Droid Bionic Works To Live Up To Iconic Name
You remember the Bionic Woman and the Six Million Dollar Man. Now Motorola is rolling out the Droid Bionic.
Droid Bionic offers some firsts for Verizon Wireless customers. It's the first Verizon smartphone to combine 4G LTE with a dual-core 1 GHz processor, 1GB of RAM and a 4.3-inch touchscreen display.
With this combination, Verizon hopes to satisfy customers who have the need for speed. Download speeds range from 5 to 12 Mbps and upload speeds of 2 to 5 Mbps in 4G LTE mobile broadband coverage areas.
"Motorola upped the stakes for Android phones this week with not only a dual-core phone but a phone that's running on Verizon's LTE 4G network," said Michael Gartenberg, an analyst at Gartner. "So it's pretty fast and pretty powerful."
Apps and Accessories
Droid Bionic also offers apps and accessories that work to transform the device into a multimedia hub with remote access.
On the app side, one example is ZumoCast, which lets you tap into videos, music, pictures and documents stored on your computer via the handset. There's also a Webtop app that lets you view email or documents on a TV or monitor.
On the accessories front, the Droid Bionic offers an HD Station that lets you turn the phone into an entertainment center or home office. You can view pictures, video, and content from the Droid Bionic on any HDTV or monitor by connecting a separately sold HDMI cable.
For the work-minded device user, you can take a conference call while editing documents and surfing the web. And the device lets you share your 4G LTE signal with up to five Wi-Fi enabled devices when you activate the Verizon Wireless Mobile Hotspot.
"Motorola has done some nice integration for both businesses and consumers," Gartenberg said. "There are things like a GoToMeeting client built right in, which can be pretty handy if you are not near a computer and need to attend a meeting."
Flavor of the Week
Droid Bionic runs Android Gingerbread 2.3, offers an 8-megapixel, auto-focus camera with flash and 1080p HD video capture, a Motoprint app to print via Wi-Fi enabled printers, a front-facing camera for video chat, and multi-window options for multitasking.
"In terms of evolution of Android devices, things are always moving fast in this market, but this is clearly one of the flagship Android products out there, at least for this week," Gartenberg said.
Droid Bionic sells for $299.99 with a two-year Verizon contract. Motorola also hopes customers will opt for accessories like the Battery Dock, the Vehicle Navigation Dock, the HD Station, and the Lapdock.
The Lapdock sells for $299.97 and the HD Station will be available for $99.99. The Vehicle Navigation Dock, which offers access to maps, favorite contacts, hands-free calling, music, navigation and more and supports streaming of audio and music via the 3.5 mm audio jack, sells for $39.99. And the Battery Dock retails for $49.99.