Product At-a-Glance

For the past two weeks, I’ve had the pleasure of playing with HTC’s latest Android slider phone, the myTouch 4G Slide. I feel that to be entirely forthcoming, I must prefix this review by saying that this is not an advertisement for the myTouch 4G. In the time that I’ve had to test it out, I’ve just thoroughly enjoyed it.

As a quick overview, the myTouch 4G Slide sports a 1.2 GHz Snapdragon processor, a beautiful 3.7” display, a stunning 8 MP camera, and a full QWERTY keyboard. All of these features are tied together well by HTC’s Sense UI on top of Android 2.3.4, making for a great mobile experience.

Hardware

As mentioned above, the hardware specs of the myTouch 4G Slide are impressive.

• 3.7” Super LCD Screen
• 1.2 GHz Snapdragon Processor with 768 MB of RAM
• 1 GB ROM and 8 GB MicroSD card included
• 8 Megapixel rear-facing camera with dual LED flash
• VGA front-facing camera for video chat
• Full physical QWERTY keyboard
• 4G capable radio

The full QWERTY keyboard is definitely an attractive feature of the phone, as it appeals to those who are still in love with physical, tangible keys. I’ve never been a huge fan, but this phone’s execution of the feature is excellent with very usable keys that are perfectly sized, even for those of us with relatively large fingers. Similarly, the keyboard has a LED indicator for CAPS lock which is a nice touch.

The rear-facing camera will be dealt with separately below, but the front-facing camera is just as you’d expect. Low quality VGA that gets the job done. Nothing to write home about.

The phone’s construction feels solid in your hand, and has a nice weight at 6.5 oz, and a very respectable depth of .54 inches, making the Slide very pocket friendly. You get the typical power, home, menu and back buttons, a volume rocker, and a power button in the top left corner. You also get both a dedicated camera button, and replacing the typical search button is a genius button which allows for voice activated actions.

In addition to these buttons, there’s a button in the center of the phone’s row of buttons that seems like it would perform actions similar to the iPhone’s home button. However, it’s actually a sort of nub mouse (similar to those on laptops of a few years ago), designed to help with navigating menus. However, it is a bit superfluous, as I found it more difficult to use than simply tapping the screen.

Battery life on the device was entirely acceptable, scoring a solid 9 hours of typical usage, including watching videos, making calls, and browsing the web.

Camera

Few phones deserve a dedicated section to their camera, but the myTouch 4G slide is most certainly an exception. Beyond it’s 8 Megapixel sensor with dual LED flash, the camera features an extensive set of features and shooting modes. As I did with the specs of the phone, it might be easier just to list off some of them.

• Auto
  Picks a usually optimal setting for the photo
• SweepShot
  Creates automatically stitched panoramic images by simply holding the camera button while sweeping the phone. It works great, albeit the stitching can get a bit goofy at times. All in all, a great feature.
• ClearShot HDR
  Similar to the iPhone, it takes three photos in rapid succession and creates an HDR photo. They look fantastic in well lit situations, and provide a certain halo-esque glow to your pictures.
• BurstShot
  This mode takes multiple photos in a quick burst to capture every second of the action. Sadly, they end up a bit blurry because of the camera’s inability to expose them quickly enough. It does work, but you won’t get crystal clear images.
• Night, Action, Macro, and Portrait
  Your typical point-and-shoot settings. They work well and create good color balancing and exposure timings.
• Manual
  Control all sorts of fancy camera features like white balancing and ISO settings. While not entirely powerful, it helps when none of the presets work quite how you’d like.

Tie all of these features together with tap-to-focus and easy zooming, and you have a powerful camera that produces gorgeous photos for a camera phone (or even a point-and-shoot). The dual LED flash is powerful, and HTC even includes a built in flashlight application. There’s even a dedicated camera button that helps when you’re trying to get a shot off in a hurry.All things considered, the myTouch 4G Slide has one of the best cameras on a phone that we’ve tested for both the number of features, and the quality of the photos themselves.

SweepShot Test

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Software and Performance

As I mentioned earlier, the Slide runs Android 2.3.4 with a HTC Sense UI. Replacing the typical lock screen with horizontal tabs that are slid across the screen is a ring that you pull from the bottom of the screen. Other than some aesthetic changes, the phone runs a pretty basic Android setup that seems unobtrusive and resource-friendly.With the combination of a powerful 1.2 GHz Snapdragon, 768 MB of RAM, and a bare-bones UI, the myTouch 4G Slide feels quick and nimble. Also of note is the 4G performance, which I clocked at 8 Mbps at times. I was very impressed with T-Mobile’s growing 4G network which has surprisingly expanded from big cities.

As you can see, the myTouch 4G Slide is one of the top performing phones (trailing behind two tablets) that we have Vellamo test results for. While this is just a benchmark, it well represents how quick the device is while browsing the web and doing day to day tasks.

Similarly, it passed the Quadrant Pro test with flying colors scoring a 1733, which is up there with the most powerful smartphones.

Wrap Up

So if it’s not immediately obvious, I’ve grown quite fond of the HTC myTouch 4G Slide from T-Mobile. It’s a well constructed phone that comes with the latest Android OS, one of the fastest dual core processors, and the best camera we’ve tested. There’s nothing not to like about this phone. Looking for the best Android device right now on T-Mobile? Look no further. Unless you need the thinnest phone money can buy or you despise full QWERTY keyboards, there’s no reason to not consider the myTouch 4G Slide.

If you really feel you won’t use the camera much and you don’t like full keyboards, take a look at the Sensation 4G which gives you virtually the same phone without those features. However, I’m a strong proponent that you stick with the myTouch 4G Slide. The camera, regardless of how often you use it, should justify your purchase. If it doesn’t, everything else about the phone should. The myTouch 4G Slide is available from T-Mobile for $199.99 with a new two-year contract and qualifying plan.

Product At-a-Glance

Place the new Samsung Nexus S 4G next to its predecessor, the Nexus One, and you won’t be able to tell much of a difference. Therefore, immediately the Nexus S 4G is off to a good start. Taking a good design, and updating its feature set, Samsung and Google have teamed up to update the Android purist’s phone, complete with support for Sprint’s 4G network.

Sitting in the palm of your hand, the phone is light and comfortable. Nothing seems obtrusive or poorly designed. Similarly, it’s incredibly thin making it a godsend for those of you whose jeans are a bit too tight.

That being said, the Nexus S 4G‘s incredibly light weight makes it feel a bit cheaply made when you’re holding it. The device is constructed almost entirely from plastic, which doesn’t help its case much. Also, the phone is lacking an LED notification light and ability for external storage, which is a bit disappointing.

While these small design-oriented qualms may take a bit of the shine away from the Nexus S 4G, it most certainly doesn’t hold back in its feature set. Samsung packed in a NFC chip, 5 megapixel rear camera, VGA front-facing camera, USB tethering, and a WiFi Hotspot feature, along with all the other typical smartphone features (ie: b/g/n WiFi, Bluetooth 2.1, etc.).

For those of you who are not entirely familiar with NFC, or Near Field Communication, the premise is simple: close-proximity data transfer. How could you use this? So far, the most common proposed use are wireless payments. That means that instead of swiping a card, you could place your phone on a card reader (similar to Visa’s Paywave), and manage the payment through your phone. While it’s not widely supported yet, you can expect more hype over NFC coming soon. Similarly, the technology can be used for a variety of other exchanges of personal information, including contact sharing, and even acting as a digital key to your car or house. Ultimately, it’s a good feature to have in a phone that will most likely see use soon.

The camera on the Nexus S 4G performs roughly as well as almost every other smartphone we’ve tested. It produces promising photos in daylight, but begins to struggle in lower light situations. It does have a usable LED flash, however, making those low light photos a little more bearable.

Most prominently, however, the phone leads the way with access to Sprint’s upcoming 4G network. Don’t expect coverage if you’re out in the suburbs, but for those of you in the select cities blanketed with glorious 4G goodness, the Nexus S 4G might be for you.

The battery in the Nexus S 4G performs decently well, getting roughly the same sort of battery life we saw with the original Nexus One. The battery is rated for 6 hours of talk time.

Beyond the hardware design, the software on the Nexus S 4G will be the major draw for many potential buyers. The Nexus line of phones is known for its barebones, stock Android experience. That means you won’t be stuck uninstalling ridiculous applications that you don’t actually want on your device, which is always a plus. A clean Android experience is incredibly refreshing after using many devices littered with useless and unwanted applications and skins.

Moreover, announced earlier this year at CTIA, Sprint slipped in one extra feature to the Nexus S 4G: Google Voice integration. This means that you can link your Nexus S 4G’s phone number to your Google Voice account, allowing you to check voicemail on either your phone or online, as well as manage your call forwarding from either portal. We didn’t get a chance to test the feature, but from what we hear, when it works, it works well. Limited reports of some issues with users not being able to take advantage of this new linking feature. Google is known to occasionally hit small speed bumps scaling features to release status, so it’s likely that these problems are just temporary. All things considered, this feature is a great addition for those Android users who are looking for even more integration with Google’s offered services.

In our testing, call quality was on par with most phones we’ve tested on Sprint, which is very good. The phone was a bit difficult to hear in very noisy environments, but the speaker is more than acceptable for most situations. As a phone, the Nexus S 4G met our expectations. Sadly, the Nexus S 4G is still constrained by Sprint’s slower 3G data network. If you can get on their 4G network, however, its smooth sailing. Our WiMax connections were snappy in the city, but sometimes a bit unreliable. There have been many reports of users receiving minimal 4G connectivity in areas that have heavy 4G coverage. We didn’t get to extensively test the 4G capability, but in our brief outing, we connected successfully, and managed to load a few sites, including NYTimes.com, in under 20 seconds.

The screen on the Nexus S 4G is vibrant and crisp. Brighter colors are slightly dull, but darks are deep and rich. Performance wise, the stripped down Android core runs without a hitch, which is a nice change from bloated custom Android outfits.

The best way to describe the Nexus S 4G is refreshing. It updates the great feature set of the original Nexus One with more modern technologies, and gives Android users looking for a respite from bloatware a device to call their own. If you consider yourself an Android purist in the slightest, give the Nexus S 4G your consideration. It’s a great device on a solid carrier, running a gorgeous version of Android’s latest Gingerbread operating system. It’s as simple as that.

Product At-a-Glance

Announced all the way back in late 2010 (yes, it’s been awhile), the HTC Arrive made its way to Sprint late last month. Touted as the first, and currently only, Windows Phone 7 smartphone on the Sprint network, the Arrive is the de facto option for those who are disenchanted with the smartphone software leader, Android. Featuring a unique slider design that reveals a full QWERTY keyboard, the Arrive is sure to win the hearts of those who are die-hard keyboard texters.

Is it a good offering in the way of a departure from the typical? Absolutely. The phone’s unique hinge system tilts the screen up at roughly a 30 degree angle when the keyboard is open, making for a comfortable screen position while texting with the keyboard, a fun toy when bored and playing with your phone, and a nice topic for discussion when someone asks “What kind of goofy phone is that?”

Is it a perfect phone? Not by any stretch of the imagination. The hardware is a bit bulky, the physical buttons seem out-of-place and difficult to live with, and Windows 7 as a phone operating system has a bit of maturing to do.

But is it the right phone for you? You can decide for yourself as we dig a bit deeper into the HTC Arrive on Sprint.

Hardware

In the box, you get your typical smartphone setup. A surprisingly attractive charger, a pair of black earbuds, a bundle of literature, and the Arrive. No flashy packaging involved with this product’s release. If this is how you judge a phone, however, I suggest you look elsewhere.

Assuming your interest in your choice of phone is more than packaging-deep, holding the HTC Arrive for the first time will feel very solid. At 184 grams (compared to the iPhone 4’s 137 grams), the Arrive has an attractive heft to it. The thickness of the phone is pretty significant, coming in at .61 inches. If you typically wear tighter jeans and expect to carry this phone in your front pocket, expect it to stick out a bit.

The device feels rigid, with the obvious exception of the sliding screen which has a tendency to feel a bit flimsy while sliding in and out. As a note, we thoroughly tested the screen with extensive periods of forceful sliding, and the Arrive passed with flying colors.

The hinge on the phone has a very mechanical feel to it which adds a certain level of attractiveness to the design of the phone. All in all, the basic mechanics of the phone are solid besides one element–the buttons. The volume rocker on the left side of the phone is wildly large and easy to press. That means that when you inevitably accidentally press it, a bar drops down on the top of the screen informing you of the current volume, song playing, and ring status. This can grow particularly annoying if you have a tendency to press these hard to miss buttons often.

The power button is also a bit awkwardly placed, set about one centimeter to the right of the phone on the top. This means you have to wrap your index finger around the phone a bit to press it, which can grow frustrating if you don’t have larger hands. Also, it’s not embossed from the phone casing much, making it relatively difficult to find without looking at first.

You get a dedicated camera button that, for whatever reason, will put the phone into camera mode after a long press even if the phone’s screen is locked. This is handy for quickly accessing the camera application, but I can imagine it eventually getting pressed accidentally, and a large number of pictures of the inside of one’s pocket being taken.

The back, home, and search buttons on the device are capacitive, and work well. The search button brings up a Bing search application unless the application you’re in supports a native search.

During use, the device becomes a bit warm under typical stress. The 1 GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon processor seems to put out a bit of heat that isn’t managed very well. Nothing to worry much about, but it is something to take into consideration as far as the design of the phone is concerned.

There might be a few small issues and quirks with the mechanical workings of the Arrive, but when you start using the device, they grow less obtrusive. The display on the device looks great. It sports a 3.6-inch 480×800 pixel resolution which makes Windows Phone 7’s minimalistic interface look crisp and vibrant.

The slide-out keyboard is just as expected, with an almost chiclet style button feel. It’s a matte rubber material, but the keys are still nicely embossed and usable. A fair warning to those with big fingers; the keys are small and it’s a bit easy to press multiple at once. All in all though, the physical keyboard is well done.

The camera is a 5-megapixel shooter with an LED flash with support for 720p video. It’s not anything to write home about and is very mediocre indoors (as expected). If you’re looking for a phone with an outstanding camera, the Arrive isn’t for you. Similarly, if you want a front-facing camera for video chat, look elsewhere as the Arrive only has a single camera on the back.

Battery life on the Arrive was commendable, easily getting us through the day and beyond. With typical usage, we had upwards of 40% of the battery left after 8 hours, and with intensive usage, we drained the phone in those same 8 hours. The phone is touted with 6 hours of talk time, which is a bit below the industry average of 8, but we managed to squeeze out a bit more in our testing.

The device is fast and usable with no noticeable slowdowns in the operating system. When loading web pages side by side with a Droid X and iPhone 4 (all on WiFi), the Arrive was noticeably slower at downloading and rendering. To the best of my knowledge, it’s running roughly the same processor as the Droid X, so I’ll chalk these slowdowns up to Mobile Internet Explorer.

All things said and done, the Arrive is pretty solid from a physical standpoint. While some things leave more to be desired, it makes up for it with a great screen and good battery life.

Software

I’ll put this out there first–I’m not sold on Windows Phone 7 yet. Being a new phone operating system, bits and pieces still feel a bit poorly engineered, similar to the beginnings of Android. Using Android as a bellwether for the situation, it’s likely that Microsoft will sort out these small issues in time, but at the moment, not everything feels entirely put together. That being said, it’s still an entirely usable operating system that seems stable and easy to navigate. Things are where you’d expect them and typical tasks are dealt with ease.

You’ll first notice that the lock screen on the device is a bit different from other smartphones. Instead of swiping a bar across, you swipe the entire lock screen image upwards. On the lock screen, the time, date, and pertinent messages and calls are displayed without detail.

Once unlocked, the home screen is made up of widgets in the form of square boxes that can either display static content (typically a link to an application), or dynamically update (for example, weather apps). You can rearrange these in one long two columned grid. You only get one page for all of the “tiles” you wish to place. After that, all of your applications are listed in alphabetical order on the second page that you can swipe to. If you’re wondering about folders for apps, Windows Phone 7 doesn’t offer support for the time being.

You can customize the color scheme to suit your mood, but in doing so, you change virtually every application’s primary color. This unified simplistic theme is appealing to many, but I personally grew tired of the monotony of uniform colors and boring design.

To facilitate ease of social networking in the phone, the “People” application integrates with Facebook to import all of your friends’ contact information and status updates. This eliminates the need for a separate Facebook application, as you can tackle most features of the social network from within the phone’s native features. For most intents and purposes, this worked out great in our testing.

Now is a great time to note that the onscreen keyboard on the Arrive is absolutely excellent. It feels very natural, and key spacing is spot-on. I ended up using it more than the built-in keyboard.

Copy and paste on Windows Phone is dealt with by a seemingly hastily designed system. It seems to not work in every application, and is harder to use than other systems we’ve used (ex: iOS).

The Marketplace is a bit hard to navigate, but is populated with a good number of applications. You can rest easy knowing that you can get your Angry Birds fix on your new Windows Phone 7.

With most of the major points covered, I’ll avoid reviewing every aspect of the software, and will instead turn my focus to the key apps: browsing, email, SMS, and phone.

Starting with the browser, it’s a relatively good experience. Internet Explorer manages to keep the clutter out of the browser window by showing only the address bar and a small bar for bookmarking and accessing other open windows.

As I mentioned earlier, Internet Explorer on the phone proved a bit slower than Apple’s Safari or Android’s browser, but it renders pages roughly well. Similar to its competitors, the Arrive expectantly lacks Adobe Flash for the time being.

Email on the device is dealt with through one of multiple applications. You can use the “Google Mail” app, the “Hotmail App” or the more generic “Mail” app. They all lead to a similar mail experience which feels comfortable and easy to use. I was a bit frustrated with the “add attachment” button residing immediately below the space bar, but I suppose that’s my fault for not using the physical keyboard. I might also be crazy, but it felt like the mail applications took longer to sync than on other devices. All in all, however, very easy to use.

SMS is as simple as can be. Elegant threaded conversations, with the ability to attach pictures. Not much more to be said. If you’ve used SMS on a smartphone before, don’t expect much of a departure here.

The phone application is much of the same. It’s not quite as elegant as other OSes, but it works. During a call, the end call button is notoriously small which does make it hard to accidentally press, but at the same time, hard to press quickly. Additionally, the phone application lacks visual voicemail which is a bit off-putting.

It’s important to note that the call quality on the phone is excellent. The speaker is incredibly loud which is a welcome change from the typically small and quiet headsets of other smartphones. For individuals looking for a phone above all else, the Arrive is an excellent option.

The Wrap Up

Is it perfect? No. Is it good? Yes. Should you buy it? Maybe. Here’s a quick checklist to consider if you’re looking at the HTC Arrive:

1. Are you a Sprint customer? If not, there’s not reason to switch solely for this phone. There are other equally useful Windows 7 phones and keyboard phones on other carriers already.
2. Are you a heavy texter / keyboard user? The Arrive appeals to those who really want a dedicated keyboard. It’s a thick phone, so if you don’t think you’re going to be using the keyboard, there’s not much of a reason to solely consider the Arrive, unless…
3. Are you averse to Android? Android is a more developed platform with more available applications. Similarly, it’s a bit easier to live with as it has a more diverse interface design and feature set.
4. Do you care about weight or thickness? The Arrive is both heavy and thick, so if these are deciding factors for you, you might want to look elsewhere.
5. Do you hate Bing search? If you answered “yes”, you might want to reconsider the Arrive, as Bing is the only search engine you can use natively.

If those questions made the decision for you, great! If not, hopefully the rest of this review did. All things considered, the Arrive is a good phone, but is somewhat hampered by the beta nature of Windows Phone 7. Similarly, not everything is perfect about the hardware, as it’s a bit thick and the buttons aren’t the most well designed of any phone we’ve ever seen.

It’s good to see a rival to the competition, and a lot of improvements are sure to come in coming software updates. If you want to take a walk on the wild side, check out the HTC Arrive. It’s sure to surprise, intrigue, and take you a bit off the beaten path.

Early Tuesday morning Apple announced in partnership with Verizon Wireless that it would bring the iPhone 4 to Verizon’s 3G CDMA network starting in early February. No standout new features except for the 3G Mobile Hotspot functionality have been announced and the phone will not be compatible with Verizon’s 4G LTE network as some had hoped. More details including the full press release after the break.

Existing Verizon Wireless customers will be able to order their iPhone 4s on February 3rd while new customers will have to wait until February 10th to get theirs. The same pricing structure will make its way to Verizon with the 16GB model selling for $199.99 and the 32GB model selling for $299.99. More information is available at their Verizon Wireless website including a link to sign up for an email notification when the product is available.

Verizon Wireless & Apple Team Up to Deliver iPhone 4 on Verizon

BASKING RIDGE, New Jersey and CUPERTINO, California—January 11, 2011—Verizon Wireless and Apple® today announced that the iPhone® 4 will be available on the Verizon Wireless network beginning on Thursday, February 10. Qualified Verizon Wireless customers will be given the exclusive opportunity to pre-order iPhone 4 online on February 3, ahead of general availability.

iPhone 4 is the most innovative phone in the world, featuring Apple’s stunning Retina™ display, the highest resolution display ever built into a phone resulting in super crisp text, images and video, and FaceTime®, which makes video calling a reality. iPhone 4 on Verizon Wireless will also include new Personal Hotspot capabilities allowing customers to use iPhone 4 to connect up to five Wi-Fi enabled devices.

“We are pleased to introduce millions of wireless users to the industry leading iPhone 4 on the nation’s most reliable network,” said Lowell McAdam, president and chief operating officer of Verizon. “This is an important step for the industry as two great companies join forces to give wireless customers one of the most important technological additions to the mobile landscape this century.”

“Verizon Wireless customers have told us they can’t wait to get their hands on iPhone 4, and we think they are going to love it,” said Tim Cook, Apple’s chief operating officer. “We have enormous respect for the company Verizon has built and the loyalty they have earned from their customers.”

iPhone 4 features a 5 megapixel camera with LED flash, HD video recording, Apple’s A4 chip, a 3-axis gyro and a beautiful glass and stainless steel design like no other mobile phone. iPhone 4 also comes with iOS 4, the world’s most advanced mobile operating system, which includes multitasking, folders, Game Center, AirPlay® and AirPrint wireless printing. iPhone 4 customers have access to the world’s most popular App Store℠ with more than 300,000 apps available in an incredible range of 20 categories, including games, business, news, sports, health and reference.

Pricing & Availability
iPhone 4 will be available on the Verizon Wireless network beginning Thursday, February 10 for a suggested retail price of $199.99 for the 16GB model and $299.99 for the 32GB model with a new two year customer agreement. iPhone 4 will be available at more than 2,000 Verizon Wireless Communications Stores nationwide, online at www.verizonwireless.com/iphone, at Apple Retail Stores, at the Apple Store® (www.apple.com), at Apple Authorized Resellers, and by calling 1-800-2 JOIN IN.

Check out the full product page.

As far as size is concerned, if you have an EVO 4G, this will probably be in the same ballpark. In addition, the phone is incredibly thin, comparable to an EVO 4G as well.

The Infuse 4G sports a 1.2 GHz Hummingbird processor, an 8 megapixel camera on the back, and a 1.3 megapixel on the front. Yes, this thing has video chat. Don’t get too excited about the 4G tag though. There’s no LTE here, only HSPA+ which is the same route that T-Mobile has been taking for increasing their network speeds.

Look for it coming soon.

Check it out.

Product At-a-Glance

Full Review

Following in the footsteps of its predecessor, the original Motorola Droid, and attempting to one-up its competition, the iPhone 4, Droid Incredible, and HTC Evo, the new Motorola Droid X has quite a standard to live up to. The question at hand is, of course, does it live up to this standard?

It depends. The new Droid X features a lot of the same technical specifications as other phones on the market currently. But all in all, Motorola took the biggest and best of each of those specifications, and used most of them in their latest creation.

Hardware

The Evo 4G surprised many with a massive 4.3” screen. The Droid X now similarly sports a 4.3” TFT at 480×854. All of the top smartphones on the market currently have 1 GHz processors, and the Droid X is no exception featuring a 1GHz TI OMAP 3630 processor. The processor is supported by 512 MB of RAM, keeping things, for the most part, quite snappy.

The end product is a unique blend of hardware, weighing in at 155 grams (5.47 ounces) which in comparison to the iPhone 4’s 137 gram weight seems a bit hefty. However, the phone’s overall size makes it feel relatively light in your hand.

The Droid X doesn’t feel as solid as the iPhone 4, but that’s most likely due to the large form factor of the Droid. And when I say large form factor, I mean large. While nearly as thin as the newest iPhone, its massive screen pushes the dimensions of the phone to a whopping 2.6” x 5.0” x .4”. With pocket real estate at a prime these days, the Droid X certainly doesn’t hold back in taking up as much as possible.

The screen on the Droid X responds accurately to touch, as expected, but isn’t quite as clear as other displays we’ve seen. While the Droid Incredible uses an AMOLED screen to produce incredibly vivid images, the Droid X relies on a TFT screen which pales in comparison. Obviously the pixel density of the Droid X is no where near the iPhone 4’s 326 ppi. The Droid comes in at a respectable 240 ppi, however.

Some other hardware features worth mentioning include a mini-HDMI port for streaming HD video to a TV, a dedicated camera button, wireless b/g, Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR, and a 8 MP camera with auto-focus and dual-flash (which is covered further below).

Software

Now I won’t spend too much time talking about Android, but I’ll just make mention of a few things. First, the Droid X comes pre-installed with Motoblur 2. While attempting to make Android look a little better and add usability, the battery life seems to take a bit of a hit from it.

Second, it obviously ships with Android 2.1. This means no Adobe Flash support until later this year when 2.2 (named “Froyo”) launches. Not a complaint, but a mere note for those of you who want to get your mobile Flash gaming on.

The Droid X also comes with the ability to create a WiFi hotspot that allows you to share your Droid’s mobile internet with WiFi equipped devices around it, similar to MiFi devices which sell independently for around $50. In our testing, this drained the battery incredibly quickly, but worked well. If you’re travelling and have a car charger, this would be an excellent way to share internet with other devices. If you need to hop on WiFi on your laptop for a few minutes, this is a very viable option as well. Definitely a useful addition to the Droid’s feature set.

Performance

With a 1 GHz processor and 512 MB of RAM, the Droid X performs just as well as any other Android phone on the market. However, it doesn’t necessarily improve anything. Scrolling through long menus is still slightly laggy. Open a few too many apps / widgets, and your performance will come to a grinding halt (I learned this the hard way). Other than these potential slowdowns, the Droid X is snappy as expected under normal use.

As far as battery life is concerned, we weren’t impressed. With moderate usage and plenty of apps and widgets running, we got about six hours of battery life (including stand by time). After trimming down our running processes, we managed to get through a full day with about twenty percent battery remaining.

The below-par battery life can be traced back to the massive screen on the Droid X, which consistently uses the most battery of any part of the device. It’s a simple TFT display, so battery life is not necessarily its strong point.

As a side note, the Droid X has a tendency to get very warm during extended use. Not a real problem, but simply an observation.

Overall, the performance of the phone is as expected. It most certainly rivals the current offerings with its TI OMAP processor which is currently unique to the Droid X. While it has its downfalls, they’re nothing that can’t be overcome with a bit of tweaking.

Camera

Unlike some of its competitors, the Droid X only has a back-mounted camera. Sadly, no video chatting in the world of the Droid X. However, it makes up for this in the form of a rear mounted 8 MP camera with auto-focus and dual flash.

The colors on the Droid X seem to be a bit more muted than other phones we’ve tested. In addition, its low light performance without a flash isn’t quite up to par.

However, in optimal lighting conditions, the sheer clarity of the 8 MP camera on the Droid X shines through brilliantly. Images are almost never over-exposed, even in bright environments. In comparison to the iPhone 4’s 5 MP camera, pictures are more crisp and more accurately exposed.

The Droid X also captures 720p video at 24 frames per second, slightly below the iPhone 4’s 30 fps. The quality does slightly suffer from this, making the Droid X’s video camera slightly lacking. With such a powerful processor and camera, it’s a surprise the Droid X doesn’t shoot at 30 fps.

Conclusion

The Droid X is an excellent addition to the current smartphone market. Priced at the typical $199 after $100 rebate, the Droid X is a viable competitor to existing options. If you’re on Verizon, the Droid X or the Droid Incredible are two very good options. Personally, we’d stick with the Droid Incredible, but if you like the larger screen and don’t mind having a larger phone in your pocket, by all means, the Droid X is a great option.

If you’re on AT&T and don’t mind fighting the poor service, the Droid X is nothing to jump ship about. Unless you’re tired of holding your new iPhone 4 in funny ways to keep your calls connected, in which case a switch to the HTC Droid Incredible or Motorola Droid X is more than likely in order.

As with the iPad, Apple sent out review units of the new iPhone 4 to valued members of the press and the early reviews of the new smartphone are appearing. The phone is scheduled to arrive on customers’ doorsteps either tomorrow or on Thursday (depending if yours got shipped in time). We’ve got all the reviews thus far linked after the break with a summary of the verdict from each.

The Engadget review by Joshua Topolsky:

“…it’s tough to deny that Apple has moved one step past the competition with this phone. Of course, in the hyper-accelerated smartphone market where the Next Big Thing seems to always be just around the corner, it’s anyone’s guess how long they keep that edge.”

The Wall Street Journal review by Walt Mossberg:

“Just as with its predecessors, I can’t recommend this new iPhone for voice calling for people who experience poor AT&T reception, unless they are willing to carry a second phone on a network that works better for them.

For everyone else, however, I’d say that Apple has built a beautiful smartphone that works well, adds impressive new features and is still, overall, the best device in its class.”

The New York Times review by David Pogue:

“Now, the iPhone is no longer the undisputed king of app phones. In particular, the technically inclined may find greater flexibility and choice among its Android rivals, like the HTC Incredible and Evo. They’re more complicated, and their app store not as good, but they’re loaded with droolworthy features like turn-by-turn GPS instructions, speech recognition that saves you typing, removable batteries and a choice of cell networks.

If what you care about, however, is size and shape, beauty and battery life, polish and pleasure, then the iPhone 4 is calling your name.”

The USA Today review by Ed Baig:

“As with previous iPhones, the latest model breaks new ground. FaceTime video calling on the iPhone 4 is one of those cool “seeing is believing” features, and it arrives on top of several across-the-board enhancements. And iOS 4 is a mostly terrific software upgrade.

Cutting through the hype, Apple has given longtime diehards, and first-time iPhone owners, plenty to cheer about.”

BoingBoing.net review by Xeni Jardin:

“Would I buy it? Yes.”

We will update this post with more reviews as they are posted.

The world of mobile phones is constantly evolving. With the average contract commitment being 2 years, most smart phones are considered to be obsolete by the end of their initial contract. Today we look at another phone to further the continual upgrade cycle, the HTC Droid Incredible on Verizon Wireless.

Intro

The HTC Droid Incredible has the same internals as both the Google Nexus One, and the HTC Desire (In Europe). However, HTC has made some tweaks, such as the addition of the Sense UI, and the expansion of internal flash memory capacity to 8GB from 512MB. Can these changes oust the Nexus One from the top Android phone slot?

Hardware

As I mentioned before, the basic hardware of the HTC Droid Incredible is based on the same platform as the Google Nexus One, also built by HTC. The most stunning feature of the Droid Incredible is the 3.7″, 800 x 480 pixel AMOLED (define?) touchscreen. The AMOLED screen provides for a more vibrant display, without the need of a backlight. This screen uses more power than a traditional LCD when displaying a white background, but saves power when displaying blacks and other dark colors. The dark tint to the HTC Sense interface helps makes this less of an issue.

Overall, the basic design feel of the Incredible is very industrial. Like the recently leaked iPhone prototype, this Verizon color scheme phone features hard lines and edges throughout most of the device. However, the back battery cover is a unique part entirely. Instead of just sitting flat, it has several areas where it is raised above its surroundings, creating more grip, and makes for a more visually interesting design.

The Incredible features an ARM-based, 1GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon processor, currently the fastest mobile phone processor in use. Along with the 1GHz processor, HTC has equipped this phone with 512MB RAM, doubling the RAM of the Motorola Droid.  This may be due in part to the fact that Android apps run in the background, and for most apps, you need to terminate them manually using a task killer. While it is nice to have applications running in the background, having to use a task killer makes it a kludgy implementation. As this is an issue with Android in general, HTC did all they could by adding more RAM. Having a fast processor also makes tasks like dynamically animated wallpapers possible, something that we wouldn’t have dreamed about in mobile phone computing just years ago.

An upgrade from the 5 Megapixel camera of the Nexus One, the Incredible features an impressive auto focusing, 8 Megapixel camera with a dual LED flash. The quality of this camera is more comparable to dedicated point and shoot cameras than 99% of camera phones now on the market.  The video features of this camera are disappointing however, since video is only shot at a resolution of 800 x 480. While the video still looks good, it seems there is wasted potential with the camera having such a high-resolution sensor, and we would have liked to see 720p video capabilities. Scroll through the gallery below for sample photos.

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Usability

Along the bottom of the screen are the four main navigational buttons, and an optical trackpad. The Home, Menu, Back, and Search buttons are used fairly regularly in navigating the Android OS, but the optical trackpad seems fairly useless. Instead of swiping left and right on the track pad, the majority of the time, it is just easier to swipe left or right on the large touchscreen instead of the tiny trackpad. This trackpad also functions as a button, allowing you to hit enter on certain fields, which is definitely more useful.

One major caveat I have run into with the Incredible however, is the battery life. Like most current smart phones, charging this phone at the end of the day is absolutely necessary. From a full charge, I have had the battery wear down to about half capacity by the end of the day without even using the phone. While some background actions like fetching email were going on in the background, this is still unacceptable. As most people would have these features enabled by default, and on top of using the phone all day, the Incredible may require you to top off the battery in the late afternoon to power through the rest of the day. This is disappointing personally since I am coming from the iPhone 3G, where I can survive at least an entire day with one battery charge.

Coming from using the iPhone as my main phone for the past serveral years, typing on the HTC Incredible has been a challenge for me. While I would consider myself to be used to most touch screen phones, something about the default Android keyboard in portrait mode tends to throw off my accuracy. It may be a subtle difference in the size of the virtual keys, or maybe a less responsive touch screen, but it is something for potential buyers to be aware about. Landscape mode however, I have found to be a much more pleasant experience, and orders of magnitude more accurate. One nice thing about Android is that replacement keyboards can be downloaded, such as the Swype Keyboard , so you should be able to find something that fits your style.

The Incredible also features Haptic Feedback for certain key presses. When using the keyboard, and when you use the navigational buttons, every keystroke makes the device send out a small vibration. This is supposed to create more of a tactile feedback, but whether people find it annoying seems to be a very polarizing issue. This feature can be disabled in the settings though, so it is not a deal breaker if you do not like it.

Of course, the function that still matters the most is actually making phone calls. HTC manages to accomplish this well with the Incredible. Audio quality on both ends of the call seem to be above par, and an all around pleasant experience. The speakerphone is also extremely loud compared to other phones I have used over the years. When playing back audio from the music app, both the 3.5mm headphone output, and the speaker both seemed to be clear, although the speaker seems to lack bass a bit. This isn’t a surprise for a mobile phone, but I found it to be worse than my iPhone 3G, and other phones I have used.

HTC Sense

From the start, one of the most differentiating features of the Incredible from phones like the Motorola Droid and Google Nexus One is the addition of the HTC Sense UI. Sense is a custom interface that HTC has chosen to implement on all of its Android and Windows Mobile phones, over the standard Google interface. It is obvious that HTC tried to pack as much information as possible into this new UI. Gone is the home page full application icons, and in its place we get room for 6 apps and large stylized clock which also displays the Weather. When you swipe the home page left or right, you have options for pages such as Mail, Contact Speed dial, SMS, Social network updates, and more. All of these can be customized and even deleted to create whatever configuration you desire.

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Among these customized home screen options, HTC also ships some customized apps with Sense:

Peep: A simple Twitter client which features notifications for @ replies and Direct Messages, along with a home screen widget that allows you to update your status without actually launching the app.

An improved Music app: One of my major qualms with the Motorola Droid was the default Android music player was very barebones and basic. The HTC Music app turns out to be a much nicer experience, with an easy to use and quick interface for navigating your music library. HTC’s offering also adds options like sharing music over Bluetooth, and the ability to view the properties and ID3 tags of a mp3 file, which is a nice touch if you are trying to tell two similar tracks apart.

Clock and Weather apps: Beyond possessing some nice interface eye candy, these apps provide pretty much the same functionality as you would expect. Some nice features would be the “desk” mode for the clock app which is perfect for a night stand or other times when you just want to be able to glance at it and see the time without hitting any buttons. The Weather app provides some nice graphical touches, such as an animated depiction of the current weather when you unlock the phone. Although it doesn’t really add any functionality, seeing clouds drift across the screen, or raindrops falling is a nice touch and allows you to see a visual representation of the weather without you even realizing it. These animations are interrupted as soon as you start to use the phone so it does not impede the user experience at all.

Overall, the small interface adjustments that Sense makes over the default Android OS help make the user experience on the HTC Incredible better than other phones on the market, and on par with universally acclaimed phones such as the iPhone and Palm Pre.

Wrapup

From the initial launch of the Android Operating system on the HTC Desire (known as the T-mobile G1 in America), about 18 months ago, it is apparent that both HTC and Google have come far. Android has become a major player in the mobile phone space, with about 60,000 activations of Android devices per day as of February 2010 according to Google.

In the runup to the release of this phone, Google has announced that it no longer plans to bring the Nexus One to Verizon, and that this is the phone that is taking its place in their lineup. After using this phone, it is obvious why Google has made this decision. Building off of the strong foundation that Google and HTC created with the Nexus One, the HTC Droid Incredible is the best Android phone on the market, and one of the best smart phones I have used.

That being said, if you are carrier agnostic, it would be beneficial to wait for the launch of the HTC Evo 4G phone on Sprint this summer. The Evo is poised to take the specs of the Incredible even further, with a 4.3″ LCD and 720p video recording. Along with the 4G data network, it will certainly be a phone to watch. Look for our review coming up this summer.

However, if want to stick with the Verizon Wireless network, then the HTC Droid Incredible the definitive smart phone to buy.

Last year was a big year for Palm, with the Pre announced at CES in January, and the Pixi announced in the fall. We’ve finally got our thoughts on the Pixi, from the webOS operating system to the Touchstone charging technology and everything in between. Get the rundown after the break.

The Palm Pixi is a somewhat slower version of the Pre in a candybar form-factor. It has a slightly smaller 2.63-inch screen with a 400×320 resolution (with 18-bit color), compared to the Pre’s 480×320 resolution 3.1-inch screen (with 24-bit color). You can barely notice the difference in color, but the cramped screen resolution is definitely noticeable. On the front is the aforementioned 2.63-inch screen, a hidden LED strip for navigation, and a chiclet-style QWERTY keyboard. The right side has a volume rocker, a silent/ringer switch and a micro USB port under a flip-down door while the left side of the phone is left empty. On the back you’ll find a 2-megapixel camera with LED flash and two speakers. The Pixi also has 8GB of internal storage for media storage.

Speaking of that hidden LED strip, you won’t notice it’s there until you swipe your finger across it, and that’s when a subtle light beams across it.

If you aren’t familiar with the webOS, it’s Palm’s latest operating system (they don’t use that old-fangled Palm OS anymore). It features multitasking, unlike the iPhone OS, using a system called “Cards”. Bring up each application “card” by swiping up on the gesture area. Flick a card off the screen and it’s closed. Unlike the Palm OS, there’s no way of syncing your data to your computer. Instead, webOS uses cloud services such as Gmail, Yahoo, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Exchange ActiveSync. I honestly can’t remember how many times I had issues with that crappy Palm Desktop application anyway.

Many criticize Palm for how slow webOS is, but only with time will it get better. When I received my Pixi review unit before the new year, it was sluggish and slow. Since then, Palm released two system updates, which improved the Pre’s performance somewhat, but it was still considerably slow. The keyboard however, is surprisingly good for how tiny it is. Palm has used this kind of keyboard for a while, but it feels more tactile than the Pre keyboard did.

The pitfall of the Palm Pre and Pixi are the third-party apps, which I feel are very important to any mobile platform. The Palm App Catalog only has around 300 applications, while the Apple App Store has nearly 100,000. People will say that, “Oh, Palm will catch up.” Yeah, maybe in five years when Apple has already dominated the market. Too bad, they already have. I do love webOS interface. It’s fresh, it’s new, and it’s easy to develop for, but it just needs more apps, period.

During our review, we also tested the Touchstone charging kit with the Pixi. The Touchstone charger uses inductive coil technology, which generates a small oscillating electromagnetic field between the cover of the device, and the dock. It’s almost magic in the way it works, no need to find the cord to charge your phone, just set it on top and it begins charging. The dock also has a cool “Micro-Suction” material on the bottom, which sticks to your desk or other surface without leaving any residue.

Call quality using the Sprint EVDO Rev. A network was good, although callers on the receiving end reported hearing a slight echo in a quiet environment. Speakerphone quality was decent, although it sounded somewhat muddled on our end. The Pixi lasts nearly a day on a single charge, however your mileage may vary depending on how many applications are running and if GPS is turned on.

The Palm Pixi is available on the Sprint network for $99.99.

As of this review, Palm has introduced the Pre Plus and the Pixi Plus, both for the Verizon Wireless network. We’ll test those as soon as review units become available.

Pros

• Lightweight and slim design.
• Great QWERTY keyboard.
• Fast EVDO network.
• Touchstone inductive charging technology.

Cons

• webOS still considerably slow.
• Third-party app catalog still small.

The BlackBerry line of smartphones have evolved in many ways over the years, one of them being navigation. From the thumbwheel, where the term “BlackBerry thumb” was coined, to the trackball, and now to the trackpad. RIM has pretty much left the user interface of the BlackBerry the same, except for the icon design. In the new Curve 8520, was a trackpad really necessary when everything else in the smartphone world is going touchscreen? How well does the built-in Mac support work? We’ll tell you after the break.

In the box, you’ll find the standard micro-USB charger, a stereo hands-free wired headset, USB cable, BlackBerry Desktop software, and a 1GB SD card.

The Curve 8520 also has new dedicated media controls on the top of the phone, so right off the bat, the phone is clearly media-oriented. On the left side of the 8520 is a 3.5mm headphone jack, perfect for plugging in your favorite ear buds or headphones. On the right, the volume rocker and convenience key have changed from standard buttons to bumps along the surface, which does look interesting but works just as well.

Unlike the screens of the Bold 9000 and the Curve 8900 however, the 8520 has a lower-resolution screen which doesn’t have the same crispness and vibrancy but it’s still fairly bright.

We won’t be focusing much on the core BlackBerry features, as they have stayed relatively the same since the Curve was first introduced. If you’re looking for more information on those features and more, check out our previous BlackBerry reviews.

While change isn’t always good, the optical trackpad that the 8500 series brings is welcomed. In our tests, it was fairly responsive and nothing about navigating the user interface has changed. It does address the issue in older models of trackballs getting stuck and dirty. The buttons on the keyboard are fairly similar to the ones on the 8300 series (the first-gen Curve), and while it may be cramped for those with larger fingers; in our tests, we could type just as fast as on earlier models.

This is also the first BlackBerry with out-of-the-box Mac support, allowing full sync support with iTunes (playlists included), contacts, and calendars, as well as support for backing up, restoring, and adding applications to your device. The software was long-awaited by Mac fans, and now there is finally a solution. We tested the software on an iMac Core 2 Duo machine and it worked seamlessly.

This particular model does not have 3G support or GPS functionality, but does offer Wi-Fi, which can be used in conjunction with T-Mobile’s Unlimited HotSpot calling plan (an extra $9.99 a month), which uses UMA technology to connect phone calls using a Wi-Fi connection.

Image quality of the 8520’s built-in 2-megapixel camera was decent. Sample shots showed accurate white balance and color temperature, but lacking vibrant colors.

We used the Curve 8520 in the Sacramento metro area and experienced no background noise or distortion in sound, even with the speakerphone enabled. Our battery tests proved that the 8520 can receive around 7 hours of talk time, 2.5 hours more than the 4.5 hours that it is rated for.

You can get the BlackBerry Curve 8520 from T-Mobile today in black, white, or frost for $129.99 after a $220 mail-in rebate with an Even More plan.

Pros

• Built-in Wi-Fi.
• Out-of-the-box Mac support.
• Optical trackpad for navigation.
• Good call quality.

Cons

• No 3G or GPS support.

It’s no secret that in the aftermath of the success of the RAZR, Motorola hasn’t been in the strongest position in the cell phone handset market. The common knowledge was that the weak software they produce for their hardware has been their downfall. With analysts predicting their altogether departure from the handset business, could the Motorola DROID from Verizon Wireless, running the Google Android Operating System be the handset to turn it all around, and take down the iPhone?

Device

At first impression, Motorola seems to have developed a winner. While the device may not look as elegant as the iPhone, it seems to be function over form. The phone features one of the largest capacitive touch screens, at 3.7” at a 480 x 854 resolution (compared to the iPhone with a 3.5” screen at 480 x 320.) The screen is stunning, and feels on par with the iPhone. The DROID also supports haptic feedback, which produces a vibration when certain things on the screen are touched. This tries to create some sort of physical feedback to alert you that you are hitting a button, but doesn’t work well to that effect. Also, the DROID only seems to support multitouch for the onscreen keyboard application at this time. (Although video showing multitouch support for the European version of this phone has been shown.)

Under the DROID screen are 4 touch sensitive buttons- Back, Menu, Home, and Search. These are used to control the main features of the phone. This seems to provide more control and versatility over phones such as the iPhone, which just feature one hardware button.

The DROID also features a slide out keyboard, which Motorola states is the thinnest phone with a QWERTY keyboard ever made. So far reviewers have been complaining about the difficulty in typing on such a small keyboard, but I have found little problem in typing on it, however I have smaller fingers than most. While the keyboard is definitely usable, it is not as good as devices like the BlackBerry Tour.

There is also both a vertical and horizontal onscreen keyboard on this device. Typing on it is as effective as on the iPhone and other touch screen phones. However, since this phone features haptic feedback, there is the potential for it to be easier to type on, depending on individual user’s preference.

A few odd things bother me about the hardware, such as the volume rocker switch on the right side of the phone, which can be difficult to press correctly, and the use of a Micro USB cable instead of a Mini USB cable, like Motorola’s other devices, which means you would have to buy entirely new chargers and such.

Other features of the DROID hardware include a 5 Megapixel, Autofocus camera with dual LED flash, a 3.5” headphone jack, and MicroSDHC card, but more on these later.

Camera

As mentioned earlier, the DROID features a 5 Megapixel camera, with autofocus. While this is a big step forward in camera phone technology, it still falls short.

The picture quality of the DROID certainly is better than 99% of camera phones on the market, and my iPhone 3G. One problem though, is the autofocus on the camera. The focus takes too long to find the right position, and it generally takes a couple of pictures for it to appropriately focus the object you are trying to take a picture of. A good compromise for this would have been something like on the iPhone 3GS, where the user can select the object they want in focus.

The Dual LED flash certainly gives this camera an edge over other competitors. In very low light situations, it produced acceptable pictures, where as a camera with a weak flash or none at all, would have produced a horrible image.

Since it is using the same optics, the video functions of this camera suffer from the same thing.
All in all, the camera is fine for what most people use the camera on their Smartphone for. If all you are doing is taking pictures of friends and family to post on things like Twitter and Facebook, this camera will probably satisfy all of your needs.

Android Software

The Motorola DROID is my first experience to the Android OS, and it does not fail to impress. The DROID is the first device to run Android version 2.0, which adds a plethora of new features to the Android OS, such as a new Google Maps Turn-by-Turn Navigation application.

One of the best features of Google Android in my eyes is the deep integration with all of Google’s services. With one login, you can sync your email and calendars, receive instant messages, download applications off of the Android Market, and more. For people who keep all of their information synced with Google services, like myself, this integration is a natural fit.

Android 2.0 also provides support for enterprise Microsoft Exchange server integration, however it seems that Verizon will be needlessly charging an extra $15 per month for Exchange support.

What really takes the cake with the Android OS is the extreme customization and power you have control over. Whether allowing home screen widgets, complete access to the hardware of the device for apps, or the deep system controls, Android is infinitely more customizable than the iPhone.

With the enhanced access to the hardware, and little regulation by Google on the Android Market, it allows for some uses that will never be seen on the iPhone. One example of this would be the Google Voice application. Among other things, it allows you to set all of your outgoing calls through the normal phone application to dial out using your Google Voice number. If you want to set it up to ask you whether you do or not when you place a call, that option is even available. It is the option for expandability like this that really sets Android out in the crowd of Smartphones.

One of the other many great features of Android is the addition of Widgets to the operating system. These widgets can be placed on the home screen, and allows you to control or check the status of supported applications at a glance. For example, there is a widget so you can easily turn on or off things such as WiFi, Bluetooth, place the phone in airplane mode, turn off background syncing for applications, and change the screen brightness on the fly.

The core Android OS alone also takes a more hand on approach to the user experience. It gives the user more control over the phone, and notifies them more about what is going on with their phone. Allowing applications to run in the background is a major advantage over the iPhone OS in particular. Instead of having a notification system that very few applications use, Android allows developers to just run their programs in their background, which allows you to multitask without losing updates from other applications. Apple’s excuse for this is that battery life would suffer, however, with the DROID I have not found battery life to be an issue at all. When the low battery warning does finally pops up, it allows you to open a window showing what applications and hardware devices are using the most battery, so you can adjust your battery usage in a pinch.

Navigation

The Google Maps navigation program on Android 2.0 was actually the first application that I got to use on the DROID. The package arrived and I unboxed it right before I was about to walk out of the door. The address that I was going to was actually one that many maps programs (even Google Maps itself on the web) had failed to find in the past. Not only did the Android application find the location, but also provided turn-by-turn directions with voiceover, and a view of every intersection via Google Maps Street View.

While it may not replace a standalone GPS for everyone, due to the fact that is needs a fast data connection to pull down the information live, where as a GPS unit has maps stored locally. However, for the casual GPS user who doesn’t live in a rural area, it is great to have such a feature filled GPS application built directly into the phone, for free.

Motorola is also planning to sell a special car dock along side the DROID, which will provide a dashboard mount and will launch the special Car UI (also accessible without the dock), which allows easier access to functions like Navigation and Contacts.

Media Playback

One area where I feel the DROID really lacks is in media playback. The DROID ships with a 16GB MicroSDHC card, expandable to 32GB, which is plenty of space. One minor gripe would be that you have to remove the battery to change the MicroSDHC card. However, the real issue here is the Music Application.

The music application is very limited, and only offers basic features, such as sorting by Artist, Album, Song and Playlist. One nice feature is on the fly playlist creation, but beyond that, it pretty much just plays music. This will not replace your iPod, Zune HD, or other standalone media player in the current state. More sorting features could bring this closer to a standalone audio player.

However, one of the advantages to Android is that someone could develop a better Music application, and allow you to download it on the Android Market, whereas Apple would not allow the application into their store because of “duplication of core software functionality.” There are already some third party music playing applications on the Market, but at the time of writing this article, I have not gotten a chance to try any of them out.

Getting music onto the device only involves connecting the DROID to USB and dragging songs to the MicroSDHC card. This works well, however with a large library (like 16GB), it could get very unruly to handle. There are third party programs like Salling Media Sync on OS X that would allow you to sync it with iTunes though.

Although the software may be lacking, one shining star of media playback on the DROID is the onboard speaker. The modestly sized speaker on the back of the device provides more power and clarity than most if not all of the other media playing devices I have ever heard. Audio playback through the 3.5mm headphone jack on the top of the device is also very high quality and provides for a great experience.

Android Market

The Android Market is the central location for downloading third party applications on the DROID. It features applications for well-known websites, such as Facebook, and Twitter. The Market also features apps that apple itself has turned down on the iPhone application store in the past, such as Qik for online video streaming, and the aforementioned Google Voice application.

Even if Google were to deny an application from the Android Market, it could be self distributed by the developer, and installed over the web browser.

While the Android Market may be open to all applications, it does not have as many as the iPhone Application Store does. While Apple claims, 85,000 applications on its store, Google doesn’t state a number, but it is much lower. Although personally, whenever I came across a certain function I wanted to accomplish on the DROID, there was always an application for it on the Android Market, but your mileage may vary here.

Conclusion

Where the DROID really shines over the iPhone is in using the Verizon Wireless network. With the biggest 3G-coverage area in the United States, odds are that you will have coverage in your area. While the biggest complain about the iPhone is that it is not on Verizon, the DROID provides a real next generation Smartphone on Verizon.

After having used the Motorola DROID as my main phone, I have come to the conclusion that it is not an “iPhone killer.” That’s not to say that it isn’t a great phone, but I believe at this time that Android is not aiming for the same market as Apple is with the iPhone. Having owned both, it is a different experience using each one.

While Apple touts the iPhone user experience, Google is more about giving power back to the user with Android. Apple says that the iPhone just works, and for the most part it is true. Android is for the people who not only understand how it works, but can improve on it.

While Android isn’t “fully baked” at the moment for the average user, the mainstream potential exists, and it could be huge with just a little more work on the user experience as a whole.

The Motorola DROID itself does what the T-Mobile G1 could not, which is bring the Android operating system to good hardware, and show off it’s full potential.

For someone who wants more power from their phone, and the great coverage and 3G data provided by the Verizon Wireless network, this is the DROID you are looking for.

Pros

• Slide out keyboard.
• Haptic feedback touchscreen.
• 16GB of built-in storage.
• Highly customizable.
• 3G network support.

Cons

• Autofocus doesn’t always work on the camera.
• Less apps than iPhone.
• Media player is lacking.

DISCLOSURE OF MATERIAL CONNECTION
I have a material connection because I received a sample or review copy, or an item of nominal value that I can keep for consideration in preparing to write this content. I was/am expected to return this item after my review.

It seems that mobile phone carriers besides Verizon Wireless have their token smartphone at this point. AT&T has the iPhone, Sprint has the Palm Pre, and T-Mobile has the G1 and now myTouch 3G. Could the BlackBerry Tour 9630 be the flagship smartphone for Verizon?First off, I would like to preface this review with the fact that I am currently an iPhone 3G user. I will be presenting any comparisons for the BlackBerry Tour against the iPhone, as it is the smartphone that I am most familiar and currently the most satisfied with.

The BlackBerry Tour 9630 builds off of the highly successfully platform established with the BlackBerry Curve. It features roughly the same form factor, however it is slightly smaller and slimmer. The keyboard is also changed from the BlackBerry Curve. Where as the Curve had keys that were spaced apart, the keyboard on the Tour is more compact and the buttons are directly next to each other. I found this to make typing a little more challenging, but as always, keyboard preference is highly subjective.

The BlackBerry Tour is also the first CDMA BlackBerry to launch with the BlackBerry App World application store, the 8900 (GSM version) launched with the App Store on T-Mobile in June. It is similar to the iTunes App store for the iPhone in which you can download applications to run on the phone to extend its functionality. Some of the premier apps include AIM, Facebook, and Myspace.

Unlike the Curve, one of the main features of the Tour is EV-DO Rev. A. This brings the true speed of the version EV-DO network to the BlackBerry platform, something that has long been missing. The Tour is also a world phone, and features a SIM card slot, and an unlocked GSM radio to use this phone with any other foreign provider. It comes installed with a Verizon SIM, which is on the Vodafone network overseas.

The difference in speed between a BlackBerry Curve and Tour on the Verizon network is very substantial and noticeable. It provided for a fast experience in surfing the web, and downloading apps among other things. However, like other BlackBerrys on Verizon, the Tour does not feature WiFi like it’s GSM brother, the BlackBerry Curve 8900. While EV-DO is fast, it is a major foul not to have WiFi on a smartphone in 2009.

As with previous BlackBerrys, the call quality on this phone is great. It is among some of the best phones that I have used. Paired with the Verizon network, the actual phone portion of this smartphone is rock solid.

Another substantial feature of the Tour that I enjoyed was the 3.2 Megapixel camera. I consistently found it better than the iPhone 3G camera ( I did not have the opportunity to compare it to the 3GS). It also features a very bright LED flash, unlike the iPhone. The flash is so bright that a picture can actually be taken in pitch black, and show up relatively clearly. The Tour also takes video, which has as equally impressive quality.

The Tour ships with a 2GB MicroSD card which can be loaded with movies, music, and pictures and played through the media player on the device. However, for video, the screen can seem a bit small if you are planning on watching something for extended periods of time.

My major caveat of this device is the battery life. It seems that even with little use, the battery doesn’t last very long, and I struggled to get a full days usage out of the charge.

The BlackBerry Tour 9630 is available on Verizon Wireless and Sprint for $199.99 with a two-year contract and mail-in rebate.

Pros

• Sleek design.
• Fast network.
• Great camera quality.

Cons

• Battery life needs improvement.
• Keyboard is somewhat cramped.

The Blackberry Curve smartphone has been a staple in the industry for a long time starting with the original 8300 back in 2007. RIM is back at it again with the sleek new Curve 8900 smartphone. How does it compare to the 8300 series and will it become the new champion of the Blackberry?The 8900 takes the curved design of the 8300 series and polishes it up to match the styling of the Storm and Bold smartphones, taking the sleek black finish and combining it with smooth metal bezels. One thing that struck me first was the display. Text was crystal clear compared to my now outdated titanium Blackberry 8310. Images are sharp and vibrant, no longer is there the problem of getting dust under the screen since it’s now flush with the rest of the phone.

As with the Curve series before it, the 8900 brings the familiar QWERTY keyboard back and it still has the same great feel that Blackberry users are accustomed to. Thankfully RIM managed to slim down the Curve quite a bit, making it even more compact and comfortable in your hands. We also liked the fact that the Curve 8900 had an updated user interface that matches hand-in-hand with the external design of the phone.

On the back of the phone is a 3.2 megapixel camera with auto-focus, flash, and image stabilization. Images taken in dark situations turned out grainy, but those taken in a well-lit room were decent. There is some lag when taking a photo however, so keep those hands steady to get optimal shots. The camera is a welcomed improvement over the 2.0 megapixel camera in the 8300 it replaces.

The phone does have built-in GPS and Wi-Fi 802.11b/g with UMA support, so you’ll be able to hop onto a hotspot at Starbucks and surf the web at increased speeds. Speaking of speed, the Curve 8900 isn’t a 3G phone, so you’re stuck with the slower EDGE network which isn’t too bad if you’re not a huge mobile web fan. There are maps available on the Blackberry either using the Blackberry Maps application or Google Maps Mobile, but if you’re looking for the true GPS experience, you’ll want to take a look at the TeleNav software.

And all on top of this is the BlackBerry messaging that every Blackberry smartphone is known for, emailing capabilites and all. If I wasn’t upgrading to an iPhone 3G S, the Blackberry Curve 8900 would be my phone of choice.

In our performance tests, we were able to get around 8 hours of talk time on a single charge. Call quality was good, but there was some noticeable background noise. The speakerphone quality was decent and loud as well.

We reviewed the T-Mobile version of the Blackberry Curve 8900, but an unlocked version is also available from Amazon.com for $460 bucks.

Pros

• New slim and sleek design.
• Revised user interface.
• Wi-Fi and GPS built-in.
• Great 3.2 MP camera.

Cons

• No 3G support.