So, you may have seen the specifications that the Motorola Droid is going to have to offer when it is released. Those specifically came out in a hands-on today, which includes pictures. You also may have seen the new ads that are trying to insert this unreleased phone into a battle with the iPhone.
Now the question remains: does it really stand a chance?
It’s a tough call right now if Apple should be worried about the Droid, but if you believe the commercial, there are plenty of things that it has to offer that the current version of the iPhone does not. Let’s run those down really quickly shall we?
It has a real QWERTY keyboard.
It can run simultaneous applications.
It can take 5 mega-pixel quality pictures.
It’s customizable.
It can run widgets.
It has open development.
It can take pictures in the dark.
It has interchangeable batteries.
It’s not the iPhone.
And there you have it in a 30 second nutshell.
This is not the first and certainly will not be the last time that a phone tries to portray itself as the best competition to Apple’s genius. And while Apple has swatted away pesky competitors before, and Motorola’s phone could meet the same fate but the Droid honestly looks like it could compete on the market.
Why?
Well, one lets point out two obvious reasons why Apple could be worried about the Droid and why it could find a niche in the market.
One, you guessed it; it’s running on Verizon which has a larger and arguably better network than AT&T does. You have heard the iPhone horror stories and it’s about time one of the other networks got a competitive phone. No one better than Verizon.
And two, the features.
The speed of the processor in the Droid is the fastest Android phone yet and fast is always good, especially, if you put a lot of data on your smartphone, which most of you probably do. It has a huge capacitive screen which is impressive to say the least and it has the thinnest QWERTY slider yet and it includes it without sacrificing the overall sleekness and thinness of the phone itself. Physical keyboards are fantastic; don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.
However, let’s stop there.
The Droid looks fantastic, it should be an amazing phone and it’s on Verizon.
But where are the balloons, the confetti?
Well, there are none, because even if this thing is the least bit successful it won’t even put a dent into the Machine, Apple as some of you call it.
It will be another blip on the radar and nothing more. The competition it brings to the table is fantastic, the features look astounding but it really is going to take something absolutely groundbreaking to knock Apple off its pedestal.
Apple is miles ahead of everybody else, and that is a horribly tough pill to swallow.
Comments
The only thing Apple has on the Droid is brand power. It's app store is saturated and on the bring of imploding due to developers having their prices slashed. I think your article started well but to just round up by saying "it won't worry apple because... it just won't" is pretty lame. The Droid does EVERYTHING the iPhone 3gs can do and a whole lot more. Not many people have mentioned it's ability to be a 7.2MBps WIFI server to a computer network for example. I know it's early to say which will be more successful but the phone is simply better, no question. EZ
PS: I think people are also forgetting that web search/email/software giant Google is behind the development of this handset, not just the OS. And Google pwns the interweb! ;-) Ya better watch out...
I understand your points but your writing lacks anything to back up why it can't put a dent in the iphone market. Just because it is made by apple? No mention of Google?
I didn't see what the comparison was on pricing... But I still want one!
Nick pretty much answers your question for you in his first sentence, MB. Apple has already cemented itself in the market with the iPhone. Even slick ads and Google's vault of money won't be able to topple it. People buy Apple well, to buy Apple, it's as simple as that. Plenty of phones have gone up against it and they have all failed.
This one appears that it might be different because it has a lot of pluses going for it, Google working directly on the project for one. Android 2.0 also looks great. However, I am just not sold on the fact that Droid is going to be able to turn the tides based on specs alone, and that's all we have right now. Lets see what kind of support it gets from Verizon, Motorola and Google itself.
I actually really want this phone to be competitive and while I don't see it ending up like the Palm Pre (which is also a great phone), I can't see this doing anything to touch the popularity of the iPhone.
Thanks for reading, keep the discussion going.
Adam
@Jennifer, I haven't heard anything about the pricing yet, but expect it to be competitive, so probably around where the Apple 3GS is right now. However, it also wouldn't be surprising if the price tag is a little more expensive. We'll see.
Adam
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