Motorola DROID

[The LD]

Jake, you're going to have to let me know how that affects battery life. It sounds like an awesome app.

Does anyone have either of the docks? I want the desktop one, but it's been tough to find.

[Ray Abed]

Ok, so I deleted the i Music app. The LD got me thinking: it ain't worth any future repercussions! Plus, as a music lover, I've been pretty happy with myself staying on the legal side of things when it comes to downloading (I have a subscription to Rhapsody, after all...I'm all for giving artists their due).

The Amazon mp3 shop is pretty snazzy. I'm sure I'll be buying from there more often than not.

Does anyone know how to get rid of the "DROID" voice message when you receive an incoming email, text, or update? It woke me up in the middle of the night and scared the shit out of me.

In a few days I'm gonna play with the Voice GPS while cruising around town. Should be fun.

[The LD]

I know I changed my notifications to a much more pleasant "ding!" sound, so it must be somewhere in the settings menu.

[Jake]

Settings, Sound and Display, Notification Ringtone

[Ray Abed]

Thanks!

[kungfumonkeyMike]

Is anyone having trouble with basic phone functions? My mother-in-law keeps apparently not having it ring, or trying to answer and sending someone to voice mail, or clicking on her shortcut to call her husband and it calls her son.

I'm not sure how much is her making mistakes and/or not understanding the OS, and how much is potentially buggy coding. Or did she just get a dud? Anyone else having any issues like this?

I'm also curious because I'm contemplating one for Christmas, but I'm very happy with the Versa right now, and even though the Droid is obviously better in theory, I don't need any transitionary headaches right now.

[Jake]

Nope, it's all good here, save for me accidentally knocking off the battery cover and running over it with my office chair today.

[CocoaSugarbaker]

I am stalking this thread very closely guys. I don't have Verizon and never want to go back, but I will probably be leaving Blackberry next year and embracing Android. I ordered my husband the HTC Hero, and it kicks my Blackberry Tour's ass up the street and around the block. It's embarrassing really, how awful the BB's OS is, the only thing they still have going for them is push email. That, and I'm pretty much Google's bitch. I have more google apps on my phone than anything else.

I just have to wait for Sprint to get a kick ass droid phone with a physical keyboard, like the Droid.

A question though--are your google maps equipped with voice? Is that a perk for android users?

Edit, nevermind, Ray answered for me. *hmph*

[Jake]

Honestly, the only redeeming factor of Verizon is their awesome coverage. If it wasn't for that, I'd have jumped ship long ago. Their customer service is so painfully bad that it's almost nonexistent, and their long-standing policy of intentionally crippling phones/OSes and nickel-and-diming the living fuck out of you doesn't help.

[Jake]

Also, I don't know if it's just because I'm a disgusting greasy fatbody or what but this thing is a fingerprint magnet. Any of you having similar problems?

[Ray Abed]

Originally Posted by Jake

Also, I don't know if it's just because I'm a disgusting greasy fatbody or what but this thing is a fingerprint magnet. Any of you having similar problems?

I'm tellin' ya, get the rubber casing/slipcase. You can't even tell the screen is covered with casing and the sliding keyboard is just as functional. Doesn't feel the least bit bulky. Fits like a charm in my pocket.

I don't think the ladies will dig it, though. Looks too masculine, as a female friend told me the other day.

I'll stick up for Verizon's *cell phone* portion of their customer service department. Every time I've called them, they've been pretty helpful and polite. I have a cousin who worked for Verizon's customer service a year or so ago in Tampa, but it was the cable and internet departments, and he told me flat out that their staff were purposely mean, manipulative, and dishonest. The lack of professionalism was pretty disturbing from the many stories he told me.

[Jake]

Which slipcase is this, the Body Glove from Verizon?

[Ray Abed]

Yep, the Body Glove specifically made for the DROID. It has a great grip and feel to it. When I bought my phone, the sales associate put it on for me.

A little pricey, but well worth it if you're looking for something that's reliable.

[Ray Abed]

So I tried out the Voice GPS for the first time thoroughly yesterday evening. One of the greatest pieces of technology I've ever had the pleasure of using. I love the fact that I no longer have to type in the addresses of the starting and ending points, and can just say where I want to go along with the city and state, and *voila*, the process begins.

I went to a Best Buy that's about 30 minutes from my house (there's one closer, but I purposely wanted to drive farther out). The directions were precise and clear as day. I intentionally missed the freeway ramp to see what would happen, and the directions were automatically reconfigured quickly. It tells you your next turn on the very top and which direction you're gonna end up turning, along with how many miles you have left before you get to that point. The bottom left corner has the total drive time. The voice itself spelled out the turn-by-turn directions better than a human being probably could. Just freakin' amazing.

And get this--once you get to where you're going, the screen shows a photo of your destination! For real.

On an unrelated note, since the DROID doesn't have VCAST at the moment, I've been trying to figure out how to download official ringtones from Verizon's site to my phone. FYI: once you buy a ringtone from Verizon's site, you'll get a text message along with a button that'll play your tune. After this, things get confusing. I couldn't for the life of me figure out what to do next. Luckily, there was a thread about this very same subject on Verizon's site, and someone had the answer: hold your finger on the actual text that's below the play button for about 2-3 seconds. Once you do that, an option to save as a ringtone will come up. The ringtone that you bought will automatically go to the ringtone section of your phone.

As for buying and setting ringback tones, you can manage that on Verizon's site. There's a link on the top page to "Manage My Ringback Tones".

[Jake]

Got the Body Glove - totally worth it.

[The LD]

Ray, if you want a ringtone, just buy songs on AmazonMP3. They can be turned into ringtones easily from the music player. (And if you want to crop them, I think the program is called Ringdroid).

Jake, how much bulk does the Body Glove add?

Also, I strongly suggest everyone get Beautiful Widgets. It has that gorgeous HTC Sense clock, and that's a fine addition to any phone.

[CocoaSugarbaker]

Originally Posted by Jake

Got the Body Glove - totally worth it.

For a moment I thought I was back in the Amy Winehouse thread.

[Jake]

Originally Posted by The LD

Jake, how much bulk does the Body Glove add?

Only maybe 2mm to all dimensions - it's two separate pieces, one that clips onto the screen and one that clips onto the back. I ditched the dorky belt clip part, and if you don't put it on right it messes with the proximity sensor a bit (I think that was the problem, I couldn't get the screen to dim after locking the first time I put it on), but aside from that it's awesome.

Originally Posted by CocoaSugarbaker

For a moment I thought I was back in the Amy Winehouse thread.

Well, it does have these little divots in it and I'll stop right there while you go throw up.

EDIT: I'll second Beautiful Widgets, too. The silent/vibrate on/off widgets are indispensable. I promise that has nothing to do with the rubberized Body Glove or Amy Winehouse for that matter.

[Ray Abed]

Originally Posted by The LD

Ray, if you want a ringtone, just buy songs on AmazonMP3. They can be turned into ringtones easily from the music player. (And if you want to crop them, I think the program is called Ringdroid).

Didn't think of that. Will experiment the next time I decide to get a new ringtone. I did download the Ringdroid app already. You can even record your own ringtones using Ringdroid (e.g. I won't sing my own ringtone...don't want to scare any incoming callers away! ha!). What really annoyed me when I got the DROID was that all of my previous ringtones/ringbacks that I bought weren't automatically transferred to my phone. If there's one thing that I expected the DROID to have right off the bat it was VCAST.

Originally Posted by Jake

I ditched the dorky belt clip part, and if you don't put it on right it messes with the proximity sensor a bit (I think that was the problem, I couldn't get the screen to dim after locking the first time I put it on), but aside from that it's awesome.

Yeah, the sales associate asked me if I wanted the belt clip strapped on. Clipping a cell phone to my belt or waist just never felt comfortable to me. I'm always afraid it's gonna fall off, too.

[Jake]

Originally Posted by Ray Abed

Yeah, the sales associate asked me if I wanted the belt clip strapped on. Clipping a cell phone to my belt or waist just never felt comfortable to me. I'm always afraid it's gonna fall off, too.

I made the mistake of saying "Nah, I don't want the belt clip, it looks too dorky" right to the salesdude's face and then I looked down to see - what else - his Droid strapped to his hip, exact same case. I felt like an asshole.

[Ray Abed]

Originally Posted by Jake

I made the mistake of saying "Nah, I don't want the belt clip, it looks too dorky" right to the salesdude's face and then I looked down to see - what else - his Droid strapped to his hip, exact same case. I felt like an asshole.

Ha! It seems like most people I know do strap their phones. Then again, most people I know drop their phones, too, so...

[billylove]

Originally Posted by Ray Abed

Yeah, the sales associate asked me if I wanted the belt clip strapped on. Clipping a cell phone to my belt or waist just never felt comfortable to me. I'm always afraid it's gonna fall off, too.

It makes the cellphone easy to steal too.

[The LD]

Have you guys been following the "Back of screen film" debate? There's a plastic film on the back of the screen part (where the phone slides). There's a big debate over whether it should be removed or not. The people who are removing it seem to be in the right, but I'm scared of taking mine off and harming the phone.

[Jake]

Haven't heard about this, but I just checked it out and you're right...I think it's just got to do with making the slider part of the phone more sturdy/lend the sliding function a little more friction, but I'm terrified of removing it. If it fucks things up too badly I guess I could just brick the phone or something and take it back, but it's a weird thing to have on there.

[Ray Abed]

No way am I removing it on my own. Knowing my luck, I'd break it in the blink of an eye!

[Jake]

I sacked up and took it off. Way better without it, the slider mechanism works smoother and even seems to click into place a little better than before.

[The LD]

Took it off. No complaints. It does seem slightly better without.

[The LD]

THEY FIXED THE CAMERA!!!

Man, it's nice having a competent 5 MP shooter on this thing now.

[Count Floyd]

Originally Posted by The LD

THEY FIXED THE CAMERA!!!

Man, it's nice having a competent 5 MP shooter on this thing now.

Yep, auto-focus works just about every time for me now, too. Still takes too damn long to reset between shots, but at least it works now!

Also, silent mode mutes the ridiculously loud focus/shutter sounds. Not that I'm trying to take secret pervy pics but the damn thing sounded like a 1975 Polaroid camera.

[Jake]

Originally Posted by The LD

THEY FIXED THE CAMERA!!!

Man, it's nice having a competent 5 MP shooter on this thing now.

when how where did you get this

[The LD]

You have it too. Secret OTA update last night.

[Jake]

Hmm, apparently it wasn't an OTA update?

http://www.androidguys.com/2009/11/1...olved-for-now/

I know the dude who wrote the article so I'm gonna ask him about it later, but that kinda sucks.

[Kevin Matchstick]

Man, I'm leaning. Long time Verizon customer who is considering a jump to Sprint. But...this phone looks pretty tasty. Was thinking about the Eris as well. I'm such a sucker. Certainly annoyed that Verizon has different pricing for txting. I like that 'ol Sprint has the all inclusive packages. Anyway, I'm getting close to convincing myself.

[Jake]

I'm not too swift in the differences between the Droid and the Eris other than the Eris is slightly more underpowered, but either way, yeah it's great. I've been fooling around with it under different circumstances so that I can gauge the battery power - it's pretty much like I had to do with the Treo, just trying different uses so that I'll know what to expect.

Luckily my mp3 player crapped out on me yesterday morning while I was at about 75% battery power, so I used the lovely Slacker Radio app for 20 minutes waiting/riding the bus, and then 45 minutes yesterday afternoon doing cardio at the gym. When I got home at around 6:00, it registered at 15% left, and this is with intermittent surfing/texting/screwing around with the now-functioning-but-possibly-not-once-it-goes-feral-again camera. No complaints, really, it's just as good with battery power if not better than the Treo.

[gravedigger]

That bug with the camera is the weirdest thing ever. Are there any programmers here who can explain it? Why would the auto-focus function be tied to a timestamp?

[dontEATnachos]

Well, I saw this comment on Gizmodo and as a programmer it seems like a fairly reasonable explanation:

I am a programmer and I think I can explain this bug.

Autofocus is probably choosing to sample the scene X times a second or something. To do this, it would read the system clock to determine how much time has passed to see if it should take a new sample. This clock would measure time in milliseconds, and the result here is probably stored in a long integer.

A long integer can have a value from −2,147,483,648 to 2,147,483,647. If you multiply 1000 milliseconds in a second, by 60 seconds in a minute, by 60 minutes in an hour by 24 hours in a day, you get 86400000 milliseconds in a day. And if you then divide 2,147,483,647 by this, you get 24.85.

The problem would likely occur when the millisecond timer goes negative. Their algorithm probably can't handle that, and either fails to take several samples as needed, or takes too many too rapidly.

At least, that's my best guess. I can't see any other reason to use a timer, and the timeframe for the rollover there being so close to their quoted time seems too unlikely to be a coincidence

[MoonBaseNick]

I wonder how much was paid to George Lucas so they can use the name Droid...

[kungfumonkeyMike]

Originally Posted by dontEATnachos

Well, I saw this comment on Gizmodo and as a programmer it seems like a fairly reasonable explanation:

Ah, that makes a lot of sense.

I had been wondering if they were using a random number generator dependent on time that was somehow causing something screwy to happen every 24.5 days, but I couldn't quite piece together exactly how that might arise (the 24.5 day cycle). Interesting!

[Ray Abed]

The battery power on the DROID is insane. I haven't had to recharge for a good day and a half with just casual calling. And that's when my battery's been down to maybe 30% (I tend to recharge when it's around this mark early in the morning).

[dontEATnachos]

Man, I'd go crazy if I had to charge my phone that often.

[Jake]

Again, I think it just comes with the territory when you have a smartphone. I had to charge my Treo every fucking day. I loved the phone, but that was the worst.

[Ray Abed]

Yeah, I think a day and a half is pretty amazing considering all of the power and memory built in this phone. Even when I had my Samsung Flip-Shot, I was recharging the bugger at least every couple of days out of habit.

[The LD]

I wish the battery was as good as the iPhone, but I suppose that's the screen and the always-connected nature of the thing. It's still one hell of a device.

Oh, and if you guys uninstall Advanced Task Manager, prepare to see your phone speed way up. Apparently, that thing is a processor hog.

Has anyone tried OpenHome? I'm tempted to give it a crack, but I don't want to go putting too much crap on such a beautiful device

[Jake]

Advanced Task Killer? Crazy. Just uninstalled it, we'll see. Also, FUCK THIS SCREEN GETS SO DIRTY.

[The LD]

Yeah, I think that's the one. I can't remember, since I uninstalled it a while back now.

Speaking of the screen, I have yet to change from the default wallpaper. Does that make me weird? I just think it's pretty much perfect.

[dontEATnachos]

Yes, that is a bit weird. Your phone's background should always be a picture of a horse. Unless that's the droid's default wallpaper in which case that's awesome.

[Ray Abed]

I guess I'm weird, too, The LD. Haven't changed the wallpaper either.

[Jake]

I got bored and dicked around with some of the programs and found a bunch of cool wallpapers, but eh. I change that stuff like I change underwear*.



*every month or two, or until I find one that I like more than the current one.