If you paid attention to the pre-launch buzz, there were few surprises in today's official reveal of the Droid X smartphone. It's basically a bigger, faster version of its predecessor.
The Droid X is coming exclusively to Verizon Wireless on July 15 for $199. Other parts of the world may get a similar device -- kind of like how the Motorola Milestone was the original Droid's doppelganger -- but Motorola and Google executives offered no specifics, Engadget reports.
A 4.3-inch screen is the Droid X's marquis feature, with 854-by-480 resolution. That's actually a lower resolution than some smaller phones -- notably, the iPhone 4's resolution is 960-by-640 -- but Sanjay Jha, Motorola's mobile devices chief executive, covered by saying consumers will "virtually always pick a larger display over a high-resolution display." Though the screen is not HD, the Droid X captures 720p video with an 8-megapixel camera.
One major change in the Droid X is the lack of a physical keyboard. The original Droid's sliding keyboard was a much sought-after feature before launch, but reviewers quickly turned on it for being difficult to use. I imagine that this, along with the Droid X's already-substantial bulk, led to the use of a multi-touch virtual keyboard instead. The Droid X will come preloaded with Swype, a unique and often raved-about text input technology.
The Droid X's other specs are roughly on par with other Android phones. It has a 1 GHz OMAP processor, 512 MB of RAM and 8 GB of internal storage plus a 16 GB memory card. The phone can act as a Wi-Fi hotspot for five devices, priced at $20 extra per month for 2 GB.
Just one major letdown: The Droid X will run Android 2.1 to start, and won't upgrade to version 2.2 until late summer. So while touted Adobe Flash as a feature, it won't be available at launch.
I think Droid's brand recognition is more responsible for elevating the phone to prominent stature than its actual features. At this point, Android phones are basically stagnant until Android 2.2 and Flash become widely available. That can't happen soon enough.
