Gadget Guide: Motorola Droid Phone

Possibly this fall's most hotly anticipated new cell phone, the Droid from Motorola lives up to the hype.

It has amazing sound, HD-quality video playback and a 5MP camera with built-in flash that takes great pics even in low-level lighting, essentially doing away with the need to carry around multiple devices. But it's the operating system that really makes this phone stand out. The Droid phone is so named because it is the first to utilize Google's Android 2.0 system, which offers buyers a step up from the previous version of Google's technology used in devices like T-Mobile Touch phones and the Samsung Galaxy. 

So is it an iPhone killer as the ads so cleverly claim?  Although the advertisements may be a little heavy-handed—"Everything iDon't, Droid does"—the phone really does stand toe-to-toe with the iPhone in a lot of ways. But more important for this loyal Verizon customer, it offers basically everything an iPhone does without having to switch to a slower, spottier service provider (I'm looking at you, AT&T!). It doesn't matter much if you have a phone with all the bells and whistles if you can't get reception to make a phone call!

The thing I have fallen in love with is all of the amazing apps you can download to the Droid. Since it operates on a Google system, everything is open source and there are new applications being created on a daily basis. This phone can do everything from tell you how many calories you are consuming to help you find your way home with it's Google Maps based GPS capabilities, and all simultaneously—which even the iPhone can't do!

The only downside I can see to the Droid is its size. Weighing in at six ounces and almost a half-inch thick, there's no way you're slipping this phone into your back pocket. But considering all the real estate it will save in your purse (say adios to your laptop, digital camera and voice recorder), I think it's more than worth it!

The Motorola Android phone is available for $299, plus a $100 rebate, phones.verizonwireless.com.

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Mariela Rosario,


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