Got Droid?

Verizon will - within a few days.   Those annoying commercials (what commercials aren’t?) that target the iPhone point to an Android Phone for Verizon.

Verizon has been crippled (in my opinion and that of others) by the lack of a decent phone.  They have the Crackberries and other generics but that’s it.  For reasons outlined earlier, I won’t use a Crackberry, iPhone, or Pre (not to mention that Verizon doesn’t offer them).

Out of nowhere I started hearing about the Android.  Being a linux and open source kinda guy, this looked interesting.  While the Nokia N900 looks more interesting, I’m seriously investigating the Android for my next phone.  This will replace my Treo 700p (`p’ for pissing me off).  The Treo has served me well over many versions but it’s a bit long in the tooth, as well as a tad unstable.

The Android is by Motorola.  Per the fact sheet:

• largest high-res display (3.7″)
• heavily Google-integrated
• free spoken directions with Google maps
• not completely locked down by Verizon
• 10,000 apps and widgets from Android Market
• MS Exchange and Gmail integration
• will multitask up to six apps
• full qwerty slide-out keyboard
• 5MP camera, DVD quality camcorder
• 16g SD card, can upgrade to 32g
• Bluetooth 2.0 with A2DP (?)
• 3.5mm headset jack
• GPS
• IMAP, POP, Gmail, Macmail, Hotmail, AOL email support
• Webkit browser
• voice-activated search
• combine multiple account information in one list

Looks pretty interesting to me.  I understand it does wi-fi.  Verizon will offer the phone for $199 with two year agreement.  I know it’s not $500 like the iPhone and on a superior network, but we all do what we have to do.

The physical keyboard (there is an onscreen keyboard too) looks a bit right-handed.  This isn’t a deal breaker but could be significant.

I haven’t seen any Android demos yet, so I have to do some more research. I also need to look into the privacy implications.  Since it’s open source, it’s considerably less frightening to me.  If it’s compromised out of the box, someone will un-compromise it.  This will not happen on a closed source phone (just about every other phone on the market).

• PC World article
• Boygenius report
• DSL Reports - don’t break out the punch and cookies just yet….

Maybe I’m not as screwed as I thought I was… (hopefully)

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Update 11/5/09

Perhaps I spoke too soon…

A gmail account is required before you can even use the phone.  Regardless of whether you plan to read gmail messages.

This is complete nonsense.  Yes, it may seem a bit silly to purchase a phone and not use its major feature but I am not interested in gmail: I want POP/IMAP/Exchange support.  What is this mad obsession with the cloud?

My Treo manages to ring when someone calls it and gets all the email I want (and more), all without having an online mail account.  Why, on an open source phone, does one need the cloud?

I have a feeling the Treo is going to stay with me until it stops functioning entirely.  Nice going, Verizon/Motorola/Google.