If the phones were full price, then you could just buy them anywhere (ebay, etc) if they worked on the carrier's network. They would miss out on all the revenue from the actual sale of the phones. They go into exclusivity contracts with the phone manufacturers so the only place you can get a new cool phone is through them.


Business would be awful if all they sold was the data/voice service for the device.

11/17/2009 9:09:13 AM

so, what are some good android apps?

11/17/2009 10:19:57 AM

Photoshop.com
TV.com
Twidroid
Facebook
Meebo IM
PdaNet

I haven't tried any more yet. I'd be interested in some kick-ass games, tho.

11/17/2009 11:39:59 AM

I'm hoping we hear some news on the Passion this week. If it doesn't come out by 12/31, I'm going with the Droid or the Eris.

11/17/2009 1:20:09 PM

Quote :

"I would much rather have a higher upfront cost if the total lifetime cost will be smaller...but I guess we are in the minority"

Yes. You're the minority because you are educated enough to realize 10$ today is less then 20$ tomorrow. I still find peoples spending habits / financing antics truly shocking. It holds true in regards to cars , houses, phones, tvs , you name it. I don't know if it is perpetuated by a "why not me", or a "I should too" mentality.

Anyways....the monthly bill for the Motorola droid is ~90$. So the user would need to shell out 200$ and 90$*24m = 2360$. Or 98$ a month. Maybe longtime users of the iphone can answer this question : Would you do it again? Is it worth it? I'm not expecting complete buyers remorse but I would like a few honest responses from users at least 6 months from the honeymoon phase.

Has anyone played with the sdk and emulator much? I have seen some stuff which will allow simulation of the compass/accelerometer. I'll install it later today / tomorrow.

bigman give us a review .

11/17/2009 2:37:31 PM

are there any andriod devices like the iPod touch that aren't phones, netbooks, or computers?

11/17/2009 4:46:41 PM

Quote :

"Yes. You're the minority because you are educated enough to realize 10$ today is less then 20$ tomorrow. I still find peoples spending habits / financing antics truly shocking. It holds true in regards to cars , houses, phones, tvs , you name it. I don't know if it is perpetuated by a "why not me", or a "I should too" mentality."

If the larger up-front cost meant that you could leave your carrier at any time, and take your device with you, it might make more sense. The problem is that the idea if competition between carriers is all screwed up right now. Contract lock-in means you don't get to leave if you don't like service.

11/17/2009 5:12:10 PM

Quote :

"are there any andriod devices like the iPod touch that aren't phones, netbooks, or computers?"

great question! anyone know ?

11/17/2009 5:23:00 PM

verizon should just do like European companies and make the phone free but have like $500 etf.

Quote :

"Already jealous of the multitouch functionality afforded by Motorola Droids (or Milestones, as it were) sold outside the United States? Well, you might just want to look away for this one -- it seems that that O2 is now practically giving away the phone in Germany. Specifically, it's selling it for a mere €1 with a 2 year-contract, which itself can be had for as little as €20 per month. As with other non-US carries, however, you'll have to make do without Google's own free navigation service, but you will at least get a 60-day Motorola's MotoNAV service in its place, and the endless joy that comes from telling your American friends that you got a free Droid. Update: As some commenters have helpfully pointed out, that €20 a month for two years is actually on top of a standard contract, which certainly makes the deal a tad less attractive -- although you can technically still walk away with a Droid for just a handful of Euros."

11/17/2009 5:37:27 PM

Check out htc's site... hello pasion: )

Optimum, photoshop SUCKS and constantly runs in the background.

I really like the top 3 paid app games, but the free versions.

[Edited on November 17, 2009 at 7:41 PM. Reason : ggggg]

[Edited on November 17, 2009 at 7:43 PM. Reason : ggg]

11/17/2009 7:39:16 PM

I have had my DROID for a week now and have to say I am very pleased. I dont get too excited over devices usually, but this device on VZW network is impressive even in the company of the iPhone. Side by Side its sharper and faster. Not perfect, but damn if it is not a sweet device. Anyone who uses Gmail primarily should seriously consider if only for the complete sync it does with your phonebook and facebook account.

Regarding increased costs of ETFs think how much the iPhone cost when it came out...and how much the DROID and Eris are. That's a huge difference, and the same people that jumped contracts when the iPhone came out just to get the latest and greatest will do the exact same thing when the next hot new phone comes out that is marketed right. The phone companies are getting smarter. AT&T took a huge chunk of business from everyone when the released a product that reinvented the space. There will be another iPhone, and consumers will flock to it no matter who the carrier is...

DROID is very impressive. Pls to keep recommending Apps.

11/17/2009 7:58:12 PM

Quote :

"Optimum, photoshop SUCKS and constantly runs in the background."

lol, ok, noted. i downloaded it and opened it once or twice, seemed decent to me. i haven't had occasion to use it extensively yet.

11/17/2009 8:03:12 PM

Quote :

"Check out htc's site... hello pasion: )"

I just went to the site and got this..

"We're working on something for you and we will be back shortly".. hmmm

11/17/2009 8:07:22 PM

Favorite Game: Robo Defense

As for non-phone android devices, check out:

Acer Aspire One D250
Barnes & Noble's Nook

11/17/2009 8:27:16 PM

will passion come out before christmas?

11/17/2009 10:45:01 PM

The HTC site is up. It has nothing on the Passion. All it's doing is this YOU Promotion with the current phones.
http://www.htc.com/us/

11/17/2009 11:19:18 PM

my droid battery life has been pretty low so far. i take it off the charger at ~9am and it's dead by 6-7pm. I'm not even using it all that extensively during the day. Gonna start messing with settings like brightness and display timer etc to try and lower it. Hopefully that will make a difference. Anyone have any other tips to improve battery life substantially?

11/18/2009 12:11:39 AM

For those that are not aware already any type of pouch or holster with a magnet will KILL YOUR BATTERY, the droid has an internal switch for the windshield and media dock that makes the backlight stay on. Magnets trick the phone in to thinking it is docked and therefore should stay lit up.

11/18/2009 12:22:20 AM

^^ you're doing something wrong

11/18/2009 12:41:28 AM

^thanks that's helpful.

11/18/2009 1:32:46 AM

Quote :

"As for non-phone android devices, check out: Acer Aspire One D250 Barnes & Noble's Nook"

i said "like the ipod touch" and not a netbook, etc.

basically i don't want to pay $350 for an android phone. i'm looking for an android device w/out the phone capabilities for $250

(not for me, for someone else, i'll probably end up with the Droid once I can upgrade in March)

[Edited on November 18, 2009 at 2:25 AM. Reason : .]

11/18/2009 2:25:10 AM

WTF? So NOT a netbook, NOT an ereader and NOT a phone?

Are you trying to ask if there is an android mp3 player in the most retarted way possible?

What other device are you interested in that could cost $250? A cheap tablet?

11/18/2009 9:42:32 PM

Also, the media browser/player in Android is awful. I hope a device like this doesn't exist.

11/18/2009 9:48:49 PM

i think he's basically asking if there's an android based device similar in form to the ipod touch

11/18/2009 10:42:48 PM

not yet. nothing credible, at least.

11/19/2009 9:25:03 AM

So what do you guys think about all these Google Phone rumors resurfacing?

http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/11/17/thegoogle-phone

http://phandroid.com/2009/11/19/google-phone-by-htc-early-2010/

I'm not sure I could do a data only phone. I travel to too many places that don't have decent 3G/EVDO coverage yet.

11/19/2009 1:30:28 PM

honestly a gphone is probably coming out in the early spring, not really worth waiting for at this point. I plan on getting the dragon/passion
pretty much as soon as it comes out.
I think the gphone will be pretty neat if what is rumored turns out to be true but it is too uncertain right now for me to make an educated decision on with it inculded. Sure there's lots of great rumors but who knows if all of it is accurate.

11/19/2009 4:57:45 PM

^ X 7

Prospero, this MIGHT work for what you were talking about?

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2356168,00.asp

11/20/2009 3:59:23 PM

cool device, just too big to put in your pocket.

my friend uses a voip for home and has a military cell phone. thus why he just needs an iPod touch-like device alternative, there doesn't seem to be one out there.... the zune hd doesn't do email or calendar, and all the small android devices are all phones, then you end up paying $100 more for a droid device than you would for an ipod touch because they all include phone functionality.

[Edited on November 20, 2009 at 4:26 PM. Reason : .]

11/20/2009 4:23:02 PM

I'm posting from the droid

11/20/2009 5:05:47 PM

^ haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay

11/20/2009 6:37:08 PM

Quote :

"Google Maps Navigation officially comes to Android 1.6 By Chris Ziegler posted Nov 23rd 2009 2:23PM Breaking News You might've thought that Google was positioning its industry-changing Google Maps Navigation as a value proposition for Android 2.0 and beyond, but yeah, not so much -- instead, they've gone ahead and backported it to 1.6 (alias "Donut") which means that T-Mobile's myTouch 3G and G1 plus other 1.6-equipped devices across the land can get in on the action. In the case of the memory-starved G1, that's especially surprising, and a heartening sign that the world's first retail Android device still has some fight left in it. It's available from the Android Market now, so go ahead -- try to get yourself lost. We dare you."

ha, too bad the hero and eris are running 1.5

11/23/2009 3:27:43 PM

^ damn Come on Passion.

[Edited on November 23, 2009 at 3:34 PM. Reason : ..]

11/23/2009 3:32:43 PM

#$% I wish the eris was running 1.6 I'd get one tomorrow.
Prob will ^ and wait for the passion rumors to solidify.

11/23/2009 5:13:43 PM

I had the hacked maps, nice to be official now.

God I love google.

11/23/2009 5:23:37 PM

I was just watching the Engadget Show. That had this dude on their from HTC talking about the Sense UI and HTC's products. The host asked about the Passion but the HTC guy danced around and really didn't say anything except for future HTC phones with faster processors and bigger screens. We all know that would be the Passion/Dragon.

http://www.engadget.com/

11/23/2009 7:24:15 PM

So... now having owned a Droid for a bit over two weeks, some thoughts...

* The notification bar is something that Apple could really learn from. It's head and shoulders above the pop-up notifications that the iPhone has (i.e. DROP EVERYTHING AND READ ME READ ME READ ME). I like being able to pick and choose what I want to read first.

* The Android Market is as easy to use as the iTunes App store on the device itself. Better still, it downloads and installs apps in the background. I don't think the iPhone does that, either.

* The lack of multi-touch gestures in the browser and mail apps are a pain, but I'm finding that the browser does a GREAT job of making up for that. It formats a lot of column-oriented text (like nytimes, etc.) correctly when you zoom in. I'd still prefer to pinch-zoom, though. That still feels a bit more natural than the tap-tap zooming with Android.

* That guy that did the push Gmail video is full of shit. My phone typically gets Gmail messages faster than the web client.

* The rubber backing on the battery plate has actually been a blessing in disguise. I wish all phones had a similar back.

11/23/2009 10:04:04 PM

Quote :

"Better still, it downloads and installs apps in the background. I don't think the iPhone does that, either."

Yes it does.

Quote :

"It formats a lot of column-oriented text (like nytimes, etc.) correctly when you zoom in."

The iPhone also has tap-tap formatted zooming, and it works like a champ.

11/23/2009 10:16:16 PM

^ My experience with the iPhone was that it needed to stay on the home screen to install apps. If I opened up something else while it was doing so, it paused the installation. And, yes, I realize that the iPhone has tap-tap zooming. My point was to show some contrast between the two, and that's the only way that Android offers zoom functionality.

11/23/2009 10:21:31 PM

^it may not LOAD them in the background, but download/installation is not an interruption driven experience (like text messages for instance). A passive experience I guess would be the right term.

Honestly never noticed, and not something I'd ever think about (or honestly care about)

Thanks for clarifying though, it's definitely a difference

11/23/2009 11:37:05 PM

can I develop apps in c#? the only thing I've heard is using java in eclipse

[Edited on November 24, 2009 at 12:56 AM. Reason : .]

11/24/2009 12:55:54 AM

how much does this phone run a month?

I'm currently with at&t and spend about 80$ a month on my cell phone. I'd like to get a smart phone of some sort but i'd hate to jump on the iphone bandwagon. After watching a few reviews i think this phone is great (aside from the pinch zoom stuff).

11/24/2009 9:19:19 AM

39.99 for 450min, 29.99 for data,+texting plan, taxes/fees without a company discount. I was up around $92 with insurance, taxes/fees on my storm with 500 texts(unlimited in). Should be the same with the droid.

[Edited on November 24, 2009 at 9:44 AM. Reason : ]

11/24/2009 9:42:01 AM

it is. they treat the plans the same as w/ a FailBerry.

11/24/2009 9:50:51 AM

^^ Was that a family type plan? Did you have anyone else on your account, or just you?

11/24/2009 1:10:25 PM

nah, that was just an individual plan. The cheapest family plan is like 69.99 for 700min and 2 lines

11/24/2009 1:13:13 PM

Eris is down to $30 at Wal-Mart.
http://www.phonearena.com/htmls/Verizons-DROID-ERIS-down-to-30-at-Walmart-article-a_8035.html

11/24/2009 7:04:47 PM

Quote :

"* That guy that did the push Gmail video is full of shit. My phone typically gets Gmail messages faster than the web client."

yeah, i get prob 90% of emails on the phone before they even show up in my web client. i think that guy in the video unknowingly configured his gmail to use the regular mail client, and not the push gmail

11/27/2009 11:58:00 PM

http://htcpassion.com
Looks fake to me.

11/29/2009 12:15:09 AM

Ok android and me listed the registry of that site, very white hard to see logo w/ passion and coming holiday 2009...

I expect something offical soon as the lack of publicity is a bit disconcerting, just compare to what we knew about the droid in october to now... pretty few leaks and offical statements to be released this holiday

[Edited on November 29, 2009 at 10:12 PM. Reason : ..]

11/29/2009 9:55:51 PM