For those who don\u2019t like to read, I\u2019ll start with my bottom line, then give lots of details:<\/p>\n
I love the Droid, it\u2019s one of the best devices<\/span> I\u2019ve ever owned, and I\u2019m a gadget freak!<\/strong><\/p>\n A little background before I begin what will inevitably be a very long post. I\u2019m a geek, but I\u2019m often late in jumping on new trends. In fact, many times I get on board because a friend decides to buy me a gift and I become an instant fan.<\/p>\n Back in 2000, I received a Blackberry (BB) email device as a gift. That was before there were any BB cell phones. It was purely for email, and I thought I died and went to heaven (not that I would have bought it for myself).<\/p>\n A couple of years later another friend bought me a Treo 600p (a Palm-based smart phone). While it wasn\u2019t as good an email device as the BB, it was an all-in-one mobile powerhouse, and I quickly got used to the convenience. Since then I\u2019ve upgraded to a Treo 650p, 700p and then a 755p, which I was still using (reasonably happily) until I got a Droid as a gift on November 17th.<\/p>\n I was also reasonably happy with Sprint, so I seriously considered a Palm Pre before deciding it just wasn\u2019t the right device for me (I\u2019m very impressed with it, just not enough to have locked myself in at this time).<\/p>\n Finally, this is not<\/strong> an iPhone bash, or an iPhone vs Droid post. I\u2019ve never been interested in an iPhone, and I\u2019ve never regretted avoiding one. That said, the overwhelming majority of my friends carry iPhones and they love<\/strong> them. The only consistent complaints are about AT&T, not the iPhone.<\/p>\n The person who gave me the Droid is a major iPhone lover. In fact, he\u2019s all things Apple, all the time. He knows how I feel, and I believe was tired of me yapping his ear off about whether the Droid was right for me, or the Pre, etc. I think he decided to shut me up by getting me the Droid.<\/p>\n He told me that I had 30 days to return it, no questions asked, but at least I\u2019d know. Within two days I knew I wasn\u2019t returning the phone. It still took me 11 days to decide to port my old number, but I\u2019ve done that too, which means my old Treo 755p is now a paper weight.<\/p>\n This won\u2019t be anything like a generic review. There are a ton of them out there, and all of them have done a better job than I could ever do. So, this will be a randomly ordered collection of my<\/strong> personal observations and usage patterns, collectively accounting for the reasons that I love this device.<\/p>\n Let\u2019s start with one of the very few complaints I had about the Treo and build from there. While the Treo was very early in having a very usable browser, the web has moved on since it came out, and the Treo browser, while functional, is hardly a pleasure to use. There are many pages it can\u2019t render (correctly or at all), and large pages render so slowly as to be practically useless even if they render correctly.<\/p>\n That meant that I only used the browser for necessary information, never for pleasure or to get things done while out and about. One of the most incredible features of the Droid is the browser. I\u2019m sure that all Android phones share that great browser under the covers, but at the moment, the covers<\/em> on the Droid are tops, with it\u2019s large screen and super-hi resolution (480×854).<\/p>\n The browser can pretty much render any page I throw at it accurately, and pretty quickly, especially when using Wi-Fi (though Verizon\u2019s 3G network has impressed me so far). One of my test pages is PeopleBrowsr<\/a>, which is a browser-based Twitter client (and much more). It\u2019s the most sophisticated JavaScript based website I\u2019ve come across.<\/p>\n A friend tried real hard one night to convince me to get a Pre. He brought his over to spend the evening wowing me. Another friend came over with his iPhone the same evening. The Pre choked trying to bring up the PeopleBrowsr page (WebOS has been updated since, so it might work now). The iPhone did better, rendering most of the page, but it too choked eventually.<\/p>\n The page comes up on the Droid. When I log in to PeopleBrowsr, things get a little less usable, but the mere fact that I can log in was dramatically better than the other two phones (that\u2019s the last phone-to-phone comparison!).<\/p>\n Why is having a first-class browsing experience so critical? The web has something for everyone, and more sites are becoming sophisticated end-points (full blown applications) every day, rather than just content repositories. It\u2019s true that smart phones are often defined by their App ecosystem (and I\u2019ll cover the ones I use on the Droid shortly), but, when your browser can utilize pretty much any web-based app correctly, having a local app available becomes less important.<\/p>\n Droid comes pre-loaded with a Facebook App. It\u2019s looks nice, and works as expected. If you want to update your status, and see recent status updates from your friends, great. On the other hand, if you\u2019re a Facebook power user, and like to see the real-time activity stream, you\u2019re out of luck.<\/p>\n In fact, even if you visit the Facebook website<\/a> with your mobile browser, you will be redirected (by default) to their mobile site<\/a>. It seems that the Facebook App simply implements the limited functionality of the mobile site.<\/p>\n On the Droid, that\u2019s not a problem. I fire up the browser and visit the Facebook Home Page URL<\/a> directly. Currently, that bypasses their sniffing of the User Agent for the browser, and delivers the full Facebook experience to the Droid browser. I can tap on News Feed, or Live Feed, and see everything. It\u2019s quite snappy. I never visit the app.<\/p>\n I am not saying that local apps aren\u2019t useful or necessary, just that the web will grow and innovate more rapidly than apps will, and no approval process is necessary, and if the browser can deliver a first-rate experience, it becomes the most important app on your phone (IMHO).<\/p>\n Multi-tasking is much talked about on smart phones as well. It\u2019s definitely cool to be able to listen to music or a podcast while doing something else. Some might shrug that off as just entertainment<\/em>. There are other, more important benefits to multi-tasking.<\/p>\n One example is IM. If you want to be reachable to others initiating an IM with you (over various IM networks), you don\u2019t want to stare at the IM screen for hours waiting for that message to come in. You want to fire up your IM client and move on to other things. People can and will send you messages whenever they want, just like they do when you are using your desktop IM client.<\/p>\n Add to that location-based (or location-aware) applications, that notice that you\u2019re on the move in the background, and alert you to things you might be interested in right now. They need to be running in the background as well, while you continue to talk on the phone, check your email, keep the IM conversations alive, listen to music, etc.<\/p>\n It all just works, and it\u2019s pretty slick.<\/p>\n Just in case you don\u2019t believe the Verizon commercials, let me assure you that call quality and coverage is exceptional. In addition to the network, I\u2019m really impressed with the Droid hardware as well. The speakerphone can be as loud as you\u2019d like.<\/p>\n Then there\u2019s Google Voice. Many people have written about the amazing things that Google Voice (GV) can do, so I won\u2019t bother. I have been signed up for service since it was a startup company called Grand Central Communications. Google bought them, and enhanced the service dramatically.<\/p>\n Even though I\u2019ve had a GV number for years, I never gave it out to anyone. I rarely used it for anything. The biggest reason is that even if you only gave out that number, if you returned a call on your cell phone (without jumping through hoops), whoever you call back now also has your cell phone number.<\/p>\n With the GV App, that all changes. I now make 100% of my calls through GV, so anyone I call will only ever see my GV number (even if they called my cell directly and I was returning that call). If you already know my cell number (remember, I ported my old one), then fine, call me. Otherwise, I\u2019ll be giving out my GV number in the future.<\/p>\n The point is that I get more control. If I don\u2019t want my cell to ring after 10pm? No problem (except for those pesky people I trusted with my real cell number\u2026). Battery run out on the cell phone? Tell GV to ring your wife\u2019s cell phone instead. \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n Also, GV rings my house and my cell at the same time. So, if I call you from my cell (you only see the GV number, remember?), and you return the call later, when I am home, I can pick up the call on my home phone. You don\u2019t need to know or think about which device I prefer to be called on. That\u2019s my problem, now solved by GV.<\/p>\n Speaking of porting. This has nothing to do with the Droid, but rather with Verizon, but I\u2019ll get it out of the way now and move on to the apps. Since the phone was gifted to me, my friend was smart enough not to have them port it when he was in the store (what if I didn\u2019t like the Droid, or Verizon?).<\/p>\n After waiting 11 days, I called customer service to port my Sprint number. I talked to a porting specialist who took down all my information. He told me that it rarely takes 24 hours, but that since it was Saturday, it\u2019s remotely possible that it wouldn\u2019t be done until Monday. Still, he thought it would happen that day.<\/p>\n On Tuesday morning, when the number still hadn\u2019t ported, I called again and asked what the status was. I was told that everything was set up<\/em>, but that I hadn\u2019t confirmed<\/strong> to the automated system that I wanted this done. Huh? Speaking to a porting specialist isn\u2019t confirmation? Oh well.<\/p>\n The representative transferred me to the automated system and stayed on the line as well while I pressed a number to confirm. Within an hour, my number was ported.<\/p>\n At the end of that week, Verizon was offering a BOGO (Buy One Get One free) offer for any Droid or Droid Eris, even on one that was purchased less than 30 days earlier. Another friend of mine who loves her iPhone, but hates AT&T (can\u2019t get coverage at her house) went into the same store that my Droid was purchased from, and got her Droid free (using mine as the first of the BOGO). She ported her number at the store, and it was working three minutes later<\/strong>!<\/p>\n On to the apps. First, I haven\u2019t bought any yet, so any app I mention here is free, or has a lite<\/em> version that\u2019s free. My friend who bought me this phone says that this is bad sign for the app ecosystem that I haven\u2019t parted with any money yet. He\u2019s sort-of right.<\/p>\n In the beginning, I wasn\u2019t willing to buy any apps because I wasn\u2019t sure I\u2019d keep the phone. Then, it became more of a commitment thing than a money thing. I can afford the $2 average price for an app (trust me on that), but I\u2019m more likely going to lock myself in psychologically (stupid, I know), and I\u2019m still in the discovery<\/strong> phase. Luckily, there are some pretty awesome free apps, so I have much to explore before I decide to lock myself in.<\/p>\n I\u2019ll cover apps in the order of most used to least used, not most important or best. Let\u2019s start with email. As much as I\u2019m crazy about the browser on the Droid, I wouldn\u2019t keep any phone that didn\u2019t at least have a reasonable<\/em> email app. First and foremost, I require the device to handle emails well. Even more so than being a good phone!<\/p>\n Because Android is a Google product, there are two separate email programs in Android 2.0. One is for GMail only and the other is for any other mail server (IMAP and POP). I\u2019ll finish this post later on with thoughts on Google and their apps, specifically.<\/p>\n The GMail app is excellent (as many others have noted), and if you\u2019re primary email is GMail, this phone will make you feel right at home. I rarely use GMail (though I have an account, and I do get 10 emails a week there), so it hasn\u2019t been critical to me, though I appreciate how well integrated it is and how well it works. In fact, seconds after an email hits my GMail account, my phone is alerting me to that fact.<\/p>\n The generic email client is OK, but barely. I find it reasonably attractive (font and layout) and reasonably reliable. That said, it\u2019s so bare bones that if there were no alternatives, I might get tired of it quickly. Interestingly, I could consider using the browser for webmail access, since the browser is that good!<\/p>\n Two of the deficiencies are:<\/p>\n The good news is that there is an open source alternative called K-9 (available in the Android Market) that is much more configurable, including the two deficiencies noted above. The bad news is that it\u2019s significantly less attractive (font\/layout). I can live with less attractive (for now) but more functional.<\/p>\n Google Voice Search (has nothing to do with the GV service). This isn\u2019t unique to Android, as you can do this on an iPhone as well. The slight difference is that there is a dedicated button available on the Droid (the magnifying glass on the bottom right hand corner), that when held for 2 seconds, launches Voice Search.<\/p>\n I use this all the time. It\u2019s fun, but it\u2019s incredibly accurate as well. In a quiet room, I\u2019d say it approaches 99% accuracy for non-funky words. Even with the TV on, or other people having conversations in the room, the accuracy is over 80%.<\/p>\n Hold the button, say something, see a browser loaded with search results for your query. Click a link, off you go. It saves a lot of typing, and like I said, it\u2019s plain old fun! You can use it to dial the phone number of someone in your contact list as well, get driving directions, or find some other stuff on your local phone, but for the most part, it\u2019s about searching the web without having to type.<\/p>\n I\u2019ve chosen IM+ Lite for IM. It\u2019s multi-protocol. Actually, I don\u2019t care. I do all my IM via Jabber to my own server, and I run transports on that server for AIM and ICQ. So, if I can connect to an arbitrary Jabber server with even a single-protocol client, I can chat with all my friends\/colleagues, easily. IM+ Lite shows scrolling ads at the top of the screen, which I can live with. It works really well.<\/p>\n Android also comes with built-in GTalk for IM (I don\u2019t think it supports the GTalk Voice part). I\u2019ve tested it, and it works well (since it\u2019s part of the Google suite, it doesn\u2019t need to be launched automatically). Unfortunately, not one single friend of mine uses GTalk as their default chat service, so I\u2019m not likely to get much use out of it either.<\/p>\n At home and the office I run an Asterisk PBX. That makes VoIP services a nice to have<\/em> (definitely not necessary). I greatly prefer IAX2 for the VoIP protocol, but there are no IAX2 clients available for Android. Oh well. There isn\u2019t a good selection of SIP clients either (a little more surprising), but I\u2019ve found one that\u2019s somewhat workable, SIPDroid.<\/p>\n It\u2019s quirky and picky about which services it will connect to, partially due to the fact that it seems meant to promote a public PBX service called PBXes. Still, I can (somewhat reliably) connect to just one of my Asterisk servers, and from there, make\/receive calls as if I was sitting at my desk. Cool, but it could be a bit less rough around the edges.<\/p>\n Fring is a more general VoIP and IM client, and I believe that it will be a winner. It seems to have a lot of buzz and momentum. I don\u2019t use it for IM, and I haven\u2019t had success with the SIP part either (I get one-way audio, so connection isn\u2019t the problem).<\/p>\n What do I use Fring for then? I have had perfect success with them as a Skype gateway. I can make\/receive calls to\/from any of my Skype contacts, and the call quality is excellent (over Wi-Fi or 3G). Amazingly, at least for now, the Skype Lite app (provided by Skype!), can\u2019t do Skype-to-Skype calls!<\/p>\n I don\u2019t typically launch Fring, just as I don\u2019t typically launch Skype on my desktop. If someone emails me, or IMs me that they would like to speak, I\u2019m happy to launch Skype\/Fring.<\/p>\n I was sitting in Birmingham, AL over the Thanksgiving weekend, and I received a notification on the Droid that there was an update available for Fring. I downloaded and installed it, and launched the app to test out the update. Within 30 seconds of launching it, I was getting a Skype call.<\/p>\n The caller is a life-long friend of mine who lives in Thailand<\/strong>! The first thing I said to him is \u201cYou probably won\u2019t believe this, but you\u2019re reaching me on my cell phone!\u201d. His response? \u201cI know that. My contact list shows you as Hadar on mobile Skype via Fring!\u201d Wow, very cool. Like I said earlier, the quality was superb.<\/p>\n Google Maps. Like me, you probably use Google Maps on your desktop browser. I am surprised by how often I use it on the Droid. Not really to get directions (in the car, I\u2019m still a fan of my Garmin Nuvi, more on that later). One of the reasons I tap on the Maps icon a lot is because of Latitude.<\/p>\n Google Latitude is an opt-in service which will show your position on a map, and broadcast that position to anyone who you\u2019ve friended and permitted to see it. Of course, you see where your friends are on a map as well, if they\u2019ve reciprocated. This is not Android only, it works on an iPhone too. But, since the iPhone doesn\u2019t multi-task, unless your friend brings up Maps, their position doesn\u2019t update (sorry, I guess that counts as another comparison\u2026).<\/p>\n It only takes a second to see where people are, and I pull it up way more than I thought I would. It\u2019s ideal for when you\u2019re meeting one of those friends somewhere, and there\u2019s no wondering how close they are, and whether they are making progress toward the meeting place or not. \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n ConnectBot is an excellent SSH client. I use it to connect to and control my server whenever necessary. It supports public\/private keys. Because the Droid has a hardware keyboard, there is no screen space obscuring the TTY output from the server. A lifesaver on those occasions when you\u2019re out, but the server requires some attention.<\/p>\n Update<\/strong>: Evernote just released their Android app today (or I became aware of it today, 12\/16\/2009). I tested it briefly, and I like what I see so far. I’m guessing that it will become a frequently used app on my Droid.<\/p>\n Barcode Scanner is an amazing app. It\u2019s used as the base for other cool apps which rely on it to provide the barcode recognition. For one, if I weren\u2019t lazy (and I am tiring myself out with all this typing, so I am being lazy in other respects), I could provide a QR code (a 2-dimensional barcode) for each app that I\u2019m mentioning here. You point Barcode Scanner at the QR code, click the Open in Browser button, and that app would be available instantly for download from the Market.<\/p>\n On top of Barcode Scanner, I have ShopSavvy, Amazon, Key Ring and Handy Cards. Using ShopSavvy, you scan a barcode, and it searches online stores to find the best price for that product. Amazon works the same way, searching only their site. More on the Amazon app in a second.<\/p>\n\n