Motorola's new foray into the world of smartphones, paired with Android, appears to be going quite well. According to initial analysis following up the first weekend of sales, current estimates indicate Motorola has sold at least 100,000 of the new Droid, around half of the total supply that retailers had available. With considerable less hype surrounding it than other phones and a limited presence in stores, that's not a bad figure. It remains to be seen if the device has staying power, which will likely be influenced largely by Google and the Android Market.

Read the whole story

I've heard nothing but good things from people that own one and I've reall enjoyed the limited time I've had playing with one in the store. Android is very slick and I hope they do well with their App marketplace. Time will tell

I really wish phones were made available across all vendors. I use AT&T and I'm pretty happy with them as a service provider, but I would love to check out the Droid. The iPhone doesn't appeal to me in the least bit.

Ah, to have a wireless system like most of the rest of the world. You buy the phone you want (at full retail price, often), then shop around for the wireless provider you want to use. If that provider doesn't meet your needs, you drop them and go down the street to the next provider. Customer service and reliability become the key factors, not the fact that you sold your soul to a particular devil for 2 years and are now stuck with them or face huge early termination fees.

My contract with Verizon expires the 23rd of this month. I was completely ready to make the switch to AT&T and get the iPhone. But now I'm not entirely sure.

There are some things I need to consider about Droid

1) Multimedia support - it's easy to throw a movie onto an iPhone, if the movie was bought using iTunes. However, iTunes doesn't support avi files (does it?) so I can't put my little aXXo movies (of which I have many) onto my iPhone. The chances that Droid could read a movie compressed with DivX are slim, right? But are there other (rippable) formats it would play?

2) Music support - It's easy as hell to move music from iTunes to an iPhone. iTunes is my primary music library software, and it's pretty much everyone else's, too. I don't want to install clunky and annoying new software, have to import my entire iTunes library onto it, just to put music on my phone. Also, the feel of anything but iPod for mobile mp3 playing tends to drive me up the wall.

Answered: It's not terribly difficult to load files from a computer onto the Droid using the provided USB cable, but it's a strictly manual process. Every time you want to add another video or song to the phone, you have to plug it in, locate the file on your computer, and drag and drop. Alternatively, you can upload media using the miniSD card slot. technologyreview.com

GOOD.

3) App support - obviously

4) Misc - will I be able to USB charge it? How is Verizon's 3G nerwork (REALLY)? Will many other people have it for "multiplayer" apps? Will it have a changeable battery? How much will it cost, taking into consideration my 18 month phone upgrade eligibility? Does Verizon's 3G network cost an additional $30 a month just like AT&T?