Why Verizon's Droid Isn't an iphone Killer

On paper, Verizon's Droid by Motorola seems like it should destroy the iPhone। Its 3।7-inch 480x854 display is dumbfounding compared to Apple's 3.5-inch 480x320 screen. It manages to include a slide-out QWERTY keyboard, yet at 0.54-inches it's scarcely thicker than the iPhone's 0.48-inches. It has a turn-by-turn GPS right out of the box, while the same feature on the iPhone will knock you back an extra $100. Yet, all this is not enough for the Droid to earn the status of "iPhone killer." For that, it will need to rob the iPhone of its customers, and it won't come even close.
Sure, the Droid's 5MP autofocus camera with a flash bests the iPhone's 3.2MP. Sure, it has an SD card slot, and a removable battery. The iPhone has never been a spec sheet standout. There have always been phones with better cameras, keyboards, and more checkboxes on their feature sheets. The iPhone's success has always defied its limitations, and that's due to its refined interface and intuitive and patented gestures.
While the Android 2.0 OS is closing the usability gap, the iPhone has reached critical mass. It's managed to garner a loyal following, and habit and familiarity are powerful things. Every year Apple refreshes the iPhone platform making it more capable and powerful. Apple knows when its competition is gaining an edge and heads them off at the next revision. Apple customers know this and would rather wait to get a better version of what they already know than hassle with a new platform.
People have grown comfortable with what David Coursey calls the iPhone's "ecosystem". People know how to use iTunes, the App store, and iPod controls. Apple has had years to refine the relationship between these apps, and because it controls all facets, it makes sure that users have a consistent experience.
Let's not forget about the apps themselves. While the Android market place has an impressive 10,000 applications, the App store blows that out of the water with a number approaching 100,000. Every iPhone user has a handful of apps they just can't do without.
Apple products have always been as much about what's on the outside as what is on the inside. While the Droid is attractive in its own right, it's still just another slider with lots of buttons. It fails to threaten the iPhone's designer look. The sad truth is that appearances matter more than people let on.
What the Droid does accomplish is strengthening the Android movement. Android as a platform is showing itself to be a major player in the smartphone arena, with dozens of current and future phones on all major networks. However, Android will edge out Blackberry, Palm and Windows Mobile before it makes a dent in the iPhone market. iPhone customers have proven to be too loyal and resilient to adandon their handset of choice.
Still, while the Droid likely won’t knock down Apple’s mobile empire, it’s rightfully generating a healthy buzz and is sure to leave gadget geeks feeling smug.

First "White Space" Network Launched

The wireless network will deliver high-speed internet to rural Virginia।
Wireless technology that's been touted as the best hope for providing high-speed Internet access to rural communities is about to get its first true test. The first "white space" wireless network will use unused portions of TV spectrum to distribute broadband access to residents of Claudville, VA.
Low-cost access: A worker checks the antenna for a new "white space" network that will cover a service area with one-fifteenth of the nodes that traditional Wi-Fi would require. Credit: Spectrum Bridge
Advocates for rural broadband say that high-speed Internet access is needed to improve healthcare and education in isolated communities. Others simply don't want their communities left behind while urban areas access ever more services over the Internet.
But bringing broadband to rural areas is easier said than done. Roger Hayden, director of the Claudville Computer Center and chairman of the Patrick County Broadband Task Force, said at a press conference Wednesday that in 2004, he called every carrier he could find, and none was willing to deliver a high-speed wired Internet service to Claudville. In the years since, local officials have been looking for another way to get better access.
Three months ago, they began planning for the construction of a "white space" network, which takes advantage of empty fragments of the TV spectrum scattered between used frequencies. This is a cheaper way to provide wireless broadband access in areas without a lot of existing infrastructure. But the FCC requires that such a network include technology that prevents it from interfering with existing broadcasts.
TV stations have traditionally broadcast over wireless frequencies that carry information longer distances. For example, the spectrum between 512 megahertz and 698 megahertz, originally allotted to analog TV channels 21 to 51, offers longer range than conventional Wi-Fi, which operates at 2.4 gigahertz. With the ongoing transition from analog to digital broadcasts, more unused TV frequencies are opening up than ever.
Until late last year, it was illegal to operate over these unused frequencies. But in November 2008, new FCC regulations opened those portions of spectrum, with the provision that deployments follow strict requirements not to interfere with existing uses.