The DROID X has arrived – 160,000 Androids ship daily

23 Jun 2010

Motorola and Verizon have taken the wraps off the DROID X Android-based handset. At the launch in the US the vice president of engineering at Google Andy Rubin revealed that there are now 160,000 Android devices being sold every day.

The new DROID X smartphone comes with Adobe Flash Player 10.1, Skype mobile and can access the Android Market with its 65,000 applications.

The DROID X has a 4.3-inch high-resolution screen for viewing the latest movies and video from Blockbuster On Demand presented by V CAST Video, the newest addition to the Verizon Wireless V CAST application, which also includes access to favourite TV shows.

The DROID X video capabilities let customers capture spontaneous fun, combining a dual-flash, 8-megapixel camera, HD camcorder, as well as DLNA and HDMI connectivity to download, stream and share personal HD content.

The limits of Android innovation?

Sanjay Jha, co-chief executive officer of Motorola and chief executive officer of Motorola Mobile Devices and Home business explained: “Motorola designed DROID X to push the extreme limits of Android innovation, and enable you to do even more with your mobile device.

“We are breaking down barriers so that you can experience the Web the way it was meant to be and create, share and view content like never before, either in your hand or in your home. Enterprise users will also find DROID X appealing with features including push e-mail and live widgets for e-mail and calendar updates,” Jha said.

DROID X customers will also receive Android 2.2 and Adobe Flash Player 10.1 with an over-the-air update in the latter half of the summer. With the update, the Flash Player will allow mobile users to experience hundreds of sites with rich applications and content inside the browser, including games, animations, rich Internet applications (RIAs), data presentations and visualisations, e-commerce, music, video, audio and more.

The march of the Androids

“It has been an exciting time for Android momentum and global consumer adoption since the announcement of DROID by Motorola nine months ago,” said Andy Rubin, vice president of engineering for Google.

“There are 160,000 new Android-powered devices activated daily and Android Market has grown to over 65,000 applications. Plus later this summer, Verizon Wireless and Motorola will update all the DROID by Motorola phones to the latest 2.2 software. For customers, this means great new features and improved browser performance. For developers, this will provide new tools such as cloud-to-device messaging and enhanced enterprise functionality.”

Once updated to Android 2.2, business customers will find DROID X offers the features that turn the device into a workhorse with support for both Exchange and Gmail for business, Motorola said.

Corporate users can enjoy push delivery of e-mail; live widgets that stream messages to the home screen; filter widgets to differentiate work and home e-mail; corporate directory and Global look-up along with a unified calendar for Enterprise and sync with Google Calendar. Security protocols allow remote password control and wipe via Exchange server.

“We are excited about full Flash support coming to the DROID X and other devices from Motorola,” said Shantanu Narayen, president and chief executive officer of Adobe.

“Flash Player 10.1, which is one of Adobe’s most anticipated releases ever, has been redesigned from the ground up to deliver the kind of highly engaging experiences that consumers now expect from their mobile devices.”

The DROID X will be available through Verizon in the US for US$199 as part of a two-year customer agreement.

The DROID X has landed. Now, will it exterminate some iPhone market share?

John Kennedy is a journalist who served as editor of Silicon Republic for 17 years

editorial@siliconrepublic.com