One thing that that struck me when I first slid open the Motorola Droid is that the software must have been a non-shipping copy. Historically, when Verizon ships a phone, the stuff in the VCast Music Center, VCast Video, VCast Navigation, and VCast Electo Pet Shop – essentially bloatware that masquerades as value added software. Swiping through the Droid menus I found none of that. No widgets offering NFL sports scores, no Apps offering downloadable videos from Lady GaGa, just a clean, clear interface. I know most Android phones don’t ship with much extraneous software (MyTouch, for example) but for Verizon this is a real first.
What does this mean? It means carriers are finally resisting the urge to bling out their phones like NASCAR racers. Without massive branding you get a cleaner experience and although I love the Hero’s Sense UI, the Droid in this pristine state shows us that carriers, and Verizon in particular, has grown up.
None of this, please. Thank you.
If you’ll recall, the first iPhone had little, if any, AT&T branding. It was a phone with a few apps – a calculator, a stock app – and that was it. All of the extraneous junk was taken out.
This gives the buyer a sense that they are buying a standalone experience, not just another feature phone. The Android Market is front and center if you want to improve things, but Verizon clearly thinks this phone can stand on its own without polluting the deck with their dreck.
Other phones that did this include the Sidekick, another popular phone. I think Droid is, interestingly enough, Motorola’s savior. Whether they meant to make it as clean and attractive as they did is unclear but I’m glad they took a stand against mobile bloatware.
I had the exact same suprise when I got the G1 Dream on Optus here in Austrlia. It had absolutely no OPTUS branding what-so-ever. Always a good thing in my mind. I hate bloatware and advertising.
red isnt a good color for a phone most of the time.
I agree to a certain point, but the goodness of Android is that handset makers and carriers can add their own killer apps to it before it ships. Stock Android is actually kind of boring, and a bit plain-looking. The iPhone didn’t have AT&T stuff, but it did have Apple stuff. I still don’t get why it’s a big deal to have a removable V Cast app on it.
Vodafone – learn from this please.
Bloatware isn’t a big deal… when you can remove it. Many carriers, especially AT&T, place bloatware and contacts on the phone that are non-removeable unless you reinstall the OS in a non-branded form. That can be a nightmare, and many times the bloatware is actually crippleware, hindering the phone from performing the way the manufacturer intended.
Show me a smart phone that Verizon has loaded with crap? They are guilty of using an ugly default color scheme… but what is that, two maybe three clicks to change on a WinMo or BlackBerry device? You can even, gasp, add and remove apps. Damn that Verizon and their smart phone crippling!
Why do you guys always equate the features of Verizon’s dumb phones to their smart phones?
It is the same story will all carriers dumb phones – they’re loaded with garbage because that is the best that they will ever be.
Stop the FUD.
This is true, actually, and I was surprised to realize it. I’ve been with Verizon since 2005, when I had a RAZR V3, which had a V (for Verizon) in front of at least a third of the software on the device. After that I switched to WinMo smart phones, starting with a real cheap-o Pantech flip phone, and haven’t seen any VApps since. I now have an HTC Ozone running WinMo 6.1 and had to look through all of my programs very closely to see if any are installed on it and all I found was a link to the VZNavigator app since my phone has GPS. It’s not even installed yet!
My WinMo 6.1 Samsung Omnia i910 also wasn’t loaded up with VZW programs. I had a RAZR v3m before the i910, and the only program that I paid for, for that was the VZNavigator.
Yes, but if they admitted that Verizon never put this crap on any of their smartphones, then there wouldn’t be any reason to claim that the lack of it had something to do with Apple and the iPhone. Don’t you know that you will be summarily drummed out of the ranks of tech bloggers if you write an article about phones and don’t mention the iPhone?
Ya, right? I mean my first Windows Mobile phone was shipped completely devoid of all the bloatware junk…just a clean, simple OS install like the blog article talks about.
I purchased this device a good 1.5 years before the initial iphone came up…but clearly Apple is to be credited for this.
Comparing Droid to the 1st gen iPhone is pointless, because we lived in a diff world then. There is no escape from advertising, its bound to come soon to Droid (more easily given Google has Mobile AdSense).
(Disclaimer: I am not an Apple fanboy)
There’s a big difference between mobile advertising and destroying the user experience through arrogant and misguided marketing hijacking.
Why does it always have to be “thanks to the iPhone” and “finally, they did what Apple did”?
Doesn’t anyone realize good Android phones never have this garbage because they have nothing to make up for?
I guess we’re going to be seeing a lot of iPhone posturing against Android in the final days of this iPhone-superiority-complex syndrome. But i’m getting so sick of it, I can’t find a blog that doesn’t treat Apple like a standard when it comes to gadgets.
Is it really going to be that hard to just let go???
Alexander, I think you’re missing the point. It’s not iPhone vs. Android. But the iPhone forced AT&T to drop its crapware, which created a new kind of user experience. Verizon is following the same path and not requiring crapware on Droid. And one can make a decent argument that as the first device with such a clean interface, the iPhone had an influence on the way Verizon handled the Droid.
Sure it’s not Apple vs. Android, all I’m saying is every single thing I read HAS to compare every singe new phone, computer, screen, toaster, and vibrator to an iPhone.
I guess people always need to go back to something to relate, but I seriously hope Apple’s play toys don’t become permanent fixtures in the process of comparing gadgets. It’s just annoying and for the masses that don’t hail to the iPhone it’s alienating.
You sound resentful. Otherwise why say things like “play toy”? I understand your point but don’t understand why you’re defensive. People will get over the iPhone at some point. But even the Verizon execs call the iPhone, in their words, “revolutionary”, which it is. And they also say it’s taken the industry some time to figure out what to do.
If they don’t do it good enough, people will continue talking about the iPhone. What this has to do with you personally, baffles me. But I wish you luck.
BS. Smartphones generally don’t have crapware. Feature phones do. This has nothing to do with Apple, as much as Apple evangelists would like to make every single gadget article about it.
good to see!
again, this is the reason why SO MANY windows mobile phones suck; too much crap.
also another reason why mac computers get so much adoration out of the box; no crapware to make a decent os feel like crap (ie vista on a dell).
as a geek, i always like to reload the OS instantly on a win pc or win phone; also, i interrupt the extended rom reload on a window phone after hardresetting. so much cleaner and runs smoother, only downfall is that one has to re-add certain cab files but well worth it in the end.
android is looking to be my next phone os to go to (current iphone 3g, prev wm5 and palm owner). now if only tmobile would get the Droid :P cliq is nice but that droid..
ARgh, there is nothing worse than OEM computers. It’s starting to get better than a couple of years ago but i also always flush new computers with a fresh copy of windows.
Takes some time to find all drivers but definitly worth it to get rid of HP media center, Dell mail sync, 3 months of free norton antivirus or god knows what other crap they throw in.
The more Tech blogs slam the bloatware on cell phones the better. Vmusic is one of the worst services around. It does indeed cripple any chance of using the phone for media.
Tired of carriers looking for the spotlight, even often removing the name of the real manufacturer when advertising it, claiming it as their own.
It’s like being at a party and while everyone pays attention to the DJ, another guy who physically plugged the equipment into the wall is standing next to him looking for attention.
Bottom line when and where can i buy a Droid phone?
this is a “with Google” android phone, is it not? i.e. Verizon couldn’t have added crapware even if they had wanted to. they made zero choices inre the firmware.
As part of their partnership agreement, Google wanted a clean experience free of VZW software. Verizon needs Android badly, so they are not in a position to let this be a sticking point. Also, Android has an agreement for Amazon to be the official MP3 retailer.
This agreement is very similar to what Apple did with AT&T.
good one, thanks for sharing
A more practical explanation of the absence of bling is that it just was not ready. They missed the deadline.
Very nice article, I think motorola droid is one of the only hopes that motorola has to make itself survive, they are betting big on this one, so far, the reviews has been pretty promising, I have been thinking about it even though my two year agreement isn’t up yet. I might as well pay full retail price for it.
If you haven’t already, there are few forums that offers discussion on the Droid http://www.Motorola-Droid.org is one. Don’t mean to spam, just letting you know about it in case you want more discussions.
So when is Droid going to be available?