iDroid

[ZeroDamage]

I've dropped my AT&T service and have gone with Verizon and the Motorola Droid. I've grown sick of not having service in my area and I got a great deal on the phone. $50 after rebate + I will be able to sell my barely used 32GB 3GS for a decent price. My thoughts so far:

 

Battery Life: Excellent. Unplugged it this morning. Texted and emailed on it throughout the day. Kept my Meebo chat app running all day. Been around 12 hours since I unplugged it: Still at 40% battery

 

Screen: Amazing! Larger than the iPhone and a lot prettier. Missing the anti-smudge coating that Apple put on the 3GS

 

Size: A tad heavier than the iPhone but it also has a querty keyboard. The keyboard works well but I do not use it much.

 

Apps: Not as many apps as the iPhone of course BUT background processes are permitted. Just have to make sure you pick and chose those that you want to run or your battery will die faster. Gtalk, Meebo, and Google Voice! are what I run.

 

Over all, I like this phone better and I think being able to use Google Voice natively and also being able to use an SSH proxy/vpn on my phone is a plus.

 

Gmail integration is a little lacking. Gmail works and whatever the first account you add to the phone is what is used for all the other services including voice, gtalk, latitude, etc. Google apps based email addresses do not work like they do on the iPhone.

 

Speaker! The sound that comes out of this thing is better than my Macbook Pro. Shockingly great sound out of the speakers

 

Turn by turn navigation is great and you do not need to pay Verizon extra. Thanks Google!

 

A couple of tips: Turn the screen brightness on manual and drop it down to the lowest + a few up notches. The automatic setting makes it brighter than you need which drains the battery.

Install the App called "Advanced Task Manager Free" and run it every time you go back to the home screen and put the phone to sleep. Service to keep running: gtalk, google voice, email, corporate calendar, messaging, and settings. Most of the others you can kill except whatever background apps you want running such as an IRC app and IM app (Meebo app is the best).

 

Great phone and I have the service I need.

 

So.. Anyone want a used iPhone, only a few months old in perfect condition? No contract required.

[san`]

but it also has a querty keyboard

 

Hope you kept the receipt!

[stutters]

lol @ san...

 

zd knows my feelings about the droid (actually, more towards android than droid), but these are real questions.

- if you're not using the querty [sic] keyboard, are you using the touchscreen instead? why are you using one instead of the other?

- is that battery life w/ or w/o phone calls?

- did they improve the music player on android 2.0?

- i thought 2.0 was supposed to improve handling multiple google accounts. that's not the case?

 

i'm interested in your on going feedback on the phone and android, and i promise not to make it an iphone v. droid case.

[mohawk]

how did you have a 3gs w/ no contract? or did you void it?

[ZeroDamage]

I will answer each of your questions.

 

lol @ san...

 

zd knows my feelings about the droid (actually, more towards android than droid), but these are real questions.

 

 

- if you're not using the querty [sic] keyboard, are you using the touchscreen instead? why are you using one instead of the other?

 

I got used to the touch screen keyboard on the iphone. This one works a little different. The iphone gave you the one autocorrect that it thought was the best. The droid gives you many choices and you can pick one, let it pick for you or keep the word you have typed.

 

 

- is that battery life w/ or w/o phone calls?

 

With a few phone calls but I do not spend my day chatting it up like a girl. I do txt it up like a girl though. The phone rings and I answer and I talk for a few minutes then I hang it up.

I do NOT use wifi on it. With the coverage I get in the building that I work in, I do not need it. I needed it with the iPhone because it was the only way I could get any data services to work on the iPhone while in the building. Because I had no service to ATT in here, it would do nothing but search for a signal. If I did not keep it on the charger, it would be dead in a few hours.

I am sure the iPhone battery would be pretty good as well if I had solid service like I do with the Droid if I kept the iPhone on Edge only and kept 3g turned off.

 

- did they improve the music player on android 2.0?

 

What music player do you mean? I am not sure if I can answer this because I never used the previous Droid based phones.

 

- i thought 2.0 was supposed to improve handling multiple google accounts. that's not the case?

 

I believe that Droid has some quirks and bugs that need fixing. You basically set up your primary gmail account and that account is what is linked to the other google apps on the phone such as voice and talk, etc. You can add other gmail accounts but the first one you added is the one that does the full automatic integration with all of the features.

 

i'm interested in your on going feedback on the phone and android, and i promise not to make it an iphone v. droid case.

 

Because the Droid can do background processes, it can do real time Google Latitude. If you do not know what that is, it is basically a GPS service that periodically marks your location via the GPS and anyone you give permission to can see where you are at that time. With the iPhone, you have to manually load up the Latitude web-app with safari to do the updates. The feature is really cool but in some areas such as in Maine, it doesn't get you in the correct place. When I was there last week, it kept putting me in 1 of 3 places. A rest area off of I95, near the lake at Mt. Katahdin, or off in some field. The moment I would load the app, it would show me in one of those 3 places then update and put me in the right place. But if I closed the app and opened it back up again, it would immediately show me in one of those 3 places and them move me again. Anyone who can see my location always saw me in one of those 3 remote places. Not sure if that is a Latitude issue something with the app itself. While at my House here, it has me in the right place but has a different town than where I live.

 

I had an issue with the Meebo app (yes, there is a Meebo app for Android) that is free. They updated it the other day but previously it would not show your AIM or MSN contacts, it would randomly disconnect, or worse it would crash and look like it wasn't running (would not be in your taskbar) but would be hogging cpu and draining your battery faster than you could charge it. Those problems are gone now.

 

The Facebook app is terrible. Looks and works a little like the iPhone app but they did not include some features. No inbox or chat option from within the app. Meebo doesn't seem to log into Facebook chat while using the Droid app. That is the one app that needs a major update right now and there should have been one already. I've already received 3 updates to the IRC app that I use.

 

The app store is a bit of a mess on the Droid. It is called "MarketPlace" on the Droid. There are a lot of apps but many of them seem to be just pure garbage. Pretty much anything is accepted and that includes useless apps that do nothing. There is one that's sole purpose is to crash when you load it. Thanks!!!

 

I enjoy the widgets. You basically hold down on a blank spot on the desktop and you can some options to install a widget. Not too different from a widget in Windows Vista or 7, it always sits on the desktop.

 

One of the cool things about the phone is the syncing of contacts. You can sync your Facebook contacts and their profile pictures to your contacts including existing contacts. There is an option to hide those contacts without phone numbers to clean up some of them. Useful depending on the number of Facebook friends you have.

[samurai nightling]

I know i could just look this up, but I'm here and leaving soon so I'll ask you, how much does the phone cost regularly without any discount? And how much is the Verizon service per month with the unlimited texting/data service? I still use a Sony Ericsson S500i through a local carrier (Cincinnati Bell) without any text or data. All i have is minutes basically and a limited number of those too. Now that I'm finally working I'm looking to get off of my parents cell phone plan in the near future and i can't decide between Verizon/ATT, the iPhone/Droid or if they are really worth the money for either of them. I am in desperate need of an upgrade in the near future, hopefully with a data plan.

[samurai nightling]

Also SJ and ZD, any arguments u can make for one side or the other would be helpful, we can even do this in another thread if u like, sorry to kinda thread highjack here.

[stutters]

i promised to not make this an iphone v. droid thread, but since samurai did, here we go. man, this feels like deja vu.

 

at&t wasn't as bad here as it was even 2 months ago. they added towers or my new phone has a better radio. either way, it's rare that i drop a call. here's my recommendation, but you know my bias.

 

if you want a good mp3 player with a nice phone interface that can sync your mail/calendar/contacts, get an iphone.

if you want an open phone that you can customize (widgets, root dev) that integrates nicely with google voice, get an android.

 

-or-

 

if you like customizing things, you won't like the iphone. if you don't like linux, you won't like the droid.

 

i can't believe zd isn't more pained by the iphone to android transition. to me, the interface isn't nearly as fluid, the app controls (settings, back functions, other buttons) aren't intuitive on android. you can get used to it, but you have to work at it. on top of that, i think the interface on android is slower than the iphone (unless you jailbroke your phone and are running background apps). speaking of background apps, with push notifications in 3.0, i don't need something running in the background. if something happens, like i get an IM (gtalk, jabber, aim, or facebook), it pushes a notification to my phone. the only background app i want is my music (not pandora), and the iphone does that.

 

i'm not paying my bill (love you, work), but i think it's $40 for voice, $30 for unlimited data, and $10(?) for unlimited texts on at&t.

[ZeroDamage]

Stutter's comparison is between Android 1.6 vs the iPhone. The Droid is Android version 2.0.

 

I think it all depends on where you live and the quality of service. Verizon is king here and pretty much everywhere. If you plan to be only in the area you are in or what have you and you have good ATT coverage there, then get the iPhone (unless there is no 3g. They make you pay for it even if there isn't any 3g service).

 

If you want better coverage nationwide, then Verizon is simply the way to go. If you want a little more control over what you can and cannot do with the phone, you want the Droid. My transition from the iPhone to the Droid wasn't too difficult. I miss my banking application (USAA.com) and I miss rollover minutes. They make a good buffer if you ever go over one month. I also would not necessarily compare the Android to the iPhone in the way you would Mac OS vs Linux. The underbelly of the Droid may be Linux based but it is as much "Linux" as the iPhone or Mac OS is. The interface of Android 2.0 is not too different from the iPhone that a user could not switch over without picking up the differences and being fluent with the phone in 20-30 minutes.

 

The Droid is 200 bucks without any deals or what have you with a 2 year contract. The iPhone 3gs is between 200 and 300 bucks depending on whether you want the 16gb or 32gb model with a 2-year contract. The iPhone does NOT permit back-ground applications. You open an application and it is open and running. You press the home button to exit that app and it is closed, terminated, what word works the best for you. With Android, the app tends to stay open even if you "exit" it by hitting the home button. With some apps, you want them to stay open. You do not want the facebook app running or a puzzle game to stay running but some do. There is a simple app that I use and run each time before putting the phone to sleep and back in my pocket that closes all of the apps that are still running in the background. This helps save on battery power.

 

If you want to save money by using the free Google Voice application and using that for all of your text messaging, then you want the droid. Apple refused the app on the iPhone. To know if you get a text message with the iPhone using Google Voice, you have to manually open the google voice mobile website and look. Not a good solution. On the Android, it interfaces with the phone. It notifies you that you have a text message. You could basically use Google Voice as your primary phone number to give out and text only on that and it will not cost you a dime. The only side affect is the lack of MMS support with Google Voice. But that is what Email is for anyway IMO.

 

The iPhone has been around for 3 years and it is solid and stable. The apps tend to be rock solid due to Apple's Quality Assurance and strict Fascist ways. The Droid on the other hand has a mishmash of junky apps. Some are all in chinese. Others are buggy and useless. Unless you know what apps you want, it can take you a bit to find one that is useful. It took me a bit to find a decent Twitter app.

 

You can look on the providers websites to get pricing on the plans. With the Verizon plan, you do NOT need the 45 dollar data plan. The 30 dollar plan is unlimited and it works with Exchange. There is some false advertising or misleading statements being made by Verizon on that. Save yourself 15 bucks.

[stutters]

Stutter's comparison is between Android 1.6 vs the iPhone. The Droid is Android version 2.0.

incorrect, i've also used 2.0 (briefly, but had the same transition issues). i haven't used 2.0 in a long term, so i can't speak to the "improved" gmail/google apps integration.

 

The interface of Android 2.0 is not too different from the iPhone that a user could not switch over without picking up the differences and being fluent with the phone in 20-30 minutes.

that's a bold faced lie

there's no comparison of the UI/UX between the iphone and the android, except maybe that both have icons. one has a well designed visual interface (and works well), one has a clunky interface (spoiler: its the droid). my comparison to linux was from a user interface perspective, not the underbelly.

 

besides, android has the same flaw as windows. android has to support myriad hardware configurations, making it inherently bloated. there's no way that an OS built for 3 hardware configurations (iphone edge, 3g, 3gs) is going to run as slow as an OS that's built for an unknown number of hardware configurations. it requires hardware performance to offset that (hence battery drain).

 

The iPhone does NOT permit back-ground applications. You open an application and it is open and running. You press the home button to exit that app and it is closed, terminated, what works the best for you. With Android, the app tends to stay open even if you "exit" it by hitting the home button. With some apps, you want them to stay open. You do not want the facebook app running or a puzzle game to stay running but some do. There is a simple app that I use and run each time before putting the phone to sleep and back in my pocket that closes all of the apps that are still running in the background. This helps save on battery power.

what apps are you running in the background?

 

If you want to save money by using the free Google Voice application and using that for all of your text messaging, then you want the droid. Apple refused the app on the iPhone. To know if you get a text message with the iPhone using Google Voice, you have to manually open the google voice mobile website and look. Not a good solution.

ironically, i use google voice on my iphone. my iphone automatically redirects missed/rejects calls to google voice's voicemail. i get a text and email transcription of the message. the email includes a mp3 file, so i can listen to it if i want. i do miss the google voice dialer, but the mobile web version of that works when i need it...which isn't often. i use my iphone phone number (direct dial out) for personal calls, google voice for my business calls. i'm usually around a computer and use the google voice web interface to make calls, and that's easy.

 

samurai, if you're making a decision based on google voice, get the droid. it will be a better experience, but imo, the overall experience of the iphone destroys android (and droid), and i'll put up with using the mobile gvoice the little i use it.

 

You can look on the providers websites to get pricing on the plans. With the Verizon plan, you do NOT need the 45 dollar data plan. The 30 dollar plan is unlimited and it works with Exchange. There is some false advertising or misleading statements being made by Verizon on that. Save yourself 15 bucks.

what about text messaging? that's an honest question...i've got no idea if it's included or not with verizon.

 

also, one of the things i really, really hated about android was the multiple version releases. android 2.0 skipped the hero (still 1.6) and (as far as i know) is still only available for the droid. what happens when the google phone comes out? will 3.0 only be available for that google phone, and not the droid? it's quite possible.

 

 

both carriers have a 30 day refund policy, even if you sign a 2 year contract. i'd recommend grabbing the iphone first, use it, love it. if you don't, or if at&t sucks in your area, take it back, then grab the droid.

[ZeroDamage]

that's a bold faced lie

there's no comparison of the UI/UX between the iphone and the android, except maybe that both have icons. one has a well designed visual interface (and works well), one has a clunky interface (spoiler: its the droid). my comparison to linux was from a user interface perspective, not the underbelly.

 

I guess you are very biased towards Apple and the iPhone. I used the iPhone for 2 years before going to the Droid. I figured out the basic stuff really fast and found nothing at all clunky about the Droid's interface. Sure, it is slightly different, that is to be expected. Clunky and unusable? Absolutely not!

 

besides, android has the same flaw as windows. android has to support myriad hardware configurations, making it inherently bloated. there's no way that an OS built for 3 hardware configurations (iphone edge, 3g, 3gs) is going to run as slow as an OS that's built for an unknown number of hardware configurations. it requires hardware performance to offset that (hence battery drain).

 

If having Android working on multiple difference phones is a bad thing, then I can only guess what would be considered terrible. Actually, that argument doesn't make much sense. The Droid is very fast. It is as fast as the iPhone 3GS in its operation. Not sure how Andoid being an open platform and available on different handsets makes it "bloated." It is a smart phone. Actually, to be honest, I think Apple forcing their apps on their phone without a way to remove them is a bigger problem. I have to leave the lame Compass app on the phone without a way to at least remove the friggin icon. The same for the useless weather app, stocks app, etc. I can at least remove them from the Droid phone. If anything is "bloated" it is the stock install of the iPhone OS in its current form.

 

what apps are you running in the background?

 

When I am out and about, I like to have my IRC chat app running. Meebo tends to be running when I am not at my desktop. The Maps app runs by default in the background but can be terminated and that is so that Latitude is always keep tracking of you. Google Voice is the big one to be running. These are just a couple of examples. I know that Apple has push notification but how useful is that if you want to first connect to an SSH session and then "minimize" the app so that you can use that SSH connection as a VPN or tunnel?

 

 

ironically, i use google voice on my iphone. my iphone automatically redirects missed/rejects calls to google voice's voicemail. i get a text and email transcription of the message. the email includes a mp3 file, so i can listen to it if i want. i do miss the google voice dialer, but the mobile web version of that works when i need it...which isn't often. i use my iphone phone number (direct dial out) for personal calls, google voice for my business calls. i'm usually around a computer and use the google voice web interface to make calls, and that's easy.

 

The appeal of Google Voice for mobile phone users is the free SMS (text messaging). If Apple had let the app be approved, sms could be used on Google Voice and a push notification of a new SMS would pop up on the phone in the way it does now with the built in Messaging app. Unfortunately, that does not exist on the iPhone. The 3rd party apps that had previously been approved got pulled later after people bought them for Google Voice. Not cool. Your method of using Google Voice works but I know from experience that making a call with the generic and unfriendly mobile version of Google Voice on the iPhone caused me a bit of a headache a time or two. With the Droid, I can either have Google Voice used every time I call or I can have it prompt me each time I call. With the iPhone, Google Voice has to first call you and then it connects you to the person you want to call. On the Droid, it just works by connecting you. No need to wait for Google to call you first then connect the call. Considering how Apple is supposed to be about simplicity, Google Voice is anything but on the iPhone.

 

 

samurai, if you're making a decision based on google voice, get the droid. it will be a better experience, but imo, the overall experience of the iphone destroys android (and droid), and i'll put up with using the mobile gvoice the little i use it.

 

You will have to try them out. If you want free SMS and to be notified when someone responds? You want the Droid with the free Google Voice. If you want a tried and true platform with a lot of restrictions and the terrible network that goes with it, go with the iPhone. The iPhone would be the phone of choice IMO if it were not on ATT, regardless of the few quirks I've already mentioned.

 

what about text messaging? that's an honest question...i've got no idea if it's included or not with verizon.

You have to pay for the txting plan. Unless you use the Droid and Google Voice combination.

 

also, one of the things i really, really hated about android was the multiple version releases. android 2.0 skipped the hero (still 1.6) and (as far as i know) is still only available for the droid. what happens when the google phone comes out? will 3.0 only be available for that google phone, and not the droid? it's quite possible.

It's easy to complain about these sorts of things now that the iPhone has features that Windows Mobile had for years. Cut and Paste? Took OS 3.0 for the iPhone to get that or nearly 3 years later. Features that should have been available on the first iPhone? Nope, wait two more generations and then you can record video without hacking your phone's OS.

 

 

It is your call Samurai. Ask some people in your area which provider is best and then go from there. You cannot go wrong with either phone. I like them both. I just happen to find a few features of the Droid worth it over the iPhone right now along with the better carrier and those few features that I find essential.

[stutters]

it sounds like they changed sms handling between 1.6 and 2.0. in 1.6, if i responded to a text from google voice, it was sent from my hero's phone number (not my google voice number). i'm glad to hear they fixed that.

 

my argument about the user interface boils down to this: on one application, the exit button doesn't exit the application, it leaves it running in the background. in another application, the exit button isn't in the same place as it was in the other application. on the iphone, you hit the home button. for every application. it's easier to use, because each app is "forced" to act the same way. human interface guidelines from apple: the bane of bad developers, the source of joy for users who want consistent controls.

 

did you really just bring windows mobile into the conversation? samurai, i'd consider that heavily when trusting zd

 

also of reference: the complaint of the stock iphone apps. do you know what the payload of an app install is (

 

samurai - how often do you see using ssh tunnels to connect to your vpn? (nerdery's vpn is ptpp w/ 128 ssl, so this is a non-issue for me)

 

ps, why can't we have these kinds of threads when i don't have actual work to do (like the past 3 days)??

[ZeroDamage]

also of reference: the complaint of the stock iphone apps. do you knowwhat the payload of an app install is (<30k for stock apps, minusipod.app)? and since it's not running in the background...how does thatbloat the os?

 

I am talking about user control in general. Those apps stay on the desktop / screen no matter what. You cannot get rid of them.That annoys the hell out of me.

 

As for the SMS thing and google voice, it will ask you where you went to SMS from if you for example initiate the SMS from the list of contacts instead of from the Messaging app itself.

[akaM2]

Maybe its my horrible case of buyers regret, but its important to add that the droid's cancellation fee is 350, iPhone is 200.

[ZeroDamage]

Speaking of the Droid and Google Voice. I just used it to sell my iPhone on Craigslist. Used both voice and SMS and the notification and reaction was exactly the same as if I just used the built in functions of the phone.

[stutters]

i have no idea what zd just said. instead, i'll post the latest droid commercial.

 

[utube]sLDxv9ohH2s[/utube]

Despite only selling only about one-eighth of what Apple did in its first week with the iPhone 3G S, Verizon/Motorola is continuing its shock n' awe ad assault with Droid. After inundating the airwaves with stealth bombers, boxers and crushing machines in previous ad campaigns, Droid isn't letting up with the machismo. This time, though, the ad is basically attacking the iPhone directly while its users get hit with the shrapnel.

 

The ad above includes copy like "Should a phone be pretty? Should it be a tiara-wearing digitally clueless beauty pageant queen? Or should it be fast? Racehorse duct-taped to a Scud missile fast. We say the latter. So we built the phone that does." CNNMoney/Fortune.com's Philip Elmer-DeWitt says that the Droid strategy appears to be working, as Motorola's buzz is rising relative to Apple and RIM (among young men at least) and the brand might actually sell 1 million Droids by New Years.

http://www.mediabistro.com/agencyspy/brands/droid_now_deems_iphone_users_dainty_144986.asp

 

good for them

[ZeroDamage]

As silly as that commercial is. It doesn't compare to the terrible AT&T commercials as of late that are supposed to be a response to the Verizon "There is a map for that" commercials. The latest one I saw was probably the worst commercial I'd ever seen that is meant as a retort.

 

Luke Wilson is standing under a very large Verizon 3G coverage map. Claims that AT&T is better because.... it is faster (been to NY lately Luke?) and that you can surf and talk at the same time. While he is talking, some of those red balls in the giant verizon 3g map are falling off. I guess we are supposed to believe that being able to talk while surfing negates 3g coverage. lol. I do not know. Those seem to be all that AT&T can come up with. I shook my head in shame when I saw that commercial. It would have been better if AT&T just said nothing. I would post a clip of the commercial if I could find it.

[stutters]

it's worth noting that neither AT&T, Motorola, or Verizon do their own marketing. i'm not sure about apple, though.

[boiler]

I would like to add that I am in love with my BB Storm since I upgraded to OS 5.0

 

*runs*

[[LaW]Maverick]

I would like to add that I am in love with my BB Storm since I upgraded to OS 5.0

 

*runs*

 

Hahaha...I would have chirped in had I noticed this thread earlier. The Storm can also run background apps (I'm running latitude right now), has a good media player, and handles Google Voice nicely.

 

It's another alternative to consider when looking at phones. A bunch of people here at work liked my phone so much, we now have 4 Storm 2's and 4 Storms in the office. I'm a little undecided about the Storm2, however, because the on the one my boss has, the call button is sometimes unresponsive. It could just be a fluke, but meh. the Storm 2 also comes with more memory (2 gigs internal with a 16 gig memory card). Another interesting fact, if you're planning on traveling globally ever, the Storm and Storm 2 are some of the very few phones on VZW that are GSM/CDMA and can take a SIM card.

 

I have played with the DROID a little in-store, and it seems pretty slick. Not a good buy for me if I ever need to go out of country again, however.

 

I would go VZW over AT&T ANY day because of the data coverage I've come to enjoy so much with VZW. It's a no-brainer for me. Oh, and your stupid roll-over minutes DO expire . . .

[ZeroDamage]

How about an update from me? I recently updated the firmware on the Droid from 2.0 to 2.0.1. There are rumors that the big update we are getting in January is the 2.1 update.

What the 2.0.1 update did NOT fix:

Facebook still lacks an inbox

Exchange Email still lacks the ability to sync and see User created folders. Unable to move emails from one box to another

Still no flash support. (iPhone still lacks this as well)

 

What the 2.0.1 update did fix for me:

Snappier performance on the Home screens

Gmail app now works with Google App account email addresses (such as my at the computerninja dot com)

Battery life is better (was not a problem before. still better than the iPhone in my day-to-day use)

 

Google Voice integration is invaluable. Why? I use it as my primary Voicemail service. Someone calls my cell phone number, and GV handles the Voicemail, transcribes it and emails it to me. I also am notified on my phone like I would if Verizon handled the Voicemail. I've also disabled and turned off SMS on my phone and use GV for that since it is free. Yes, I do lack the ability to send and receive MMS but I rarely if ever do now. I save $10 a month or $120 a year by using GV for Text Messaging. Verizon also charges $2.99 a month for Visual Voicemail which I also do not use. There's another $36 a year saved.

 

I also installed a free alternative Home screen called Home++. It looks nice, runs very smooth and the animations are what the standard Home screen should do. Not that there is anything wrong with the default, this one is just prettier and lets me have more than just 3 pages to install apps and widgets. I think the 2.1 update will fix most of this.

 

Some screenshots (which Home++ lets me do) of what my phone's Home pages look like.

 

Here's my home screen as of last night. (I did move around a couple of the icons but you get the idea)

 

 

Here is my screen to the left of the Home main screen. Notice the Pandora Widget along with the calendar and the "Power Strip" widget at the bottom. That one let's me enable wifi, blutooth, and other features of the phone from the widget itself.

 

 

Any complaints about Linkin Park will get edited to show your true love and adoration for 98 Degrees.

[ZeroDamage]

I also want to add that I get turn-by-turn voice powered GPS for free on the Droid. Unlike the iPhone where you have to spend $100 or so for a mediocre GPS app that also needs to download all of the Map data to your phone because the AT&T network isn't reliable and fast enough, Google Maps powers the "Google Maps Navigation" app. They've added Satellite view as well as Terrain view to the app. I've only used it a time or two but it has worked flawlessly the times I have.