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Samsung Galaxy Note. First Look
Today, large companies, especially corporate giants like Samsung, do not surprise users with extraordinary products... |
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Preview of GSM/UMTS-smartphone Motorola Milestone/DROIDLive images of the Motorola Milestone
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Sales package:
PositioningLaunching Motorola DEXT (codenamed Morrison, also know as the CLIQ in the US), Motorola had a global task in mind - they were targeting the top-tier as well with their brand-new Anroid-based line-up. The first flagship device in this range they're releasing into the wild is the Droid, although in reality this handle is employed by Verizon Wireless for a whole plethora of phones from various manufacturers they are distributing, for example, they'll launch an HTC-branded device as "Droid" too. In Europe, though, we'll know it as the Motorola Milestone (its original codename was Sholes), which is a very fitting name, as it'll mark either the rebirth of the company or its complete fiasco.  Motorola's engineers had an ambitious task to come up with a handful of models that would be tailored for the US market, where the company's image hadn't deteriorated yet, and look appealing to local carriers. It's important to realize that Motorola are reigniting their business essentially from scratch and therefore they can't count on solid sales across the globe - they have neither resources nor loyal consumers. That's why their comeback had to be epic, and in a way they've managed to do just that. The Motorola Droid got very favorable reviews from the US press, one of the reporters even called it a Terminator. Even though that isn't really the case here we can't deny that the Droid is a spectacular phone, being one of the finest keyboard equipped smartphones out there and not only amongst the small number of currently available Android devices (the Droid tops that particular field, all things considered). Speaking of Motorola's plans for the first quarter of 2010, we'll see a keyboard-less version of the Sholes, codenamed "Sholes Tablet" - it'll feature a thinner casing, a major camera boost (up to 8 MP) and not much else, expect for a heftier price tag compared to the original DROID/ Milestone, which shouldn't come as a surprise. It'll definitely get compared to the Apple iPhone 3Gs and I'm not sure which one of the two will come out on top. We, consumers, couldn't be happier, though, as the competition will go up a notch and OS developers will get some extra motivation. On top of that, there will be another premium model, but a bit later, housed in a plastic casing with a slightly smaller screen that will have an N97-esque setup and functionality. All I can say is that it looks pretty good and will suit those who won't go for the Milestone for some reason.  As it stands today, any comparison between the Milestone and Apple iPhone makes no sense at all, since these are two totally different phones - one has a keyboard, and the other one doesn't. Verizon's advertising campaign circles around the iPhone's drawbacks, but that's merely a marketing trick, as everyone realizes these two phones can't possibly be rivals. The Milestone's positioning has no bells and whistles - they tout it as the best all-around Android smartphone armed with a QWERTY-keyboard. Why "best"? Based on its hardware, camera display and it being the first Android 2.0 (Eclaire) based device, it more than qualifies. Unlike the DEXT, that will have to go up against an array of other phones running on Android, the brand-new Milestone doesn't even have a custom user interface or software enhancements, so software-wise it's not much different from the competition when you turn it on for the first time, however its hardware and a lot of small things planted here and there create a very special aura for the Milestone. Plus it houses a couple of Motorola's trademark features that make it even more enjoyable. If you take a look at a more global picture, rather than just the market of Android-powered phones, you'll see that the Motorola Milestone is essentially their response to the Nokia N97. While the latter has been on sale for quite a while now and managed to make a name for itself, as an active user of the N97 I can cay that my quality time with the Milestone was a blast, it felt like it was in a league of its own.    Back to the table of contents >>> Design, Size, ControlsThe smartphone measures up at 115.8x60x13.7 mm and tips our scales at 169 grams, which is very close to the Apple iPhone 3Gs' size (115.5x62.1x12.3 mm, 135 grams). The only reason why I'm referencing the iPhone here is to prove that the Milestone isn't a behemoth of a phone that doesn't fit into a pocket or requires a special carrying case. Because it has got so much metal in its design and a glass screen over the display, the Milestone is pretty hefty, and it's not miniscule by any stretch of imagination, but it won't be a burden, that's for sure.  The Milestone sports an all-metal casing, thankfully, though, it also employs soft-touch coating all around, which makes it very palm-friendly, so if you prefer shivering feel of a metal surface, the Milestone is probably not the phone for you.  Since the Milestone is housed in a side-slider form-factor, the first thing I decided to check was how it behaved in my pockets - as it turned out, it didn't flick open spontaneously, however it takes only a slight push to slide the Milestone open, even though its sliding action is on the stiff side, which isn't a downside by any means.  For the time being the phone comes only in black, although we might see more color schemes down the line. Topping the display is the forward-facing camera along with the service LED that starts flashing whenever you receive an SMS or some other event occurs.  At the top end there is the Power button along with the 3.5 mm audio jack. Housed on the left-hand side is the microUSB socket, flanked by the charging indicator (white LED). On the opposite site there is the volume rocker and camera button.    Back to the table of contents >>> DisplayThe DROID boasts a monstrous 3.7-inch capacitive touch-sensitive display with a resolution of 408x854 pixels. It's covered by a glass screen, although contrary to what one might think, it's very sensitive and reacts only to finger touches, and you'll find that it's impossible to work with it using a stylus, despite some sources claiming otherwise. The display, like you've already guessed, is stunning - it's bright and sharp, plus it's equally good at rendering images and text. Given its WVGA resolution and diagonal, the DROID's display is in a league of its own. While the Samsung i8910 HD's screen with its bright AMOLED display gets somewhat close to it, it can't compete with it in many other aspects, including overall image quality.        The US version of the DROID doesn't come with multitouch functionality, whether it's the result of Motorola not wanting to get drawn into a firefight with Apple, or some other reasons, remains to be seen. The European version of the phone, however, does sport multitouch that works in a very similar fashion to the Apple iPhone.  Back to the table of contents >>> KeyboardWith its keyboard retracted, the only controls you can get access to on the DROID's front fascia are four touch-sensitive buttons (Back, Menu, Search, Home/Task Manager) that don't have any backlight, which makes them somewhat fiddly to use. Sliding the phone open automatically changes the screen layout to landscape (same when turning the phone when it's closed). While the DROID's keys have mediocre travel, but thankfully they are of ample size and pleasant to touch. Compared to the Nokia N97, it's miles ahead, being so much more comfortable. Placed on the right is the five-way navigation key, which is a breeze to use.   All buttons are lit in white, thankfully no symbols on the thumbboard appear blurry or overlit. When its keyboard is retracted, the DROID offers you a standard on-screen T9-enabled keyboard for your typing needs, however as soon as you flick it open, T9 gets disabled automatically, which is exactly what you'd expect.   On balance, the Milestone's thumbboard is more than adequate - I can hardly remember a single negative thing about it. Back to the table of contents >>> BatteryThe phone makes use of a 1400 mAh Li-Ion battery, rated for up to 8 hours of talk time and 260 hours of standby. We found that with average use the DROID's battery lasted one day or so, which is mostly due to its gigantic screen and the fact that the phone relies heavily on data connections when it comes to social networking. Honestly, I expected it to last even less, but thankfully twenty four hours of juice is plenty. It takes the DROID around 1.5 hours to charge from empty to full.    Back to the table of contents >>> USB, Bluetooth, Wi-FiUSB. DROID's data transfer speed tops out at around 5 Mb/s, plus it starts recharging whenever you plug its USB data cable in. Bluetooth. The phone features EDR-enabled Bluetooth 2.1. Wi-Fi. The phone comes armed with Wi-Fi (IEEE 802.11g) wireless connectivity and all security standards (WEP, WPA, WPA2), as well as a rich settings pool. Back to the table of contents >>> MemoryThe DROID features 256 Mb of RAM and 512 Mb storage onboard, plus support for microSD memory cards, up to 32 Gb (whose slot is positioned directly across the battery, so while it's possible to insert a card without turning the phone off, taking it out will require you to pull the battery out). The phone runs on TI OMAP 3430 chipset with ARM Cortex A8 550 Mhz CPU, which makes it one of the speediest Android-based smartphones to date, and what's more important, you can feel it when navigating through the menus. As the maker claims, the DROID also employs a graphics accelerator. Back to the table of contents >>> NavigationSurprisingly, the US edition of the DROID ships with the latest version of Google Maps featuring a beta-version of free turn-by-turn navigation. On the other hand, the European version of the phone comes boxed with MotoNAV that serves exactly the same purposes. Although it's not quite clear why they have decided to run with different applications for different markets; perhaps that's due to some license-related restrictions. Below is the video showing how the DROID's navigation works in the US. Back to the table of contents >>> CameraAndroid-based phones haven't had flash up until version 2.0, so the Milestone's 5 MP camera is lucky to have one on its right. While the camera does feature autofocus, most of our shots were pretty average quality-wise. Plus it takes the camera several seconds to focus and a second or so to take a snap after you push the shutter button or tap the screen. So I doubt you'd want to use it for shooting fast moving objects. On the upside, the DROID can record video in 720x480 pixel resolution.     As far as other things are concerned, I liked the camera interface where it shows the thumbnail of your previous shot. Video sample (3gp, 10,1 mb) >>> Back to the table of contents >>> Motorola Phone PortalMotorola have decided not to run with a special PC synchronization software, as Android comes bundled with the ability to synch with online services. In fact, it seems that in the near future all special synchronization software will become obsolete, so Motorola are running a few steps ahead here, with their decision to move all synchronization services online. The phone features a corresponding icon, clicking on which will give you the address you should type in your PC browser. As far as security goes, there is nothing wrong with this method, since it's impossible to access this page without having your phone and PC. Motorola Phone Portal can handle messages, contacts (can be saved on a PC as an archive or imported from MS Outlook 2003). All in all, this app is very straightforward and won't take you long to master. The best thing about it, though, is that it doesn't require you to install any additional software and can work literally anywhere.        Back to the table of contents >>> Desktop cradleYou can get a desktop cradle for the Motorola DROID/Milestone for around 30 USD. It comes with a power cable, meaning that it'll recharge the phone along the way, but its key feature is a special screensaver that pops up on the screen as soon as you plug it in (with temperature and so on), allowing you to run a slide show or start the music player. While this feature is nothing new, the Milestone's display gives it a whole new dimension.     Back to the table of contents >>> Android 2.0 in a nutshellI'm not going to go over Android's standard functionality all over again, so instead here is a couple of screenshots taken from the DROID. Some menus have changed, plus there is a built-in Facebook client. The built-in browser supports html 5, page thumbnails and double-clicking on images. The DROID's calendar supports automatic updates of the events list from your mail. Speaking of which, it can also work with a handful of mail accounts, while all letters get thrown in on mail box, plus there is MS Exchange support. Other than that, there isn't much to talk about - I guess we'll cover everything else in a separate article.
       
     Back to the table of contents >>> ImpressionsThe DROID offers pretty loud ring tones, while its vibro alert is not as good, unfortunately. As far as call quality is concerned, it proved to be a fine performer. All in all, I have no gripes with it on this front. Given that my main phone these days is the Nokia N97, plus I've got the HTC Hero as my secondary phone, I was elated to get the mix of these two devices in the Motorola Milestone. Hero's flexibility and interface speed with a keyboard that tops that of the N97. Surprisingly, the Milestone is a decent phone with great build quality and a dazzling display. The thing that will hold it back a little, though, is its price tag - 400-450 Euro without a contract (set to land on most markets in December). Those who are looking for a QWERTY-enabled device jam-packed with features and a likable, speedy interface, the Milestone is the way to go. In fact, there aren't many phone like that out there - maybe the Nokia N900, but it's considerably slower, less stable and doesn't offer comparable functionality out of the box. In my opinion, the choice is very clear and Nokia is not what's on my mind. "Milestone" is a very fitting name for this phone - it will make an impact on the market and won't go unnoticed. Those who are into expensive and well-crafted things, should definitely put the Motorola Milestone on their short lists. Back to the table of contents >>> Related links
Eldar Murtazin ([email protected]) Published — 09 November 2009 Have something to add?! Write us... [email protected]
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