Verizon, Motorola Unveil the Droid

Published on October 28th, 2009

Posted by hhopper in Business, Technology

NEW YORK–Verizon Wireless customers will soon be able to get their hands on the much anticipated Google Android phone called the Droid.

The companies officially unveiled the device at an event here. Like most smartphones of its class, the phone will cost $199 with a two-year contract. And it will be available to consumers starting November 6. Customers can pre-order the device now.
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In terms of the specifications, they are exactly what had been expected thanks to multiple leaks about the product. It has Android 2.0, a 5-megapixel camera, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and GPS. It has a Webkit HTML 5 browser, and it’s powered by a 550MHz processor and a 1,400mAh lithium ion battery offering 6.4 hours of continuous talk time and up to 11 days of standby time.

And as expected, the device is about 4.6 inches tall by 2.4 inches wide by 0.5 inch thick and weighs 6 ounces. And it has a 3.7-inch, 16:9 touch screen with 480×854-pixel resolution. It also has a 3.5mm headphone jack, a micro-USB port, and comes with a 16GB micro-SD card.

30 users responded in " Verizon, Motorola Unveil the Droid "

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# 1 marthy said, on October 28th, 2009 at 1:46 pm

It might be cool?

# 2 araknd said, on October 28th, 2009 at 1:58 pm

I want to like it, but it will be a “wait and see”. Don’t want to get bitten by Motorola again.

# 3 Mr Diesel said, on October 28th, 2009 at 1:58 pm

It might be a cold turd too…

# 4 The0ne said, on October 28th, 2009 at 2:08 pm

Interesting phone, awaiting reviews myself. I like the design though. Simple.

# 5 dusanmal said, on October 28th, 2009 at 2:15 pm

Crucial part:

“it does not have many of Verizon’s branded services. For example, Verizon’s VCast music service is missing in this version. … And the phone does not have Verizon’s VZ Navigator, since it comes bundled with the Google Android navigation.”

Elimination of crappy services and allowing good ones is strategy Verizon haven’t seen since inception. If they show that they are capable of maintaining such “hands-off-my-features” attitude, they may be a decent competitor.

Main problem remains: CDMA. Incompatible with rest of the world and too late to get from under it.

# 6 qb said, on October 28th, 2009 at 2:15 pm

Gizmodo has a pretty good first view.

I have to admit, this is the first Android phone I’ve wanted to get my hands on.

[Good set of photos there. One is side by side with iPhone. - ed.]

# 7 qb said, on October 28th, 2009 at 2:19 pm

@dusanmi: brilliant summation on CDMA.

# 8 McCullough said, on October 28th, 2009 at 2:20 pm

meh, another braincancer inducing device.

# 9 qb said, on October 28th, 2009 at 2:24 pm

Engadget’s first look.

# 10 Angel H. Wong said, on October 28th, 2009 at 2:28 pm

Another great Cell phone with great features crippled by Verizon.

# 11 KMFIX said, on October 28th, 2009 at 2:40 pm

my god that thing is ugly.

# 12 Li said, on October 28th, 2009 at 2:46 pm

I seems they are not gonna cripple this one. . .I know, I know, sounds unbelievable. Here is for hoping.

# 13 hhopper said, on October 28th, 2009 at 3:11 pm

We’ll know in a couple of months.

# 14 Greg Allen said, on October 28th, 2009 at 3:28 pm

It seems like it SHOULD be a cool video player but I didn’t see an app for it — just YouTube.

Netflix streaming needs to get on as many of these machines as possible as the DVD era comes to an end.

# 15 zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz said, on October 28th, 2009 at 3:59 pm

I might have to get this phone, if VZW doesn’t crap it up.

I would like to see OFF LINE maps though, I don’t care about Online Map navigation, what if you get lost in middle of no where there is no signal?

# 16 grass4 said, on October 28th, 2009 at 4:33 pm

It has built-in GPS. That should function even when there is no cell signal.

# 17 The0ne said, on October 28th, 2009 at 4:50 pm

Never had experience with Verizon, can someone fill me in on why they suck? I know I don’t like T-Mobile and ATT has crappy coverage. Wanted Pre but waiting for it to mature and not too sure about Sprint myself as the company hasn’t been doing all too well.

# 18 Jeroen said, on October 28th, 2009 at 5:19 pm

Wow! was that thing designed in the eighties, that is some fugly p.o.s.
I truly hope Android will one day be a competitor, but this is not the phone that will do that.
btw i hope WinMo dies and we get a good competitive market between Blackberry, iPhone and Android.

# 19 rlf said, on October 28th, 2009 at 6:03 pm

WOW!!!

That thing is really UGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGly!!!!!

# 20 HeBeGeBe said, on October 28th, 2009 at 6:52 pm

Oh PLEASE!

All you phone-heads need to HANG THE F&$K AND DRIVE!

# 21 pedro said, on October 29th, 2009 at 12:40 am

So what’s special about it? Is like any other phone out there.

#4 There’s a ton of phones designed like that.

# 22 mcmyday said, on October 29th, 2009 at 2:16 am

Looks like there are some iphone ATT haters of Vz giving their two cents worth. Grow up!

# 23 Nitroneo said, on October 29th, 2009 at 3:44 am

No Wi-Fi = Epic Fail

Thanks for reminding me why I choose to continue using other providers other than Verizon. All their “phones” are so locked up willy why use them? Oh thats right so I can continue pumping money into Verizon Wireless for every freaking picture transfer, text message, and web site I visit. We all know that when Verizon says Bluetooth they mean it will only communicate voice signal through Bluetooth and not allow file transfers.

Viva la v710 failure!

[Uh... It has Wi-Fi. - ed.]

# 24 qb said, on October 29th, 2009 at 4:26 am

#23 802.11 b,g

# 25 Will said, on October 29th, 2009 at 4:46 am

#23 You should do some research or something before you stick your foot in your mouth.

#5 There is a GSM version of the phone.

Though, I don’t know if it will be available in the states or not.

# 26 ethanol said, on October 29th, 2009 at 6:27 am

@theone(#17),
Verizon has excellent coverage on their current 3G network, but it is CDMA which is incompatible with basically the rest of the world. When they roll out 4G (LTE) it will use the GSM standard which will make them compatible with everyone else.

@Will(#25),
There might be a GSM version of the phone, but that doesn’t help Verizon customers. See my comments to theone.

# 27 Special Ed said, on October 29th, 2009 at 7:02 am

They should send a roll of toilet paper with that turd.

# 28 hhopper said, on October 29th, 2009 at 12:05 pm

Verizon probably has the best network around as they recently took over Alltell.

# 29 Nitroneo said, on October 30th, 2009 at 4:13 am

Doh, my eyes deceived me… pardon my mistake. perhaps your all right, VZW is GOD, VZW is Great…

Nah, it will probably still suck, I have my faith in the companies profiteering policies. I’ll still bet that VZW will lock up many of the features to a point so tight your wallet will squeak at file/picture transfer. Even with the sync capabilities, I don’t recall seeing where there is anything that says you won’t be forced to utilize a VZW connection to make it happen.

LOL have a great day.

# 30 Joe The Videographer said, on October 30th, 2009 at 5:46 am

Bravo on the used of a mini USB jack, rather than the proprietary crap that most manufacturers use. This of course includes Apple.

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