- Mar 18, 2010
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Unthinkable - ‘Droid 2’: no keyboard, even better Android OS
?Droid 2?: no keyboard, even better Android OS
The touchscreen smartphone world continues to be divided almost religiously between touch-only models and those with physical keyboards, and many phonemakers have played it safe, offering screen and Qwerty keyboard even at the expense of some bulk. However, HTC and Motorola are both pushing Android models for both sides, and details are surfacing of a Droid variant that will do away with the keyboard.
Motorola already has one touch-only Android model, the Cliq, but that is relatively low end, so the ?Droid 2?, which is sometimes referred to by the original Droid?s codename, Sholes, is really meant to go up against the BlackBerry, targeting the business/consumer crossover territory of its sister device. As the new product won?t arrive until late in the first quarter of 2010, it will be able to take advantage of the latest in Android OSs, release 2.1 ? even before some vendors have upgraded to 2.0.
This shows Motorola trying to stay ahead of the Google OS release curve, associating the benefits of the updated software platform ? such as better media and graphics support in both 2.0 and 2.1 ? with its own handsets. By contrast, Sony Ericsson was forced to launch Rachael with the older Donut version, despite saying it was inadequate for some high end media apps, and Samsung may not update its Galaxy to 2.0 for some months either.
As well as the shiny new OS, Droid 2 will have the same sized screen as Droid 1, at 3.7-inches, and, it seems, the same highly Google-dominated user interface, rather than the socially geared Motoblur of the Cliq. Other features will include 5-megapixel camera ? still no sign of a really cutting edge photo phone from Motorola ? FM radio and HDMI port.
The initial launch market should be the US, with Verizon Wireless, but as Motorola has had some success in getting the Droid into European and other markets, labelled as the Milestone, it is targeting even wider distribution for Droid 2. This is partly because physical keyboard phones are less popular outside north America, so the touch-only version could get bigger uptake. Also, this will be the highest spec?d phone yet to be launched in China by Motorola, and is likely to be carried, in CDMA2000 and W-CDMA variants, by China Mobile and China Telecom. Motorola has promised about 12 Android models, plus many low cost gadgets, for China in 2010, and it looks as though Droid 2 could kick these off.
?Droid 2?: no keyboard, even better Android OS
The touchscreen smartphone world continues to be divided almost religiously between touch-only models and those with physical keyboards, and many phonemakers have played it safe, offering screen and Qwerty keyboard even at the expense of some bulk. However, HTC and Motorola are both pushing Android models for both sides, and details are surfacing of a Droid variant that will do away with the keyboard.
Motorola already has one touch-only Android model, the Cliq, but that is relatively low end, so the ?Droid 2?, which is sometimes referred to by the original Droid?s codename, Sholes, is really meant to go up against the BlackBerry, targeting the business/consumer crossover territory of its sister device. As the new product won?t arrive until late in the first quarter of 2010, it will be able to take advantage of the latest in Android OSs, release 2.1 ? even before some vendors have upgraded to 2.0.
This shows Motorola trying to stay ahead of the Google OS release curve, associating the benefits of the updated software platform ? such as better media and graphics support in both 2.0 and 2.1 ? with its own handsets. By contrast, Sony Ericsson was forced to launch Rachael with the older Donut version, despite saying it was inadequate for some high end media apps, and Samsung may not update its Galaxy to 2.0 for some months either.
As well as the shiny new OS, Droid 2 will have the same sized screen as Droid 1, at 3.7-inches, and, it seems, the same highly Google-dominated user interface, rather than the socially geared Motoblur of the Cliq. Other features will include 5-megapixel camera ? still no sign of a really cutting edge photo phone from Motorola ? FM radio and HDMI port.
The initial launch market should be the US, with Verizon Wireless, but as Motorola has had some success in getting the Droid into European and other markets, labelled as the Milestone, it is targeting even wider distribution for Droid 2. This is partly because physical keyboard phones are less popular outside north America, so the touch-only version could get bigger uptake. Also, this will be the highest spec?d phone yet to be launched in China by Motorola, and is likely to be carried, in CDMA2000 and W-CDMA variants, by China Mobile and China Telecom. Motorola has promised about 12 Android models, plus many low cost gadgets, for China in 2010, and it looks as though Droid 2 could kick these off.
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