Droid to be Verizon’s Android Product Line — Not a Single Phone
A funny thing happened to Android on its way to Verizon– it became yet another product line. Big Red is pushing the Droid campaign everywhere, and word is coming out that Droid is Verizon’s Android product line. Droid was previously thought to be the phone that Verizon is set to unveil in a few days, otherwise known as the Motorola Sholes.
A little birdie had already told me that Verizon’s upcoming Android phone would not be called the Droid, but I was sworn to secrecy. Engadget is reporting that Droid will in fact be Verizon’s line of phones based on Android, and the line will be comprised of handsets from multiple OEMs. The HTC Desire is reported to join the Droid line as the HTC Eris as early as Nov. 6. This would put the Eris debuting right behind the Sholes, although it’s not known what Big Red will be officially calling either handset.
If this Droid product line turns out to be real, it begins to make sense why Verizon is pushing this mystery “Droid Does” campaign. They can keep cherry-picking Android handsets to augment the line as they wish. That loud ripping sound you hear is the sound of the Android platform being further fragmented. It also begins to makes sense why HTC needs to start their own brand campaign.
Image courtesy gdgt
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hopefully when the android UI catches up with webOS/iphone then manufactures won’t feel the need to slap their own UI’s on top of it
although I’m not sure if HTC could get passed their own ego long enough to allow that happen
Feel the need? How about giving owners the option to customize at their whim? That’s just good business sense. I own an Android phone and the Pre and every single day wish I could customize my Pre home screen like the HTC Hero.
we all know your an Android fanboy James, you always ride the bandwagon of the latest trend. we also know as of late you have become anti-Palm, showcased in this thread by mentioning the Pre’s shortcoming yet not mentioning the iPhone has the exact same shortcoming.
it still remains, the Androids default UI is horrible. every single reviewer i have ever seen from the G1 & on has mentioned that. it’s also the reason why HTC feels the need to skin it. HTC is not doing it to help the consumer “customize”, they are doing it to make up for Googles lousy UI team.
tell me something, in your podcasts why do you insult WinMo getting customize UI’s by 3rd party manufactures claiming it will “confuse” the public yet praise it when the EXACT samething happens for Android devices?
you are so pro Android lately you have lost all objectiveness.
I see WinMo much differently than Android. Android is customizable, but it’s the base OS that provides for an environment that is totally driven by finger control. It is also Android that provides the use of widgets for user customization.
WinMo on the other hand is still a stylus-driven OS. Even with HTC’s TouchFlo 3D, once you get past the home screens you are still faced with an aging interface that cannot be manipulated by fingertip. I see that as a big difference from Android, and I hope MS addresses that with WM7.
That’s not just my take on WinMo 6.5 either, I’ve read several reviews from WM enthusiasts who say exactly the same thing.
i own an Android device & have to agree, the UI is really lousy. the Pre/iPhone are absolutely lightyears beyond Android. i have also used Sense & am not impressed by it either, it just feels “sloppy” like it was designed by PC-centric users. the only reason i picked Android over the other 2 top competitors was because i have the most belief in their future. iPhone sales are rather poor in the worldwide market (not nearly as well supported oversea’s where i live as in the states) & they have a Nazi like grip on their ecosystem. Palm clearly outperformed the iPhones overly simplistic UI, but i am not confident in their future. i am just hoping for the day Androids default UI is good enough that other companies wont put their even uglier UI’s on top of it.
i dont come to this website as often as i used to. a long time ago i used to think Kevin was the problem, but clearly its James. Kevin outclasses & outwrites James on every level, a much more classy intelligent guy. between James bias & quite bizarre internet outrages where he insults his own readers its just becoming too much. maybe you should look at why your rankings are so low, why barely anyone ever responds to your topics anymore, & how clearly its no secret that Om is not pleased by your websites performance..
I am truly sorry that you feel I have lost my objectiveness over Android. I own an Android phone (G1), a Palm Pre, BlackBerry Storm and an iPhone 3G. The phone I choose to use for my everyday phone is the Palm Pre. Not the Android phone, not the iPhone and not the Storm. I like WebOS and the way it integrates my online information and networks.
I like the G1 for different reasons, just as I liked the Hero when I was trying it out. Like the Pre, Android is written from the ground up to be totally finger driven, and that is important to me. I think it has a bright future, but as is always the case with smartphones it usually comes down to a given phone and how an OS is implemented. I’ll continue to evaluate each phone as I try it on that basis.
I am also sorry to hear that you feel I insult the readers with “bizarre internet outrages”, but I must honestly confess I haven’t a clue when those have occurred. If something I comment comes off as such I can assure you that has never been my intent. I’d be very interested if you could point some out to me for my own education.
As for our rankings being low, I’m at a total loss why you would think that. I can assure you that is not the case, we are widely read and referred to as much today as we have ever been.
One thing I can personally guarantee you, I have always and will always tell it like I see it where mobile technology is concerned. If I like something I will share that, and the same for things I don’t like. I have been told that’s what brings many people here every day. It’s the only way I know to work.
Don’t be too sorry, JK! Nice measured response to a needlessly vitriolic comment. Please keep up the good work. I’m a Windows Mobile dead-ender (well, maybe not that extreme…) and I still enjoy reading what both you and Kevin have to say. I’ve been visiting your site for years and imagine I will be for years to come.
Well, i don’t see any particular bias in what James said. He’s just saying that he thinks android might be headed towards what he (and apparently others) thinks is a fragmented ‘ecosystem’ like winmo. That seems like a valid thought to me.
However, there are 2 kinds of customers: those who care about their OS and those who don’t. Those who care will, of course, research their phone purchases to know what they are getting. Those who don’t care will likely buy something based on marketing and shininess. The OS won’t matter for the 2nd group as long as they can transfer their contacts to their next shiny phone. The 1st group will know what they’re getting. So, I don’t think OS fragmentation is such a huge problem as much as a potential annoyance.
Lexington, stop with your whining drivel.
James, keep up the great work!