Of course David Letterman is taking jabs at the iPhone 4. That’s how you know the phenomenon is mainstream. Ha! The top two answers are just excellent. Check out the video and let me know what you think (please)!
Category: Mobile Tech
Evo 4G vs. Droid X Part II: Call Clarity, Screen Quality, and More
That battle between two of the best Google Android phones available this summer continues! This time around I’ll be comparing the HTC Evo 4G (Sprint) and the Motorola Droid X (Verizon) in terms of call clarity, user interface, form factor and display quality. These are two great phones with different advantages. Which one has the edge in the categories I mentioned above? Read on to find out!
Call Clarity
The Evo 4G works very well as a phone. After using it for about two months, I’m very satisfied with its call quality. The Droid X is simply in a different league. Motorola made a big deal about the phone’s call quality when it was announced and it was right to play up that aspect of the phone. The Droid X’s two noise-canceling microphones are brilliant for making and receiving calls in crowded places like a mall or in an area with heavy traffic. I made a few calls at the congested intersection of Wilshire and Vermont with dozens of cars and buses zipping by. The friends I called had no idea I was calling from such a busy street.
Remember, call quality greatly depends on how well your area is wired. Both Sprint and Verizon cover Los Angeles well, so it came down to hardware for me. In terms of call quality, the Evo 4G is good but the Droid X is great.
User Interface
Both phones use customized versions of Google Android 2.1 (Eclair). Motorola decided to go with a fairly basic modification, instead of the heavy handed Motorola Blur. While I prefer the Droid X’s UI over Blur, it still feels a little clunky. Sure, it does a few things better than stock Android, but it’s not nearly as polished and elegant as HTC Sense.
The Evo 4G simply has a smoother interface, better widgets, and better web browser customizations. It adds a bunch of little touches that add up for a superior Android exprience. HTC Sense is just a much better Android customization than anything Motorola has served up.
Form Factor
Both phones feature 4.3-inch screens, so they’re pretty close in terms of size. However, their displays feature different resolutions, resulting in slightly different form factors. Looking at both phones in portrait mode, the Droid X is taller and the Evo 4G is wider. The Droid X is also thinner. Being narrower and thinner makes the Droid X slightly more pocketable and a bit more functional for portrait viewing than the Evo 4G.
The Evo 4G feels better and is more functional in landscape mode. Whether it’s reading web pages or viewing videos, I feel that the Evo 4G uses its screen real estate more efficiently. The differences in form factors are a purely personal preference. Some people will favor one over the other, while others will not notice much of a difference. In my opinion, both phones have different advantages in terms of feel, so I’m calling this one a tie.
Screen Quality
Part of this I went over already in the last section. In terms of usability, I prefer the Droid X’s 854 x 480 screen in portrait mode. I prefer the Evo 4G’s 800 x 480 screen in landscape mode. Again, those are personal preference and I understand that other people will have different preferences.
What’s inarguable is that the Droid X’s screen is capable of more colors, has a better contrast ratio, and is brighter than the Evo 4G’s. Some people are fine with the Evo 4G’s 16-bit screen, but the gorgeous display on the Droid X is a noticeable step up. Motorola’s phone wins this round.
There are more Droid vs. Evo battles to follow! Check back to see how these phone compare in terms of their virtual keyboards, cameras, battery life, and more! As always, if you have any questions, please leave them in the comments section.
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Apple Killing Off Discussions on Consumer Reports’ Findings?
Yesterday I decided not to write about Consumer Reports rescinding its recommendation on the iPhone 4 due to its reception issues. The story has been played out. Most tech enthusiasts have already made up their minds about the issue — they either believe it’s a problem or they don’t. What I did find interesting is that Apple has allegedly been killing of discussions about Consumer Reports’ findings in its forums. According to TUAW:
If you were looking for a message thread on Apple’s support forums pointing to Consumer Reports’ article ‘not recommending’ the iPhone 4, it’s not there any more. Apple’s support forum moderators deleted the thread. Bing cached it.
If it happened once, maybe you’d say it was a glitch. But what if it happened twice? Three times? Four times, five, six?
The approach is unusual. I’m surprised that Apple didn’t have a bunch of rapid responses at the ready. Deleting forum threads make it look like it’s trying to sweep the issue under the rug or ignore its existence.
Watching Apple deal with this issue is simply fascinating. First it was “you’re holding it wrong” then it was a “software issue” about the bars improperly reporting signal. Any guesses on what the next response will be?
Motorola Droid X Review Part II: Screen, Keyboard, WiFi Hotspot
Ready for more details and opinions of the Motorola Droid X for Verizon? Of course you are! In the first part of my review, I covered this Google Android phone’s build, user interface, storage options, and call quality. This time around I’m covering its screen, keyboard, WiFi hotspot functionality, and software. Let’s get to it!
Screen
The Droid X features an ample 4.3-inch TFT LCD screen with a resolution of 854×480. The colors are bright and vivid. Text looks very clear. TFT LCD doesn’t have the color saturation of OLED — which some people love and some people hate — but it offers true colors and a screen that’s much more usable in daylight. While this screen isn’t as technically impressive as the iPhone 4’s “Retina Display”, the size makes it more usable on a few levels.
Having a large screen is fantastic for web browsing. You simply see more of the web page. It also helps with the virtual keyboard. Having more space makes typing easier for most people. For example, I can type faster and with less errors on the Droid X than the HTC Google Nexus One, which has a 3.7-inch screen.
The Droid X’s resolution is atypical, which is good and bad. In portrait mode, it’s taller and narrower than the comparable HTC Evo 4G. This is great for looking at web pages in portrait mode and more comfortable when holding the phone for calls. It’s not as great using it in landscape mode, but it’s not a huge problem either; it just feels like there’s a lot of wasted space when watching videos and web browsing.
Most people will love this screen. It’s big and beautiful…like Oprah.
Keyboard and Input
There are a few keyboard options on the Droid X. Most people will opt for the virtual keyboard. This phone has one of the best virtual keyboards I’ve ever used, mostly due to the screen size and partially due to the efficient layout. If you like haptic feedback while typing, the Droid X offers some strong vibrations.
The phone also has Swype pre-installed. This nifty program allows you to trace words as the CPU figures out what you want to spell. Check out the video above for an example. It’s a great system that some people rave about, but it definitely requires a learning period. With practice, I’ve seen people enter text faster on Swype than with a physical keyboard. It’s not my cup of tea, but I totally get the appeal and it’s great that it comes pre-loaded on the Droid X.
WiFi Hotspot
Verizon charges $20 a month for tethering and WiFi hotspot functionality, with a 2GB cap. This is cheaper but more restrictive than Sprint’s comparable offering (though it doesn’t have 4G speeds). Setting up a WiFi hotspot is a snap; if you know how to adjust settings on a router than you can set up a hotspot with ease. However, your speeds will vary by location. For example, I was barely able to crack .5MB down in my apartment, but easily hit 1MB in downtown Los Angeles.
The WiFi hotspot feature is a nice option to have, but completely unnecessary if you can get by with a wired connection on one device. There are a number of third-party programs like EasyTether and PDAnet that allow you tether without subscribing to an expensive plan.
Apps, Games, and Goodies
My thoughts on Android apps and games haven’t changed since I covered it in my Evo 4G review. Since new people might be reading this, I’ll give a brief overview. In terms of apps, the Android Market should have most of your needs covered. There are a wide variety of apps for all sorts of entertainment and productivity needs. In terms of function, the Android Market has almost everything the iPhone App Store has, but the selection isn’t as broad.
That said, there are two apps that are headed to Android but are testing my patience with their annoying wait times — TweetDeck and Skype (real Skype, not the BS Skype pre-loaded on the phone). For now I’m content with twicca, WordPress, Barcode Scanner, Foursquare, AIM, Facebook, Yelp, Pandora, Amazon, 3banana, GameFly GameCenter, Engadget, IMDb, Huffington Post, Amazon Kindle, Qik, and Speed Test on the Droid X.
Naturally, Google apps are best on Android than any other platform. Google Maps — with the free and excellent GPS Google Navigation, Google Voice, Google Goggles, Google Earth, etc., are brilliant on Android.
That’s it for part two of my Droid X review. As always, fire away any questions and I’ll try my best to answer them. Stay tuned for comments on the phone’s still image and video capabilities, complete with samples!
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Google Aims to Make Android Development Easy with App Inventor
Google’s App Inventor for Android is an interesting initiative that aims to make development ridiculously easy. Using a simple visual tool, App Inventor requires no programming knowledge at all. Check out the video above to see how easy it is to use. App Inventor will certainly lead to a ton of garbage, but I’m sure there will be some gems created with or at least started with these tools.
Let me know what you think of App Inventor when you have a moment. Any of you interested in playing with it? Maybe you could make an RPad.tv app or game. That would rule!
RIM Posts a Completely Unimpressive BlackBerry OS 6 Video
RIM has posted another teaser video for BlackBerry OS 6…and I’m reminded of the immortal words of Sean Connery in League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, “I’m waiting to be impressed.” I don’t see how this is supposed to excite anyone that has a basic knowledge of Apple iOS, Google Android, or Palm WebOS.
Perhaps I’m missing something. What do you think of the clip? Is there anything there that’s the least bit exciting or interesting?
Motorola Droid X (Not a) Review Part I: Build, UI, and Call Quality
So I’ve spent a little over a day with the Motorola Droid X for Verizon. To kick off my not-a-review, I’ll give you my first impressions of this excellent Google Android phone. Today I’m going to talk about the phone’s build quality, user interface, storage options, and initial impressions on call clarity.
Build Quality
The Motorola Droid X is a well-made phone. I really like it’s style and lines. The front of the phone is mostly glass, with four plastic buttons and two strips of rubberized plastic. It’s all wrapped by a metal band, which gives the phone some heft and adds to its quality feel. The back is all rubberized plastic and offers a good grip.
The phone has been getting a lot of flack for its reverse chin — the top of the phone has a noticeable bulge that houses its camera mechanism, which gives the Droid X’s otherwise slim form factor a funky look. The people that hate it are overreacting; it looks way more pronounced in photos than it does in real life. The phone is just as pocketable as the similarly sized HTC Evo 4G for Sprint.
One obvious side effect of the phone’s design is that it’s top heavy. I liked how the phone felt in my hands when making calls and using it in portrait mode. The balance takes some getting use to in landscape mode, but I suspect most users will adjust after using it for a few days. I do suggest being careful about where you place this phone. I left the Droid X and the Evo 4G side by side on the arm of my couch and more than a dozen times in the last 24 hours the Droid X took a dive because of its balance (that or it’s actually alive and prefers to sit on the couch instead of the couch’s arm).
Along with the original Motorola Droid, the Droid X is one of the most well-made Android phones available in America. The only minor nitpick I have is that the battery cover creates a lot of space for dust to settle. I hate dust.
User Interface
The Droid X uses a customized version of Google Android 2.1. It’s not full-on MotoBlur, which is a good thing. Blur is a great idea, but I don’t like how it has been executed and I really don’t like that it delays Android OS upgrades. The UI on the Droid X is close to stock Android, but with enough enhancements and widgets that make it a wee bit friendlier.
I’m a big fan of HTC Sense. It’s the best customized version of Android I’ve used. Compared to that, the UI on the Droid X feels a little clunky and inelegant. It’s not bad by any means, but it doesn’t add the smoothness and good looks that HTC Sense does.
If I had to choose between this customized version of Android and the stock model, I’d go with the latter. Vanilla Android is just fine and Motorola didn’t add enough enhancements to make OS delays worth waiting for. The good news is that Motorola has promised that Android 2.2 will be available for the Droid X in August, but after that who knows how long updates will take.
The UI on the Motorola Droid X is much better than what I’ve seen from Samsung, but not as good as HTC Sense.
Storage
One area where the Droid X trounces the competition is storage. The phone has 8GB built in, solely for Android apps. That’s more than enough for most users and I commend Motorola for being so generous with on-board memory. It doesn’t stop there though; the phone also comes with a 16GB microSD card for additional storage. Again, that’s more than enough for most people’s music, video, and photo needs.
Compared to the Evo 4G, which comes with 1GB of internal memory and an 8GB microSD card, the Droid X’s 24GBs of storage is massive.
Initial Impressions on Call Quality
Even though I’ve only had the phone for a day, I’m already impressed with the Droid X’s call quality. In my opinion, the Motorola Droid is the best Android phone in America in terms of call clarity. I’m 98-percent certain that it will be ousted by the Droid X. The phone has two noise-canceling mics that block out background noise. Just for the hell of it, I made some calls standing on the sidewalk of Wilshire Boulevard with dozens of cars and buses zipping by. My friends said that I sounded great.
Noise-canceling magic aside, my friends said that my voice sounded very clear. By comparison, they said I sounded a little louder on my BlackBerry 8900 but just as clear. Compared to the HTC Evo 4G, I sounded louder and clearer. As for them, they sounded great on the Droid X’s earpiece. However, there were some gain issues when the earpiece was turned up to its highest level. The good news is that if your hearing is decent then you’ll rarely need the volume turned up that high.
Remember, your results may vary. While the noise-cancelling microphones are undoubtedly a huge benefit on the hardware side, call quality greatly depends on how well Verizon works where you live, work, and play. I’ve only tested the Droid X in two neighborhoods in Los Angeles. So far, the results are fantastic.
That’s it for part one of my Motorola Droid X not-a-review. I’ll be testing out the phone’s other functions shortly, including photos, videos, additional call quality tests, and more. If there are any aspects of the phone you want me to pay special attention to, please let me know in the comments section.
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iPod Touch Finally Getting a Camera, Possibly Two?
Aside from mobile-phone functionality, one of the biggest differentiators between the iPhone and iPod Touch is the former’s camera. It looks like that will no longer be an issue with the next generation of iPod Touch devices. According to MacRumors the iPod Touch will have a front-facing camera for FaceTime and possibly a proper camera for picture taking.
For a lot of people, it would be much cheaper to get a pay-as-you-go phone and an iPod Touch. If the next generation iPod Touch features dual cameras, it makes the proposition even more intriguing. Sure, you have to carry two devices but you’ll be paying much less for mobile service and you’ll be able to take advantage of the iPhone’s capabilities without being tied to a shoddy network like AT&T.
I’m thinking that RPadholic bsukenyan is highly interested in an iPod Touch with dual cameras. Anyone else?
OpenFeint Raises $4-Million to Bolster Android Gaming
While it has a bunch of fantastic emulators, Google’s Android platform is sorely lacking when it comes to modern games. OpenFeint sees a huge opportunity in the Android gaming space and has raised four-million dollars to take advantage of it. According to PaidContent:
The Burlingame, Calif.-based company said it will duplicate its iPhone network, which includes 9,200 members who can chat and connect with thousands of game titles, for Android this summer. OpenFeint’s decision to develop for Android will both help to validate the platform while also helping to fill some gaps in the application retail experience that has prevented game companies from adopting the platform.
Already, it has a number of brand-name publishers signed up, including Astraware, Digital Chocolate, Glu Mobile, Hudson Soft, as well as, independent studios like Distinct Dev (Moron Test), ustwo (Dot Dot Dot), Pik Pok (Flick Kick Football) and RocketCat Games (Hook Champ).
This is great news for the Android platform and its fans. The iOS gaming market is huge and Android users have been envious of the wide selection of games iPhone users can choose from. While it will take a ton of titles to close the gap, OpenFeint’s investment in Android is a big step.
Try On a Pair of American Eagle Jeans, Get a Free Smartphone
Looking for a smartphone but are short on cash? If so then you’ll want to head to American Eagle later this month. The company is running a cool promotion that gives you a free smartphone — including several Android and BlackBerry models — for trying on a pair of jeans. If you end up getting the phone (and the required two-year contract) then you’ll get a $25 gift card as well. Here are the details:
From July 21 to August 3. Customers can choose from more than 40 phones from a variety of top brands including BlackBerry and Android smartphones and many others. Every customer who takes advantage of the promotion will also receive a $25 AE “Money Card” redeemable online or in stores.
While the phone selection isn’t exactly high-end, the price can’t be beat. Anyone thinking of taking advantage of this promotion?