Sample video of outdoor scene with the Motorola DROID.

DROID by Motorola arrived Nov. 6, 2009. In the video above, the video and camera quality rate excellent. The camera was pretty quick on the draw — catching deer feeding in Busse Woods near Golf Road and Route 53 near Rolling Meadows, Illinois.

For those of you who want an idea how well the Motorola Droid performs capturing video, check out the outdoor video (above) that captured a surprise sighting of deer near a bike path — pretty challenging imaging because of the motion of the deer and the multiple shades of colors of the field and forest in the background. If you want to know more about DROID (especially as compared to iPhone), check the review below. The undertone in reviewing a phone should be this: Does the phone make your business and personal life easier or harder?

The 5-megapixel camera shoots pretty nice pictures as well — gives the feeling you have a camera as good as any point-and-shoot digital camera. The shutter to image capture is also a little faster than an iPhone (second generation). Camera access is also faster than iPhone, so the time from getting your camera in position to shutter click is acceptable. Getting pictures or video into your computer is pretty straight forward. It is easy to copy your photos from the DROID to a Mac after connecting with a USB connection. Then drag video files from the phone to the computer. It is also easy to email photos to an email account. Many video files will be too big to email. You can upload videos directly to YouTube, but you have to do it while DROID is connected over a Wi-Fi connection, not the Verizon Wireless network.

The DROID DOES campaign, effective or not, is high on what the DROID DOES do and what the iPhone doesn’t do — quick little run-down. The look and feel is about as good as the iPhone, but overall nobody can beat Apple’s human interface design, yet. The DROID interface takes a little getting used to … I’ve had a couple of accidental outgoing callbacks from the phone log — you just have to learn to keep your fingers away from the phone icon on the right of the phone log list. To compound things (and compared to accidental dialing) it seems a little hard to get the phone to dial a phone number sometime.

DROID phone quality and speakerphone are good. Silencing the DROID phone is fast and slick — by sweeping the phone’s unlock interface from right-to-left instead of left-to-right. The screen which blacks out when up close to your face like iPhone, comes back faster than iPhone when you pull the phone away from your face. This is very important when you are trying to use touch tones to respond to menu driven phone questions from automated systems. With the iPhone, you pretty much have to use your headphones/headset when dealing with an automated system because it is difficult if not impossible to get your screen back in time to hit the touch tones to reply to an automated phone system.

DROID integration with Google apps or services works flawlessly so far. Google Mail contacts integration and updating is fast. Google Calendar integration is fast, too.

Map Navigation is much better than iPhone with a free built-in Google Maps app and automatic speakerphone giving out directions. Works very well.

DROID? Why not as many ‘home screens’ as iPhone? Don’t know why Motorola and Android 2.0 chinced users out on that one. Apple’s iPhone has 2+9 screens — that’s a home screen and search screen, and nine additional application screens. Each app is brighter and better spaced on its screen on the iPhone. The DROID wastes space on its screens. There is a whole row that is wasted on the DROID because no apps fit in the row that seems to have the room for a row of apps. Therefore, there are only three rows (four columns) available for apps, widgets and shortcuts in the DROID screen view. The iPhone has five rows (four columns) of apps — that’s five rows when you include the bottom row of home apps that appear on every screen. The apps grids on the DROID screens are disappointing, especially considering the DROID has a slightly bigger display and higher resolution than the iPhone. The designers left too much space between the rows of app, widgets and shortcuts. Also, the Apple iTunes interface is also far superior for organizing apps on its multiple screens from a computer.

There’s a replaceable battery on DROID, but the back cover falls off pretty easily. With the way many people go through new phones for the latest technology, having a replaceable battery is probably not much of an issue. I would go for the sealed battery — much preferred to a battery cover you occasionally find lying on your car seat or worse can’t find at all.

Battery life is good — it’s worked on standby for two days without a charge and with Wi-Fi off. Users beware of a lot picture taking though, especially if the built-in flash is working.

DROID DOESN’T come with earbuds/microphone as DOES iPhone.

DROID DOESN”T have a built-in screen capture function as DOES iPhone.

DROID DOESN’T multi-touch like iPhone, so you can’t pinch and zoom pictures or websites in the slick way you can with an iPhone.

DROID DOES work on a better wireless network — Verizon Wireless is more reliable with better map coverage (‘There’s a map for that’) than AT&T. That means less dropped calls and more widespread use of Internet functions on the phone.

The slide-out keyboard works well, and the D-pad (think trackball) is necessary when scrolling through some applications on DROID.

Music? Nothing beats the iPhone’s iPod interface for listening to music. But giving credit to the DROID where credit is due, there is a nice amazonmp3 app for previewing songs. In addition to Amazon Mobile available on both iPhone and DROID, there is an amazonmp3 app available for the Motorola DROID. Not surprisingly, the amazonmp3 app is not available on the iTunes Music Store.

Getting new apps from the DROID’s Market Place works pretty well, but not as nice and solid as Apple iTunes Music Store. It would be nice if purchasers of the DROID would be directed to a trusted website that lists all apps with reviews of the publishers and their products. The market place seems less trustworthy than the Apple iTunes Music Store for purchasing apps for iPhone.

Online Verizon Wireless support for the phone is, well, kind of dumb. It has some cool graphics and background noise, but take a look for yourself …

http://phones.verizonwireless.com/motorola/droid/#/home

You’ll see a high tech flash presentation of a features wheel, but good luck finding information. Some of the text is upside down or grayed out on a black background — had a miserable time figuring out how to get the phone to do direct dialing.

The Motorola DROID phone seems to crash more than an iPhone. It’s done a few weird things like freeze up and not be able to dial. The phone occasionally asks if you want to force quit an application because it is not responding. Also, at one point DROID didn’t have any sound during Verizon’s visual voice playback. It required turning the phone off and back on to hear the visual voice mail.

Text messages stamp the time with something like a 2 point font. The size of the font is nothing short of ridiculous. Good luck seeing what time someone text’d you if you aren’t wearing your glasses. SMS messages from a prior day omit the time on the ‘date stamp’. How come it’s less important to know the time if the message came in at 10 minutes before midnight compared to 10 minutes after midnight? The SMS software also organizes text messages into threads. Can’t help but think that if the Android software is so great, why can’t a user organize a view that shows all messages chronologically from all senders.

Can any engineers out their hit a home run on a cell phone? They haven’t quite hit it with the DROID, but they are getting closer. Bottom line? The phone is acceptable as a smart phone with effective apps. Except for a few disappointments, the phone helps our digital lifestyle — it improves everyday business and personal task handling.

DROID records 720×480, H.264, 24.75 fps
Saves video file as .3gp

3GP (3GPP file format) is a multimedia container format defined by the Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) for 3G UMTS multimedia services. It is used on 3G mobile phones and functions on some 2G and 4G phones. UMTS stands for Universal Mobile Telecommunications System.

Mark Bostrom
Arlingtoncardinal.com | digital-lifestyle.com

Mark Bostrom is a web publisher, personal fitness and technology trainer and human interface design critic/consultant living and working in Chicagoland.

Verizon Misfit Toys Ad … ‘Hey, check out the new guy!’

Attention cell phones power users — people that need them for e-mail, web browsing, navigation and a reliable phone with a reliable network and reliable battery life:

The issues of features vs. network reliability will come into focus this holiday season.

Motorola Droid an iPhone killer? It does what iPhone doesn’t — that depends. A Retrovo study reveals a potentially unfair stereotype of iPhone users? It finds that iPhone users are more superficial than Blackberry counterparts. For example, iPhone users are more likely to breakup with someone by text message or email. And more likely to to be turned off by a potential romantic partner who has an out-of-date gadget. Ho-ho-ho, the upcoming holiday season is starting out to be predatory on Apple’s iPhone. And AT&T is suing VZW for its “There’s a Map for that” ad campaign. You see, There’s an App for that, but not a Map for that … But what Verizon Wireless is pointing out in their ads, is the superiority of their reliable network and coverage area. And that means that the most important issue for a wireless phone — its reliable coverage area — is going to be fully exposed. That’s a good thing.

Ask almost any person that has used an iPhone how it works as a phone and they are likely to complain about lackluster network reliability. AT&T just doesn’t have the network coverage that Verizon Wireless has. That means dropped calls. That means that those awesome apps that you can load on your iPhone, just don’t work in some places. That means AT&T even having a notice on their coverage map on their website that informs wireless phone users they might have to step outside to get service.

Apple, Inc. and Steve Jobs did a wonderful job designing a user friendly phone which provided freedom from many of the restrictions that might have been involved with a company like Verizon Wireless, such as paying for all ringtones, or not being able to sync your phone to your computer without dependence on the Verizon Wireless network. Apple as always has a device with a superior human interface design.

But now the new Motorola Droid with its Droid Does campaign offers a zippier browser experience, better camera, and a superior free navigation program on its phone. But it has far less applications available at least for now. And you can only have three screens of widgets, compared to iPhone’s nine additional application screens, each. Yes, the Droid does flash for its camera, but it will kill your battery. But it doesn’t do auto-dialing direct from your phone. You have to use up your software widget screen to have widgets for each number you want to be able direct dial. And one thing the Droid Does for sure. It occasionally crashes in the middle of switching from texting to handling a phone call. The Android operating system asks you if you want to force the operating system to quit. The Droid has a superior screen resolution to the iPhone, but some numbskull engineer decided to use a gray 2 point font for the time stamp on the text messages. And text messages that are from yesterday or any day before? … they no longer have the time stamp. If only they would have The Cardinal Digital Lifestyle Department to beta test these things.

Meanwhile are you still in search for the perfect phone and the perfect network? Keep looking. We are not there yet in the year 2009.

Bottom line.
A phone should be a good phone first.
It should freeze.
It should work almost anywhere in major metropolitan areas.
It shouldn’t dial by accident — ‘butt dial.’
It shouldn’t change your ringtone volume or mute without your knowledge, but it should still be easy to change — simply and quickly.

Verizon Wireless Blue Christmas Ad.

UPDATE:
Here is AT&T’s response to the Verizon Wireless ads in the form of a memo … posted on its website …
http://www.att.com/gen/press-room?pid=14002
US wide coverage map …

AT&T Sets the Record Straight on Verizon Ads

To Our Customers:

As the U.S. market leader in wireless data service, we typically don’t respond to competitors’ advertising. However, some recent ads from Verizon are so blatantly false and misleading, that we want to set the record straight about AT&T’s wireless data coverage.

The key facts are:

AT&T’s wireless data coverage reaches 303 million people – or 97% of the U.S. population, where they live and work. Our data coverage consists of 3 different types of technology:
3G. 233 million people or 75% of the population are covered by AT&T’s 3G network, the nation’s fastest.
EDGE. 301 million people or more than 96% of the population are covered by EDGE.
With both 3G and EDGE coverage, customers can access the Internet, send e-mail, surf the Web, stream music, download videos, send photos, text, talk and more. The only difference – with some data applications, 3G is faster than EDGE
GPRS. Covers 303 million people, allowing you to talk, text, e-mail and access basic websites optimized for wireless.
AT&T is the #1 network for smartphones, with twice the number of smartphone customers than Verizon, our closest competitor. Some of the reasons include:

Most popular smartphones. Unlike Verizon, AT&T offers the most popular smartphones in the industry.

More wireless apps. Unlike Verizon, AT&T customers have access to more than 100,000 applications, more than with any other wireless company.

Talk and E-mail at the same time. Unlike Verizon, AT&T’s 3G network lets wireless customers simultaneously talk and surf the web or do e-mail.

Fastest 3G in the nation. Unlike Verizon, AT&T has the nation’s fastest 3G network.

Thank you for allowing us to set the record straight. We appreciate your business and will continue to work hard to deliver the best wireless data experience in the industry.

Your AT&T Team

Lookup Before You Hookup App

Intelius is introducing an iPhone app Fall 2009 that instantly checks public records for personal information from public records on an iPhone. Intelius claim you can enter a name, phone number or email address and instantly get accurate and comprehensive results.

Intelius Date Check teaser ‘Mr. Right Webisode’ — checking out an apparently perfect gentleman at the hair salon (Trust me, ‘All women talk to their hair stylist.’).

Sectors of the app check specific categories …
Sleaze Detector checks for criminal convictions, felonies, misdemeanors, sex offenses, and other criminal offenses associated with a name.

Net Worth checks property ownership information, home details (bedrooms, bathrooms, square footage, tax info), assessed property value.

Interests checks for social network information, professional information and educational background.

Living Situation checks for names and ages of relatives, associates; and roommates living at search subjects’ residence.

True Class, NOT: Intelius Date Check teaser ‘Mr. Wrong Webisode’ — checking out a man’s wallet while he’s sleeping after a one night stand (Trust me, ‘All women talk to their hair stylist.’).

Looking for comments, below … What do you think of the app? The webisodes? The women portrayed in the webisodes?

Available soon for Blackberry, too.

See official website …
intelius.com/mobile

A New Mexico Reporter from KOB-TV in Albuquerque, New Mexico explains how a ‘geeky’ iPhone app developer earns hundreds of thousand of dollars sellling iPhone apps at $5 an app.

USAA Federal Savings Bank is about to offer an iPhone application that customers can use to deposit a check. Most checks will effective with immediate availability of funds. Using an iPhone application, USAA members sign the back of any check and then use their iPhone camera to take a picture of the check’s front side and back side.

Customers enter required information into the application — including the amount and where it’s to be deposited — and then the funds are credited to the designated account.

United Services Automobile Association (USAA) is a Fortune 500 financial services company offering banking, investing, and insurance to people and families that serve, or served, in the United States military.

USAA is headquartered in San Antonio, Texas, occupying 286 acres (a former horse farm) with one of the largest single-occupancy buildings in the United States, rivaling the Sears Tower and The Pentagon.

In mid-May, USAA released an iPhone app that allows people to access their accounts, pay bills, transfer funds and locate an ATM.

WILL BE AVAILABLE VIA iTunes …
USAA Mobile … gives you immediate and secure access to your account from your moile device so you can be ready for what’s ahead … 24/7 access to your accounts.

usaa.com

An Apple iPhone “call failed” message from AT&T.

Apple has a new iPhone available through AT&T that is faster, includes video, upgrades the camera resolution, and includes voice dialing. MMS service (the pictures in “text message” service that should have been available from rollout of the original iPhone — other phones have had it for years) won’t be available until later this summer. Older iPhone users can upgrade their software to version 3.0, and get copy and paste, a voice memo app and many other improved features, but they can’t get the better camera, video and voice dialing unless they get the upgraded hardware phone. To get the new iPhone they may have to pay a heavy price for being a loyal customer. Many customers are angered because they have already paid a premium for existing iPhone cost, and have already paid a premium for monthly charges with AT&T wireless coverage, which is not the most reliable of cell networks.

Most businesses have rewards certificates for being loyal customers. So many customers got online anticipating a good deal to upgrade their iPhone hardware. They found out different. AT&T actually charges loyal customers more to get the latest upgraded iPhone — more than an existing customer who has never had an iPhone. To be fair, AT&T took some heat and changed their upgrade policy to includes some customers in special upgrade pricing if they spend more money with AT&T on their monthly charges. But the whole fiasco is confusing. Here’s an excerpt from AT&T’s iPhone 3G S Pricing and Upgrading plan.

“We value the business of all our customers. The majority of iPhone 3G customers received a significant discount on their device in return for a two-year service commitment during which time we recoup the device subsidy. Getting a new subsidized device is based on several factors including monthly recurring charges and having an account in good financial standing. In general, the more you spend with us, the less time you have to wait to get another device. This is a very fair system. That said, we do offer early upgrade pricing only for iPhone for those customers who don’t want to wait.”
See more on this pdf file from AT&T …

Many customers don’t like the crass language that AT&T uses to justify their policy … namely, “In general, the more you spend with us, the less time you have to wait to get another device. This is a very fair system.” Sort of, “thanks for the lecture, AT&T.

Here is the pricing …

iPhone 3G S
New and Qualified Customers $199 (16GB) $299 (32GB)
Early Upgrade $399 (16GB) $499 (32GB) plus an $18 upgrade charge.
No Commitment $599 (16GB) $699 (32GB)

That means existing customers must pay $218 more than a new customer for the latest iPhone in either 16GB or 32GB configuration. This steep upgrade pricing is leading to a similar outcry to the “Price Drop Outcry” of 2007.

On September 5, 2007 (about 2.5 months after the original iPhone was rolled out), the original 4 GB model was discontinued, and the 8 GB model price was cut by a third. Customers who had purchased an iPhone in the 14-day period before the September 5, 2007 announcement were eligible for a $200 “price protection” rebate from Apple or AT&T. However, it was widely reported that some who bought between the June 29, 2007 launch and the August 22, 2007 price protection kick-in date complained that the larger-than-normal price drop in such a short time constituted unfair pricing.

In response to customer complaints, on September 6, 2007, Apple CEO Steve Jobs wrote an open letter to iPhone customers announcing that everyone who purchased an iPhone at the higher price who did not qualify for rebates or other special pricing, would receive a US $100 credit to be redeemed towards the purchase of any product sold in Apple’s retail or online stores.

Unfortunately for Apple, which has designed an awesome phone, AT&T is a less than stellar partner. Their network is considerably less reliable than Verizon Wireless, Sprint and T-Mobile. That means more dropped calls and less chance you can even use the phone in the first place. In some areas of Chicagoland — not some far-off rural land — iPhones don’t work inside homes, because the cell tower signal is so weak it cannot penetrate wood and drywall. Imagine in the year 2009 having to go outside your house in Chicago to use a phone that cost $200 to $400. Monthly cell charges aren’t cheap either. An iPhone with unlimited text messaging and the minimum minutes plan still costs over $100 dollar per month to use. Forget using e-mail or the Internet in weak coverage areas, or any of the cool Apps that connect to the Internet, as well.

Customers of the iPhone are also upset with AT&T’s delay of the ability to tether the iPhone to a laptop, so that a laptop or notebook computer can be used at wireless broadband speed on AT&T’s 3G network. Other services overseas are taking advantage of the ability to tether and offer tethering in their agreements with customers.

So why are Apple customers stuck with AT&T? Apple first approached Verizon Wireless with the iPhone, but Verizon (VZ) wouldn’t agree to Apple’s terms, which called for Apple receiving a share of monthly revenue from iPhone plans, and exerting control over the locations where iPhones were sold. AT&T, really Cingular during 2007 and prior years, was willing to meet Apple’s demands. Apple closed off negotiations with highly reliable Verizon Wireless and its highly satisfied customers. So in 2009 the best phone works or doesn’t work on one of the worst cell phone networks available.

In Washington, four senators are looking into the exclusivity deals, such as the AT&T-Apple iPhone arrangment. Byron Dorgan (D – N.D.), John Kerry (D – Mass.), Amy Klobuchar (D – Minn.) and Roger Wicker (R – Miss.) — have formally asked the FCC to look into whether exclusivity deals such as AT&T’s for the iPhone or Sprint’s for the Palm Pre are limiting or hurting consumers. The advocacy group Free Press launched a new campaign Wednesday, FreeMyPhone, aimed at curbing deals that tie handsets to carriers.

Will twitter at twititions get AT&T to yield to fair upgrade pricing? Developing …

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