Two OMAP 3430 Phones: Nokia N900 and Motorola Droid
by Brian Klug on June 10, 2010 9:29 PM EST- Posted in
- Smartphones
- N900
- Maemo
- Motorola Droid
- Droid
- MeeGo
- Android
- Mobile
Motorola Droid - Impressively Thin
For Motorola, the Droid was a “Hail Mary” launch of a phone. Before launch, many had written off the handset maker as an abject failure. It was important for Motorola to go big - with the largest carrier, the latest Android software, and the most impressive spec sheet - or go home and wait for the company to be sold off in pieces. Given that this nightmare scenario never played out for Motorola, it’s fair to call the hardware a definite success.
At first glance, the Droid is strikingly utilitarian - it’s an unabashedly square, no nonsense, masculine style. At front is the glass-topped 3.7” 854x480, 265ppi screen, (which we’ll talk more about later), and around it is a narrow, seamless bezel. At its bottom are the four capacitive android buttons common to Android phones. There’s a small detent at the bottom where the slider meets the base packing the keyboard. Quite possibly, this is possibly Motorola’s subtle riff on the G1’s much maligned “chin.” Just a few millimeters off center on that chin lies the microphone. What’s interesting is that at right is the Verizon name and swoosh, instead of somewhere around the screen where it would’ve shaven precious space away from the screen. This is definitely a nod in the right direction, guys, it’s phone first - carrier second.
The Droid is thin - impressively thin for packing a hardware keyboard. But what’s most impressive is that it manages to stay thin and contemporary without feeling cheap and flimsy. In fact, most of the phone is metal, and you can feel it in the Motorola Droid’s heft - you won’t forget it’s in your pocket. Just tapping on the exterior, there’s very little if any flexing anywhere. The slider refuses to rotate or wobble when the keyboard is exposed, and there isn’t flexing or plastic squeaking as you get it open. The travel mechanism has a notable start and stop detent, keeping the phone open or shut with a reassuringly snug - but not impossibly stiff - snap. There’s no spring assist to the slider, so you have to push to open and close the keyboard, but that’s hardly a negative. What’s also superb is that there’s no clearance between the keyboard and screen assembly when closed, I couldn’t even get a fingernail inside.
Facebook
Twitter
RSS
68 Comments
View All Comments
Fri13 - Sunday, June 20, 2010 - link
Symbian is server-client architectured operating system. Symbian has EKA2 microkernel + servers (modules). But Symbian is not at same time _just_ the operating system. It has other features (like libraries and so on) as well what does not belong to the actual OS.Fact is that Symbian really is open source.
But in other hand, the Android is not the operating system. It is a software system. The Linux is the operating system in the Android. Linux is monolithic kernel. Monolithic kernel is exactly same thing as operating system. It is the oldest (actually original) OS architecture. Server-client and layered architectures were developed almost few decades after the monolithic because there was demand to get OS architecture what is in theory more secure and more stable, but slower.
Symbian is licensed under EPL. While Linux OS is licensed under GPLv2 (only).
Both licenses are aproofed by the OSI and FSF. So both OS's are Libre software.
Android is software system what has multple different licensed software in it. The Linux OS in it is the GPLv2 (what can not be changed) and the distributor itself can use as well closed source software if the license allows. Usually this means that the software platforms or the softwares what are responsible for user interface can be with different license than F/OSS license.
By the facts, it is not true at all to say that "Android is not F/OSS operating system". Because a) Linux kernel is the operating system in Android. Android is just one distribution of the Linux. b) When talking about the operating systems and android, if wanted to be very wide speaking by terms, then Android is totally F/OSS.
numberoneoppa - Thursday, June 10, 2010 - link
Great article, Brian. I learned a lot. =)legoman666 - Thursday, June 10, 2010 - link
I love my N900 :D I bought it last November, right when it was first released. I had a N810 at the time, so I was excited to get the next iteration. With PR1.2 and a modest overclock to 800mhz, it scores ~12000ms on the sunspider javascript benchmark, which is on par with the HTC Incredible and the Nexus 1.I didn't have to get t-mobile, as my local carrier, Cincinnati Bell, uses the same 3g frequencies as T-mobile. I get blazing fast speeds of 3mb/s.
As Brian said in the review, the Skype integration is excellent. It even tells you how much credit you have remaining and the call cost at the end of the call. (And I can make video calls over 3g, take that iPhone)
topsecret - Thursday, June 10, 2010 - link
You should test the N900 with it running meego.Talcite - Friday, June 11, 2010 - link
Nokia doesn't plan to port meego to the N900.CityBlue - Friday, June 11, 2010 - link
Yes they do plan to port MeeGo to the N900 - in fact, the N900 is the primary development platform for MeeGo so not making it available in one form or another would be utterly ridiculous.What Nokia have said is that the version of MeeGo that will be made available for the N900 will not be officially supported, which basically means you can't go running to Nokia Care when you find a bug. Since I can't believe anyone does this even with a supported OS, the lack of Nokia Care is no great loss - you'll still have a very large and committed community to fall back on for help.
So in brief: Yes, MeeGo *IS* coming to the N900 - whether you install it or not is your choice.
jed22281 - Friday, June 11, 2010 - link
Yup, exactly what cityblue said.Brian needs to clarify this in his article.
There'll be plenty of "unofficial" support for meego on n900
tbutler - Wednesday, June 23, 2010 - link
...sorry, those airquotes have some very painful memories for those of us who lived through the 770 era. When 'unofficial' support meant a kludged-together hack.Brian Klug - Friday, June 11, 2010 - link
Thanks for the clarification CityBlue, I'll definitely update. I wrote some of this partially when support wasn't fully understood.-Brian
topsecret - Friday, June 11, 2010 - link
"the Motorola Droid remains the flagship of Android phones that come with a hardware keyboard"I dunno, the samsung moment is a pretty nice phone.