News Analysis: Motorola is launching the third installment in its Droid line, and the device looks to be quite nice across the board, with major new features including a high-quality display and a dual-core processor.
Motorola
is planning to launch the Motorola Droid 3 on July 14. The device is a
follow-up to the company's Droid 2, which performed quite well at retail. This
time around, Motorola has added several improvements to the smartphone,
including a high-quality display, a dual-core processor and several other
features that make it a standout in the smartphone market.
But
just how much of a standout will the Droid 3 be? The device definitely won't
trump the iPhone 4 in overall sales, but by the look of things, it might just
be a fine offering for Verizon Wireless customers who are opting against
Apple's smartphone and want to try something new. And the best part is, at
$199, the Droid 3 comes in at a price that just about any consumer or
enterprise user can live with.
Read
on to find out
why the Motorola Droid 3 is a winner and should at least be considered when
the next smartphone buying decision is made.
1. It's running "Gingerbread"
According
to Motorola, its Droid 3 will ship with Android 2.3 "Gingerbread." That's a
good thing for potential owners. Android 2.3 is the best smartphone-based
version of Android available right now. And the best part is, while other
smartphone owners need to wait for an over-the-air update for the platform,
Droid 3 owners will have it as soon as they break the smartphone out of the
box. If customers liked Froyo, they're going to love Gingerbread.
2. The price is right
Though
there are some critics who say smartphones are still too expensive, Motorola
hit the sweet spot by pricing its Droid 3 at $199.99. At that price, the Droid
3 is
on the same level as the iPhone 4 with 16GB of onboard storage. At this
point, it seems that $200 is the cutoff between a smartphone being affordable
and costing too much money. Motorola came down on the right side with its Droid
3 price tag.
3. Dual-core anyone?
The
Motorola Droid 3 comes with a 1GHz dual-core processor, putting it ahead of
many other devices on the market, including the iPhone 4. Recent rumors suggest
the iPhone 5 will feature the same dual-core processor as the iPad 2. But until
that smartphone is released, the Droid 3 will offer the kind of processing
power Apple can't match.
4. A top-shelf display
After
the iPhone 4 launched with the Retina Display, just about every Android handset
maker realized the importance of a high-quality screen. It seems that Motorola
did, as well. The Droid 3 comes with a 4-inch qHD display. That qHD display is
capable of delivering 960 by 640 pixels, which matches Apple's iPhone 4 Retina
Display. Combine that with the fact that the Droid 3 has a slightly larger
screen than the iPhone's 3.5-inch display, and Motorola's offering wins out.
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