Topics in Digital Media – Fall 09

I know I was just as excited as everyone else to see if there was any profound revelations that might be revealed at the unveiling of the Droid by Motorola.  Unfortunately, even with the few revelations that were made, it was a little lackluster, likely due to its pre-hype status.  Though I planned on specifically discussing a few sections within this post, I think I will rather integrate some of this information with some of the newly unveiled information as they relate to each other.  So here’s a little run down.

Verizon really is opening up to this open source concept, allowing the Google applications to really take over the phone, and allowing the developers to freely develop for the phone through the Android Market.  There is no VCast (the video/music service provided through Verizon) present on the phone as you will be able to buy music through the Amzon MP3 store and watch all the videos you want through YouTube.  In comparison to the iPhone’s use of iTunes and the iTunes store, this is still a step behind.  Though there is software out there that will allow you to sync an Android phone to your iTunes music, unless you have this software, you’re likely going to be syncing your phone the old fashioned way, drag-and-drop files.  iTunes gives Apple the advantage in this aspect because they have the application that will let you sync, search, and buy new music and movies all-in-one.  Even better for them is the fact that this application is accessible both on the device and on your computer.  Granted you can access Amazon MP3 from your computer, its not going to sync your music to your Android phone for you.  The other downfall we find with the Android-based phones, in general, is the lack of an application to download videos directly to your device; although the device will support MPEG-4, H. 263, and H.264 video files, if you put them on the device manually.

**NOTE: there are plans to put the VCast software on the phone eventually, but no indication as to when or really why.**

Another prominent piece of software that will be left out the mix will be Verizon’s GetItNow or Verizon App store.  All application downloading will take place through the Android Market, but the market has created a special tab within the service specifically for Verizon software.  This marks one of the greatest leaps, in my opinion, for Verizon in their effort to become more “open” because they’ve always been very particular as to what applications will be made available for their phones and typically very strict on sucking every penny they can from you for every little extra service you get.  This new business model will release the grasps that Verizon originally held on your wallet and allow you to really make your phone your own without worrying about those seemingly insignificant services that Verizon still wanted to charge you another $2-$5/month for you to use.

Even the VZ Navigator is being left out in favor of Google’s turn-by-turn navigation that will be integrated into their maps; again, “free of charge” (you still have to pay for the overall data plan so it’s not technically free, but you don’t have to pay a separate monthly plan for a GPS based service anymore).  Originally, Verizon attempted to block all GPS services within a phone unless users paid to use their services, this will not be so for their Android-based phones.  Now this may not be the best navigation software, which one could assume since it will still be in beta when it is released on the Droid, but it finds its niche in the fact that it will be linked to Google’s massive search database giving you a much better access to search based categories in the navigation arena.  Of course this also creates a taller tower for Google to spy on us from; now they’re going to know where you are when you search for things, watch where you go, see how you drive, etc…  And what makes this creepier is the way in which Google CEO Eric Schmidt describes the benefits, “Mobile platforms–Android and others–are so powerful now that you can build client apps that can do magical things connected to the cloud.”  This is said in direct connection to their unveiling of this software.  What sort of magical things are they looking to do with their new found ability to track you, and do you really want that connected to the cloud?

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Price-wise the phone will be comparable to the iPhone.  At launch, it will cost a mere $199 with a two-year contract and mail-in rebate.  But don’t let the “mail-in rebate” discourage you because even though this means that you will in fact be paying $299 with a two-year contract and then waiting forever to get that $100 visa card from Verizon in the mail, you can circumvent this process by simply picking the phone up at Best Buy where that $100 rebate will be in the form of an instant rebate.  Thus you end up with a $200 (why don’t we just round it up? does $199 really sound that much better than $200?) multi-media smartphone with 16gigs of memory included (which is the same price as iPhone’s 16gig version), BUT you are given the opportunity to save money here by upgrading your memory yourself, up to 32 gigs.  Now, as appealing as this may be…I can’t even seem to find a 32 gig micro SD card because…well there isn’t one right now.  SanDisk, one of the leading makers of the SD card formats isn’t even slated to release their own until the first quarter of 2010, so even if/when this happens, you’re probably looking to pay about $100 for that extra memory (then making it equally comparable to the 32gig version of the iPhone) until the cheaper manufacturers start creating their own versions or time passes and the price drops.

Plan-wise the two phones are apparently on equal playing fields.  With plans ranging anywhere between $99 and $150 that include air time, messaging, and the required data plan.  This is the area where most would applaud Verizon because of the reliability it has built around their network, but many do not believe that this will be enough to pull customers away from the iPhone.  One of the largest iPhone complaints has always been its network service, but even so people still flock to the iPhone on this carrier.  Matt Hamblen over at ComputerWorld believes that it is Apple’s “sex appeal” and two dominating years on the market that are going to keep its customers where they are.

I think this really gives a a good encompassment up to this point of what where looking at between this battle between the Droid and the iPhone.  But what does it all really mean?  It’s curious to note that the multi-touch features that are enabled with the Android 2.0 software are not noted at all within any of the released information for the Droid device.   There remains to be some unanswered questions in this battle, but maybe Verizon and Google are really looking to the developers to build on the product in order to win the battle for them…

Possibly Relevant Posts:

• History Repeats Itself: Microsoft to Apple, Apple to Google (1) | Craig Donahue
• Flash Me, Touch Me,or At Least Key Me In. (1) | Craig Donahue
• “Android Attack!” OR “Rediscovering 3D?” (7) | Craig Donahue