Can you play music on a Droid? I currently have all my music on iTunes, and one of the reasons I want an iPhone is it would be really handy to have a MP3 Player/phone.
I have heard rumors that the iPhone will be available on Verizon sometime next year - is that true?
I haven’t heard anything about the iphone. I have my musoc on my Droid. It is easy to put on. I haven’t figured out how to make playlists or put videos on, but I really haven’t tried.
Absolutely you can play music on it. It comes with a pre-installed 16gig card, so you have plenty of space. You can also stream podcasts, pandora, NPR, and other stuff right to the phone for listening.
All the normal functions are there, shuffle, repeat, album art, playlists, etc. You can even sync it with itunes using an awesome program called doubletwist.
That’s good to know - Thanks! I am considering upgrading to it, but my husband is lusting for a iPhone. My current cell is about 3 years old, so I am not that big of a “phone person.”
Oh and to answer your other question, no one is sure WHEN the iphone will make it to Verizon. Next year is good possibility, but…
At&t might throw buckets of money at Apple to keep it exclusive for another year or two. (it’s their cash cow, they almost have no choice)
Verizon is in the very very early stages of rolling out their new fourth generation high speed network. A lot of people are speculating that Apple may hold off for a bit, and then release a phone that can take advantage of the newer tech.
So, in conclusion, I think there might be a bit of a wait. In the meantime, the Droid (just named Time’s gadget of the year) gives the iphone a serious run for the money. It’s a phenomenal piece of hardware.
Mrs. Giraffe wants one, but we’re probably going to wait at least another generation to let them work out the kinks.
I want one BAD. I am currently on Verizon with no intentions of switching networks, so I was resigned to looking at Blackberries and such nonsense. I’m up for renewal in February, I was going to wait to see what kind of deal was available at that time.
Is there an ebook reader application for the Droid? What about a PDA-type calendar option? I dream of having one piece of electronica for phone/music/books/dayplanner, without having to haul around separate versions of all of those things.
You know that T-Mobile has had the MyTouch for four months now, which is basically the same thing as the droid without the physical keyboard (it uses a touch keyboard just like the iPhone)? And before that, T-Mobile had the G1, which was basically a slightly older version of the droid? They all run the same software and have pretty much the same hardware (keyboard being the only big difference). E-mail, internet, GPS, accelerometer, etc., all there.
Unless being, like, months and months old means its not sexy anymore.
If she want’s one, have at it. The Droid IS the next generation with the kinks worked out.
The T-Mobile G1, Mytouch 3g, and a slew of HTC phones were the guinea pigs. Of course if there are other reasons, that’s fine, but the phone is highly polished in almost every facet. (I’d say Verizon learned from the whole Storm launch to never release a half functional phone again)
I’m on Verizon, and so is everyone my family calls pretty much, so we get 20 page bills with calls that don’t cost us anything. I’m not switching.
I do have a question about the plans. I’m not on a dataplan now, and the Verizon site is confusing to say the least. Now we’ve got 3 phones/numbers on a plan with 600 minutes, which is plenty. (We can probably get by on 450). Can I add two voice only lines at the $9.99 a month to the plan needed for the Droid? That looks about $30 a month more expensive, which is fine - is that an unlimited data plan? (It says email.) In need general IMAP capability for work email which is what counts, I assume that is possible. I figured I’d probably have to go to a store, but the cluelessness of the store people mentioned above doesn’t surprise me at all.
My two years runs out right after Christmas (though we’ve been getting renewal offers for months) and we’ve found that you can get some real good deals at year end.
While the G1 and MyTouch are great phones, they don’t hold a candle to the Droid when it comes to hardware.
CPU (major major advantage)
G1: Qualcomm MSM7210A running @ 528 MHz
Droid: Arm Cortex A8 (same as iphone 3GS)
Display
G1: 3.2 inch 480 X 320
Droid: 3.7 inch 480 x 854 !!! (about 227 dpi pixel density yikes!)
And for fun…
iphone: 3.5 inch 480 x 320 (164 dpi pixel density)
Camera:
G1: 3.2 mpx no flash
Droid: 5.0 mpx with dual flash, capable of filming video at 720p
Hope some of these specs help!
I have Aldiko and it seems good to me. I have never used an eReader on a smart phone so have nothing to compare it to, but it seems good and there are a lot of free books.
You will LOVE your Droid when you get it!
Ereader.com (formerly Peanut Press / Palm reader) has a Droid tool:
http://mobile.ereader.com/mobile/softwarewizard/wizard_dl_android.htm
You’re definitely better off going to a store and talking to a rep, but here’s my two cents.
If you get a smartphone on Verizon I believe you’re required to get the $30 dataplan for it. (why you would get a phone and then have no data?) Android phones do Imap, so you’re all good there.
For the voice stuff here’s a helpful trick. Verizon has their version of the “top 5” This allows you to add 5 out of network people for unlimited calling. Every plan except the bare bones entry level one has this feature included. (Hint: get the plan directly above bare bones)
BONUS: The android phones integrate Gvoice directly into the OS.
I’ve used about 450 min so far this pay cycle, and I’ve had 11 minutes taken out of my plan. (From an incoming call on my non-gvoice number)
Note: Google voice works on blackberrys and android phones of any carrier.
Couldn’t edit the post above. For the FREE unlimited calling benefits of Gvoice, your carrier must have some sort of calling circle that you can add a number to.
I just got a Droid about an hour ago: it replaces my beloved 3-year-old BlackBerry World Edition. I found this thread while looking for one on Android app recommendations. I haven’t done much with it yet, but so far I’m lovin’ it!
If I had been with Verizon I would have gotten a Droid, but it was cheaper for me to stay with T-Mobile so I got a Motorola Cliq, which runs the Android OS. I really like it, but it’s my first smart phone so I don’t know if the specific phone is great or if I’m just enjoying the features of a smart phone.
For the first couple of weeks the battery life was ridiculously inadequate - the phone would barely make it through a day without needing a recharge. But they released a firmware upgrade that greatly improved it.
Recommended programs for the Droid. (They may run on other Android devices)
All of these are available from the market
Google Sky maps
Google Goggles
Backgrounds
Ringdroid
Advanced task killer (essential for closing apps)
Qik
Shopsavy
Photoshop
NESoid lite
If I think of any others; I’ll let you know!
Thanks! I already have ATK and Google Sky: the guy who sold me the phone installed ATK for me, and he sold me on Google Sky by showing it to me on his personal phone. He also showed me some music-related apps that I will go look for/download today (one advantage to buying in-store instead of online – as long as the pricing is comparable). I’ll check out your other recommendations, too!
(I could have sworn that Lifehacker recently did a “must-have Android apps” feature, but I searched for a while last night and couldn’t find it.)
I seem to have already found the equivalents of the apps that I considered “critical” on my BlackBerry: a shopping list manager (Grocery King, which cost $4 but whatever: I’d been using and loving SplashShopper for years, but they don’t have an Android version) and a note/memo app (the free AK Notepad, which can double as a task reminder).
I imagine that I will spend a decent part of this morning in the Market.
The DROID fills those roles admirably (except the books, I can’t speak to that). There are two native calendars/dayplanners, one personal and one specifically to sync with your work calendar.