Motorola Droid: hands-free GPS features in first Google Android 2.0 phone - SiteTalkZone

dazzler143 · 10-31-2009, 10:52 PM

The first cellphone based on version 2.0 of Google’s Android operating system, the Motorola Droid, has been released in the US, to rave reviews.

A signature feature of Android 2.0 is a new version of Google Maps with voice-enabled turn-by-turn directions - something that would be apprecated here come Sunday, when the new cellphone law kicks in.

Motorola builds on this feature by supplying an optional car mount kit, which allows the Droid to sit on your dashboard like a conventional GPS unit.

The Droid is exclusive to Verizon Wireless, the US carrier part-owned by Vodafone.

Motorola has previously told NBR it’s committed to releasing Android-based phones in New Zealand, but Vodafone had no immediate word on local release. (The Droid released in the US is CDMA, rather than the W-CDMA used by Vodafone and Telecom for their 3G networks here, but a W-CDMA version is expected.)

Although LG, Sony-Ericisson and others have Android models on the way, the sole Google phone on the local market remains the HTC Magic, sold through Vodafone (read NBR's review here).

Combining a roomy 3.7-inch touchscreen with a slide-down Qwerty keyboard, the Droid is one big phone (see full tech specs here).

And it has big expectations on its shoulders.

Certainly, Motorola needs another hit.

The company that originally invented the cellphone got its lunch eaten by Nokia and others - only to stage a comeback mid-decade with the Razr. But the flip quickly turned to a flop as one-piece and touchscreen phones took over.

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