iSuppli calls Motorola Droid more valuable than iPhone 3GS or Nexus One
The iPhone 3GS might have the looks and the Nexus One is the popular new kid on the block, but iSuppli has declared the Motorola Droid to be the most valuable in the class. Surprised?
According to their report, the Motorola Droid comprises $179.11 in electronic components and $8.64 in manufacturing costs, making a grand total of $187.75 bill of materials. (Note: this doesn’t include royalties, accessories, etc.) As for what you’re actually going to pay, Verizon’s Droid starts selling at $199 with a two-year contract (or $149 for existing Verizon customers).
That’s in contrast to the Droid’s two biggest competitors these days: the iPhone 3GS, which costs $178.96 to make, and the Nexus One, which only takes $174.15 to produce one model.
If it weren’t for that microSD slot, which costs $35 to put in, the Droid would drop behind these two. However, it seems like a lot of people like this asset (and some iPhone users are hoping to see it in the next version.)
Read the full story on ZDnet
![Reblog this post [with Zemanta]](http://img.zemanta.com/reblog_e.png?x-id=0127df83-b561-4185-b3cb-971b503cdc9c)
Droid Dominates XMas Downloads
The Motorola Droid for Verizon Wireless is selling very, very well… there is no denying that. Exactly how well? That’s up for debate, but only a month ago there was speculation that 600,000+ Droids would be sold during the last 2 months of the year. Owners of those phones are downloading a HECK of a lot of applications: a new report by Flurry claims that on Christmas, Droid owners accounted for nearly 50% of all Android Market downloads:
read the full story on Phanaroid.
![Reblog this post [with Zemanta]](http://img.zemanta.com/reblog_e.png?x-id=d3be7a89-8274-4671-857f-76d81a52a9ac)
Motorola to run Droid Super Bowl ad
Motorola is likely to run a Super Bowl commercial for the Droid, a leak indicates today. The phone maker is believed by sources of AdAge to have bought “at least one” ad during the American football game. Although the subject of the ad isn’t directly confirmed, the Droid is currently the company’s flagship phone and its most heavily promoted device, as it has received numerous ads from Verizon attacking the iPhone and pitching the Droid as more open and feature-laden than its rival.
Neither Motorola nor Verizon has commented on the ad, though it’s implied that Verizon won’t be involved in the promo spots.
Read the full story on Electronista
![Reblog this post [with Zemanta]](http://img.zemanta.com/reblog_e.png?x-id=97fb0d95-e694-4ede-a95f-d6d71abcc4a9)
T-Mobile Motorola Android Cliq Phone Hands-On
Hands-on with the brand new Motorola Cliq, the first Motorola Android phone, coming from www.phonedog.com
![Reblog this post [with Zemanta]](http://img.zemanta.com/reblog_e.png?x-id=1fecaf7b-5de8-4ff7-ae88-93ac4afc4636)
iPhone beats Droid in Manhattan speed tests
Note to New Yorkers: Carry your new Droid phone to Wall Street, Grand Central Terminal, Union Square, or Madison Square Park, and you may find AT&T iPhone users — the ones who are always complaining — are actually downloading data at four times the speed of your Verizon phone.
A new report from mid-market investment banking firm Piper Jaffray rebuts the notion that the new Verizon Droid phone gives better service than AT&T’s iPhones. The three analyst authors summarized, “While there were certainly locations where the iPhone was bested by the Droid, two-thirds of the time the iPhone had much better throughput.” They went on to rate AT&T’s stock as overweight, meaning you should buy more of it despite the conventional wisdom that AT&T’s iPhone deal with Apple has brought down the company’s value.
The Droid did better in Times Square, Central Park, and Rockefeller Center, among other locations. The iPhone failed the worst in Times Square, missing its connection on two of five time trials and crawling to an average 39 kbps, versus the Droid’s 703 kbps.
Read the full report on the Venture Beat.
![Reblog this post [with Zemanta]](http://img.zemanta.com/reblog_e.png?x-id=67e68f6c-c54a-42c7-aa5f-51973381b729)
Should Motorola And Sony Ericsson Merge?
The idea: in view of Motorola’s and Sony Ericsson’s low global handset market share – less than 5% each – shouldn’t they merge? The geographies work: Sony Ericsson has a decent market share in Europe (12.4%), Motorola has a good share of the U.S. (17.3%), Sony Ericsson does OK in India (10%), while Motorola is fine in China (10%).
There would naturally be cost savings from merging R&D and marketing functions. Currently, Sony Ericsson will spend around 15% of revenue on R&D and 13% of revenue on SG&A, and it’s estimated that Motorola spends around 33% of revenue on operating costs for devices.
Sanford Bernstein estimates, that by merging, the companies could reduce operating costs by 10%. This would be a useful uplift as last quarter – admittedly a poor one for all industry players – Sony Ericsson had an operating margin of minus 12%, while Motorola’s was 2.3% after being slightly negative the previous quarter.
But there may be another factor: Next year, there will be a whole new raft of phones based on Google’s Android operating system.
Android has only been up and running commercially since the summer and is a long way behind Apple Inc.’s iPhone by any metric. But only around a dozen handsets have been available so far and around 30 more are expected next year, many of which will come from Asian suppliers.
Read the full story on WSJ
![Reblog this post [with Zemanta]](http://img.zemanta.com/reblog_e.png?x-id=8e57088a-7603-4950-a686-f30394562bfe)
Android Hits Consumer Radars
The slew of Android phones entering the market this year, particularly the Motorola Droid, have helped the Google operating system register with consumers, comScore said.
The market-research firm said in a new report that 17% of American cellphone shoppers are considering an Android device in the next three months, compared with 20% who said they’re planning to buy an Apple iPhone (either 3GS or 3G).
Android phones, which include the Motorola Droid as well as the Motorola Cliq and Samsung Galaxy, represented only 3.5% of the smart-phone market in October, comScore said, but the platform has gotten buzz with multiple device launches, as well as the increasing attention that app developers are paying it.
Read the full story on WSJ
![Reblog this post [with Zemanta]](http://img.zemanta.com/reblog_e.png?x-id=34eada66-5972-4d52-a02f-5e4a706b95b9)
RIM May Feel Android Effect
The growing number of smartphones using the Android operating system, like the Motorola Droid, is expected to impact the BlackBerry maker’s quarterly report
Verizon Wireless made clear from the start that its Droid smartphone was designed to put pressure on Apple, the maker of the iPhone, and AT&T (T), the exclusive U.S. iPhone carrier. As part of a $100 million marketing push, Verizon Wireless enumerates several ways it believes the Droid outperforms the iPhone.
Yet analysts say the Droid and other devices that sport the Android operating system may also take a toll on Research In Motion, the maker of another smartphone, the BlackBerry. “It’s clear there’s been a lot of marketing at Verizon around the Droid, so that is going to hurt RIM,” says Raymond James (RJF) analyst Steve Li.
On Dec. 17, investors will get a glimpse of how big an impact, if any, when Research In Motion releases results for the quarter that ended Nov. 28. Verizon Wireless, owned by Verizon Communications and Vodafone Group, began selling the Droid on Nov. 6. Other Android phones have been available longer, but the Motorola phone carried by Verizon Wireless has received some of the most glowing reviews and is generating the greatest buzz.
Mobile analytics firm Flurry estimated that the Droid sold as many as 250,000 units its first weekend on the market. Droid sales neared 1 million by the end of November, according to RBC Capital Markets analysts. Neither Motorola nor Verizon Wireless has released an official tally.
Read the full story on BusinessWeek
![Reblog this post [with Zemanta]](http://img.zemanta.com/reblog_e.png?x-id=b5ac70ec-625a-4d62-a58e-f351c613b69a)
Motorola Android Backflip/Enzo Pictures & Details!
“Motorola Enzo”, originally called the Backflip, although it could still be called Backflip on launch day, is coming soon. It is going very likely to be AT&T’s first Android Phone:
Whether the Motorola Backflip or Motorola Enzo, it will come as model MB300, be released with 1.5 firmware, run MOTO BLUR and have AT&T customizations which include:
- Yahoo! Search
- AT&T Nav
- AT&T Music
- AT&T Mobile App store (ringtones, little games, etc…)
Source: Phanaroid
![Reblog this post [with Zemanta]](http://img.zemanta.com/reblog_e.png?x-id=d36d9e03-77c2-4394-a530-155a9bba7280)
Verizon’s iPhone alternatives: HTC Droid Eris vs. Motorola Droid
Mlive has a comparison between the two Droids:
Design: HTC Droid Eris
(But iPhone beats both Droids)
• Without a keyboard and a smaller screen, the HTC Droid Eris is much more pocketable and sleeker than the Motorola Droid. (The Eris also has a trackball.)
• Despite its name, the Eris doesn’t have the annoying “DROOOOID” sound effect and “I’m a robot from the future who is going to kill you” startup graphics that Motorola’s phone has.
• The Droid Eris speakerphone is loud, but not quite as loud as Motorola Droid.
• Like the Motorola Droid, the Droid Eris has a 3.5mm headphone jack and WiFi.
• Both Droids have a capacitive touchscreen and on-screen keyboard like the iPhone. But unlike Motorola’s Droid, the Eris supports multitouch pinching gestures for zooming in on web pages and in other applications.
• Both Droids have a 5 megapixel camera that is meh, but the Motorola Droid records video at more than double the resolution than Droid Eris (352 x 288 pixels).
• Unlike the the Motorola Droid, there is no physical button on the Eris to activate the camera.
• I had trouble with the Droid Eris screen unlocking while in my pocket and calling random people, but a software update has made the screen less sensitive while locked.
User interface: Advantage Motorola Droid
(Both Droids beat iPhone)
While both Droids handle multitasking well, the Motorola Droid runs Android 2.0 while the Eris is still running Android 1.5.
HTC chose the older operating system so it could use its Sense user interface for Android, which offers some special eye-candy widgets for such things as Facebook and Twitter. I found these widgets to be subpar to other application options on the phone, and I really missed the unified e-mail and Google navigation voice commands featured in Android 2.0.
Overall
The Droid Eris packed more of a punch than I expected. Like the Motorola Droid, I felt comfortable leaving the house without my iPhone.
While I was disappointed that the Eris didn’t have Android 2.0, rumor has it HTC does plan to push an upgrade to the phone over Verizon’s network.
While I prefer the extras the Motorola Droid offers, check out the Eris if a smaller form factor is one of your main requirements.
Read the rest of the review on Mlive
![Reblog this post [with Zemanta]](http://img.zemanta.com/reblog_e.png?x-id=82b1871e-5b01-4de4-8192-b6018ade0337)
