I know you won't believe me but here goes nothing

[kamek89]

I posted this on androidcentral, so I thought I'd post it here too...

Verizon along with motorola have been marketing their phones at major malls in the midwest. I go to a local mall (woodfield) in schaumburg. They have stands out where people can play with the DROIDs and ask questions. I talked with the reps there a couple times, but today was special....very special!

One of the developers for the Droid was there and he told me that the droid was pretty much developed at the motorola facility in schaumburg, and that most the developers lived in the area.

We talked for a while about the Droid, he was asking me what I liked and what I didn't, because that's why he and the other reps were there for. (besides to show the phone off)

And than it happened.... out of his pocket came 3 droids, all different! 2 of the droids just had different colored keyboard, etc. which he said might be future colors. One had silver frame, all the gold colored things were red. They looked like eye candy (pretty nice)

The 3rd droid was a normal Droid, and i looked and asked is there anything special about this one. He kind of smirked and said "open it up." I open the droid and the keyboard was completely different. It was "popped" The best way to describe it is that the buttons were like the Motocliq.I was shocked and of course asked to take a picture, but he kindly denied for obvious reasons.

All I can say is that the keyboard was nice, and it felt even better. He also said that by July Motorola is planning on releasing another wave of phones. He also mentioned that by 2012 ..."you won't believe the things they have planned" I told him that by 2012 motorola won't be the only ones with new technology lol

So take this as you want, I'll answer questions if you guys have any.

 

[vzwmandroid]

Did he mentioned anything about android 2.1 running on the current Droid or about the ota firmware update of January 22

 

[cisco0910]

Yea, I'm not a big fan of real keyboard on the droid. Its usable but could been spaced out more. Get rid of that square thing on the very right.

 

[cereal killer]

I believe it and have been saying for some time that Moto/Google/VZW would continue to develop the Droid into a "brand"

It's common sense : )

You don't spend all that money on marketing and advertising and then let it be overshadowed by new and/or better devices.

The "Droid 2" will be our next upgrade until then sit back and enjoy the support Google and VZW are going to be throwing our way.

 

[lschmitt]

Sounds promising. There are other Droids out there, mainly the ones that were made for testing to find what worked the best and overall functionality. There are some on ebay and what have you that you can buy(not cheap either). The silver one you saw I saw on eBay a few weeks back. The guy was selling it for like $600 bucks. He said it was a pre-release model or something. It would be really nice if they did an overhaul on the keyboard, though I'm pretty use to the one on the current Droid. It could most definitely have more depth to the keys.

 

[fredm74]

Thanks for sharing your experience. So are we to expect a 2nd generation Droid by July 2010?

-Fred

 

[kamek89]

Did he mentioned anything about android 2.1 running on the current Droid or about the ota firmware update of January 22

I actually did ask him that, but he kind of avoided the question. I'm assuming he either didn't know or he didn't know wether he can tell me or not, so i respected that

 

[kamek89]

Thanks for sharing your experience. So are we to expect a 2nd generation Droid by July 2010?

-Fred

I don't know, that would be really early, but he did say that motorola is going to release "another wave" so take it for what it says lol

 

[Xerozix]

Dammit. I don't want to spend 600 on another phone.

 

[LordKastle]

Please Motorola do not overhaul the keyboard. There is something to be said about the sleek and stealth look it has. Don't give me that "function over form" argument because I use it 95% of the time. Like I have said in a million threads...physical keyboards were on their way on in modern smartphones...until the Droid came out with a way for it to be effective yet not an eye-sore or a child's toy with blocky buttons.

Why do I keep saying this? So my voice is heard and so that the lurkers of Motorola and Verizon think twice before making a mistake.

 

[SSHGuru]

I think it's good they are working on the tech. Of course buying a first generation phone we should have known this would happen...

However the one think they should have done better with is the keyboard the first round... If you look you can see they had extra room to work with to get raised keys.

But as he said - 2012 I will be ready for an upgrade. Right now I'm just having a ton of fun with it.

I'm from Northbrook which is right near Woodfield - been to that mall a hundred times... wish I could have seem the newer one.

The colored ones.. blah who cares.

 

[Corinacakes]

I believe it and have been saying for some time that Moto/Google/VZW would continue to develop the Droid into a "brand"

i remember the post you wrote about that and got so happy

 

[SSHGuru]

I would pay money for them to have my Droid and my old Curve mate and come out with the Curves keyboard. The ONLY thing I miss about the blackberry is the awesome keyboard. They could fit it in there too...

Please Motorola do not overhaul the keyboard. There is something to be said about the sleek and stealth look it has. Don't give me that "function over form" argument because I use it 95% of the time. Like I have said in a million threads...physical keyboards were on their way on in modern smartphones...until the Droid came out with a way for it to be effective yet not an eye-sore or a child's toy with blocky buttons.

Why do I keep saying this? So my voice is heard and so that the lurkers of Motorola and Verizon think twice before making a mistake.

 

[cereal killer]

I believe it and have been saying for some time that Moto/Google/VZW would continue to develop the Droid into a "brand"

i remember the post you wrote about that and got so happy

You don't start a fight and attack the iPhone unless you plan on finishing it : )

This is like OIF 1 (Operation Iraqi Freedom) Google/Moto/VZW have just crossed the border and are advancing and fighting their way towards the capital.

Only difference is this war will be much harder fought.

 

[Erich_F]

That's all great and stuff...but I'm stuck with my Droid as is for the next 23 months...unless this one has an "unfortunate accident" on month 11.5

At least this thing will be getting software updates along the way. The form factor is just fine to me, keyboard and all.