Gadgetell | Tech News, Reviews, and Interesting Things

Verizon, today, made Droid official.  They’ve been teasing us with the “Droid does” and “idon’t” ads that poked good fun at the iPhone.  Now that it’s here, priced, and dated, we’ve got three surprises they’ve been holding back on.  Each one is a potential game changer.

Surprise 1: Google Navigation

Say what?  I’ve been saying Google Navigation was logical for eons now, but Google finally made it happen and it could be an instant changer.  Available as a free part of Google Maps on Android 2.0 phones, Google Navigation will provide turn-by-turn directions.  By leveraging their simple search engine (just type in or say just about anything and Google will go find it) along with their satellite imagery to make navigating an unknown area feel almost downright home-like, Google nailed this.  While it still remains unclear if there is voice-guided directions, Google is clearly serious about this.

Google has made a point about saying this is only for Android phones and it is free.  The free part is debatable as there is no free lunch - don’t kid yourself you are trading privacy for the chance to have location-based ads served.  Only for Android I am willing to bet is a temporary deal.  Google is an advertisement company first and foremost.  This will trickle down to other OS at some point, you can bank on it.

Surprise 2: Gmail AND Exchange push

Typically, you can sync your phone with one and only one profile.  For example, if your corporate email uses Exchange, you can set up your iPhone to sync with them while your GMail will be accessed through IMAP or POP, not through the Exchange server as you can only chose one.

Droid, ala Android 2.0 seems to allow multiple profiles.  Sync to this AND that.  Hot diggity dog.

Surprise 3: Flash 10 ready browser

I really didn’t think this would happen but yes, the Droid is slated to have a full Flash 10 which means Hulu will be in the house.  Interesting but it gets better, Flash games anyone? 

To say that the Droid is going to be a big player is easy.  While the form factor doesn’t do much for me, I’ll be extremely interested in the next two Droid phones that are coming down the pipe not to mention the 20 phones Motorola has coming in 2010.  And it should be said, well done to Moto.  It looks like they are back in the game.

Read: [Motorola]