JUST IN: Trove of medical devices found to have password problems

Topic: Mobility

Discover

Five interesting new details about Verizon's Moto Droid

Summary: Verizon has released more details about the Motorola Droid today. Here are the five most interesting details

Jason Hiner

By for Between the Lines |

This morning I did a call with Greg Haller, Verizon Wireless president of the midwest region, and he revealed some more information about Verizon's Moto Droid smartphone. Here are the five most interesting details:

1. Will cost $199, available on Nov. 6

Verizon has set the price of the Droid at $199, the same price as the 16GB iPhone (the 32GB iPhone costs $299). The Droid comes with a 16GB memory card. But the user can pop that out and upgrade to 32GB themselves, if they choose.

2. HTML5 and hi-res Web experience

Droid has an HTML5 Webkit browser, compared to HTML4.1 on the iPhone and the Pre. The Droid features an 854x480 screen -- compared to 480x320 on the iPhone -- and so the screen will show about twice as many pixels as the iPhone (of course it will be much smaller on the screen). The image below (a slide from Haller's presentation) shows how much more of a Web page you'll be able to see on the Droid versus the iPhone.

3. Exchange push support

Verizon officially revealed that the Droid will have built-in support for Microsoft Exchange messaging, including push capability for email, calendars, and contacts. Since it's still mostly business people that are buying smartphones, this is critical -- and it was missing from the G1, the first Android smartphone.

4. Voice-activated search

Another feature that Verizon touted was Google-powered voice search. Haller described the Droid as a "true search monster." He said,  "One button, talk to the phone and you'll find what you're looking for... The voice service works very well."

5. Verizon isn't closing the door on the iPhone

Verizon's ad campaign for Droid has being almost exclusively been aimed at the iPhone (and Halller confirmed that more ads are coming), but that doesn't mean that the door is closed on the iPhone coming to Verizon. Haller said, "We continue to talk to more manufacturers, including Apple. We'd love to have to the iPhone."

Other details, based on Haller comments:

  • Wi-Fi is included (unlike other high-end Verizon smartphones)
  • Verizon won't load a bunch of its own software on the Droid. "The only thing we're going to load on here is visual voicemail."
  • The hi-res screen will do "DVD-quality video"
  • Has 550MHz Cortex-8 processor
  • It's an ounce heavier than the iPhone
  • Haller called it the "thinnest qwerty slider in the world"
  • Verizon does not expect to have any capacity problems like AT&T has seen with the iPhone. "We've literally spent millions of dollars nationwide to increase our capacity," said Haller. "We've put ourselves in a very favorable position for data capacity."

Topics: Mobility, Hardware, iPhone, Smartphones, Verizon

Kick off your day with ZDNet's daily email newsletter. It's the freshest tech news and opinion, served hot. Get it.

Talkback

29 comments
Log in or register to join the discussion

  • I can't wait for my new ....

    ... after 2 deal to arrive! Sounds like this phone rocks. That combined with Verizon Wireless coverage this should be a big winner!
    ShadeTree
    Reply Vote

    • Same Here

      I've been regretting being locked into my LG Dare for quite a while, and have been thinking of defecting to ATT (Yech!) for the iPhone, or waiting for the Pre on Verizon, but I gotta say that waiting for the Droid is looking smart right now!
      sjdorst
      Reply Vote

    • Wait, WAIT, Shadey!

      Droid is running a LINUX KERNEL. No Droid for you MS Shills ... gotta stick with a Windows Mobile phone.

      Now, for us long time Linux users, Droid is indeed exciting; YOU, however, need to get back to being your old, cynical Loverock-wannabe self!

      (chuckle)
      OButterball
      Reply Vote

  • HTML5 a "nonstandard"?

    Isn't HTML5 a "nonstandard", in that it hasn't been approved yet?
    Tom12Tom
    Reply Vote

    • Obviously, MS wants to delay HTML5 as long as possible. It is a big threat

      to the Windows franchise. It will allow standard
      web applications that are very powerful, very
      interactiv, work offline, and that do not depend
      on anything Windows.

      Microsoft would love to hold the standard up in
      process forever. Google, Apple, Mozilla, Opera
      will NOT let that happen!!
      DonnieBoy
      Reply Vote

      • What does MS have to do with HTML5?

        Not a thing. Adobe and Apple would have more to gain.
        jmiller1978
        Reply Vote

        • MS has EVERYTHING to do with HTML5. They will try to stall the standards

          process, and will not lift one finger until the
          standard is final, and then take their own sweet
          time to implement it. That just may prove to be
          a very bad strategy, as it may result in even
          more bleeding of IE market share.

          Sooner or later, MS will have to let the
          engineers innovate on IE rather than use it to
          protect the cash cows.
          DonnieBoy
          Reply Vote

          • Great conspiracy theory, too bad you can't back it up. [nt]

            .
            jmiller1978
            Reply Vote

          • Recent history is all the evidence that's needed.

            Remember the 90's? It was IE that held up the standardization of the Internet in the first place. For a very long time, IE was the [i]least[/i] standards-compliant browser, because they were too busy trying to create their [i]own[/i] standard. Hell, they [i]still[/i] haven't given up the ghost on that one. VBScript, anyone?

            bhartman36
            Reply Vote

  • So the big "savings" from using a "free" OS went where?

    Passed along to the consumer?
    Pocketed by Verizon?
    A TCO falicy?
    Johnny Vegas
    Reply Vote

    • You need to look at the hardware specs. This is quite the phone!!!!!!

      NT.
      DonnieBoy
      Reply Vote

    • Check the technology

      1) The screen on the Droid is higher resolution.

      2) Besides the resolution, the screen [i]itself[/i] is slightly bigger.

      2) It's got a 5MP camera, as compared to the iPhone's 3.2MP camera.

      3) It multitasks (out of the box).

      4) It's got a removable battery.

      And that's just the physical part. It's also got a better (as in, not restrictive) development system.

      Now, based on what I've seen, the Droid does have a few problems:

      1) It's not going to win any beauty contests, if you're into that kinda thing.

      2) The videos I've seen so far haven't really shown the multitasking off.

      3) Again, based on the videos I've seen so far, the navigation is clunky (when compared to the iPhone or the Pre).

      4) It might just be a problem with the image, but it doesn't look like the Web browser's done a lot to take real advantage of the extra screen real estate. You might be able to fit more on the screen, but the text on the stories appears too small to be readable at that level.

      5) This is kind of related to #4, but there's no multi-touch here, so apparently you'll be double-tapping and panning to zoom in where you want to read.

      I think a lot of people are going to be very tempted by this phone, but it obviously depends on what your needs are. My first impression is that this phone is much more geek than chic. :)
      bhartman36
      Reply Vote

  • Verizon ... Please don't screw with the GPS

    One of the nastiest things Verizon has done accross their phone lineup is to block true GPS from developers. Yes you can get the cell tower triangulation (w/ something like 500m accuracy), but not the true GPS even though it's in the phone. I think that changes with the Droid. If not they are screwing their customers and in the end themselves.
    cchx111
    Reply Vote

    • I am sure that through Android developers will have full access.

      NT.
      DonnieBoy
      Reply Vote

    • The Omnia GPS was recently opened up

      The recent CF03 ROM update available for the Verizon i910 Samsung Omnia opened up the GPS to software. It now functions perfectly with Google maps and Bing services.
      rattlesnake0407
      Reply Vote

  • Google says Droid will have voice-commanded turn-by-turn Google maps GPS

    http://googlemobile.blogspot.com/2009/10/announcing-google-maps-navigation-for.html

    Whether devs will be able to hook into this... well, we'll have to see.
    ericesque
    Reply Vote

    • Looks like GPS navigation is going to get a lot better real fast.

      NT.
      DonnieBoy
      Reply Vote

      • Not to mention the accessory business

        I'm sure people will want some dashboard mounts now. It would have to serve the dual purpose of allowing for hands free calling and GPS navigation. Hopefully it will be able to handle both simultaneously.
        Michael Kelly
        Reply Vote

  • Nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition

    I'm sure AT&T didn't "expect" "capacity problems" either, so
    that's kind of an inane statement. It's not called the [i]Law of
    Unintended Consequences[/i] for nothing. I also love "[w]e?ve
    literally spent millions of dollars nationwide to increase our
    capacity?. Why not just say "billions" or "tens of billions"? It's
    just as accurate and just as meaningless. I wonder if Greg
    "expects" to move 4 million units in the next 6 months?
    matthew_maurice
    Reply Vote

  • If this isn't an 'iPhone killer' - it sure is an 'iPackage' killer

    A phone is married to it's provider. You got to look at the iPackage: stunning phone plus great apps minus AT&T's creaky data net minus Apple the arbitrary gatekeeper. That's only 2 for 4.

    I'm kind of afraid that Google will take over the world - but, dang, so far they're making all the right moves. Like their latest move: free GPS nav? Ah, yes please. That's one less $100 iApp to buy. And frankly if the web browser is truly functional, you don't need all the silly apps that just replicate services you can get at websites.

    Google as a gatekeeper seems to be much more interesting in throwing open gates rather than closing and slapping a toll on them. I vote for them.

    ArtInvent
    Reply Vote
CNET Join | Log In | Privacy | Cookies Close