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Motorola Droid X vs HTC Evo 4G

July 15, 2010 By NotLost Leave a Comment

With the official release of the Droid X on Verizon today, I thought it’d be a good time to do a comparison on the Droid X vs the HTC Evo 4G.   Both are top of the line, flagship smartphones running Android OS (2.1 currently, but both expect 2.2 Froyo updates soon) on their respective carriers but let’s jump into the nitty gritty specs to see if we can find a winner between the two.

Processor

Both phones sport blazing fast 1GHZ processors, though not the same one.  The Droid X has a new TI OMAP 1GHZ processor while the HTC Evo 4G has a Qualcomm Snapdragon 1GHZ processor.  The new TI processor is the faster of the two, though both pack plenty of processing power.

Display

Both of these phones discriminate against those with small hands as both feature 4.3″ displays.  The Droid X has an every so slight advantage in resolution  with 854 x 480 display while the Evo 4g has an 800 x 480 resolution though in practice you won’t notice a difference (the Droid X does have more natural looking colors on its display though).

Memory

It’s a draw here as well with both phones having 512MB of RAM.

Storage

The Droid X comes with an impressive 24GB of storage (8GB built in, 16GB Micro SD card included) while the HTC Evo 4G has a mere 8GB.  If you have a lot of music or videos you’d like to watch on that big display, then the Droid X is the clear winner here.

Carrier

As has become the norm for premium smartphones, each phone is carrier exclusive.  The Droid X is a Verizon Wireless exclusive phone and the HTC Evo 4G is a Sprint Exclusive.  In my experience both carriers are quite good and I can’t say I’ve had problems with either.    The one advantage that you’ll get with Sprint is 4G coverage though it’s only available in a handful of major cities at this point.  However, if you live in one of those areas, Sprint is probably a no brainer at this point.  If Verizon ever gets the iPhone, I’ll probably start recommending people get Sprint since there will be considerably more strain on Verizon’s data network.

Camera

HTC Evo 4G Vs Motorola Droid X - Android Powered Smartphones

Both phones sport 8MP dual LED flash cameras.  However, the EVO 4G has a 1.3 MP front facing camera for video conferencing (using QIK).  We’ll give the edge to the EVO 4G on this one.

And the winner is…

If you can find one (and there have been plenty of shortages much to the dismay of Sprint), the HTC Evo 4G gets a slight edge over the Droid X but unless you really want video conferencing and live in an area with 4G coverage, you’ll probably be quite pleased with a Droid X as well.

Filed Under: Android Tagged With: 1ghz, Android, droid x, droid x vs htc evo 4g, froyo, htc evo 4g, motorola, sprint, verizon

Motorola Droid 2 Review

June 28, 2010 By NotLost Leave a Comment

While the Droid X has been billed by some as the successor to the original Motorola Droid, the real successor is the Droid 2 which is expected to be released this summer.

In a lot of ways this phone is just a slight upgrade over the first Droid.

It features a dual LED flash 5MP camera.

It has a faster 1 GHz processor (TI OMAP).

It has 16GB of memory (same as before) and can be upgraded to 40GB.

It also has 512 MB of RAM which is a welcome addition as the original could get bogged down rather easily if you like to run a lot of apps at once.

The keyboard no longer has the thumbpad and now features slightly raised keys which makes typing via the keyboard easier and faster – a big improvement over the old keyboard though I’ve found as have many others that the physical keyboard isn’t nearly as necessary as you might think – I rarely use mine now and I’m one of those people who initially refused to buy a smarthphone without a physical keyboard.

This phone is expected to ship with Android 2.2 Froyo which brings a whole lot of awesomeness to the table.

The screen size remains the same at 3.7″.

Is it worth the upgrade if you already have a Motorola Droid – I don’t so.  It’s an incremental step forward, but not a giant leap.  If you’re going to upgrade, get a Droid X unless the size of the phone makes it difficult for you to hold in your hand.  If you don’t have a smartphone yet, then by all means get it as you’ll probably love this phone.

Motorola Droid 2 - Photo Courtesy DroidLife

Filed Under: Android Tagged With: android 2.2, droid 2, droid 2 review, froyo, keyboard, motorola, motorola droid 2 review, physical keyboard, ti omap

Droid 2 Vs Droid X – How To Decide Which Phone To Get

June 28, 2010 By NotLost Leave a Comment

With so many different flavors of Android phones to choose from even from the same carrier, picking just the right phone can be downright tough.

In this post I’ll compare two soon to be released Motorola phones (both Verizon Wireless exclusives), The Droid X and Droid 2.

Droid X Vs Droid 2

Processors

I was a little disappointed to see that the Droid 2 only has a 750mhz processor (TI OMAP) since the defacto standard has become at least 1GHZ for top of the line smartphones.  The Droid X features the expected 1GHZ processor (TI OMAP).

Keyboard

This is one of the biggest differences between the two phones.  The Droid X uses only it’s touchscreen and virtual keyboards while the Droid 2 features an improved slide out hardware keyboard.   Whether you need the keyboard or not really is mostly a matter of preference.  Personally, I like having a keyboard on my phone, but rarely use it.

OS

While it is expected that the Droid X will ship with Android 2.1 initially, it’s expected that it will be upgraded to 2.2 Froyo in August of 2010.  The Droid 2 is expected to ship with Android 2.2 installed, but keep in mind that it’s being released a month later (mid August).

Camera

The Droid X has an 8MP camera while the Droid X has a mere 5MP camera.  Both have dual LED flash cameras.

Memory

The Droid X ships with 24GB of memory (upgradeable to 40GB) while the Droid 2 ships with 16 GB of memory (upgradeable to 40GB).

For those who want to compare these two phones to other popular smartphones like the Apple iPhone 4 and HTC EVO 4G, here are the highlights:

How do they stack up to the iPhone 4?

The Droid X is a veritable giant compared to the iPhone 4, sporting a 4.3” screen vs the 3.5” screen the iPhone 4 has.

Both the Droid X and iPhone 4 have 1GHZ processors (the Droid X features a TI OMAP 1GHZ while the iPhone 4 features an Apple A4 1GHZ processor.

The Droid 2 is a little slower checking in with a TI OMAP 750mhz processor.

Neither the Droid X or Droid 2 have a front facing camera for video chat.

The Droid X has HDMI outputs and a bigger (some would say better) 8MP camera with dual LED flash while the iPhone 4 has no such outputs and a mere 5MP camera with single LED flash though image quality in the real world is very similar.

The Droid 2 has that elusive slide out hardware keyboard for those who don’t like to be forced to use touchscreens all the time.

Neither phone has a gyroscope while the iPhone 4 does.

How do they stack up to the HTC EVO 4G?

The Droid X has the same 4.3” screen as the EVO 4G, but lacks the 4G antenna and front facing camera for video chat – other than that it’s nearly the same as the other differences are minor – the EVO 4G is a Sprint phone, the Droid X is a Verizon phone.

The Droid 2 is quite a bit smaller than the EVO 4G, and lacks the HDMI output, has a slower processor but as I’ve mentioned, has a dedicated hardware keyboard.

Conclusion

While it’s tough to say which phone is really better since they’re both so new, for my money I’d buy the Droid X unless you really want a dedicated keyboard or the Droid X is too big for you to comfortably hold in your hand.

Filed Under: Android Tagged With: Android, droid 2, droid x, droid x vs droid 2, keyboard, motorola, verizon

Motorola Droid X Review – Smartphone Nuclear Arms Race Continues – Droid Vs Droid X

June 24, 2010 By NotLost 1 Comment

Yesterday, after several weeks of speculation, the Motorola Droid X was officially revealed and this phone didn’t disappoint.

Let’s start off with specs as they’re pretty beefy:

  • 4.3″ 854 x 480 Screen
  • Texas Instruments OMAP 1GHZ Processor
  • 24 GB Memory (Upgradeable to 40GB)
  • Dual LED Flash 8 Megapixel Camera (with a real shutter button)
  • 220 Hrs of Standby Battery Time
  • 720p Video Recording with HDMI output

For loyal Droid users thinking about upgrading from their original Motorola Droid to the new Droid X, here are some of the big differences.  First, the phone is a lot bigger -- the 4.3″ screen is the same size as the HTC EVO 4G for Sprint (for comparison’s sake, the iPhone 4 has a 3.5″ screen -- the original Droid has a 3.7″ screen).

The camera doesn’t suck this time around.  The dual LED flash and 8MP camera actually take pretty good pictures -- nobody will confuse them with DSLR quality, but they’re definitely on par with entry level digital cameras.

It’s faster -- a lot faster.  It still packs a familiar Texas Instruments OMAP processor, but this one is clocked at 1GHZ and this thing is screaming fast.

No more keyboard.  While it does come with Swype (awesome, by the way) as a virtual keyboard option, the Droid X bids adieu to the dedicated slide out keyboard seen on the original though most people I talk to that have a Droid, myself included, rarely ever use the hardware keyboard anyway.

One of the cool features is the ability for the phone to act as a 3G Mobile Hotspot for up to 5 devices, however, this feature is going to run you an extra $20/month.  My guess is that since this is a feature built into Android 2.2, at some point you’ll be able to enable this for free (but it may require you to root the phone -- I’ll keep ya posted as we learn more and when Froyo shows up on this phone later this summer).

Motorola Droid X - 4.3" Screen - 24GB Memory - 1GHZ TI OMAP Processor

This phone does run Motorola’s skin over Android (unlike the first Droid), but it isn’t Motoblur either.  It’s a new skin setup for social networking and such.

It will be officially released July 15 and is exclusive to Verizon Wireless and will run you $199 (after $100 mail in rebate and 2 yr contract) so it’s in line with every other high end subsidized smartphone in the U.S. right now.

If your contract is up anytime this year, you can get upgrade pricing instead of paying full retail costs, which sadly means that all of us original Droid users aren’t going to qualify as we’re less than a year into our 2yr contracts, but it certainly looks like the new flagship model for Verizon Wireless and a worth competitor to the HTC EVO 4G for Sprint and the Apple iPhone 4 for AT&T.

Here’s a sample video taken with the Droid X Video Camera (certainly doesn’t look like your typical cell phone camera video, but won’t be confused with broadcast quality anytime soon, either):

Filed Under: Android Tagged With: 1ghz, 4.3 inch screen, 720p, 8 megapixel camera video camera, Android, droid vs droid x, droid x, motorola, omap, review, texas instruments, verizon

How To Record Calls on Android Phones

March 22, 2010 By NotLost 2 Comments

One thing that business users expect on a smartphone is the ability to record a phone call.

There is plenty written about the legality of recording phone calls, and if you’re trying to secretly record calls, you could be asking for trouble.  However, not everyone wants to record phone calls for nefarious purposes.  Here’s a good resource about recording calls.

For example, I was just on a call this morning with a client and he wanted to know how we could record the conversation because he couldn’t keep up with everything I was saying and wanted to be able to go back and review the apparent wisdom I was pontificating.

We were on Skype at the time, so I just turned on Pamela (that’s what the software suite I used is called) and recorded away.

But how do you record a call if your on an Android powered phone?  There is no built in functionality to do it, and despite several hours of research, I haven’t found a single app (free or paid) that actually works on Android 2.0 or 2.1 for recording calls on the phone.  (My guess is you’d have to root the phone to do it at the moment.)

Of course, that doesn’t mean you can’t do it.  You just have to use Google Voice to do it.  Unfortunately, that means you can only record incoming calls, not outgoing.  But if you need to record a conversation, this is the best way I’ve found to do it thus far (3/22/10).  And with Google Voice, it’s really easy, just press 4 and it will start recording the conversation.  You’ll find the conversation in your Voice control panel within a few minutes and you can send the recording to the other party easily from the control panel.

Now someone can tell me if I’m wrong here but if I were to call my Google Voice number from my cell phone, then use GV to do a three way call (which it can and will do for free), that would theoretically work, right?  Not exactly the simplest or most elegant of solutions, but if you really have to record an outgoing call, it just might work – if you know how to hack all that together, post it in the comments.

UPDATE 6/10: Just wanted to post an update on call recording on Android – no functionality exists yet (yes, there are apps in the Android Market that record phone calls, but none of them actually work).

The method I posted above to record outgoing calls actually requires two phones.  You’d have to make a call to your Google Voice number with a separate phone (any phone will work) or Skype (recommended since you can do it from a computer and don’t need a separate phone line). Then you can turn the recorder on by pressing 4 on your number pad, use 3-way colling to make your outgoing call, and finally you have a way to record the call.  If you’re desperate to record calls on your Android phone, that’s what you have to do until a reliable app is released or it’s natively supported in the OS, though I’m not aware of any native functionality for the latest Android OS version, Froyo 2.2.

Filed Under: Android Tagged With: Android, apps, call recorder, droid, google voice, motorola, record calls

10 Must Have Android Apps

February 21, 2010 By NotLost 1 Comment

Must Have Droid Apps

I’ve seen a lot of people making lists of “must have” Android apps, and then they go and include stuff you definitely don’t need, but is certainly cool.

For example, on my phone I have the Tricorder and Lightsaber apps.  While they’re both cool, if you deleted them tomorrow, I’d be sad, but I’d survive.

On the other hand, if you took away my Google Voice Visual Voicemail (note: this is how you get Visual Voicemail for free – don’t pay for it, just get this App and a Google Voice account), I’d be without Voicemail.

So here is my list of what I think are some “must have” Apps.  Keep in mind that while I’m fairly tech savvy, I’m no expert on what should or shouldn’t be on a smartphone – I think all the features are cool.

Oh, and one more thing.  I’ve seen some people complain about how the phone (Motorola Droid and other Android phones like the Nexus One and HTC offerings) lacks certain features out of the box.  That’s the cool part – if you want to do it, there’s probably an App for that, and if there isn’t, you can create one!  It’s infinitely customizable to you.  That’s the real appeal to the iPhone and Android phones.

Anyway, must have Droid Apps…

  1. ChompSMS or HandSent2 – The built in SMS on Android sucks donkey balls.  It didn’t allow me to send a text to multiple people at once or to groups.   ChompSMS fixes that little snafu.  It’s the app I use most often.
  2. Contact Owner – Ever left your phone somewhere, but can’t for the life of you remember where it is?  I know I have.  And if not for the person how found it being ambitious enough to call contacts in my phone, I wouldn’t have found it.  This app is quite simple – it displays your name and contact info (including alternate phone number and email address) on the phone with an “if found, contact” message.  If someone finds your phone, they’ll know how and who to contact to return it.
  3. Wave Secure – Smartphones are expensive even when heavily subsidized by your phone company.  What would you do if it got stolen?  Well, being careful is the best way to make sure nobody steals your phone, but if they do, you’ve got WaveSecure.  If your phone is stolen, this App can help track it back down and will even notify people (that you pick) that your phone has been stolen.  It can even lock the phone down so that the thieves can’t access your personal information.
  4. Home++ – Android has three screens by default for putting shortcuts and icons on.   Honestly, once you start playing around with your phone, you’ll find yourself wanting more screens to better organize the apps you use most often.  For example, on my phone I have a screen just for music programs and one just for all the various programs for going online.  Home++ allows you to have up to seven screens and it does some other cool stuff too, but all I use it is for the extra screens.
  5. Pandora – While Android is certainly not iPhone for music, it’s certainly a capable device.  I really like my customized Pandora radio stations and being able to listen to them while I’m driving in the car (or wherever I happen to be) is awesome.  Last.fm and Slacker are also both good music streaming clients if you’d like more options.
  6. Voice Recorder – The Droid has no built in voice recorder.  No problem, just download “voice recorder” or “rehearsal”, problem solved.
  7. FoxyRing and Locale – There are two apps that have a similar function and Locale is definitely the more ambitious of the two, however I don’t need all the features and find FoxyRing is exactly what I need.  You’ll probably want at least one of them if not both.   FoxyRing is an app that measures ambient noise and adjusts the ringer volume accordingly.  In a loud bar?  Then the ringer will go off at it’s loudest volume so you can hear it.  Sitting in your living room reading a book?  Then the ringer will go off at a much lower volume so it doesn’t scare the bejesus out of you.   It also features a “silent” mode.  You can set times when the phone simply won’t go off.  In class at a certain time every day?  Just set the phone to be in silent mode.   Don’t want to take phone calls in the middle of the night?  Again, silent mode.  However, you can set the phone to allow certain emergency contacts to get through.  So if you want your mother to be able to call in case of a family emergency, but not your drunk friends, this is the perfect app for that.
  8. Mototorch – This is another simple app.  It uses the LED flash on the camera as a flashlight.  It’s simple, but handy.
  9. Gtask – Another simple app that synchs to Google tasks in your Gmail account.  There are a ton of “to do list” apps and really cool ones like “don’t forget the milk.”  For me, this simple one is all I need and the fact that it synchs to Gmail, which I use all day long is why I chose it.
  10. KeepScreen – This is an ultra handy app – and all it does it keeps your screen from turning off.  For example, if you’re playing music, but want to keep the controls up without having to unlock the screen every time, this program will do it.  You can set it so that when certain programs are running, the screen simply doesn’t turn off.  Be careful as leaving programs run will drain your battery faster than two shakes of a lambs tail, but it’s great when you just need the screen to stay on without having to touch it every few seconds.

Oh, and while this one is built in, if you use Google Calendar, you can have it text you a reminder if you have anything scheduled you don’t want to forget.  I didn’t know about it until recently, but now I use it regularly.

Those are some of my favorite “must have” apps.

I’ll probably make a list of ones that are “nifty” and “spiffy” but not quite as practical in the future, but that’s all I’ve got for today.

Filed Under: Android Tagged With: Android, apps, droid, free visual voicemail, Google, google voice, motorola, music, voice recorder

Google Maps Navigation Review

January 3, 2010 By NotLost Leave a Comment

Google Maps Navigation Review

So I got one of those fancy Droids a couple weeks ago and when you go from a Razr to a Droid, everything is cool and fancy.  I honestly don’t know how a lot of the features that are “gee whiz” cool compare to other smartphones like the iPhone.  They’re all cool to me, but wow is the Facebook and Google Voice integration slick.

Anyway, instead of posting my thoughts about the phone side of things, I figured I’d post about the thing I am qualified to review – the GPS, specifically Google Maps Navigation Beta.

I’m on my fourth GPS device and have extensively researched others.  In fact, I decided to get the phone with its built in navigation instead of one of the new high end TomToms.

So I have fairly high standards for what I want in a GPS device, and I have to say that Google has managed to include cool features I would never have thought to ask for… unfortunately they also neglected to include some fairly important industry standard features.

I like it, I love it

As you’d probably expect, Google Navigation uses their Google Maps data for all the routes.  The maps are up to date (I hated updated buying updates to my old ones) and since it accesses their online database, they’re about as up to date as you can get.  Up to date maps doesn’t sound like a big deal until your GPS device tries to convice you to take an impassible snowmobile trail in the middle of nowhere Colorado – then you’ll appreciate having accurate maps J

The voice search is also awesome.  It knows where businesses are (even local ones, not just chains) and can find them with a simple search.  My car broke down a week ago and I was able to find a towing service close to me (I didn’t want to be stuck there any longer than I had to), and call them using the same device… and I was able to read reviews before I made any calls.

It can find landmarks, categories of businesses, schools, pretty much whatever you want.  And if you decide to type in the information, it’s not all that picky and can even figure out what you meant to spell if you spell something wrong (just like their search engine can).

However, one thing it can’t do is navigate to someone in your contacts list even if their address is in your phone.  My guess is that feature is coming, but so far it doesn’t do that.

Google Street View is pretty cool especially as it can display a picture of the intersection and a picture of the business you’re navigating to.  However, I’d like to more advanced instructions for complicated interchanges.  For example, my last GPS would tell me to take and exit and which lane I needed to be in when necessary.  It isn’t necessary all that often where I live but let me tell you, it’s immensely helpful when it does come up.

You have the option to use Satellite view just like with Google Maps on your computer and you can even overlay the terrain if you’re out hiking.

And one feature I really like was the ability to navigate “nearest” whatever.  For example, you can tell Google Maps Navigation to “navigate to nearest movie theatre” and it will.

Fail!

Night mode

While there are some excusable omissions, one that is just a complete brain fart is the lack of a night mode.  Honestly, I was expected that the phone would not only have a night mode, I figured it’d automatically kick in when the sun set based on its location – the phone has a lot of location aware features like that and I figured Google Maps Navigation would have that… it didn’t.

I learned this on a trip from Nebraska to Wisconsin.  Fortunately, I don’t need directions for the trip, so when it got dark and night mode didn’t kick in and I couldn’t find it in the menus, it wasn’t a problem for me just to turn the program off and finish the drive sans navigation.

But seriously, no night mode?  I’m assuming this oversight will be fixed in the near future, but as far as I’m concerned, the program should never have left alpha testing without that feature.

Update (Feb 2010) – Night mode exists now (came as part of Google Maps 4 app update) and yeah, it works like I expected it would – location aware and based on sunset and sunrise.   Glad to see they added it.

Speedometer

Another industry standard is how fast you’re going.  And TomTom and Garmin devices also happen to know the speed limits where you’re driving and can tell you when they change.  Google doesn’t even display how fast you’re going.  I know, I know, that’s what the speedometer on your car is for.  Well, I find the one on cars is frequently off by 1-3 mph.  On a long trip, a 3mph difference is half an hour I could have saved and the GPS speedometer is always extremely accurate.

Data Connection Required

Here’s another real head scratcher.  The need to have a data connection for navigation.  I can totally understand the need to have a data connection for things like Street View, Satellite View, and some of the more advanced features – it’d just be too much to store on the phones memory and updating would be a pain.  However, needing a data connection for even basic navigation is bad design.   Google needs to offer an option to download the maps to your phones memory card and to use those maps when data is lost.  GPS and navigation needs to work in the middle of nowhere.

Those are my biggest complaints.   But here’s why I’m still happy about getting Google Maps Navigation vs TomTom.  I know that Google will continue to update it and that it’s likely to be a true rival to TomTom and Garmin within a year and those complaints I have will likely be addressed soon.  If I had a Garmin or TomTom, I’d be waiting a lot longer and I’d probably have to pay for the upgrade.

Google Maps Navigation may not be quite ready to challenge the big boys for navigation supremacy just yet, but for the price (FREE), you could certainly do a lot worse.

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: Android, beta, droid, Google Maps, google maps navigation, motorola, nexus one, night mode, review, speedometer