BTW if you want to know what I want for Christmas, it’s easy. Just go to Audi’s Driver Spotlight contest on Facebook and vote for me every day for the next 5 days until the contest is over! http://apps.facebook.com/driversden/contests/13422/voteable_entries/2006441 (just click Thumbs Up and then Allow – I promise allowing access will not sign you up for anything or give you spyware)

Motorola Droid Picture

I purchased the new Motorola Droid phone the first weekend it came out after 2+ years of desirable smartphone neglect from Verizon. While all the cool kids had their iPhones, all I could do was complain tirelessly about my BlackBerry Pearl, only to purchase and nearly immediately return my BlackBerry Storm POS-brick-that-did-nothing-right-and-was-useless-as-a-phone-or-anything-else-phone. Additionally, the last cool phone Motorola made was the Razor (or is it RAZR?), which was eons ago.

So it was with much skepticism that I picked up the new Motorola Droid Phone. The initial reviews were overwhelmingly positive, but Verizon has had such a solid track record of disappointment I had to experience it to believe it.

And now, I’m a believer. This phone kicks ass!

I’ve spent the past few days trying to think of bad things to say about this phone, and to be honest it’s been a struggle. It works perfectly – no freezing, no bugs, quick response time, etc. Any complaint I could think of was usually just “user error.” Like any phone, there is a bit of a learning curve, especially to get used to the rather tiny buttons on the keyboard. I’ve seen a few reviews wishing that had eliminated the gold arrow pad and just made bigger keys and I probably agree, but that’s a rather minor complaint.

Now for the features that really “WOW” me.

- Easy & impressive integration with Facebook and Gmail contacts. Within seconds of getting the phone, I logged in to Gmail and Facebook. It pulled in all of my Gmail contacts, then updated them with their Facebook Profile pictures and most recent Facebook Status. No need to ever sync my phone with my computer, as everything is pretty much already synced across Google.

- Determination on Verizon’s (and Motorola and Google’s) behalf to make this phone a success. Within less than 2 weeks of launching the phone, they already have a firmware update on the way to address bugs many (including myself) didn’t even know existed. Compare that to the Storm which went months without a very desperately needed firmware update…that is commitment.

- Google Maps with Turn by Turn Navigation – I purchase the Car Mount (which didn’t come with an included charger as advertised and instead cost an added $30, WTF Verizon?). What’s great is I now have a Navigation system that is better than any OEM or Aftermarket In-Car Navigation system because it connects directly to the internet with traffic updates and detours from Google (traffic prediction isn’t all that accurate though). Here is my setup:

Motorola Droid in Car Mount Holder

- Awesome apps – while maybe not as impressive as Apple’s App Store, the Android Market has some pretty damn cool offerings. For instance, the Key Ring app which uses your camera like a bar code scanner to capture your Membership Cards for various places like CVS, BevMo, etc., and can then display them for the cashier to scan, so you don’t have to carry them anymore (please dont steal my BevMo Rewards number, haha)

Key Ring App for Android

Another great app is Pandora – I can connect my phone to my car stereo and have streaming internet radio (something iPhone users probably have trouble with, since their network is so spotty). Also works great for podcasts, especially since this phone comes packed with 16GB of storage space! Check out Google Listen for a good app to find and listen to PodCasts. YouTube is also awesome on this phone…

- The Screen – although the phone is kinda big, its a little larger in size than an iPhone, the screen is extremely high quality and having a big screen like that makes the Google Maps Navigation & YouTube videos all the more useful & enjoyable. I don’t think I’d want a smaller phone, as I’d rather have the big screen, and this still fits in my pocket just fine. Below you can see the screen on this phone is almost bigger than the entire size of my Pearl.

Motorola Droid vs BlackBerry Pearl Size Comparison

- Google Search Bar – this widget on the home screen makes it super easy to search. Anything you want to know, just type it in from the home screen. It also acts as a sort of “desktop” search, because it will search data on the phone like your contacts, files, etc. So if I want to call someone, I can type their name into the Google Search Bar and it will return their contact file – very useful.

I’m sure I’m missing stuff, but at this point, I think you get it. I’d highly recommend you pick one up if you’re on the Verizon Network. It’s intuitive to use, works great, and is an awesome piece of machinery.

The inevitable question is, would I rather have an iPhone? The answer is nuanced, because I still think the iPhone has better apps and possibly a better user interface, but at the same time I think it would really depend on AT&T coverage in your area. I also think the Android Mobile OS will continue to grow rapidly in market share, as Google is basically giving that to any phone manufacturer (Motorola, HTC, etc) and across multiple networks (T-Mobile, Verizon, etc), whereas the iPhone OS will only be on Apple manufactured phones, and for the next year or so still only on the AT&T network. With the HTC Eris (a cheaper but still very capable Verizon Android Phone), as well as slew of other low cost Android Phones on multiple networks, the number of Android users will grow exponentially – and as it grows, more apps will be developed, which will inevitably close the gap between the iPhone App Store & Android Market. And I don’t expect Google to stop innovating and improving the Android OS either, as Google understands the Mobile Web is the future, and the Android System is so tightly integrated with Google Mobile Search that it will provide a huge opportunity in the future.

Finally, I think whether the Droid is an “iPhone Killer” is besides the point – while it may not be “better” than the iPhone, they both have their relative strengths and weaknesses. I think this is the first smartphone where one can say (with a straight face) that this is a serious iPhone contender (even if it’s not an outright killer).

Please leave me any questions or comments you may have. And sorry for the pictures, it’s really hard to snap a decent photo of an LCD screen…

UPDATE 12-03-09: Thanks to all my new visitors, I appreciate you checking out my blog. Here is a great follow up post by the Silicon Alley Insider today with 10 Things We Love And Hate about the Droid & Eris:

I have an internet blog and everything. In laymen’s terms, that mean’s I’m super fucking awesome.

Word bro, I know the feeling

via my TwitPic…

My favorite one, about smoking lettuce. What a ridiculous argument:

Find the rest of them here on The Gregory Brother’s YouTube Channel. Oh, and here’s mine while I’m at it. I didn’t start using my YouTube channel until recently but its a great way to bookmark your favorite videos and give props to the original authors.

Updated 8-4-09 with the latest episode.

Without further adieu:

Courtesy of:  http://www.businessinsider.com/college-humor-explains-branded-content-clip-2009-5

My favorite part: “Branded content. Webisode. Mobisode. Hybrid. Multiplatform. Hyper-distribution. Integrated. Organic. Social. Viral. Community. CPM. Efficiency. Organic. Beacon. Embeddable. Dina Kaplan. Widget.”

I need to memorize that.

My Pictures on Flickr

Silver B7 Audi A4 with Koni Coilovers

Thanks for looking!

Red Moon Chinese Restaurant in Eden Prairie, MN

Red Moon Chinese Cafe: This Eden Prairie Chinese Restaurant is ran by my friend Ben Kwan, where he is doing some phenonminal social media promotion to get new customers. From a twitter account for the restaurant, mailing list, weekly web specials, and tons of coupons, he’s using lots of free tools to get more visitors to his restaurant. A local FOX news even covered his social media efforts and showcased how he is really doing something innovative in a time when fewer people are dining out. I’ve given him a few pointers to become more SEO friendly, so I’m looking forward to seeing some updates to the site in the near future!

Interface Load Cells

Interface, Inc: Based in Scottsdale, they are the world’s largest producer of Load Cells. My girlfriends’ dad is the President and they recently hired a new webmaster to make the site more search friendly. If you don’t know what load cells are, they are instruments that measure how much pressure something can take before breaking, and they’re used on cars, airplanes, and all sorts of things for strength testing – really important stuff!

Current Business, Technology, and Advertising News at Nobosh.com

Nobosh.com: My friend Brett runs this site, it’s a really awesome site that works like a news aggregator to pick out the most current business, technology, and advertising news (my 3 favorite subjects!) from a variety of online publications and arranges them in a useful and exciting format. Please check out it, go register, and then you can review articles as bosh (non-sense) or nobosh (no-non-sense).

Do you have a site that is pretty cool and want it featured in a blog post? Hit me up and I’d be glad to take a look.