Motorola (NYSE: MOT) is reportedly doing well with their Motorola Droid. Despite reports from some bitter bloggers about not finding any lines outside their local Verizon (NYSE: VZ) Wireless store on Droid launch-day, the latest word on the street has Motorola pushing some 100,000 Android-powered Motorola Droid phones into anxious customer hands over the weekend. The estimate comes from an analyst citing Verizon’s nationwide stock of 200,000 Motorola Droid, of which roughly half have already found new homes.
We haven’t heard a peep from Motorola as to just how well the Droid is selling, but Broadpoint AmTech analyst Mark McKechnie believes that Verizon Wireless had about 200,000 Droid phones on hand for the November 6 launch. “I see the first few days as encouraging,” McKechnie said. “There seems to be pretty good demand — they’ve taken the right steps and picked a good partner with Google (NSDQ: GOOG) on the Android side.”
The encouraging launch-weekend sales estimates could signal Motorola’s return to relevance in the mobile space. Motorola is expected to sell 1 million Android-powered smartphones this quarter, with 10 million units sold in 2010. Still, the numbers pale in comparison to conservative predictions that have Apple (NSDQ: AAPL) selling 8 million iPhones this quarter and about 28.5 million iPhones in 2010.
The Droid is obviously a good start for Motorola’s comeback, but the mobile phone maker has a lot of work to do in the long-term. It should be interesting to see how the Droid sells throughout the holiday shopping season, which has traditionally been a boon for iPhone-maker Apple.
We’ve already had a chance to play with the HTC Droid Eris from Verizon (NYSE: VZ) Wireless, but there’s nothing like a retail package unboxing ceremony to really get up close and personal with a new handset. As the “ying” to the Motorola (NYSE: MOT) Droid’s “yang,” the HTC Droid Eris offers Verizon customers a fully capable Android smartphone at half the price of Moto’s headlining Droid, and it deserves some of our undivided attention.
The HTC Droid Eris is a lot like the HTC Hero from Sprint. Just like the Hero, the Droid Eris packs a 3.2-inch capacitive touchscreen, 5-megapixel auto-focusing camera, 3G data, WiFi, GPS and a microSD card slot. It also runs the Sense UI, HTC’s custom Android homescreen skin, which gives the Droid Eris a bunch of extra HTC widgets to play with – and it doesn’t hurt that Sense UI looks way prettier than the vanilla Android homescreen.
Surprisingly, the HTC Droid Eris isn’t much thinner than the Motorola Droid, which sports a slide-out QWERTY keyboard. That’s not to say that the Droid Eris is a brick, it actually sits really comfortably in the hand. Still, the Eris could stand to lose a couple millimeters around its waist.
The Droid Eris’s 5-megapixel camera is faster and less laggy than the Motorola Droid. It also supports touch-focusing, which gives it a another small but significant leg-up on the Droid. The 3.2-inch display is smaller than would be ideal, but it’s plenty big for day-to-day use. Above all, there’s no sliding mechanism on the Droid Eris, so build quality is top-notch – no jiggling or creaking here.
Unfortunately, the Eris runs Android 1.5 OS. The Motorola Droid features Android 2.0 OS, which has the Google (NSDQ: GOOG) Maps Navigation app pre-installed. Android 1.5 isn’t bad, especially with HTC’s Sense UI riding on top, but it’s no Android 2.0.
Anyway, acquaint yourself with the Droid Eris below!
If you’ve been resisting the urge to run out and buy a Motorola (NYSE: MOT) Droid at a Verizon (NYSE: VZ) Wireless store, we’ve got some good news for you. Wirlefly.com is rewarding your patience with a seriously hot deal on a brand new Droid. How hot, you ask? Wirefly is offering the Droid for $99.99 with new 2-year contract (or contract extension). They also have the HTC Droid Eris on deck for FREE, if the HTC Sense UI is more your style.
For about $100, Wirefly.com will ship a newly activated Droid to your door. There’s no mail-in rebate to deal with and FedEx shipping is included, free of charge. The promotional ad makes it look like the $100 Droid requires new activation on Verizon’s $59.99 monthly rate plan, so we went through the checkout process with Verizon’s lowest-tier $39.99/month rate plan selected. We stopped short of processing payment information, but everything looked good to go with the cheaper rate plan.
The FREE HTC Droid Eris offer seems to be more limited. You’ll have to have an existing Verizon Wireless account and be willing to extend your contract for another two years. And, it seems the contract extension only applies to rate plans of $59.99 or more. On the upside, shipping is free via FedEx.
If you can wait a couple days for your new Droid hardware, you’re going to have a hard time beating these two deals.
If you’ve had your eye on the Android-powered HTC Hero and its customized Sense UI, but just couldn’t bear to leave Verizon (NYSE: VZ)’s warm embrace for Sprint (NYSE: S)’s network, you’re in luck! Verizon went official this morning with the Hero-esque HTC Droid Eris. The Eris is a lot like the Hero, just for the Verizon Wireless network. And, at just $99, the Droid Eris is the more affordable alternative to both the upcoming Motorola (NYSE: MOT) Droid and the Sprint HTC Hero. The Eris even sports the same Sense UI that we’ve come to love on the HTC Hero.
The Motorola Droid might be hogging all the hype this week, but the Eris deserves some time in the limelight. So, without further ado, here’s a hands-on look at HTC Droid Eris for Verizon Wireless.
Here’s a quick spec-sheet rundown on the HTC Droid Eris:
After an early unboxing, Motorola (NYSE: MOT)’s little brother in Verizon (NYSE: VZ)’s Android rollout has gone public. The HTC droid Eris is bringing a 5 megapixel camera with autofocus, 320 x 480 capacitive touchscreen, Wi-Fi, GPS, 3.5mm headphone jack and HTC’s very slick Sense user interface to the party. I’m still a little boggled as to how the Eris qualifies as a “with Google (NSDQ: GOOG)” experience with all the custom work done on top of Android 1.5, but more power to ‘em. Although not quite as buxom as the Motorola droid, or even HTC’s own Hero, the Eris still offers a lot for $99.99 on contract, and is a great option for folks who want the fancy Android experience while staying on a budget. Keep an eye on the VZ store for the Eris starting tomorrow, or take a closer look at the device over at HTC.
The T-Mobile (NYSE: DT) (NYSE: DT) BlackBerry (NSDQ: RIMM) (NSDQ: RIMM) Bold 9700 isn’t quite launched just yet, but we’ve already gotten friendly with RIM’s newest hardware. The Bold 9700 looks and feels a lot like the original BlackBerry Bold 9000, with some significant under-the-hood upgrades. Cosmetically, the biggest difference is the missing trackball; in it’s place is a new optical trackpad. It’s a subtle design update that makes a lot of sense – the Bold 9000 was a big hit for RIM, of course they’re going to stick with a recipe that everyone loves.
So you like the Motorola Droid, do you? And you say you live in or close to New York City? Well, if you also happen to be a fan of the “Yeah Yeah Yeahs,” or you just like free concerts, you’re going to want to follow the Verizon (NYSE: VZ)’s @vcastmusic Twitter feed over the next few days. Verizon Wireless will be celebrating the launch of their Motorola (NYSE: MOT) Droid with a secret “Yeah Yeah Yeahs” concert somewhere in Manhattan’s Lower East Side, and they’ll be giving away tickets via the Twitter feed.
Verizon will also be tweeting the locations of their New York Street Teams, where you can meet up with Droid-wielding reps and play with the Motorola Droid in person. Should you decide to pick up a Droid of your own on Nov. 6, you automatically get tickets to the secret Manhattan concert.
Straight from the official press release:
You can be one of the first to experience the brand new Droid by Motorola – the world’s first smartphone with Android 2.0 – available exclusively on the Verizon Wireless network. Follow Verizon Wireless’ New York Street Teams at Twitter.com/vcastmusic to find out where they will be so you can be one of the first to try the Droid out for yourself and win tickets to attend an exclusive celebration in Manhattan’s Lower East Side featuring a performance by Yeah Yeah Yeahs and mingle with celebrity guests including Adrian Grenier, Kim Delaney, Katrina Bowden and more.
Anyone who purchases a Droid on November 6 will also win tickets to attend the event.
Don’t worry, you’re not the only one slobbering for the HD2, HTC’s monster of a Windows Mobile 6.5 device – we want it here in North America just as much as you do, and now we have a general expectation of Q1 2010 from a joint HTC/Microsoft launch event. If you didn’t catch our hands-on playtime, the HD2 hosts a gigantic 4.3″ WVGA touchscreen, a 5 megapixel camera, Wi-Fi, GPS, 3.5mm headphone jack, and HTC’s custom TouchFLO 3D user interface. Between the giant display, slim profile, respectable camera, and WinMo functionality, this will be a choice handset for mobile media junkies. Europe and Taiwan have their units shipping presently, but there was no additional information about North American pricing or carrier availability (although T-Mobile seems likely), so stay tuned.
The Motorola (NYSE: MOT) Droid is going to be a big deal when it launches Nov. 6. It’s got the right style and the right features to make a name for itself in the Android game, but it’s also going to be the first handset to sport the new Android 2.0 (Eclair) mobile operating system. That’s important because Android 2.0 will finally support Microsoft Exchange email. But, for Motorola Droid hopefuls who use Exchange email, it’s going to come at a price. $15, to be exact.
Verizon (NYSE: VZ) customers looking to get a Motorola Droid will have to sign up for one of three unlimited data plans on top of their voice plan. For $30, you’ll get unlimited data without Exchange support. If you need Exchange email support (and you’re a VZW business customer), your data plan will cost $45. Or, for $50, you can use the Droid as a data-only device, including Exchange support. For corporate Droid users, it’s going to cost $15 more to use their Exchange email.
The extra cost probably won’t affect a large majority of Verizon’s Motorola Droid customers, but that’s not going to console Exchange users slapped with the extra fee. Is it right to charge for the Droid’s Exchange feature? Will the extra $15 per month for Exchange support sway your decision to buy a Droid? Sound off below!
Oh, and if you want to get the low-down on the Droid, check out our coverage here, here and here.
[Update]
Turns out, Verizon business customers (those with corporate/business accounts) will be slapped with the higher-priced data plan. Consumers will get unlimited data and Exchange support on their Droid for $30, while business users will have to pay $45 for the same service. That should clear things up a bit.
If you accidentally updated your iPhone 3G/3GS to the latest iPhone OS 3.1/3.1.2, then you’re also stuck with baseband version 05.11. If you recently bought a factory fresh iPhone 3GS with OS 3.1 or 3.1.2 already loaded, then you’re in the same boat. That used to be a bad thing, because baseband 05.11 couldn’t be unlocked to work with unofficial SIM cards. Today’s release of “blacksn0w” changes all that. The blacksn0w software unlock utility is now available to unlock any iPhone 3G or iPhone 3GS running the latest iPhone OS 3.1.2 and baseband 05.11!
Yes, that includes brand new, out-of-the-box, iPhone 3GS’s.
If you’re running an older version of the baseband (04.26), simply jailbreak your iPhone and run Ultrasn0w. You can find your baseband firmware version by navigating to Settings>General>About>Modem Version on your iPhone. We have jailbreak (PwnageTool) directions here and unlock (ultrasn0w) directions here.
For the rest of you in the “baseband 05.11″ boat, keep reading for a step-by-step tutorial to unlock your iPhone…
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Don’t worry, you’re not the only one slobbering for the HD2, HTC’s monster of a Windows Mobile 6.5 device – we want it here in North America just as much as you do, and now we have a general expectation of Q1 2010 from a joint 
The Motorola (
