I think I can tackle this one, I used to be a photographer.

10% software, 90% hardware.

The somewhat random exposure results are caused by poorly designed metering software. HOWEVER the washed out look is due to the nature of the LED flashes. The color temperature of the flashes is off, they don't "spread" the light enough, and range is very limited, so you get a hotspot on anything close because the camera is overexposing trying to show the far away stuff too....

Other half of the hardware problem is the sensor - it just plain SUCKS. all that hideous shadow noise is due to that, and there's no updating or fixing that.

Long and short of it, don't expect any significant improvements to the camera from a software update... it's just not gonna happen.


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24hrs and I'm stoked. HUGE improvement for someone coming from windows mobile. A as far as apps go, the Android app store is a little crappy because the organization is terrible and it can be hard to find some things... BUT there are plenty of apps for nearly anything that you need it to do. My favorite feature so far? Multiple home screens!
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God let's hope open source GUI becomes standard on smartphones thanks to some of the updates that the new DROID's bring.

Big ups for technology :-)
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No love for the Pre? I'm probably going that route. I've had a Treo 650 and 755, and should be able to move to the Pre for just an activation charge with my upgrade credit.
Posted via Mobile Device
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no love from me. The pre has no apps, not as good of a display, and (I think) a worse physical keyboard (the droid keyboard has actually become pretty easy for me to use, although I still don't think it is a great keyboard)
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Give me a phone, PDA apps, browser, media player, and Office docs, and I'm good. Everything else is just gravy. I read (on Engadget, IIRC) that the Pre was about $1k cheaper per year based on service plans. Throw in GPS, and it's even more.
Posted via Mobile Device
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GPS is free on droid.... is that compared to if you buy iphone app?

and you can get a decent plan with texts and data for like $85 a month. So say after stupid fees and other BS that comes to $1200 a year (which is a high estimation). That means the Pre would have to have a plan of like $15 a month to be 1k cheaper... unless I'm missing something?
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IIRC, first line data with Sprint is $25, additional lines are $15. The Simply Everything plan is $99 but not necessary. In the article I read, they compared equivalent plans between the carriers. I believe the article was called iPhone vs Pre vs Droid if you want to check it out.
Posted via Mobile Device
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ahhhh found it :-)

They compared the 2 year price and was around a $500 difference (could very somewhat depending on what plan you actually have) So $250-ish a year.

Phone choice really comes down to the user though, so the pre may work out great for you just not for me..... and the fact I don't want to leave verizon so getting the pre isn't even an option
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Disclaimer: I have an iPhone, I love
my iPhone. Ihabe very good 3g service in my area so that not an issue for
me with AT&T

if this phone were an iPhone competitor, I'd be interested, but some things people need to consider when Loki g at the droid:

1) the data plan Verizon is
making you buy is billed as unlimited, in reality it's capped
at 5 gb a month. Google maps are not stored on the device, they're streamed
over the Net so a) you need a data connection to use the gps at all, and if you're using it
with any frequency you'll blow through 5 gbs quickly enough. You can also forget about streaming any music or video.

2) the Droid, from what I've read, makes you store any apps to it's internal
memory, which is only 256 mb. I've get several apps on my iPhone that are over 100 mb EACH. Limited apps storage means little opportunity for cool games, hiking maps, what have you.

It all depends on what you use for the phone is, but the latest things I've read is this is more akin to a BB than an iPhone. Which is not necessariy a bad thing, but apples and
oranges
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never said verizon weren't a-holes...they just have the best network! lol
and the 256mb cap makes no sense to me, so at least i have an ipod touch for games n that. and I agree that the iphone is #1, I just can't deal with ATT in this area. apples and oranges.... nice touch, Vic :-) And you know I am about as big of an apple fan as there is, so not knocking the iphone at all from my end.

Droid is best phone on Verizon though, and android is a nice platform, so I'm hoping for good things in the future
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Hm, where did I get $1k? Business users maybe?

The Pre kb is actually very similar to the Centro. I've gotten pretty good with it even with my sausage fingers. :-) PalmOS developers are starting to port their apps, and guys on the Pre forums have already figured out how to hack the OS to add stuff like a virtual kb.
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No, not a family plan. The cheapest individual plan configuration I can find is $100 before taxes. 450 mins > $39.99, Unlimited Data > $44.99, Unlimited Text > $20 = $104.98 -OR- PDA/Smartphone Nationwide Email & Messaging, 450 minutes & unlimited text/web/pictures/data for $99.99.

For the first setup, there is an "PDA Email & Web" $29.99 option instead of $44.99, but it doesn't appear to be valid for the Droid.
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It depends on how the phone implements "push" e-mail, I think. Some use IMAP, and some use a combo of POP and hidden texts that trigger the phone to check mail. The lower tier plans don't support texting.
Posted via Mobile Device
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I have the $30 data on droid
Posted via Mobile Device
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I would trade the Droid keyboard for that of a Pre any day. I come from a long line of portrait keyboard phones, and their just plain better!

With that said, no real love for the Pre from me, primarily because I'm gambling that Android will kill Web-OS. Android is not perfect and has lots of room to improve, but at least I KNOW that it will steadily improve. I waited for years for Winblows Mobile to improve, and it never did....

So as a platform of the future to use, I'm banking on the Android platform becoming steadily better and taking over.
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Add me to the list of new Droid owners....

What apps have you installed?

Google Scoreboard was the first for me, it is also a widget.
Pandora, and a couple free games.
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:-) $29.99
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WAAAAAAAAAAY to many (started to make it a little unstable).

I'm slowly going through and removing em. Here's a list tho of some of the ones I consider essential. I got the phone primarily for business - it HAD to keep my busy calendar and tasks in order. This, my top apps all are in that category.

www.androlib.com lets you browse on your COMPUTER.

"Barcode scanner" cause it kicks ass. And you can scan the 3d QR code on androlib for a quick jump to the page in your phone.

"pure calendar" (not the grid one) - lets me fill one of my home screens with a detailed calendar agenda for multiple days and multiple color coded calendars, all meshed into one view.

"remember the milk" - only works if you have a pro rmilk.com account. (or a 15 day trial). LOVE their service. Widgit is a little disappointing because the widgit is only one size (3x3), HOWEVER the app itself is GREAT nd gives me full control.

"TasKiller" is essential for KILLING running tasks. just open it up, and tap the task to kill it. HIGHLY recommended you do that from time to time to free up memory and if you have say, the maps and GPS running, you'll save some battery was well.

currently using "task manger 1.10.9" to switch between open apps. Not fully thrilled with it yet, still looking for better.

"Open Home" is a great home screen replacement app that will give you 7 home screens instead of just 3. To find it, you'll need to search for "open home -skins -skin" (YES, you can use search operators)

"google voice" app, cause I have and use gvoice for things like international calls. Really awesome, you can tell it to use google voice for all international calls. Then just dial your contact number like normal, and the phone will automatically connect you through your google voice account!!!

"Astro" is a file manager that will let you browse the SD card and poke around different places.

"sound grenade" because, well... because yes.

"Shazam" so you can find that song you're looking for. just play a few seconds of it into the mic and it will find the name for you... with frightening accuracy.

"Nimbuzz" for chatting on IM (nice interface, supports damned near anything). Just a tad buggy on the Droid, but it doesnt inhibit the program functionality.

"Mother TED" app for viewing TED videos. BRILLIANT minds and stuff in there, great if you want to kill some time and actually learn something :-)

"bubble" turn your phone into an instant bubble leveler.

"twidgit lite" for putting a twitter feed on my desktop

"aTrackDog" will scan your apps, then scan the marketplace and match version numbers to alert you if there is an update available for your app.

"Amazon" app for quick price checks

"pandora" for tunes

"better keyboard" (again, search using -skin to find it). I picked it up because I wanted a keyboard with QW ER TY UI OP functionality for one handed portrait typing, and the droid does not come with one. It's also got better predictive behavior. I would prefer "TouchPal" from CooTek, but it's not released yet, probably be another month.

There's some other misc. apps on there that I have had time to flush out and test yet... but that should get you started :-)

here's some more info:

web access to the android marketplace
http://www.androlib.com

calendar widgits
http://androidforums.com/motorola-dr...ar-widget.html

keyboard replacement
http://androidforums.com/android-app...l-release.html
http://www.cootek.com/

big ass list of apps
http://phandroid.com/2009/11/06/50-a...-droid-owners/

screen protector discussion
http://androidforums.com/motorola-dr...rotectors.html


PS: don't be afraid to buy an app -- if you don't like it and take it off within a short time frame (24 or 48 hours) you get a refund, automatically :-)
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So far so good, I havent had any problems with my new phone. I used the Navigation today, much better than VZNav...but when you lose your GPS and regain it...you dont resume Nav...you have to backout then go back in. Minor bug I assume will get fixed soon
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