Posts Tagged features

Google now providing instructions for Droid “high quality” video flub

One puzzling nuance of the Verizon Droid from the day it was released to the public is the need to change settings in the native Youtube application to display high quality video as opposed to pixelated, low-quality versions of the same stream. In the eyes of several reviewers this appeared to be a bit of an odd oversight. Why would a phone, whose resolution is a crystal clear  854 x 480 pixels, be configured to show Youtube videos at the default 320 x 240 resolution when it’s reasonably easy to configure for the much sharper 640 x 360 high quality resolution?

Google now appears to be sending email messages to new Droid owners instructing them how to change the resolution of videos on the fly. It’s obvious that the point of the messge is to provide a handful of “How-To” video tutorials for other functionality on the phone, but the seemingly-subtle configuration change is what stands out like a sore thumb in the email.

The message:
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Pics of Moto Droid innards released

Someone has responded to a Fixit challenge to provide pictures of a disassemble a Motorola Droid. Outside of the general interest in how things work or perhaps being of some benefit to accessory manufacturers, the pics won’t really be useful to anyone and certainly shouldn’t be attempted by someone who doesn’t know what they are doing.

Head over to fixit to see the shots.

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5 Droid Quick Tips and 3 Must-Have Apps

1. If you long-press (press and hold) the search icon directly beneath the large screen, the voice search widget will be launched. A short press will bring up the Quick Search Box and on-screen keyboard. Voice search is important because the speech-to-text features are fantastic on the Droid. Why bother keying in a search term on Google when you can just talk to your phone.

2. Long-press of the home icon will bring up the 6 most recent applications that you’ve used. Short press will take you to the home screen.
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Droid / iPhone Comparison

Harry McCracken has taken a thumbnail look at feature comparison between the Verizon Droid and the iPhone. (you’ll need to click the inline image in the post @ pcworld).

comparison1
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Verizon feature overview & Google Maps Navigation

Verizon has a rather nice overview of a few of the Droid features that everyone is sure to love. One of the things that I’m most looking forward to is the addition of Google Maps Navigation. This functionality should make every executive at Garmin, Magellan, and TomTom sweat profusely.

A number of people have been using GPS systems in their car for a number of years. Garmin seems to be the most ubiquitous system on the road these days with the TomTom probably coming in at a distant second. However, I’m not aware of real “street view” imagery in use on any of these devices not to mention purchasing the head unit or getting maps for countries not in North America can set you back a few dollars. This feature is fantastic primarily because it turns your phone into a *true* GPS navigation device without the need for a seperate device.

Google Maps Navigation overview

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