Motorola Droid Drops Today: Happy Droid Day America!

Motorola Droid Drops Today: Happy Droid Day America!
Author: Eric Everson, Mobile Security Expert

If you’re wondering what all of the buzz is about with words like Droid and Android 2.0 circling about, you might think for a moment that there is a new George Lucas film that hit theaters. To the contrary, Motorola’s much anticipated Droid handset hits Verizon Wireless stores today in America. This is a hallmark handset that comes equipped with Google’s Android 2.0 MOPS (Mobile Operating System) and offers what some believe to be Verizon’s answer to the iPhone.

As the official Droid release email from Verizon promotes, “The phone that makes you feel like a four star general with natural charisma, twelve arms and the power of mind control is here and is ready to serve.” Okay so, they might be overselling it a little bit, but this Droid handset certainly pushes the competitive landscape forward within the mobile industry. Having taken some time to tinker with the handset, the quality that stands out the most in comparison to the iPhone is its ability to handle apps (applications). If you’re used to the lag of opening apps on your iPhone, the Droid will feel like a supersonic blast of Star Wars-like hyper-drive in your palm!

Also notable is the 5MP (mega pixel) camera feature which pushes the idea of the camera phone into new territory. While it might not compare to the rumored 12MP Nokia camera phone that is secretly said to be in development, you’ll certainly notice a difference in picture quality compared to the 3.2MP camera of the iPhone. The Droid has the look and also pushes handset design forward with such features as a touchscreen plus QWERTY slider keyboard to the next level. The Droid also comes out of the box with built-in access to Amazon’s MP3 store.

Compared to the thriving Apple App Store and iTunes platform, the novelty of an Android App Store seemingly falls flat, but in all fairness the Android community is still very young. As third-party mobile content developers continue to see opportunities to embrace this new market, they will likewise be motivated to develop more apps. I see a great opportunity here for Google to flex its creative muscle to answer the competitive advantage that the iPhone already has in place.

As your resident mobile security expert, I would be amiss not to acknowledge the undertone of growing security concerns regarding the Android 2.0 MOPS. Are there mobile security vulnerabilities to come? Of course, but as I’ve noted in the past, nobody in the MOPS industry addresses vulnerabilities as well as the Google team. As we uncover new vulnerabilities throughout the MOPS landscape, the Google team is consistently the fastest and most efficient to respond.

If you’re in the market for a new handset or you’re one of many Verizon customers that has been waiting patiently for a smartphone of this caliber to come along, I say to you Happy Droid Day! May the force be with you!

-Eric Everson “The MobileTech”

Eric Everson is a leader in mobile technologies and is the founder of MyMobiSafe.com. If you would like to contact Eric Everson for interview or with consulting related inquiries contact him directly at EricEverson@Hotmail.com