Motorola Droid X Heats Up Competition with Apple

Google and Motorola will create some sparks with the timely announcement of their new Droid X, merely 24 hours before Apple’s new iPhone 4 in-store release on June 23rd. Coincidence? I think not. It is the latest in a battle to compete with the smartphone market’s top dog, Research in Motion.

Apple’s clearly ahead of Google, with 28 percent of the US smartphone market share compared to Android’s 9 percent. According to one Morgan Stanley analyst, Apple has potential to grow from around 30 million users today to nearly 100 million total users worldwide by the end of 2011.

The Android could give Steve Jobs worry though, as the Motorola Droid X sports many of the same features as the iPhone 4 and uses an arguably faster and larger carrier, Verizon. Should Apple be shaking in its boots? Tech experts weigh-in on the Apple / Android debate:

Motorola Droid X’s new features rival that of Apple’s iPhone 4, while Apple’s release has been tainted by poor reviews and embarrassing tech malfunctions.

“Apple’s stint with iPhone 4 has been already tainted by negative stories and all sorts of rumors. At Apple’s WWDC we saw how iPhone 4 failed to connect to Internet due to heavy WiFi congestion… The ad placed on the Verizon’s website indicates that Droid X would be loaded with some fantabulous features including 4.3-inch display device, HDMI output and Android 2.1 OS. It will also have FWVGA 854 x 480-resolution screen, giving a crystal clear image. The Droid X features apparently stand toe-to-toe with Apple’s iPhone 4.0.” [USA News Week Blog]

Motorola Droid X still has the Verizon advantage over iPhone’s exclusive AT&T contract and could spell long-term disaster for Cupertino.

“Apple can withstand the calls to move to multiple operators for the moment, but if Android keeps growing quickly Cupertino may have to consider making its device available in the United States on more than one network. Advantage: Android.” [PC World]

Apple’s iPhone has one operating system across a few devices, whereas Android has many versions of its OS platform for many phones — making it confusing for the end-user to determine whether their phone receives an update

“Apple has just one operating system available for sale at a time, and until recently it made iOS updates available to almost all of its older hardware… [Android] suffers from a multiplicity of available devices with new and old versions of the hardware, including Android 1.6, 2.1 and the upcoming 2.2. That can get to be confusing for users, since you have to figure out which operating system you’re phone has, whether it’s going to get upgrades, and which features you may be missing.” [PC World]

Motorola Droid X will debut a mere 24 hours after the iPhone 4 in-store release — making it a newer, shiner and likely more popular phone on the block.

“July 19th is the release date of the Motorola Droid X that has been floating around the Internet.  At that time, the X will become the supreme king Android based phone, and one can’t help but wonder what will happen to yesterday’s ‘Incredible’ phone… All we do know is this – Droid X mustn’t get too comfortable on his throne.  In a few short weeks some other phone manufacturer will come out with something newer, faster, and ‘better’ at which point it will be forgotten.” [CNM News]

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