If you’re a Verizon customer and have been dying for an iPhone…or maybe you’re just tired of hearing how “everything Apple” is the most amazing technology ever created, then you are in luck! Motorola and Verizon are teaming up to release the Droid. The Droid is aimed squarely at the iPhone and is going to be released this Friday, November 6th for around $200.

Credit where credit is due…the iPhone did raise the bar for phone design and there is no doubt about it.  The Droid follows in this design and is a very sleek touch screen phone that has a slide out keyboard and can pick up and use a Wifi signal…very cool.  So far, they are tied. 

So, what is so special about the Droid?  The Droid is focused on providing features that the iPhone does not. An open platform that will encourage app development is a nice start….with a reported 10,000 apps already built for the Droid. The Droid also brings a little more to the party. Multi-tasking up to 6 apps at once, so you can do more than one thing at a time such as placing a call and receiving a text or email all while on the call. I don’t know about you, but I have been frustrated with being cut off from doing anything else, while on a long conference call. The Droid boasts a 5 megapixel camera with dual LED flash for night pictures as well as auto focus and image stabilization, and even provides DVD quality video recording.

My initial impression is that the Droid is a solid contender for the iPhone. The styling is nice and the Droid is a little heftier than its competition. The best part of the Droid may not actually be the phone, but instead, what it represents…a little competition. 

I believe that competition is a good thing and the Droid is going to be good for everyone - even for iPhone users.  

Apple will need to respond to the new kid in town. I have heard even the most diehard iPhone fan complain of dropped calls, no night time pics, multi-tasking, etc…and now the iPhone has some catching up to do.  I believe that they will. Apple is known to design very, very well and they will not want to give back any of their reported 15% market share.

In addition, developers will need to build for both platforms and this should mean more and better apps.  Developers that may have missed the initial surge for the iPhone will jump on the Droid bandwagon. 

So…more features, lower prices and better apps – sounds like a win to me.

Do you Twitter or Tweet? This sounds funny or strange to say, but in fact, it is the latest communications craze. You can keep up with your friends, your favorite actor, your local police and even what is happening in Baltimore with just a few keystrokes.

Twitter is a micro blog….it is a simple way to communicate with as many friends as you want to stay in touch with. Signing up takes about a minute…..all you need is your name, an email address and pick a password and you are off and running…..in the 21^st century. Twitter is free….so why not try it out?

Each message has a limit of 140 characters to keep the messaging short and sweet. In fact, this is one of the reasons that Twitter is so popular….quick messages that keep you in the loop. When posting a Tweet, you are responding to the one question that Twitter asks…..”What are you doing?”

Once you start Tweeting, (I still can’t get used to saying that), then people will start to follow you……and you can sign up to follow them. By following someone, you are saying that you want to receive whatever info they post on Twitter. When someone follows you…they are signing up to receive your posts.

Something I like about Twitter is that no reply is required. You are just staying in touch and don’t need to reply to a posting. Another feature is the ability to schedule Twitter to turn off or on at a certain time.

From basketball teams to movie stars, everyone seems to be getting in groove with Twitter. For example, Demi Moore has over 380,000 people that she tweets with on a daily basis. How crazy is that?

Businesses are jumping on the bandwagon too. G.1440 uses Twitter to keep our followers up to date on technology news that we post. We make several posts per day on average…..after you sign up…check us out to get an idea of what you can do. Another great Twitter posting is the Md Daily Record. Check it out…I think you will be glad you did.

Have a great time with Twitter this week!!!