Droid Launch: Should iPhone Worry?

Nov. 5, 2009 — -- In the beginning was Apple's iPhone. It was a phone -- but that wasn't the half of it. In one sleek little handheld package were a computer, a Web browser, a music player, a video player, and a thousand other things nobody had yet conceived when it came out in 2007.

Ever since, competitors have been trying to mimic its mystique. Apple has sold more than 20 million iPhones since its debut in 2007. The Storm, the Pre, the Cliq -- we could go on -- have all been fighting for their share of the market.

Now comes the Droid. It is made by Motorola, sold by Verizon Wireless (a big selling point to iPhone owners who hate being limited to AT&T's network), and the software that runs it (perhaps the biggest selling point) is from Google.

So. Is it the "iPhone killer" that people wonder about whenever a hot new handheld hits the market? In a word, the reviewers say no -- but it's certainly a nervy cousin.

"If you're interested in a smart phone, as opposed to a non-smart phone, or what people are now calling dumb phones, this is a very good entrant into the space," said John Abell of Wired.com, who was given a review copy of the Droid about four months ago.

Abell said he generally liked the phone -- it has some details Apple dispensed with, such as a hatch on the back so you can replace the battery. But he said Apple set a very high bar when it made the iPhone so elegantly simple to use. The Droid, he said, comes close, but close is no cigar when millions of dollars are at stake.

"I don't think it quite has the usability that the iPhone has," he said. "And for that reason I don't think it will quite catch fire."

Here are a few Droid specifications: