Droid Gets an Update

On December 11, the Droid received an "Over The Air" update. This changed the front screen with the lock/unlock as well as sound on/off slidebar. It would still be better if all you had to do was click or touch on but it is a bit better. Also noticeable are improvements to the camera. Supposedly the battery usage is improved- I will see about that- I barely get a day out of the battery if I am using it with emails, phone calls, checking twitter, facebook and the like- isn't that what it is supposed to be used for??? I did buy an extra battery and extra travel charger.



There are also a lot of new "apps" although many are pretty bad- there are reviews available right on the Droid "Marketplace" with no holds barred. I have found the horizontal on-screen keyboard to be accurate and actually better than the pull out keyboard. The auto-correction and intelligent word guessing is great, and it learns your common words as you continue to use it and speed up your typing. If there were an option for no keyboard which would make this thinner and lighter I would go for it.



The voice recognition for searching has been very accurate and very helpful if you are driving and want to call someone in your contact list or need directions to the nearest fast food place- just ask it. I guess I am keeping it.

Motorola Verizon Google Droid

I have been a bit jealous watching my non-Verizon friends reporting with glee all about iPhones and the Pre. I was waiting for the Pre- supposedly with Verizon early 2010 as I have been a Palm OS user for years starting with the Sony Clie. Enter the Droid. I have been working with it for 5 days and have yet to figure it all out. No manual- just depending on online blogs and a "sneak" post of the not yet completed manual. The menus are NOT intuitive at all. The slide out keyboard is hard to use, especially the top row which doesn't give enough room between the characters and the slide out rim. The Calendar is hard to use and has limited functions for things like repeating an event for a certain number of days.

HOWEVER- I am keeping it. The graphics are the best I have seen. Using the web browser is a joy. You can multi-task and have several programs running simultaneously (i did find if you that if you forget to stop some the battery gets eaten alive). There is built in GPS. The issues with the calendar (and contact list) are all solved as they immediately synch with the Google online calendar and contacts. They have more functions and frankly, it is easier and faster to use them on the keyboard and monitor than the little keyboards. Oh- the keyboard- i am using the onscreen version- much easier (in landscape mode) than the slide out. It also has a dictionary that allows quick completion of words and updates these as you use them. The apps are a shorter list as it is new and you really have to sort out where the junk is, but a few have been very useful and there are a number of free ones.

The phone is the clearest cell phone I have used and it works great with bluetooth. One final thing (for now). You have the option to use the online services with the Verizon network (there's a Map for that) but you can also tie into any local WiFi network you can find. The browsing speed, which is fine, is lightning fast in those areas.

I have 30 days to return it. More as I learn.