Droid Reviewed

Written by Pat's Papers | Sunday, 8 November 2009 7:57 PM

Walt Mossberg of the Wall Street Journal has been playing with Motorola’s new smart-phone all week and he’s impressed - sort of. Mossberg writes that while the Droid, which operates using Google’s Android system, will be a welcome upgrade for Verizon customers seeking a more savvy smart-phone, overall there are some glitches. The high-resolution screen and camera are an improvement over what you’ll find on an iPhone but the comparative lack of apps, the Droid’s weight and its awkward keyboard keep Mossberg from giving a confident two thumbs up.

The New York Times publishes David Pogue’s Droid review this morning. He says it’s not an iPhone killer, but it is a “killer phone.” And Pogue makes a push this morning to introduce a new term to the public. He thinks the new generic name for this breed of phone should be “app phone.”

So should Apple be worried? No, says the Journal. It’s the makers of BlackBerry that should be. The paper says that the Droid’s Friday launch “signals the opening of a new front in the smart-phone war.” Blackberry’s lack of a good Internet browser wasn’t a problem when the iPhone was the only other game in town. But now that the playing field is widening the smart-phone is “in danger of becoming the AOL of the mobile-device market.”