Motorola Droid vs. Apple iPhone

Motorola Droid vs. Apple iPhone: So the Motorola Droid – the ‘Google phone’ we’ve all been waiting for – is finally here and ready to take on the undisputed king of the hill, Apple’s iPhone.

Thankfully, price watcher BillShrink has already declared that the end cost of usage for both the iPhone and the Motorola Droid, over two years, would be the same: approximately $2800-$3800, depending on your tariff plan. Keeping that in mind, the only thing left to compare between the two are the phone’s functions itself.

A lot of websites have started the comparisons, so here’s a quick round-up for your benefit.

Windows 7 Review

Over time, any Windows user is sure to find their documents, music and videos scattered all over their computer. Earlier versions of Windows provided users with the facility to relocate their personal folders, but were restricted to just one folder for documents on one partition. Often, people do not want to clutter their Windows partition, and chose to store their documents elsewhere, usually without pointing their document folder locations. Furthermore you were stuck with the categories of Music, Pictures, Videos,and Documents that Microsoft decided you needed. Some might like a dedicated folder for their Music Videos rather than clubbing them with their Music, or Videos folder, for example.

In Windows 7 this entire concept has been revamped with a new system called Libraries which allows you to create aggregations of similar content which may be located in different partitions or even different computers!

Imagine a scenario where you have a collection of eBooks in a folder on your D: drive, your personal documents in your "Documents" folder, and downloaded documents in a folder like "C:DownloadsDocuments". Here a single Documents Library could be created (one is available by default in Windows 7) which could then include these locations. You could even include any documents you have in folders at external locations such as a network share, a pendrive or an external hard disk.

First Google Android netbook ships with Firefox, not Chrome!

A few days before the launch of Windows 7, Acer has released the first netbook to ship with the Google Android operating system. And a juicy tidbit has come out of an early review: Android comes with Mozilla Firefox for Web browsing, not Google’s own Chrome browser or the Android browser that comes on mobile phones.

Google has previously announced its intentions to get into the netbook game with Chrome OS, but with Android’s ready availability, it was always going to be first onto machines. Acer had said that it wanted to get Android onto its netbooks soon, and last week, the company launched the popular 10-inch AOD250 mini-laptop for this purpose. Full specifications and features can be found here.

However, the AOD250 isn’t solely an Android device. Acer has included the option of dual-booting into Windows XP – a much-needed option, according to a review of the new system by PC Mag.

iPod Nano

The new Nano is very sleek and much lighter than the previous gen widescreen Nano. Of course there is a newer version than the one we tested that also features a video camera but we’ll be testing that next month in the magazine, since it reached us late for this test. But on to this Nano – it’s cute with a nice curved profile. It’s long but very slim – perfect for those who want something feature-rich and with a screen while working out or jogging, since it won’t weight down your pocket. Its screen is good, although the text font doesn’t look as crisp as the iPod Classic or the iPod Touch. The clickwheel is still going strong and although it’s not the best for menu navigation it works quite well and is pretty accurate.

Apple iPhone 3G

Apple’s design sense has always been splendid; the iPhone 3G doesn’t break conformity. The first time you look at it; you’ll think iPod Touch on a high-fat diet. It’s better looking than its predecessor (the iPhone 2G). The black model we received was beautifully finished; thankfully the rear resists normal smudging and scratches. It’s not a very thick device but feels large to hold; although with a 3.5-inch screen this isn’t exactly a design flaw. Build quality is excellent. Quality of buttons and switches on the device are top-class. Even the SIM tray fits flush; attention to detailing is very good.

The buttons on the sides, top and the headphone jack are chromed, and the black bezel and chrome trim add further visual appeal. Apple’s menu system is excellent with the single main menu button being perfectly functional. The Apple iPhone 3G is appeal lies in its blatantly simple and usable interface and the sheer joy and funkiness of a touch and finger swipe navigation system that works flawlessly. The proximity sensor and low-light sensor work flawlessly.

The Apple iPhone 3G menus work well, but the on-screen keypad is a little small and you will make a few incorrect key taps for a month or so, which won’t please SMS junkies. The phones number pad is huge though; and you’d be a clod to goof up dialling numbers. SMS’ sent and received to and from a single number show up as a single entry with the last message exchanged as a preview; the rest of the messages are displayed in small green conversation boxes that become visible on selecting the relevant entry; a novel concept that takes getting used to. There is still no way to delete or select multiple messages. For some, the text entry box may also appear too small for practical use. If you try to edit a message after typing it out; the inbuilt magnifier helps as it magnifies the spot where your finger touches, but cursor navigation within the text body remains a tricky affair. You also cannot save a typed out SMS as a draft, and the inbuilt email option allows you to save multiple email IDs and password information for quick use; though the on-screen keyboard raises its ugly head again to spoil the party.

Nokia's new 8MP N86

Thought the 5MP on the Nokia N97 is enough? Nokia now bests it best with its new 8MP N86.

The Nokia N86 has a large 2.6” OLED screen and in contrast to Nokia N97's total lack of buttons this one has the plenty with the usual 5 button navigation, call / end keys, and menu and clear keys. A dual slide out design unveils even more keys, with the standard numeric keypad, and shorter slide-out with media keys.

With Samsung and LG coming out with phones having 12MP cameras, the 8MP camera may seem like an underplay. However for most people not looking for mobile that doubles as a decent camera, rather that a decent camera that doubles as a phones, this will indeed be impressive. The 8MP camera has Nokia's usual Carl-Zeiss lenses. Additionally it supports auto-focus with dual stage image capture, and a dual Led flash. The camera also supports video capture at VGA resolutions at up to 30fps.

Like the N97 it too comes with a GPS, digital compass, ambient light sensor, and proximity sensor. With almost the same feature set, it is quite a match for the N97, except for it's smaller screen, and lack of touch sensitivity.

With the recent release of the N97, this might just steal some competition away from the bigger beast, especially those attracted by its camera. Either way though the ball's in Nokia's court.