First Look: Motorola Droid X Challenges iPhone 4 as Multimedia Workhorse

by Clint Boulton

If you like the “Droid Does” slogan as the calling card for the $100 million Droid marketing campaign, you’ll probably like this sign. Let’s see how well this “Droid Does Next” slogan works in the market.

From left to right, Adobe CEO Shantanu Narayen, Google VP of Engineering Andy Rubin, Motorola co-CEO Sanjay Jha and Verizon EVP and CMO John Stratton prepare to introduce the Motorola Droid X.

Then Google CEO Eric Schmidt drops in for a brief introduction.

Schmidt discusses the excitement generated by Android and its ability to connect users to the applications they love via the cloud.

The smartphone is sleek, measuring 5 inches long by 2.6 inches wide and a quarter-inch thick. It weighs 5.47 ounces and features a 4.3-inch display.

Check out the Droid X at an angle.

A great side shot puts the HDMI port on display. With 720p HD video capture, the Droid X is clearly designed to vie with the new iPhone 4 in video capabilities.

The back is smooth to the touch. Note the camera. The Droid X also sports three microphones to provide high-quality audio for video shoots.

The Droid X offers high-definition playback.

The 8-megapixel camera follows the same size camera in the HTC Evo 4G and HTC Droid Incredible.

The Droid X features a TI OMAP 1GHz processor and expandable storage.

The Droid X features WiFi hot-spot functionality to connect up to five WiFi-capable devices.

Swype is preloaded as an app on the Droid X, allowing users to move their fingers across the keys in a swiping motion to write e-mail messages instead of tapping keys.

The Droid X supports Microsoft Exchange and Gmail for Enterprise to please corporate road warriors.

Love it or hate it, the Droid X supports Adobe’s Flash Player 10.1.

The Droid X will become available from Verizon and participating retailers July 15, and operating system upgrades to Android 2.2, or “Froyo,” will begin later this summer.