamlined menu built upon ease of (mobile) use while at the wheel. Basically Android 2.0 is going to be for lack of better words, the shit.

This is a game changer in many different ways. First it's driving the industry and creating more competition among mobile OS's and phones. So i know your asking yourself, "Wait! Didn't you just complain about competition is a win/lose and everything becomes obsolete?"....why yes i did, so let me tell you how this is different. While there is no way to stop things especially in electronics from becoming obsolete, there is a way to slow it down and turn your phone into something that can gain value over time. This happens through an open source market place. The ability to add applications and future functionality to a phone is in some regards priceless (don't worry the Android developers put a price tag on it). I'll give you a prime example, i myself have a G1 which is the first android phone to come to the US, now while i recieved a great phone when i bought it it has obviously decreased in some ways. BUT in a lot of ways it's a better phone from when i bought it (10 months ago) because i've downloaded applications and increased functionlity. Now my specific example actually roots from a different android handset that was released on the Sprint network (I have T-mobile) named the HTC hero, this phone runs the Android OS but has a UI laid over it by its manufacturer HTC. It is a widget intensive phone and had this clock/weather widget that just looked really slick...i wanted it...badly. I looked on the market place for widget packages and found a developer who had recreated this widget (that was inspired by the HTC hero) that looked EXACTLY like the clock/weather widget i wanted. So i bought it for a mere 99 cents and now i hold in my hands the same feeling i would of felt if i would have chunked $180 bucks and a new contract with sprint, in at least the regard that mattered to me personally. See its the want and seeming need that users see in new updated products pushed out by manufacturers. To cite a Men in Black quote; consumers don't want the "Old and Busted" they want the "New Hotness."

So i know any of you who have experience in reading a newspaper or any type of communication with the outside world knows about Apple and their beloved Iphone. While this is an amazing product they have hindered theirselves in a certian way. Yes they have an absolutely HUGE developer base of over (i think the last count was) 85,000 applications in their app store. BUT they are a single enitity, a company amongst companies, and i believe in time Steve Jobs (Apple's CEO) will realize he chose the wrong fork in the road. See Apple's revolutionary Iphone OS differs from Android in that its a "closed system." Its only available to Apple and companies or developers they see fit. Not only does it hinder the App store (its hard to tell but it does trust me) but it will eventually spell their demise *GASP*. The Iphone along with all of Apple's products, are only made by Apple, while this assures some design and software quality minimums are always met, it makes an eventual losing player in the game of Mobile OS's. It can only be used and distributed by one company, "Apple," this is a lot of pressure to fall on one company and i bet my life on it...its too much. No one company can keep up with the demands of millions of people in the developing mobile industry. It's just too many conflicting opinions of what people want "their" phone to be. While they've captured a large (very large) piece of the theoretical "ideal" phone pie. This model will rest assured fail.

This is what's different about android, its open source and multiple carriers are starting to use it so finally the industry has found something new in Google...a WIN/Win situation. Finally an OS that can be structured from company to company, phone to phone, and more importantly user to user. Android 2.0 is (almost) here... and its ready to change the (mobile) world.

The start of a new slate...its so powerful but yet meaningless right now

I'm starting this blog amongst the millions...upon milllions...upon millions of tech info blogs. I know my opinion (just like i would perceive most others) doesn't hold a lot of water on here. I hope to attract a few followers, maybe sparke some ideals while im at at. Overall i want this to serve as a tech blog outlet...i'll try to stay up to date (hopefully hourly!) There's a huge array of tech out there obviously and in any bloggers mind this will be my (tech) interests presented i think this will attract a lot of people actually.

For anyone's who's curious im a college kid, 20 years of age, 6'2" and i have a mean right hook strictly blogatively speaking (i think thats a word). Anyways if at all during this blog you find interest in my words of perceived wisdom please don't be afraid to message me (or however you get a hold of a given writer on this new fangled blogging contraption).

Oh and the main technologies i hope to be hitting on are.... Android Mobile OS (UI and functionality, breaking news as well)

Windows (7 most likely)

Mostly all interesting consumer electronic news

And various types of developing web technology: Google Wave, Fbook & Twitter news, and Web 3.0 to name a few

...Enjoy