My Droid
Why The Droid?
First question – why a Droid and not an iPhone? Easy – we’re on a family plan with Verizon and the cost to switch over to AT&T is huge. And with all the bad stories about AT&T, why would I leave a provider I’m happy with?
Things I Love
1. Google Integration
It isn’t surprising that an Android phone would integrate well with Google services, but I was astonished at how simple, seamless and complete it is. I switched over to gmail a couple years ago and use their hosted email service for anirama. My email is there, my contact list is there, and I use Google calendar not only for myself, but for our family calendar and our work calendar at the ETC. When I bought my phone at the Verizon store they entered my email address and I entered my password – and almost instantly everything was there: my email, my contacts and all my calendars. I didn’t realize how large my accumulated contact list was until I started scrolling down to find a friend.
I have since signed up for Google Voice. I currently use it just for voice mail – when someone leaves a message I get an email with the message transcribed and attached as an audio file. I can also pop up the Google Voice app to access all my messages.
I also linked my Facebook account with my Contacts, so contact info that friends put on their Facebook account is sync’d automatically with my contact list – including using their profile pictures.
I would buy the phone just for all this integration. I use the Droid as my central contact device now, including sometimes reading email on it when I’m sitting right in front of my computer with a browser open.
2. Persistant Applications
I haven’t used an iPhone, but I can’t imagine not having my apps able to run in the background. As an example, my phone vibrates whenever I get a new email (sometimes before my PC’s browser gmail updates), whether I’m using the phone or not. Another time when Sarah was driving I had the Navigator running in the background while I was reading my email – the voice came on to let us know our turn was coming up without interrupting my email session.
3. Maps and Navigation
The ‘Car’ app is standard with the Droid and is a fantastic navigation tool. It uses Google Maps, shows real time progress along the streets and includes street views for turns and your final destination. It gives voice instructions and is integrated with my contacts list and addresses that appear in the browser. Yes, with the browser – search for something and a ‘Get Directions’ link shows up next to the address, that will launch the navigator and you’re off and running.
4. Browser
Works great and the screen is beautiful.
5. Twitter
I used to hate Twitter. I won’t say I love it now, but I do appreciate it on my own terms. I use an app called Twidroid which constantly syncs in the background – it shows the number of unread tweets I have in the upper status bar. Having Twitter available to read when I’m bored is fun, and not having to check it manually makes me feel less a slave to its inanity (yeah! new word!).
5. Video Streaming
Works beautifully, though Flash 10 isn’t implemented yet so a few sites are left out.
6. Apps
Android has about 1/10th the number of apps that the iPhone has, but just about everything I want is there. Some of my favorites:
- Barcode scanner – check prices, bookmark items…
- Bubble – like a carpenter’s level.
- games – Phit, Divide and Conquer, Flight Director and Shortyz (crossword puzzles) are the ones I play with most
- Fandango/Flixster – for checking movie times and buying tickets. I bought our 3D IMAX Avatar tickets with Flixster.
- Open Table – restaurant reservations
- WiFi Analyzer – Useful for finding strong signals and debugging our home network
- Mobile Defense – I can track my phone, disable it or erase my data remotely
7. Physical Keyboard
The keys are very small for my thumbs, but I’ve gotten used to it and can type pretty fast now. I like the tactile feedback.
Things I’m Not So Crazy About
1. Camera
The Droid has a 5Mpixel camera, but the images seem too noisy. I’m playing around with a variety of camera apps to see if any of them take better pictures than the default app. I’m jealous of the iPhone camera and great photography apps like onOne Software’s DSLR Camera Remote.
2. The Design
I’ll admit it, it’s kinda ugly.
More info about how I took the picture here.