November 6th, 2009 marked the release of the first true competitor for the iPhone.  Yes…I know Android was released for T-Mobile before hand.  However, on T-Mobile the Android platform never stood a chance.  The marketing for the G1 was weak.  Not many people knew about the phone.  I knew two people that had it and they only knew about it because they were on T-Mobile.  Also, the app marketplace a the time was very light, especially compared to the iPhone app store.

This time around it’s different.  The app marketplace has grown significantly.  The only comparable app I have not been able to find on the Droid that the iPhone has is the Asian Boobs app.  The phone hardware is created by a better known manufacture.  I know that HTC has been around for a while, but to be honest, the average person doesn’t know who HTC is.  I know several people who have HTC phones, and don’t even know they have a HTC phone.  The biggest change is that the Droid is backed by the Verizon network.  Verizon has both the largest cellular and 3G networks.  Not to mention their marketing budget appears to be much bigger.  Verizon has been pulling out all the stops to let people know that Droid is here.  Big jump compared to T-Mobile.  But enough about that…lets talk about the phone.

Hardware

The phone comes equipped with 256 RAM, 512 Flash Memory, and 16gb removable MicroSD card.  The CPU uses a TI OMAP 3430.  The phone is recharged via Micro USB cable.  There is an adapter to that plugs into the wall and you just plug the USB portion into the adapter.

The Droid comes with a built in light and proximity sensor….REPEAT…LIGHT AND PROXIMITY SENSOR!  This is awesome because of the way they use it.  If you have your screen on and your on a call, when you put the phone to your ear the screen will automatically turn off.  Move it away from your ear and the screen will come back on.  That’s about as awesome as scallops wrapped in bacon.

In my opinion the phone has a good weight to it.  It’s definitely lighter than my HTC Fuse, but I’ve talked to a few Blackberry users that say it’s heavier than their Blackberry.  It’s slim.  I’d say about a few millimeters thicker than a iPhone so it should fit with easy in any pocket.  The front screen is all touch.  I originally though there were four menu buttons, but these are just icons on the screen.   The sliding keyboard is firmly secured, so you shouldn’t have to worry about it sliding out of place in pocket.  However, it’s not difficult in the least to slide it into place when you’re ready.

The keyboard itself has good size lettering for such a small keyboard.  I have to get used to the symbol placement as I am used to the placement that HTC uses.  The keyboard also has a directional pad on it.  The screen is very brilliant and responsive.  The only negative I have to say about the screen is that it retains finger prints easily.  They don’t show while the screen is on, but when its off you can see them.  So if you like to use the pattern unlock feature, someone with a brain should be able to figure out your pattern.  You have three total screens to put a combination of icons and widgets on.  You can return to the home screen at anytime from anywhere inside any application by pressing the home button on the bottom of the touch screen.  You can also search at any time using the search button on the bottom of the touch screen.

Applications

As most know the Droid runs multiple applications at a time.  There are two ways I have found to switch between these apps.  You can pull down the menu from the top to switch between apps.  You can also hold down the home button and last six apps activated will show on a menu in the middle of the screen.  From what I have seen so far the phone handles multiple applications well.  I have had more than a few open at a time and didn’t notice a decrease in performance.  Naturally this depends on how large of a footprint the applications your running have.  Overall though, I don’t see any negative to having a few things running at the same time.

The phone comes with e-mail that support exchange.  The only negative I have seen so far is that it appears you can’t browse the global address list for your organization.  It also syncs with your corporate calendar, so you can receive your alerts from outlook.  Unlike the GMail calendar though, your calendar alerts will only show if you have the corporate calender app running.  There is also a Google Voice app that allows you to make Google Voice calls and send text messages via Google Voice instead of your Verizon account.

The Car app comes with Google Navigation beta.  Google Navigation gives you turn by turn voice enabled GPS navigation.  The only thing I didn’t like about it is that it does not offer alternative routes.  Example, I was traveling about 95mi from my home.  The fastest way to get to my destination in terms of miles was through Route 76.  This is a bad idea because Route 76 is ALWAYS backed up and the faster way would be to take the longer route to Interstate 276.  So basically what I did was get on 276 to bypass 76 and then started the navigation process.  Hopefully in future updates they add this feature.  Other than that, it’s very accurate in terms of location and time.

Camera

The Droids camera is 5MP and comes with a flash.  Here is an example picture:

The pictures you take are very clear, even at night time with the flash.  The video portion of the camera is also very nice.  Unfortunately the light does not work with the video camera.  However that is made up by the 720×480(Square) resolution and the LONG battery life while using the camera.  I was able to use my phone normally throughout the day and still shoot 40 minutes of video before getting a power warning.  Even after that I was still able to get home (an hour drive) without the phone cutting off on me.

Battery

This is very important because you can have the super phone but it isn’t worth anything without power.  I have to say I am very pleased with the battery life.  On my trip I mentioned earlier I left my charger at home.  Even though I used GPS all the way up and all the way back, my battery didn’t die for two days.  Then again, my normal usage may be considered light usage for others.

Overall, I am very pleased with the phone.  In my opinion it was worth every cent.  Motorola hit a home run with this phone.  The Android platform has a lot to offer.  That mixed with good hardware will produce many great phones.  The Motorola Droid is just the start in a new era of smart phones.