In short, the Droid Incredible is a fantastic phone that more than lives up to it’s name. Let me compare and contrast what I found using it side by side with my current Android phone.

First, the Droid Incredible feels very solid in the hand with styling that makes the handset distinctive to it’s cousin, the Google Nexus One. The large AMOLED screen is bright and looks fantastic indoors and is acceptable on overcast days while on the go but is almost unreadable in direct sunlight without turning up the brightness significantly. In a side by side comparison with my CLIQ XT, the normal LCD display on the CLIQ was much more readable in direct sunlight. But for most people this will not be a big deal as we tend to mostly use our phones indoors.

There are two issues I’ve found with Android; battery life and OS stability. Neither of these issues presented themselves when using the Droid Incredible. In fact, I never had to kill a process to prevent sluggish performance or to keep the phone from crashing. More surprising was the battery life which was at least 50% better than what I’m used to but with no savings measures in place. I think I might have gotten 2 full days of pretty heavy use if I did any power management but since I’m used to plugging in my phone at night I never got around to stress testing the battery. On my CLIQ XT, I have to aggressively kill background processes and use 2G edge networking to get a full day on a charge. But the speed and fluidity of Android on the Droid Incredible is what will be the main thing most users will notice.

Both the Droid Incredible and the CLIQ XT have enhanced user interfaces. The Droid Incredible comes with HTC Sense while the CLIQ features MOTOBLUR. Hands down the Droid Incredible is better in design and utility over the social network heavy Moto interface. Together with Android 2.1, the Droid Incredible shows that Android can meet — and in some cases exceed — the iPhone 3GS. The Sense UI makes the Droid Incredible much more polished than stock Android with expanded home screens and a ton of widgets for displaying all communications and social network data. To be fair, MOTOBLUR does a pretty good job displaying the same items on your home screens but at a cost of battery life and sluggish performance. In my week with the Droid Incredible I filled all seven home screens up and never noticed any performance issues or problems with battery life. This alone makes the current iPhone OS seem somewhat dated and will attract many mainstream customers to the Droid Incredible.

But what makes the Droid Incredible live up to it’s name is the stunning 8 megapixel camera. Still shots look as good as many pocket digital cameras and the video quality will encourage you to leave your Flip camera at home most of the time. While not HD, the videos look great and are very usable for YouTube and similar applications. Although the Ustream Broadcaster app was not compatible during my testing, Qik worked fine and was used to cover parts of this years Comcast Cares Day. To support these activities, HTC has included 8 GB of on-board storage along with micro-SD capabilities of up to 32 GB. Having 40 GB of space on your phone opens up a lot of possibilities for the content creator.

Verizon’s 3G networking was faster and more reliable than T-Mobile’s network. Where I live about 25 miles south of Minneapolis the T-Mobile 3G coverage starts to get spotty. I never saw the Droid Incredible drop out of 3G and in speed tests it was always noticeably faster than T-Mobile whether it was in suburban locations and when in downtown Minneapolis or St. Paul. Wifi is also available and worked as expected but I spent most of my time working with just 3G networking active.

So is the Droid Incredible the phone of my dreams? Yes. Will I have one in my pocket everyday? No. But it’s not due to the quality of this phone. If it was on T-Mobile and I could port into my existing family plan, I’d be all over it. If I wasn’t already on contract I’d very much consider the move to Verizon, family plan and all. Yes, the phone is that good. But I will be content to sit with my first generation Android phone and see what develops as the Droid Incredible demonstrates how great the Android experience can be.

If you are not encumbered by existing contracts and are looking for a new phone, Amazon has the Droid Incredible for an astonishing $149 for new or existing Verizon customers. Considering my recent upgrade cost $99 for what I consider a mature Android phone this is a steal for the state of the art that raises the bar for Apple to shoot for on the next iPhone refresh.

I spent some time with both the Samsung Behold II, the Motorola CLIQ and CLIQ XT before I made my choice. All these phones run Android 1.5 and sport the same processor as the venerable G1 but can be had for $100 or less on contract. When I picked up the Behold II it was $150 but the $75 smartphone trade-in made this what I thought was a pretty good deal. The phone felt good in the hand and the OLED screen was bright and very readable. For some reason, however, Samsung has skinned this phone with the same user interface as their feature phones. This TouchWiz interface is supposed to make things easier but for me it only made things more frustrating (and reminded me of the layers you sometimes have to dig with Windows Mobile 6.x). But the thing that had me returning the phone on day five was a show-stopper: no OS update.

I’m not sure if Samsung has made a definitive statement but it looks like the Behold II will be stuck on Android 1.5 for the duration which was enough for me. There were other issues besides TouchWiz. Battery life was terrible. The GPS only locked onto satellites outside and never in a building. The amount of available space for apps didn’t seem enough for what I wanted to install. So last week I returned that phone and exchanged it for a Motorola CLIQ XT.

The main selling point of the CLIQ XT, other than price at just $99 on contract, is the optimization of hardware and software. And it doesn’t stop with stock Android or their MOTOBLUR home screens. Unlike the Behold II with a pretty lame keyboard addition and little else, the CLIQ XT has some pretty compelling software included. QuickOffice is a welcome addition and saved me $10 but they have also included everything a social media connected person needs. Their social media client, Happenings, connects you with Twitter, Facebook, MySpace and more right from the home screen. And MOTOBLUR live updates all these services without going into any app. But the Swype keyboard is the most compelling addition here making this phone usable for more than just short text entry.

But all this has a downside as the battery life, without quite a bit of tweaking, is pretty bad. So I’ve turned nearly all of MOTOBLUR off to save battery, along with 3G, wifi and GPS when I’m in the house. Right now I get about 10 hours of runtime; I think I might be able to get something close to 20 hours with more optimization.

Android itself is very usable but still not nearly as polished as the iPhone OS. Yes, this is only Android 1.5 so I’m hoping many of these issues will be taken care of in the forthcoming 2.1 update. But the bottom line for me is that Android is a lot better than Windows Mobile 6.x so I’m glad I made the move. More to come after further use.

When Google Profile first came out, I looked at it and filled in a few details. Like a lot of social networking services, I lost interest and let it stay fairly sparsely populated as I didn't see a ton of value. If people wanted to know something about me they could Google my name and find my blogs, Twitter accounts, resume and other digital breadcrumbs easy enough. But my opinion of Google Profile changed over the past couple weeks with the launch of Google Buzz. And I think your Google Profile might be as valuable to your personal brand as your online resume and LinkedIn profile.

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So I thought I would explore curation and apply it in a couple side projects. The first is called Padable (yeah, I know) and is a cross between Minimal Mac and Lifehacker focused on Apple’s iPad. Right now it’s mostly curated media coverage but I will write original content regularly there as well.

For this site I’ve used Tumblr as the CMS. After considering my regular CMS of choice, WordPress, I wanted something that didn’t require any administration so I could focus on the content. After using it for over a week, I’m pleased with this choice since Twitter integration is super easy and posting can be done via bookmarklet, email and their very nice iPhone app.

I have another idea with one of my wine domains that I might start up if Padable builds a following. I’m hoping that with community involvement my curation will improve. Take a look and let me know what you think. Be gentle, it’s only an experiment

Tablet computers have been made for over a decade in one form or another in the PC industry, usually relegated to vertical, form-heavy applications. I’ve seen them used in hospitals and car dealer service centers. They are only mildly interesting since Windows has not been changed much to accommodate the required pen input device. These tablet PC’s are also quite expensive which makes them a niche item with consumers.

By all accounts, the Apple tablet (rumored to be called the iSlate) will be a full-on consumer device. A fusion of iPhone, ebook reader, personal video player and MacBook. It will run on some sort of tweaked iPhone OS ensuring it will have tens of thousands of apps on launch later this spring. Connectivity will be provided by standard wifi and optional 3G from multiple carriers. Content subscriptions will be available via iTunes for movies, TV shows, newspapers, magazines, ebooks and, of course, music. The iSlate will change the computing paradigm forever just like the iPhone, Mac and Apple // did.

The only problem is all of this is rumor and speculation. Mr. Jobs has a history of canceling announcements at the last minute due to leaks. And I expect there will be a slew of other announcments today. Things like the 4th gen iPhone (probably available on all U.S. carriers), rethought Apple TV, updated iWork and iLife, speed-bumped MacBook Pros. These alone would count as “new creations” and cover the announced theme of the event.

As I write this post, the top half of Techmeme is all about this mythical Apple tablet. Clearly the hype machine is preparing us for something big today. If this device is an overgrown iPod Touch or iPhone, many will be disappointed (not me, that’s exactly what I would like to see; $399, please). But if anyone can meet and even exceed pre-launch hype it’s Steve Jobs. I know I’ll be watching at noon for what he’s got in store for us.

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Everyone is a brand; listen up…

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The Google Nexus One was officially launched yesterday and by all accounts looks like the benchmark in Android phones. It might even be the first smartphone to give the iPhone a run for it's money. But it is not a disruptive phone that will change the way mobile phones are sold and used.

The first problem is current T-Mobile customers like me get hosed on service. I had my $200 ready to send to Google for the phone but found out after speaking with T-Mobile that the Nexus One was not compatible with my current family plan. In fact, I would have to start up a new line of service and cancel my existing line in order to upgrade; hopefully they would port my number but I was not interested in making the changes needed. It's not T-Mobile's fault, per se, but due to the way phone subsidies are done in the U.S. these days.

But Google could have sold this differently and made the Nexus One truly disruptive. All they would have to do is to sell their own data-only service along with the phone linked to their Google Voice service. It would be easy enough to come to an agreement to become an MVNO for T-Mobile's 3G service and sell a "Google SIM" with the Nexus One. Let's say they charge $50 a month for unlimited data service which would create enough revenue to partially subsidize the phone. Since T-Mobile sells data bundled for half this price, there has got to be room in the model to make the phone $200-250 with a 2 year contract. Add the ability to port your existing number to Google Voice and this would make the Nexus One very compelling. I know I would buy one and drop my existing T-Mobile service.

Google does not have the same interest in preserving the existing rate structures of mobile phone carriers. They had the opportunity to change the game here and decided not to rock the boat. Too bad for us but maybe Apple will surprise us and do something similar for the next iPhone.

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The only thing I’d like to see is a Mac Mini driving this rig in place of the PC… great design. News release and video for more.

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Earlier this week Google released a new service on their Android mobile phone platform that immediately got my attention. Called, Google Goggles, the service works with the phone’s camera to search the product or location for more information. One of their use cases was wine (pictured here) where the user takes a picture of the bottle which starts a Google search for the item.

Most wineries have some level of search engine optimization (SEO) now but when this rolls out to more smartphones (like the iPhone) being the first or second link returned turns from nice to have to critical. I’m sure the folks at Google will have a way for you to pay for the first link but having this in the organic results will become more important, too.

A blog is a great way to build up your web SEO if you create compelling content on a regular basis. Having a Twitter presence also helps in the SEO department. More on this once I pick up my Google Phone in January.

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This weekend I got to play with the Barnes & Noble Nook ebook reader at their Mall of America store. The design and feel of the device is superior to Amazon’s Kindle 2 and the Android-based bottom color LCD screen makes browsing and buying books as intuitive as the iPhone. The problem is the user experience for doing anything else which is more confusing than what’s on the Kindle right now which itself is not great. By the time I got my hands on the new Sony ebook reader at Best Buy I was convinced that the problem is not the idea of ebook readers but the E Ink technology they are based upon that emulates a paper book.

The book form factor has had a nice run over the past 1,500 years with the last major technology boost in 1450 with the invention of the printing press (or 1230 if you are from China). Since then it’s been continuously improved but has remained about the same from a user experience perspective for hundreds of years. Why digital books have to emulate the established print model doesn’t make sense to me when a color LCD reader can include video and other interactive features that would change the medium as much as the printing press did. In the future, books might look more like podcasts than printed words on a white background.

So I think the book needs to be changed in order to thrive in the digital era. All the existing E Ink readers of today will look very dated in just a few years when interactive digital book readers arrive. Or it could come a lot sooner if Apple decides to launch a 6-inch iPod Touch.

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Seth Godin has collected over 70 ideas from a diverse group of thought leaders in this new free ebook, “What Matters Now.” If you are like me and are looking for a little saw sharpening before 2010, download your copy here.

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While watching football this afternoon I read that noted PR and social marketing pro Brian Solis had his own iPhone app. After initially thinking how ridiculous this was I fired up the App Store on my iPod Touch and downloaded the app. After all, the price is right (free).

And what I found surprised me. Not only was the app well designed but the RSS aggregation was as good or better than the best for-pay RSS aggregators for the iPhone (I use Byline but there are several others out there). Of course all you get is Brian’s stuff but this idea is the next logical extension of making your website mobile and your content more sticky. Built with Mobile Roadie, one of the growing online app builders for the iPhone tuned for musicians, the result is a very professional extension of Brian’s considerable personal brand.

So I think that in the future everyone will have their own iPhone app. Or at least they could if they wanted to build one.

Update, 12/14/09: Via Jeremiah Owyang is another batch of personal brand iphone apps from Guy Kawasaki, Tim Ferris and Jeremiah himself. Built with MotherApp, these look very similar to Brian’s app. I expect to see all A and B-list bloggers to have their own apps before the end of January.

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So on Thanksgiving I reviewed the sales fliers to confirm the deals already leaked weeks ahead of time on several dedicated Black Friday websites. One such deal was a $99 store brand Blu-ray player at Best Buy which claimed in the ad to be capable of streaming Netflix with a firmware upgrade. So I showed up at my local Best Buy and waited in line about a half hour before they opened at 5 a.m. and, sure enough, the box claimed this inexpensive player would stream Netflix.

So I bought the Insignia NS-BRDVD3 Blu-ray player to replace my non up-converting DVD player. This model has only an Ethernet jack so a quick router lash-up was needed to get the player online. Once this was in place, I simply followed the menus and about 2 minutes later was linking my Netflix account to the player, a very simple process. After loading up the Netflix interface I was pleasantly surprised to see not only the Instant Queue but also the genre views exactly like the Xbox 360 version. Since our Xbox is plugged in via Ethernet and not wifi, I was somewhat concerned of buffering over a wifi connection (mixed B & G). But the player works fine with little or no glitches and the quality is really fantastic in both SD and HD modes.

I’m sure the product manager at Best Buy had the Netflix feature as one of the “added-value” items on the checklist for this player but this feaure alone was the entire reason I bought the device. I was looking for a Netflix streamer for about $100 and selected this over the dedicated Roku box because it up-converted standard DVD’s and plays Blu-ray discs. The ability to play Blu-ray became the “value-add” for me in this case. Because I bought it, I’m now a potential customer for Blu-ray discs but more likely one for other streaming services. For instance, I fully expect a future firmware release to support Best Buy’s Napster music streaming service which I would subscribe to immediately. They could also add other services and continue to increase the value of this purchase over time. Or enthusiasts could create alternative firmware, similar to what has been done around Linksys routers, to further enhance this device.

Sometimes it’s not the intended purpose of the device that creates the value proposition for the buyer but how a device can be used in new and interesting ways. I think Best Buy gets this at some level or at least will be producing platforms that can be enhanced over time to create increased value. This will keep me a happy customer and is more compelling to me than any loyalty program.

No, me neither… wonder if there really is an unserved market for something like this with all the iPhones & Blackberry’s out there?

You know you can use Twitter on a feature phone via SMS. Am I missing something here?

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Almost two years ago I agreed to participate at Minnov8, a group blog focused on innovation in web technology here in Minnesota. The brainchild of my friend Steve Borsch, I haven’t really participated very consistently except for our weekly podcast. So I thought I would help correct this by posting a review of Best Buy’s mIQ service there today. I hope to get a post over there at least once every week or two… we’ll see how that works out. Next time it will be about Twin Cities wine stores embracing social media so at least I have a topic to think about for the next few days…

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Social media rockstar Chris Brogan has been posting some interesting videos lately about being an overnight success. You can check them out here and here. Good food for thought which reminds me of Gary Vaynerchuk’s rise to internet celebrity.

Their “secrets”?

• Work hard
• Produce informative and entertaining content
• Be consistent
• Repeat for a few years

So I’m working on my “overnight success” starting now… see you on CNN in 2011.

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It’s hard to believe there are less than 80 days left in 2009 but this time of year spawns Top 10 lists of all sorts. I ran across this one of the Top 10 Brand and Marketing Trends of 2010. Value, increased customer expectations and interconnected consumer communities are the first 9 trends but the author has saved the best for last:

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