The Droid is Motorola's second attempt at an Android
phone but the first one they've actually gotten right.
More importantly, it's one of the first phones that can
legitimately stand head-to-head with the iPhone -- and
come out ahead in some significant respects.
Like get decent reception! The Droid (Amazon.com: http://xrl.us/MotDroid ) is offered by Verizon in the
United States and enjoys all the benefits of their
extensive network. In our tests around San Francisco
the Droid rarely dropped a call, loaded web pages
quickly, and pulled up navigation screens without an
ounce of hesitation. Overall, network performance
trumped our AT&T iPhone.
Physically the Droid is not much to look at because of
its boxy, angular frame. Its hefty 6-ounce weight
doesn't make it especially pocket-friendly either.
Think of it as The Hulk to the iPhone's Spiderman. The
3.7-inch touchscreen display is a shade bigger than the
iPhone 3G S, but it has much higher resolution, with
854 x 440 pixels compared to the iPhone's 480 x 320.
The virtual keyboard is fantastically responsive with
very little input error...
DC wrote:
> Wired
>
> The Droid is Motorola's second attempt at an Android
> phone but the first one they've actually gotten right.
> More importantly, it's one of the first phones that can
> legitimately stand head-to-head with the iPhone -- and
> come out ahead in some significant respects.
>
> Like get decent reception! The Droid (Amazon.com:
> http://xrl.us/MotDroid ) is offered by Verizon in the
> United States and enjoys all the benefits of their
> extensive network. In our tests around San Francisco
> the Droid rarely dropped a call, loaded web pages
> quickly, and pulled up navigation screens without an
> ounce of hesitation. Overall, network performance
> trumped our AT&T iPhone.
>
> Physically the Droid is not much to look at because of
> its boxy, angular frame. Its hefty 6-ounce weight
> doesn't make it especially pocket-friendly either.
> Think of it as The Hulk to the iPhone's Spiderman. The
> 3.7-inch touchscreen display is a shade bigger than the
> iPhone 3G S, but it has much higher resolution, with
> 854 x 440 pixels compared to the iPhone's 480 x 320.
> The virtual keyboard is fantastically responsive with
> very little input error...
>
> Continued: http://xrl.us/MotorolaD
>
>
I thought I'd take the time to add what I know to the above cited review's
information.
As a Droid owner for the past few weeks (and an iPod Touch owner as well as
a former Storm and Storm2 owner), I concur with the points in the above
quoted article. It is a fantastic device.
It has by far the fastest internet access I've seen on any of these devices
and my experience is that the Droid, on radio, is far faster than the Storm
2 on wifi for internet access. In that respect, the review understates the
Droid's abilities on internet access. I haven't done the comparison, but my
feeling is that the Droid will beat out the iPhone/Touch in this regard as
well, though perhaps not by as much of a margin.
Its built-in Google Maps GPS system compares very favorably with the Storm
with the $80 extra Garmin Mobile app installed. I would say comparable, not
particularly 'better'.
I like its physical appearance, being more 'down-to-business' appearing than
'toy-like'. However I do prefer the Storm's physical design in terms of its
ergonomic feel in hand, and it will always be hard for any device to beat
the iPhone in physical design, except that given they've chosen to put a
physical keyboard in the Droid, that's a hard comparison to make. I, for
one, never use it and would prefer it be gone and the thickness reduced, but
many people like those physical keyboards and the Droid's works very well,
imho. Of course, I think the ability of both the Storm and the Droid to
allow battery replacement is a big plus that somehow iPhone users seem to
either not mind, or avoid discussing.
On the reality side, however, my negative experiences include the following.
1. Motorola still (even with its newest firmware upgrade designed to 'fix'
this) doesn't get its device to maintain bluetooth connection to my car's
built-in hands-free system. The phonebook and all that stuff trnasfers
initially just fine, and that's good. The problem is that the device will
decide suddenly to disconnect itself from the car's system, without any kind
of warning, and you'll find yourself unable to make or receive phone calls
hands-free while you're driving on the highway at 60mph. That's bad. Imho,
this results in a potentially dangerous situation and needs to be addressed
more seriously.
2. The device, not unlike the Storm, will occasionally crash and freeze with
no way to jump-start it without opening everything and pulling the battery.
It does this with no rhyme or reason. What's interesting to me is that, most
of the time the power button acts nearly as a hard-reset button. It shuts
the phone down quickly and restarting the phone is more than 5x faster than
restarting a Storm (which seems interminably long at 5 full minutes). The
Droid restarts in under a minute, maybe 30 seconds though I haven't timed
it. This process seems to clear its memory banks and works very well if a
particular app has frozen. However, the button fails to work at all when the
entire phone itself freezes. Then you need to rely on a battery pull. It
escapes me why both the Storm and the Droid don't include a small, recessed
button (like the type you might push with a paper clip or a pen) to
hard-reset the device when they KNOW their devices freeze and require
battery pulls. This oversight falls under the category of 'Stupid' to me.
3. Occasionally, the emailing system becomes unreliable. It might appear as
if you haven't received any emails for hours but if you turn the device off
and back on, the emails come pouring in. On occasion some Sent emails refuse
to go out and the device might report that it can't get a server connection.
Again, a restart often fixes this. This is a problem one never has with a
Blackberry (unless, of course, the entire BB server crashes, which it does
from time-to-time).
While these flaws are annoying, and in the case of the failed BT-to-car
connection, can be dangerous, the device is generally excellent in the way
it performs as a phone and an internet browser. Its internet browsing
capability is by far my favorite of all the three devices and its phone
capabilities stand up to the Storm's (I can't compare to an iPhone since I
only have a Touch).
I'm confident that these are "new device" bugs and will be addressed over
time with upgrades. On the plus side of that, Motorola and Verizon seem
intent on getting those upgrades out fast, with one already out only three
weeks after the phone was introduced and another already announced for early
January. Neither the Storm nor the iPhone can compare to that, both having
taken way too much time to get their fixes out when first introduced.
> It has by far the fastest internet access I've seen on any of these devices
> and my experience is that the Droid, on radio, is far faster than the Storm
> 2 on wifi for internet access. In that respect, the review understates the
> Droid's abilities on internet access. I haven't done the comparison, but my
> feeling is that the Droid will beat out the iPhone/Touch in this regard as
> well, though perhaps not by as much of a margin.
The Droid definitely beats the iPhone 3G in that regard. I tested
side-by-side a Droid and my iPhone 3G on a graphics heavy page and the
Droid fully loaded it in about half the time as the iPhone. Both using
cellular 3G (Droid on Verizon and iPhone on AT&T).
> I like its physical appearance, being more 'down-to-business' appearing than
> 'toy-like'. However I do prefer the Storm's physical design in terms of its
> ergonomic feel in hand, and it will always be hard for any device to beat
> the iPhone in physical design, except that given they've chosen to put a
> physical keyboard in the Droid, that's a hard comparison to make. I, for
> one, never use it and would prefer it be gone and the thickness reduced, but
> many people like those physical keyboards and the Droid's works very well,
> imho. Of course, I think the ability of both the Storm and the Droid to
> allow battery replacement is a big plus that somehow iPhone users seem to
> either not mind, or avoid discussing.
IMO, the benefit of the physical keyboard on the Droid is that when
using it in landscape orientation, the keyboard doesn't take up over
half the screen. That's my big complaint about the virtual keyboard on
the iPhone and Storm2.
> On the reality side, however, my negative experiences include the following.
My biggest complaint about the Droid, and why I got the Storm2 instead,
is that there is no built-in way to sync PIM/Organizer data (contacts,
calendars, tasks, memos) with a local-only PC-to-device sync. Could be
via USB, WiFi or BT, I don't care so long as it is LOCAL. As much as I
like and use Google's search engine(s), it is a deal breaker to me that
the only way to sync my personal and/or private data is through an
online service.
My second complaint about the Droid is that Google shoves ads at it.
I'm not talking about ads on web sites or ad supported applications
here. I'm talking about ads on the device's home screen(s). I saw one
when testing a Droid in the store, and it's been confirmed to me
elsewhere that it happens.
--
Jeffrey Kaplan www.gordol.org
Double ROT13 encoded for your protection
"I've always thought that if you're going to sin you might as well go
for one of the +really+ big ones." (Bro. Edward, B5 "Passing Through
Gethsemane")
Jeffrey Kaplan wrote:
> Previously on alt.cellular.verizon, Carl said:
>
>> It has by far the fastest internet access I've seen on any of these
>> devices and my experience is that the Droid, on radio, is far faster
>> than the Storm 2 on wifi for internet access. In that respect, the
>> review understates the Droid's abilities on internet access. I
>> haven't done the comparison, but my feeling is that the Droid will
>> beat out the iPhone/Touch in this regard as well, though perhaps not
>> by as much of a margin.
>
> The Droid definitely beats the iPhone 3G in that regard. I tested
> side-by-side a Droid and my iPhone 3G on a graphics heavy page and the
> Droid fully loaded it in about half the time as the iPhone. Both
> using cellular 3G (Droid on Verizon and iPhone on AT&T).
>
>> I like its physical appearance, being more 'down-to-business'
>> appearing than 'toy-like'. However I do prefer the Storm's physical
>> design in terms of its ergonomic feel in hand, and it will always be
>> hard for any device to beat the iPhone in physical design, except
>> that given they've chosen to put a physical keyboard in the Droid,
>> that's a hard comparison to make. I, for one, never use it and would
>> prefer it be gone and the thickness reduced, but many people like
>> those physical keyboards and the Droid's works very well, imho. Of
>> course, I think the ability of both the Storm and the Droid to allow
>> battery replacement is a big plus that somehow iPhone users seem to
>> either not mind, or avoid discussing.
>
> IMO, the benefit of the physical keyboard on the Droid is that when
> using it in landscape orientation, the keyboard doesn't take up over
> half the screen. That's my big complaint about the virtual keyboard
> on the iPhone and Storm2.
>
>> On the reality side, however, my negative experiences include the
>> following.
>
> My biggest complaint about the Droid, and why I got the Storm2
> instead, is that there is no built-in way to sync PIM/Organizer data
> (contacts, calendars, tasks, memos) with a local-only PC-to-device
> sync. Could be via USB, WiFi or BT, I don't care so long as it is
> LOCAL. As much as I like and use Google's search engine(s), it is a
> deal breaker to me that the only way to sync my personal and/or
> private data is through an online service.
>
> My second complaint about the Droid is that Google shoves ads at it.
> I'm not talking about ads on web sites or ad supported applications
> here. I'm talking about ads on the device's home screen(s). I saw
> one when testing a Droid in the store, and it's been confirmed to me
> elsewhere that it happens.
>
>
Well, thanks for adding the missing test info that I couldn't supply. You
just confirmed my intuition. At the risk of sounding overly-enthusiastic, it
would be hard for me to imagine any device beating the Droid at web page
accessing since it's about as fast as my desktop.
You are right about the ads, and I think that's annoying. But they are small
and pretty unobtrusive. It is the way of the electronics future however.
Even your DVR will soon shove ads at you since people are using them to
fast-forward past commercials, which hurting free broadcast TV terribly (and
is part of the reason why Jay Leno appears on NBC 5 nights a week during
prime-time, 10pm). If you think the Droid is bad, wait until the Google
phone (which will not be subsidized by any provider) comes to be. I'm sure
that will be loaded with them. In defense, the ads do not appear most of
the time, and are very small and usually at the bottom of the screen when
they do pop up.
Good point on the keyboard and screen space not being used up for the
virtual keyboard. That aspect is much better for web browsing.
Now the bad news for you, and the reasons I returned my Storm 2 after a week
after having owned and liked my Storm for a year. Let me start with the
secondary reason: the Storm 2 was annoyingly slow on internet accessing.
Wifi did not help. As a matter of fact, I found little practical difference
in speed when switching between radio and wifi access. But I would have
lived with that but for two things. One was that a friend came over to my
office (which has wifi) with his new Droid. We chose a few URLs fairly
arbitrarily and ran a speed contest. His Droid, on RADIO, not wifi, wiped
the floor with my new Storm 2 on WIFI! He finished loading all the graphics
and text up to two whole minutes faster. That disgruntled me.
But the second issue was the real deal breaker for me. And I don't want to
break your heart over your new purchase, but you should know. Whatever BB
did with their new touchscreen, it will NOT some links on some web pages.
For example, I collect guitars. I use a site called gbase.com to see what
things are available and what they're selling for currently in the real
market. You visit the site, type in the name of a guitar you're looking for
and hit the Search button. Things end right there. The Storm 2 barely knows
the Search button is there. Not good for me. I checked with my wife to see
if she had similar problems with her Storm 2 and she said she did. But she's
not that interested in that level of sophistication, it works well enough
for her, her business is very email dependent (at which the Storm 2 excels
for sure) and opted to keep hers. I have not heard a complaint from her
since except when the BB server went down last week.
I just thought you should be aware of these things. Other than that, I loved
the Storm 2 and actually prefer its ergonomic design, weight and feel. I am
regretful that they didn't do a better job with their wifi and with making
their new screen more perfected.
By the way, the Storm 2 would never load my phonebook onto my car at all,
though it did make the bluetooth connection and maintained it so it was much
more reliable for making and receiving calls in the car. I hd a similar
problem with the original Storm, but eventually some software upgrade,
combined with my dealer's willingness to reflash the car's computer, fixed
it. I couldn't go and ask them to re-program the computer again. I think I
would have crossed aline with that.
And, as I've said, I've had bugs with my new Droid. You choose the flaws
which are acceptable to you. :-)
>> My second complaint about the Droid is that Google shoves ads at it.
>> I'm not talking about ads on web sites or ad supported applications
>> here. I'm talking about ads on the device's home screen(s). I saw
>> one when testing a Droid in the store, and it's been confirmed to me
>> elsewhere that it happens.
....
>You are right about the ads, and I think that's annoying. But they are small
>and pretty unobtrusive. It is the way of the electronics future however.
>Even your DVR will soon shove ads at you since people are using them to
>fast-forward past commercials, which hurting free broadcast TV terribly (and
>is part of the reason why Jay Leno appears on NBC 5 nights a week during
>prime-time, 10pm). If you think the Droid is bad, wait until the Google
>phone (which will not be subsidized by any provider) comes to be. I'm sure
>that will be loaded with them. In defense, the ads do not appear most of
>the time, and are very small and usually at the bottom of the screen when
>they do pop up.
Where exactly do these ads appear? I ask because I have an HTC Droid
Eris (think of it as the Droid's little brother, smaller, cheaper,
perhaps a bit slower, and without a physical keyboard), and haven't
seen any kind of ads appear on the screen (outside of normal web
popops, of course). Are they there all the time, pop up randomly, or
are they part of some specific app that you're running at the time?
>
> 3. Occasionally, the emailing system becomes unreliable. It might appear
> as if you haven't received any emails for hours but if you turn the device
> off and back on, the emails come pouring in. On occasion some Sent emails
> refuse to go out and the device might report that it can't get a server
> connection. Again, a restart often fixes this. This is a problem one never
> has with a Blackberry (unless, of course, the entire BB server crashes,
> which it does from time-to-time).
>
This particular issue concerns me as a prospective Droid owner. From other
forum threads, I gather workarounds for POP3 issues involve setting up a
Gmail account and having your existing POP3 account forwarded to it. I
don't want to do that. Can anyone say whether the email client in the new
(still unofficial but circulating) 2.1 OS now works smoothly with non-Gmail
POP3 accounts?
> Now the bad news for you, and the reasons I returned my Storm 2 after a week
> after having owned and liked my Storm for a year. Let me start with the
> secondary reason: the Storm 2 was annoyingly slow on internet accessing.
It still is.
> Wifi did not help. As a matter of fact, I found little practical difference
> in speed when switching between radio and wifi access. But I would have
I +am+ seeing a speed improvement with WiFi vs 3G. However, the only
WiFi spots I've used are not public hotspots - they've been via my
router or my brother's. Also, it takes several MINUTES for the Storm2
to join the network, rather than the one or two seconds the iPhone
would take. Since I don't have a Droid, I cannot compare that.
> But the second issue was the real deal breaker for me. And I don't want to
> break your heart over your new purchase, but you should know. Whatever BB
Oh, I'm already disgruntled. But I've already decided to live with it
until two things happen: A local-only sync option is available for the
Droid AND I can afford to buy the Droid at full price (since a: I've
already used my no-hassle-device-switch credit and b: I won't yet
qualify for the end-of-contract-upgrade-bribe).
I've been using Treos, the iPhone and now the Storm for some specific
reasons: I want my PDA and phone integrated and I hate Windows Mobile.
With what's available from Verizon, Blackberry was my last choice.
> not that interested in that level of sophistication, it works well enough
> for her, her business is very email dependent (at which the Storm 2 excels
> for sure) and opted to keep hers. I have not heard a complaint from her
> since except when the BB server went down last week.
I hate the way my Storm 2 does email. If she's using BES instead of
BIS, that could explain it. My Storm 2 is a personal device, and the
individual consumer email via BIS sucks.
I also find that the sync is way too "chatty" and the update this
weekend to the "core applications" resulted in my Calendar duplicating
every entry.
> And, as I've said, I've had bugs with my new Droid. You choose the flaws
> which are acceptable to you. :-)
The deal-killer on the Droid for me is the lack of local sync.
--
Jeffrey Kaplan www.gordol.org
Double ROT13 encoded for your protection
"I've always thought that if you're going to sin you might as well go
for one of the +really+ big ones." (Bro. Edward, B5 "Passing Through
Gethsemane")
> 1. Motorola still (even with its newest firmware upgrade designed to 'fix'
> this) doesn't get its device to maintain bluetooth connection to my car's
> built-in hands-free system. The phonebook and all that stuff trnasfers
> initially just fine, and that's good. The problem is that the device will
> decide suddenly to disconnect itself from the car's system, without any
> kind of warning, and you'll find yourself unable to make or receive phone
> calls hands-free while you're driving on the highway at 60mph. That's bad.
> Imho, this results in a potentially dangerous situation and needs to be
> addressed more seriously.
>
..
I was excited about the Droid until two things happened:
1. I tried the QWERTY keyboard and really did not like the feel of it.
2. I discovered that the Android OS does not currently support hands free
dialing over a BT headset.
So, how are you using the Droid in conjunction with your car's BT hands-free
system?
Josh wrote:
>>> My second complaint about the Droid is that Google shoves ads at it.
>>> I'm not talking about ads on web sites or ad supported applications
>>> here. I'm talking about ads on the device's home screen(s). I saw
>>> one when testing a Droid in the store, and it's been confirmed to me
>>> elsewhere that it happens.
> ...
>> You are right about the ads, and I think that's annoying. But they
>> are small and pretty unobtrusive. It is the way of the electronics
>> future however. Even your DVR will soon shove ads at you since
>> people are using them to fast-forward past commercials, which
>> hurting free broadcast TV terribly (and is part of the reason why
>> Jay Leno appears on NBC 5 nights a week during prime-time, 10pm).
>> If you think the Droid is bad, wait until the Google phone (which
>> will not be subsidized by any provider) comes to be. I'm sure that
>> will be loaded with them. In defense, the ads do not appear most of
>> the time, and are very small and usually at the bottom of the screen
>> when they do pop up.
>
> Where exactly do these ads appear? I ask because I have an HTC Droid
> Eris (think of it as the Droid's little brother, smaller, cheaper,
> perhaps a bit slower, and without a physical keyboard), and haven't
> seen any kind of ads appear on the screen (outside of normal web
> popops, of course). Are they there all the time, pop up randomly, or
> are they part of some specific app that you're running at the time?
>
> Josh
>
>
I haven't used the HTC version. Perhaps ads are not part of its scheme but I
somehow doubt that. I think you're just not noticing them. As I said,
they're small and unobtrusive. They almost seem to be part of the display.
They have somehow made them almost subliminal. Once I saw one, I now see
them all.
For example, right now my phone has an app on it called Advanced Task
Killer. Way at the bottom of the screen, right above the 4 'buttons', is a
very small window, with an orange icon of a wrench next to it and it says in
the box, "Use Paypal on your Android phone..." and then "Ads by Admob".
It's so out of the way of the rest of the app information that it could
easily go unnoticed.
Start looking. You'll begin to notice them. Assuming they're done on the HTC
device that is. Maybe the ads are related to the apps and not the device?
Jeffrey Kaplan wrote:
> Previously on alt.cellular.verizon, Carl said:
>
>> Now the bad news for you, and the reasons I returned my Storm 2
>> after a week after having owned and liked my Storm for a year. Let
>> me start with the secondary reason: the Storm 2 was annoyingly slow
>> on internet accessing.
>
> It still is.
>
>> Wifi did not help. As a matter of fact, I found little practical
>> difference in speed when switching between radio and wifi access.
>> But I would have
>
> I +am+ seeing a speed improvement with WiFi vs 3G. However, the only
> WiFi spots I've used are not public hotspots - they've been via my
> router or my brother's. Also, it takes several MINUTES for the Storm2
> to join the network, rather than the one or two seconds the iPhone
> would take. Since I don't have a Droid, I cannot compare that.
>
>> But the second issue was the real deal breaker for me. And I don't
>> want to break your heart over your new purchase, but you should
>> know. Whatever BB
>
> Oh, I'm already disgruntled. But I've already decided to live with it
> until two things happen: A local-only sync option is available for
> the Droid
>
>
Ok, so let me give you the IMPORTANT information I forgot to mention in my
first post to you: There IS a local-only sync option available for the
Droid, though I haven't yet tried it myself.
I sync with MS Outlook, and I mean Calendar, Contacts, Tasks, and Notes.
Right now I do it via the Google 'cloud', but I believe it can now be done
'locally' via USB. I'm satisfied with the operation of the 'cloud' concept,
so I haven't explored the USB method yet. So here goes this little known
secret I'm going to share with you:
There exists a most wonderful little program called Companionlink. You can
find this Droid-saver at http://www.companionlink.com/. You set it up, and
then forget it. The key for me was to learn to not do manual syncs while I
had it set to do automatic ones. When I was doing that, I was getting
duplicate entries in my stuff. It took me awhile to figure out that I just
needed to set the program to sync automatically (I chose once/hour, but
there are other options) and then LEAVE IT ALONE TO DO ITS THING.
And here's the best part for you: I just got information a day or two ago
that they offer a USB-ONLY SYNCING OPTION, which I chose to not add since
things are working well.
The program has a 14 day free-trial. After that, they want a whopping $40
for a program that turns your Droid into a better-operating Storm. The best
$40 I ever spent, imho.
Make sure you download the Companionlink for Google 3.0 and/or the new
Companionlink USB for your Droid, not the others. I would just choose the
latter for you unless it requires the other.
Problem solved. Return your Storm 2. Get a Droid. You can thank me later.
;-)
Victek wrote:
>> 1. Motorola still (even with its newest firmware upgrade designed to
>> 'fix' this) doesn't get its device to maintain bluetooth connection
>> to my car's built-in hands-free system. The phonebook and all that
>> stuff trnasfers initially just fine, and that's good. The problem is
>> that the device will decide suddenly to disconnect itself from the
>> car's system, without any kind of warning, and you'll find yourself
>> unable to make or receive phone calls hands-free while you're
>> driving on the highway at 60mph. That's bad. Imho, this results in a
>> potentially dangerous situation and needs to be addressed more
>> seriously.
> .
> I was excited about the Droid until two things happened:
> 1. I tried the QWERTY keyboard and really did not like the feel of
> it. 2. I discovered that the Android OS does not currently support hands
> free dialing over a BT headset.
>
> So, how are you using the Droid in conjunction with your car's BT
> hands-free system?
>
>
BT headsets do not work because they're relying on the Droid's built-in
voice system, as far as I can figure, and Motorola hasn't gotten this to
work as of yet, this is true. But the Droid does function just fine with my
car's built-in BT system. I can't explain it well because I'm not
knowledgeable enough to explain the dynamics, but from what I can see is
that your BT headset has to connect to the phone and the phone is not
prepared to accept voice commands from it. The car's mic, however, goes
first through the car's BT system, not the phone's. It's the car's BT system
which is accepting and interpreting the commands and then dialing the phone.
It's hard to explain, but I think I'm in the ballpark. I do promise you,
however, that it does work. My phone accepts spoken phone numbers through
the car's system. I don't think I can command it to "Call Jim" directly, but
I first have to command the car to "Phone Book". It then accesses the car's
phone book (which the car has downloaded from the Droid) and then tell it to
"Call Jim".
I think because the phone book was uploaded from the phone into the car
first, the system works.
A lot of 'talking' to explain a little thing, eh? Too wordy, but I think
you'll cull the idea from it...
On Mon, 21 Dec 2009 16:00:09 -0500, "Carl"
<crothman@NOSPAMoptonline.net> wrote:
>Josh wrote:
>> Where exactly do these ads appear? I ask because I have an HTC Droid
>> Eris (think of it as the Droid's little brother, smaller, cheaper,
>> perhaps a bit slower, and without a physical keyboard), and haven't
>> seen any kind of ads appear on the screen (outside of normal web
>> popops, of course). Are they there all the time, pop up randomly, or
>> are they part of some specific app that you're running at the time?
>>
>> Josh
>>
>>
>I haven't used the HTC version. Perhaps ads are not part of its scheme but I
>somehow doubt that. I think you're just not noticing them. As I said,
>they're small and unobtrusive. They almost seem to be part of the display.
>They have somehow made them almost subliminal. Once I saw one, I now see
>them all.
>
>For example, right now my phone has an app on it called Advanced Task
>Killer. Way at the bottom of the screen, right above the 4 'buttons', is a
>very small window, with an orange icon of a wrench next to it and it says in
>the box, "Use Paypal on your Android phone..." and then "Ads by Admob".
>It's so out of the way of the rest of the app information that it could
>easily go unnoticed.
>
>Start looking. You'll begin to notice them. Assuming they're done on the HTC
>device that is. Maybe the ads are related to the apps and not the device?
>
I'm,pretty sure they're part of the apps, not the OS; I have "Free
Advanced Task Manager" (similar to Killer, both have a free and pay
version), and it has an ad bar at the bottom. I assume the pay
version doesn't have ads, but I appreciate the developer giving the
option. I haven't seen any ads outside of apps that I downloaded
knowing that they were ad-supported like that.
In message <glpti5d7ipci17h08i61aat4p4b530a7m3@gordol.org> Jeffrey
Kaplan <nomail@gordol.org> was claimed to have wrote:
>I +am+ seeing a speed improvement with WiFi vs 3G. However, the only
>WiFi spots I've used are not public hotspots - they've been via my
>router or my brother's. Also, it takes several MINUTES for the Storm2
>to join the network, rather than the one or two seconds the iPhone
>would take. Since I don't have a Droid, I cannot compare that.
A lot of this is due to BIS. BB's don't directly access the web, it all
goes through BIS.
Joining a wifi network, for example, is actually a fast process on a BB,
but the BB needs to reconnect to BIS over wifi before the built-in
browser actually uses wifi, and for reasons that aren't entirely clear,
this changeover isn't done immediately.
Interestingly, applications that use TCP directly will be able to
connect even though the "wifi" icon doesn't indicate a wifi connection
yet.
Similarly, if you have high latency between your ISP and your nearest
BIS server, the BB won't be any faster on wifi than on 3G.
> BT headsets do not work because they're relying on the Droid's built-in
> voice system, as far as I can figure, and Motorola hasn't gotten this to
> work as of yet, this is true. But the Droid does function just fine with
> my car's built-in BT system. I can't explain it well because I'm not
> knowledgeable enough to explain the dynamics, but from what I can see is
> that your BT headset has to connect to the phone and the phone is not
> prepared to accept voice commands from it. The car's mic, however, goes
> first through the car's BT system, not the phone's. It's the car's BT
> system which is accepting and interpreting the commands and then dialing
> the phone. It's hard to explain, but I think I'm in the ballpark. I do
> promise you, however, that it does work. My phone accepts spoken phone
> numbers through the car's system. I don't think I can command it to "Call
> Jim" directly, but I first have to command the car to "Phone Book". It
> then accesses the car's phone book (which the car has downloaded from the
> Droid) and then tell it to "Call Jim".
> I think because the phone book was uploaded from the phone into the car
> first, the system works.
>
> A lot of 'talking' to explain a little thing, eh? Too wordy, but I think
> you'll cull the idea from it...
>
..
I got it, thanks. Glad to know that it works in that situation. Hopefully
it will be made to work with headsets eventually too. I would definitely
consider a phone with the Android OS when this gets sorted out.
"Josh" <no_need_to_spam@nobody.org> wrote in message
news:t7rvi59q29ek6196po102ik5fnkku17n0o@4ax.com...
> On Mon, 21 Dec 2009 16:00:09 -0500, "Carl"
> <crothman@NOSPAMoptonline.net> wrote:
>
>>Josh wrote:
>>> Where exactly do these ads appear? I ask because I have an HTC Droid
>>> Eris (think of it as the Droid's little brother, smaller, cheaper,
>>> perhaps a bit slower, and without a physical keyboard), and haven't
>>> seen any kind of ads appear on the screen (outside of normal web
>>> popops, of course). Are they there all the time, pop up randomly, or
>>> are they part of some specific app that you're running at the time?
>>>
>>> Josh
>>>
>>>
>>I haven't used the HTC version. Perhaps ads are not part of its scheme but
>>I
>>somehow doubt that. I think you're just not noticing them. As I said,
>>they're small and unobtrusive. They almost seem to be part of the display.
>>They have somehow made them almost subliminal. Once I saw one, I now see
>>them all.
>>
>>For example, right now my phone has an app on it called Advanced Task
>>Killer. Way at the bottom of the screen, right above the 4 'buttons', is a
>>very small window, with an orange icon of a wrench next to it and it says
>>in
>>the box, "Use Paypal on your Android phone..." and then "Ads by Admob".
>>It's so out of the way of the rest of the app information that it could
>>easily go unnoticed.
>>
>>Start looking. You'll begin to notice them. Assuming they're done on the
>>HTC
>>device that is. Maybe the ads are related to the apps and not the device?
>>
>
> I'm,pretty sure they're part of the apps, not the OS; I have "Free
> Advanced Task Manager" (similar to Killer, both have a free and pay
> version), and it has an ad bar at the bottom. I assume the pay
> version doesn't have ads, but I appreciate the developer giving the
> option. I haven't seen any ads outside of apps that I downloaded
> knowing that they were ad-supported like that.
>
>
You may very well be right. That's the exact program I cited for you. I'll
look a little harder at the next ads I see. Thanks.
> Ok, so let me give you the IMPORTANT information I forgot to mention in my
> first post to you: There IS a local-only sync option available for the
> Droid, though I haven't yet tried it myself.
>
> I sync with MS Outlook, and I mean Calendar, Contacts, Tasks, and Notes.
> Right now I do it via the Google 'cloud', but I believe it can now be done
> 'locally' via USB. I'm satisfied with the operation of the 'cloud' concept,
> so I haven't explored the USB method yet. So here goes this little known
> secret I'm going to share with you:
>
> There exists a most wonderful little program called Companionlink. You can
> find this Droid-saver at http://www.companionlink.com/. You set it up, and
> then forget it. The key for me was to learn to not do manual syncs while I
CompanionLink Wireless goes through the Google cloud, which is exactly
why I did NOT get the Droid.
CompanionLink USB is still not in beta and not even feature-complete
for v1. Just like every other such app I've previously heard about
(I'm looking at you, Mark/Space!) Plus, it has the added detriment of
not using the native database for Calendars, Tasks or Memos. I could
most likely live with that as long as the things that are supposed to
have alarms still work.
--
Jeffrey Kaplan www.gordol.org
Double ROT13 encoded for your protection
Peter's Top 100 Things I'd Do If I Ever Became An Evil Overlord, #149.
Ropes supporting various fixtures will not be tied next to open
windows or staircases, and chandeliers will be hung way at the top of
the ceiling.
Previously on alt.cellular.verizon, DevilsPGD said:
> A lot of this is due to BIS. BB's don't directly access the web, it all
> goes through BIS.
During the recent BIS outage, my web use was unaffected.
> Joining a wifi network, for example, is actually a fast process on a BB,
> but the BB needs to reconnect to BIS over wifi before the built-in
> browser actually uses wifi, and for reasons that aren't entirely clear,
> this changeover isn't done immediately.
Apparently before ANYTHING can see it, as other online apps are
restricted to cellular data until the WiFi indicator goes fully "live".
> Interestingly, applications that use TCP directly will be able to
> connect even though the "wifi" icon doesn't indicate a wifi connection
> yet.
Not from what I've seen.
--
Jeffrey Kaplan www.gordol.org
Double ROT13 encoded for your protection
Peter's Top 100 Things I'd Do If I Ever Became An Evil Overlord, #111.
I will offer oracles the choice of working exclusively for me or being
executed.
In alt.cellular.motorola Carl <crothman@nospamoptonline.net> wrote:
> But the second issue was the real deal breaker for me. And I don't want to
> break your heart over your new purchase, but you should know. Whatever BB
> did with their new touchscreen, it will NOT some links on some web pages.
I have seen some sites where my Blackberry Bold won't click and follow a
link, but if I position the cursor on the link and hit the enter key, it
works. I have also seen sites where Firefox 3.5 on a PC does the same thing.
--
Clarence A Dold - Hidden Valley Lake, CA, USA GPS: 38.8,-122.5
In alt.cellular.motorola Jeffrey Kaplan <nomail@gordol.org> wrote:
> Previously on alt.cellular.verizon, DevilsPGD said:
> > A lot of this is due to BIS. BB's don't directly access the web, it all
> > goes through BIS.
> During the recent BIS outage, my web use was unaffected.
On 12/22, around 5pm PST, I noticed that my Bold would not surf via
WiFi, and the WiFi logo was dim. The status page said it was connected,
and I think ping worked, although I can't remember for sure.
I had been using the Bold at home during the day, but I really don't know
when I last used it. I did not notice it being broken. Then, around five,
I was at someone else's house, and couldn't connect.
When I returned home, I couldn't connect.
Perhaps the BIS outage didn't affect an existing WiFi connection.
The browser will show an IP address assigned to RIM if you check
"whatismyip" or some similar site. the local screen will show your locally
assigned IP. I can't browse to my local addresses, like a printer
interface or router.
Even "WorldPhone" MediaNet wouldn't connect. That is normally cellular
only.
--
Clarence A Dold - Hidden Valley Lake, CA, USA GPS: 38.8,-122.5
In message <0485j55f79baci4tpabldejkpffglf559i@gordol.org> Jeffrey
Kaplan <nomail@gordol.org> was claimed to have wrote:
>Previously on alt.cellular.verizon, DevilsPGD said:
>
>> A lot of this is due to BIS. BB's don't directly access the web, it all
>> goes through BIS.
>
>During the recent BIS outage, my web use was unaffected.
Yeah, that depends on how your browser is configured. I'm speaking
mainly of the defaults (or more specifically, the defaults on my
carrier, these settings can be configured by the carrier)
>> Joining a wifi network, for example, is actually a fast process on a BB,
>> but the BB needs to reconnect to BIS over wifi before the built-in
>> browser actually uses wifi, and for reasons that aren't entirely clear,
>> this changeover isn't done immediately.
>
>Apparently before ANYTHING can see it, as other online apps are
>restricted to cellular data until the WiFi indicator goes fully "live".
If you go into the Connections --> Status dialog, do you see the wifi AP
listed? If so, at least on my device, applications can use TCP
immediately and the connections pass through my firewall.
However, your experience may vary, we're on different carriers and
different device/OSes, and likely different applications.
Jeffrey Kaplan wrote:
> Previously on alt.cellular.verizon, Carl said:
>
>> Ok, so let me give you the IMPORTANT information I forgot to mention
>> in my first post to you: There IS a local-only sync option available
>> for the Droid, though I haven't yet tried it myself.
>>
>> I sync with MS Outlook, and I mean Calendar, Contacts, Tasks, and
>> Notes. Right now I do it via the Google 'cloud', but I believe it
>> can now be done 'locally' via USB. I'm satisfied with the operation
>> of the 'cloud' concept, so I haven't explored the USB method yet.
>> So here goes this little known secret I'm going to share with you:
>>
>> There exists a most wonderful little program called Companionlink.
>> You can find this Droid-saver at http://www.companionlink.com/. You
>> set it up, and then forget it. The key for me was to learn to not do
>> manual syncs while I
>
> CompanionLink Wireless goes through the Google cloud, which is exactly
> why I did NOT get the Droid.
>
> CompanionLink USB is still not in beta and not even feature-complete
> for v1. Just like every other such app I've previously heard about
> (I'm looking at you, Mark/Space!) Plus, it has the added detriment of
> not using the native database for Calendars, Tasks or Memos. I could
> most likely live with that as long as the things that are supposed to
> have alarms still work.
>
>
Yes, you are right regarding companionling google operating throught eh
'cloud' but that is the first thing I said in my post.
However, I believe the USB version is considered out of beta now and is
available for download. I believe it operates the same way as companionlink
for google except no cloud.
Just so you know, Outlook Tasks are synced to the Droid's Calendar, and
Notes are synced to the Droid's address book. However, this does not effect
Outlook except in the case in which you want to enter a Task in your Droid.
As far as I know, you actually can't. But what I do is just put tasks that I
enter into my Droid as untimed (ie All Day) Calendar events. It seems to
make little difference to me. All alarms work just as well.
Notes appear at the top of your Droid calendar, and are distinguished by a
different icon. However, as with Tasks, I don't know of a way to create a
Note on the Droid which will then sync as a Note to Outlook. But, to
qualify, I haven't explored these possibilities yet.
I have a feeling that your needs are much more finicky than mine. I am
thrilled with the operation of Companionlink and just had a wonderful
customer service experience with them- every question being responded to
quickly and accurately. I now have my home computer, office computer, and
Droid syncing together perfectly. I can add info to either of the three and
the same info appears on all three. That's the 'cloud' at work, I
understand. But I still use MS Outlook on both computers with great success.
While I was initially concerned about the 'cloud', because I do have
sensitive information in Outlook and on my Droid, I decided to overcome that
paranoia on my part, just as I do with using a charge card to make purchases
online. Hopefully, I'll never pay a price for it.
Good luck with your choices and I hope they keep working for you.
> However, I believe the USB version is considered out of beta now and is
> available for download. I believe it operates the same way as companionlink
> for google except no cloud.
"On the Android phone:
Install the free CL USB Sync™ (beta) app on your phone."
> Just so you know, Outlook Tasks are synced to the Droid's Calendar, and
> Notes are synced to the Droid's address book. However, this does not effect
> Outlook except in the case in which you want to enter a Task in your Droid.
> As far as I know, you actually can't. But what I do is just put tasks that I
> enter into my Droid as untimed (ie All Day) Calendar events. It seems to
> make little difference to me. All alarms work just as well.
Not "feature complete". Note that their calendar currently only shows
Day View. Note too that Tasks sync to "a custom tasks app".
" * Contacts sync to the built-in address book on the phone
* Calendar events sync to a custom calendar app
* Tasks sync to a custom tasks app
* Notes sync to a custom notes app
Our custom Calendar app shows events in Day view only. Month view and
other scheduling options are coming. Recurring events and exceptions
are supported. Adding and editing recurring events must be done on the
PC."
The above two quotes are taken directly off of the "CompanionLink USB
(for Android)" page.
> I have a feeling that your needs are much more finicky than mine. I am
Quite possibly. What I expect for personal data sync has been
formed by almost ten years of using PalmOS. What I expect for
everything else by a year and a half of iPhone use. (If Verizon had
the Pre instead of Sprint, I might've gotten that.)
> While I was initially concerned about the 'cloud', because I do have
> sensitive information in Outlook and on my Droid, I decided to overcome that
> paranoia on my part, just as I do with using a charge card to make purchases
> online. Hopefully, I'll never pay a price for it.
My "paranoia" over cloud syncing doesn't have anything to do with fear
of a data breach, but rather what the service does with it. Google
compiles and stores information, datamines it and sells it back. THAT
is their core business, not being a search portal or email service, or
cloud-computing host. Those "other" services all feed their core
function of reselling data. The fact that you are not opening your
checkbook for it is irrelevant, you're paying for it via Google
AdWords, Doubleclick.net and now AdMob.
I will gladly use their search services. I will not use their other
services that require me to sync or store my personal data with them.
--
Jeffrey Kaplan www.gordol.org
Double ROT13 encoded for your protection
"If it gets too bad I'll just gnaw it off at the ankle." (Cmdr.
Ivanova, B5 "The Geometry of Shadows")
Previously on alt.cellular.verizon, DevilsPGD said:
> >Apparently before ANYTHING can see it, as other online apps are
> >restricted to cellular data until the WiFi indicator goes fully "live".
> If you go into the Connections --> Status dialog, do you see the wifi AP
> listed? If so, at least on my device, applications can use TCP
> immediately and the connections pass through my firewall.
There is nothing specifically WiFi listed in my Status. The closest is
the IP address which shows the WiFi-assigned address when connected.
The WiFi item in Options does not show WiFi being on for several
seconds, then when exiting and re-entering it will show that it's on,
but not yet connected (shows a '-' for the status).
--
Jeffrey Kaplan www.gordol.org
Double ROT13 encoded for your protection
Peter's Top 100 Things I'd Do If I Ever Became An Evil Overlord, #127.
Prison guards will have their own cantina featuring a wide variety of
tasty treats that will deliver snacks to the guards while on duty. The
guards will also be informed that accepting food or drink from any
other source will result in execution.
In article <btksi5hnqkpnh8jj6b56sjc1e7mubch85f@gordol.org>, Jeffrey Kaplan <nomail@gordol.org> wrote:
>Previously on alt.cellular.verizon, Carl said:
>
>> It has by far the fastest internet access I've seen on any of these devices
>> and my experience is that the Droid, on radio, is far faster than the Storm
>> 2 on wifi for internet access. In that respect, the review understates the
>> Droid's abilities on internet access. I haven't done the comparison, but my
>> feeling is that the Droid will beat out the iPhone/Touch in this regard as
>> well, though perhaps not by as much of a margin.
>
>The Droid definitely beats the iPhone 3G in that regard. I tested
>side-by-side a Droid and my iPhone 3G on a graphics heavy page and the
>Droid fully loaded it in about half the time as the iPhone. Both using
>cellular 3G (Droid on Verizon and iPhone on AT&T).
>
>> I like its physical appearance, being more 'down-to-business' appearing than
>> 'toy-like'. However I do prefer the Storm's physical design in terms of its
>> ergonomic feel in hand, and it will always be hard for any device to beat
>> the iPhone in physical design, except that given they've chosen to put a
>> physical keyboard in the Droid, that's a hard comparison to make. I, for
>> one, never use it and would prefer it be gone and the thickness reduced, but
>> many people like those physical keyboards and the Droid's works very well,
>> imho. Of course, I think the ability of both the Storm and the Droid to
>> allow battery replacement is a big plus that somehow iPhone users seem to
>> either not mind, or avoid discussing.
>
>IMO, the benefit of the physical keyboard on the Droid is that when
>using it in landscape orientation, the keyboard doesn't take up over
>half the screen. That's my big complaint about the virtual keyboard on
>the iPhone and Storm2.
>
>> On the reality side, however, my negative experiences include the following.
>
>My biggest complaint about the Droid, and why I got the Storm2 instead,
>is that there is no built-in way to sync PIM/Organizer data (contacts,
>calendars, tasks, memos) with a local-only PC-to-device sync. Could be
>via USB, WiFi or BT, I don't care so long as it is LOCAL. As much as I
>like and use Google's search engine(s), it is a deal breaker to me that
>the only way to sync my personal and/or private data is through an
>online service.
>
Agreed, major weakness and if you are a small business person without
Exchange, you can't get Outlook into the phone without first sharing your
data with Google.
>My second complaint about the Droid is that Google shoves ads at it.
>I'm not talking about ads on web sites or ad supported applications
>here. I'm talking about ads on the device's home screen(s). I saw one
>when testing a Droid in the store, and it's been confirmed to me
>elsewhere that it happens.
It hasn't happened to me so far(about 3 weeks). My complaint is VPN is dodgey at best and completely fails with other Busybox linux devices which is odd since android is busybox. The email app is almost worthless. I have actually had it drop an account overnight when I wasn't using the phone. The lack of ability to create folders to organize email is also a big draw back but other phones share this problem.
j@fooXX.com wrote:
> Jeffrey Kaplan <nomail@gordol.org> writes:
>
>> My biggest complaint about the Droid, and why I got the Storm2 instead,
>> is that there is no built-in way to sync PIM/Organizer data (contacts,
>> calendars, tasks, memos) with a local-only PC-to-device sync. Could be
>> via USB, WiFi or BT, I don't care so long as it is LOCAL. As much as I
>> like and use Google's search engine(s), it is a deal breaker to me that
>> the only way to sync my personal and/or private data is through an
>> online service.
>
> Curious how is this sync done (I'm thinking specifically of calendar
> sync) with the Blackberry assuming you are BIS rather than being
> served by a BES?
>
The Droid automatically syncs with your Google calendar and gmail
contacts etc.
> My biggest complaint about the Droid, and why I got the Storm2 instead,
> is that there is no built-in way to sync PIM/Organizer data (contacts,
> calendars, tasks, memos) with a local-only PC-to-device sync. Could be
> via USB, WiFi or BT, I don't care so long as it is LOCAL. As much as I
> like and use Google's search engine(s), it is a deal breaker to me that
> the only way to sync my personal and/or private data is through an
> online service.
Curious how is this sync done (I'm thinking specifically of calendar
sync) with the Blackberry assuming you are BIS rather than being
served by a BES?
Previously on alt.cellular.verizon, j@fooXX.com said:
> Curious how is this sync done (I'm thinking specifically of calendar
> sync) with the Blackberry assuming you are BIS rather than being
> served by a BES?
Simple. I plug the Berry into my computer, and click the "Sync"
command in Blackberry Desktop Manager.
--
Jeffrey Kaplan www.gordol.org
Double ROT13 encoded for your protection
Peter's Top 100 Things I'd Do If I Ever Became An Evil Overlord, #206.
When my Legions of Terror park their vehicle to do reconnaissance on
foot, they will be instructed to employ The Club.
Carl wrote:
> DC wrote:
>> Wired
>>
>> The Droid is Motorola's second attempt at an Android
>> phone but the first one they've actually gotten right.
>> More importantly, it's one of the first phones that can
>> legitimately stand head-to-head with the iPhone -- and
>> come out ahead in some significant respects.
>>
>> Like get decent reception! The Droid (Amazon.com:
>> http://xrl.us/MotDroid ) is offered by Verizon in the
>> United States and enjoys all the benefits of their
>> extensive network. In our tests around San Francisco
>> the Droid rarely dropped a call, loaded web pages
>> quickly, and pulled up navigation screens without an
>> ounce of hesitation. Overall, network performance
>> trumped our AT&T iPhone.
>>
>> Physically the Droid is not much to look at because of
>> its boxy, angular frame. Its hefty 6-ounce weight
>> doesn't make it especially pocket-friendly either.
>> Think of it as The Hulk to the iPhone's Spiderman. The
>> 3.7-inch touchscreen display is a shade bigger than the
>> iPhone 3G S, but it has much higher resolution, with
>> 854 x 440 pixels compared to the iPhone's 480 x 320.
>> The virtual keyboard is fantastically responsive with
>> very little input error...
>>
>> Continued: http://xrl.us/MotorolaD
>>
>>
> I thought I'd take the time to add what I know to the above cited
> review's information.
>
> As a Droid owner for the past few weeks (and an iPod Touch owner as
> well as a former Storm and Storm2 owner), I concur with the points in
> the above quoted article. It is a fantastic device.
I bought a Motorola Droid on March 10th, and am still trying to find out
how to put *custom* ringtones on this phone. The Verizon salesman said
that the Droid can use any mp3 file as a ringtone.
On my old LG 8700 (Verizon), all I had to do was create wav or mp3 files
from any source (microphone, VCR tape, Laserdisc, DVD, CD, cassette
tape, etc.) using Audacity, and then use BitPim to convert the file to a
ringtone and load it onto my LG8700 (via the Music Essentials Kit USB
cable. I had 330 custom ringtones on my LG, and used then for both
ringtones and notification alarms in the Calendar. Now, with the
Motorola Droid, I'm stuck with the ringtones that came with the phone
(and a lot of those are crap that I'd never use anyway, and would like
to delete.).
The Motorola Droid Users Guide is useless because it only tells how to
change among the ringtones that are already on the phone. HELP!
I'll call Verizon tomorrow, but I'm pretty sure they won't have a clue.
--
Mac Breck (KoshN)
-------------------------------
"Babylon 5: Crusade" (1999) - "War Zone"
Galen (to Gideon): "I've been penalized before for helping other
people. I've been trying to decide whether or not I should risk it
again."
Yup, it took me a while to find the ringtone thing out ... there are a
couple of ways but the "elegant" one I found in some forum (that I do not
remember which) is as follows:
Hook your Droid to you computer, you will get an USB symbol at the
top left of the screen, pull it down and unmout the SD card. Find the SD
card as an external drive on your computer. Create a Media folder, in that
folder create an Audio folder, in that folder create Alarms, Notifications,
and Ringtones folders. Put you mp3's in the appropriate folders then they
will show up in the Droid folders for these items.
Doug
"Mac Breck" <macthevorlon@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:i8mdnVgbg4c1hgDWnZ2dnUVZ_qednZ2d@supernews.co m...
>
> The Motorola Droid Users Guide is useless because it only tells how to
> change among the ringtones that are already on the phone. HELP!
>
> I'll call Verizon tomorrow, but I'm pretty sure they won't have a clue.
>
> --
"Mac Breck" <macthevorlon@yahoo.com> wrote in
news:i8mdnVgbg4c1hgDWnZ2dnUVZ_qednZ2d@supernews.co m:
> I bought a Motorola Droid on March 10th, and am still trying to find
out
> how to put *custom* ringtones on this phone. The Verizon salesman
said
> that the Droid can use any mp3 file as a ringtone.
>
>
Put the ringtone MP3 file you want on a microSD and plug it into the
phone. Let the Music Player find it on bootup to the card. Highlight
the ringtone MP3 file you want to use as a ringtone in the Music Player.
Click TOUCH MENU then USE AS RINGTONE and the phone will use that MP3
file as a ringtone.
Download the PDF and It's on PDF page 38, which is the book page 36
Music....
Tell us how you like the Droid after a month or two. What works, what
doesn't, what Verizon hobbled or deleted would be really great, too!
--
"iPad is to computing what Etch-A-Sketch is to art!"
Motorola Droid 
What I expect for personal data sync has been
Linear Mode
