The video embedded above is one of the first video recordings I made using the Motorola Droid this past weekend. The video file was uploaded unaltered directly from the Droid to YouTube over a WiFi connection (it doesn't allow uploading large files over 3G). The video looks reasonably good to me although I notice quite a bit of aliasing (jaggedness) in edges like the horizon and water's edge. The video also seems to be quite jerky. On the positive side, color saturation looks excellent. And, I don't see the "rubberband" effect seen in videos recorded on the iPhone 3GS and other smartphones.

I was surprised that the Droid saves video in a 3GP video file type. I didn't see any option to store video in some other format like MP4 or AVI.

I recorded video using the HTC Touch Pro2 at the same time I tested the Droid. Unfortunately, I had it set to the wrong mode (lower resolution H.264 3GP mode). So, it would be an unfair comparison. However, I plan on recording video comparisons using various mobile devices in the near future.

Back on October 12, I noted...

Photoshop.com Mobile for iPhone: Nice Free Photo Editor with Disappointing Sketch Mode

I learned from Mashable that an Android version is available now...

Adobe Photoshop Mobile Launches on Google Android

Photoshop.com Mobile App for Android (product page)

So, I installed it on my new Motorola Droid. I had a problem signing in to my Photoshop.com account from the app. However, it might be because Adobe changed its terms of use since I used it last month. This required agreeing to it in the desktop browser. After getting through the agreement process on the desktop, I was able to login from the Droid.

The Android app doesn't to have the "sketch" feature that disappointed me in the iPhone version. So, it may be missing a few other features too. However, as you can see in the same photo above, I was able to take a photo on the droid, apply a black-and-white (grayscale) filter to it and upload it to my Photoshop.com account.

I take a lot of photos using various cameraphones. So, you can expect to see a number of my Droid photos tests in future blogs.

The...

Google EyesFreeAndroid YouTube Channel

...provides information and video demos of Google's Android speech-enabling efforts (see project page link below)...

eyes-free Speech Enabled Eyes-Free Android Applications

Ironically and sadly, audio for the various videos provided here is uniformly poor and difficult to hear.

Hey, Google, can you please use better microphone placement and maybe have an audio-engineer check audio quality before posting really useful and otherwise informative video segments? Thanks!

I bought my Verizon Motorola Droid from a local Costco store on Saturday. And, I'm glad I did. The firm behind the cell phone concession kiosk in the Costco store here usually throws in a couple of extras with phones purchased there. This was the case with the Droid too.

For $199.99, my Droid came with the following in the extras pack:

- Wired stereo headset with remote controls
- Leather carrying case with wrist strap and belt clip
- Car charger

And, as usual (I purchased a bunch of Sprint phones from the Kiosk before they vendor dropped Sprint and replaced it with T-Mobile), the Kiosk staffer was courteous, professional, and extremely helpful. All the paperwork was filled out for me including the instant rebate (I paid just the $199.99) and the mail-in activation fee waiver. We activated my phone there and went through the configuration to make sure everything was working properly before I left.

I'll be detailing my impressions of the Droid extensively over the coming week. But, let me start by saying this: The Droid is not even a small threat to the iPhone. On the other hand, Nokia S60 and Microsoft Windows Phones have a lot to worry about. That said, there is a lot to like about the Droid and its Android 2.0 platform. I'll talk about both pros and cons in blog items here in the days and weeks to come.

For an interesting negative blow-by-blow analysis, take a look at Robert Scoble's blog item...

The Droid fails AS A PRODUCT when compared to Palm Pre and iPhone

After over a year of being unable to use WordPress for iPhone with my personal blog, I was happy to say on October 30...

Success! WordPress 2 for iPhone Works with my Blogs

The WordPress for iPhone blog now reports that...

20,000 downloads of WordPress for iPhone 2

...a week after its release. This blog item also has a brief Q&A section related to the 2.0 release:

1. Why is this a new app? (shift from contractor to Automatic)
2. Why was landscape mode removed (it is not)
3. Can't login

You can find a video overview of WordPress 2 for iPhone embedded above.

Unlike the AirGraffiti project mentioned in the previous blog entry here, this AT&T Research project sounds novel and interesting...

Laser tag with mobile phones or help for disaster victims w/ network down. AT&T researching GeoCasting

Mobile devices (like phones) that support the GeoCast protocol developed by AT&T can receive and propogate messages without cell towers serving as an intermediary. In the example described in the video embedded above, a first responder with a command device (like a notebook) with the authorization to send out a GeoCast query could request information form GeoCast capable phones to get position location of disaster victims.

Hmm... Interesting... But do we really want virtual tagging?

AT&T researchers testing AirGraffiti concept. Leave a location-based message that others can find in air

AT&T's research project lets people attach media (video, photos) to a location that can be accessed by other people who may be in that area at a later time. It doesn't sound much different from many other location based services such as Yelp that lets you see what other people may have said about something in that area.

Note to AT&T: Could you please spend some research time to figure out how to get your network to the point where iPhone tethering service can be turned on for a reasonable price?

10 of my iPhone apps were updated in the past week. Updates 1MB or larger are noted in parentheses. You may note that some of the apps listed were on one of my booted apps list. They are shown as updated because they were unsynced with my iPhone rather that completely removed from my iTunes app library.

Apps that do not have comments in the list below indicates that the update is simply a bug fix release or an iPhone OS 3.x compatibility update with, perhaps, some bug fixes.

1. 170,000 Recipes - BigOven 1.2 (1.9m) Improved interface. Leftover wizard

2. CameraBag 1.6 Colorcross filter. CameraBag Desktop for Mac available ($19)

3. Epocrates 2.90 (3.4m)

4. Free Translator 1.0.20 Translattions can be emailed from within the app

5. Japanese Phrases FREE 2.0.2 (16.7m) 40+ sound files added. Family words lesson added. More Flashcard & quiz pages.

6. NetNewsWire 2.0.2

7. Now Playing 3.12 (1.9m)

8. NYTimes 2.3.1

9. Quicksheet 1.5.0 (8.2m) Supports Microsoft Excel password protected files

10. Yelp 3.1.1 (3m)

I used DSLReports' non-Javascript dependent speedtest since Windows Mobile 6.1's web browser doesn't work with DSLReports more commonly used Javascript based speedtest...

http://text.dslreports.com/mspeed

I used a 1MB download payload for each test. Here's what I found based only a single test for each phone/carrier:

AT&T
iPhone 3G
613 Kbps
0.473 second latency

T-Mobile
HTC Touch Pro2
671 Kbps
0.539 second latency

I'm calling this a "tie". It surprised me since I thought I was seeing better throughput on the Touch Pro2. I should probably run more tests and in a variety of areas (including outdoors) to get a better picture of my local 3G situation.

PicTranslator 1.0 (iTunes App Store) is a $1.99 iPhone app with an interesting premise. It can translate European written language in the real world from one language to your native language by capturing the image with the iPhone's camera and then presenting a translation to you. Additional languages can be purchased in-app for 99 cents each or an "All Language Pack" for $1.99.

PicTranslator (Product site)

Ribbit Mobile

...sign up for their beta service again. I don't expect to hear anything back from them given their previous track record. But, who knows? So, why am I interested in a service that looks like will have a $30 per month fee associated with it (based on their "Try it Free - A $30/month value" web message)? To be honest, I'm not quite sure why I found it interesting. It appears to essentially duplicate services already offered by the free Google Voice (voicemail on your existing phone number, text transcription of voice mail, easy management of voicemail.

Note, if you look at Ribbit's pricing plans, you'll see they do plan to have a free offering with no business grade transcription service as well as a $10 per month plan with a limit of 40 transcriptions.

Some people (many?) might find an accurate "business grade" voicemail transcription service worth $10 or $30 per month instead of using Google Voice's free but error prone transcription service.

Reliability Meets Flexibility With Prepaid Plans For Verizon Wireless' Mobile Broadband Service

This pre-paid service comes at a high price when taking the limited data offered though. One day of service costs $15 and provides a mere 75MB of data. Don't even think about downloading a bunch of music or a single video file. A week's worth of access costs $30 and provides a mere 250MB of data (35MB per day!). And, a month of access costs $50 for a stingy 500MB of data (16.6MB per day!).

If you are in the U.S., it might be better to sign up your Starbucks card and get one 2 hour WiFi session per day in a Starbucks as you wander around during a vacation.

Via CNET: Verizon offers prepaid wireless service for laptop users

BlackBerry-ies Do It, Windows Mobile-s Do It, Why Can't iPhones & Droids Do It? 3G Tethering

Well, NetworkWorld says that is off the mark by quite a bit...

Verizon confirms Droid tethering option, hefty price tag

Try $30 per month. This is, however, still half the price of the $60 per month charged for dedicated 3G modems for netbooks and notebooks. And, it is in line with the rumored price that AT&T will charge iPhone owners for 3G tehtering.

Garmin ecoRoute

...download add-in is compatible with the nuvi 205, 705, 1200, and 1300 series GPS and says it provides routes that conserve money and fuel.

CNET, however, tells us there is one more interesting wrinkle in the form of the ecoRoute ESP module. This is an additional piece of hardware that connects to the ODB-II diagnostic port available in most current generation cars. This module gets information about vehicle performance from that port and sends this data wirelessly over Bluetooth to a compatible Garmin nuvi GPS...

Garmin communicates with your car via ESP

It is not available yet. But, I imagine even non-car-geeks are salivating over the prospect of getting this ecoRoute ESP product. I know I am.

T-Mobile loses 77,000 subs in Q3

What would shore up T-Mobile USA? One word: iPhone. They need the iPhone much more than Verizon needs it. And, it would be much simpler for Apple to provide another GSM phone to T-Mobile than a redesigned CDMA phone for Verizon. On the other hand, it is clear that Apple doesn't have much incentive to deal with T-Mobile USA.

As a long time T-Mobile USA customer, I hope they remain a viable service provider.