Wed 16th of June, filed under Mobile Marketing
Telecommunications companies Verizon and Motorola have disclosed a release date for the latest version of their Droid mobile phone. The handset, which will run Google’s Android operating system, is slated to be unveiled on June 23rd, just a day before the new iPhone 4 is set to go on sale.
Details and specifications for the new Droid are as yet undetermined; it is not known whether the phone unveiled will be the Droid 2 or the Droid X.
The Droid 2, which was leaked on the blog Droid Life, earlier this month, is essentially an upgraded version of the original Droid phone; it will maintain the physical keyboard but fix any issues the old droid had as well as updating software. The Droid X, on the other hand, could be more of a threat to the impending iPhone 4 with its 4.3-inch touch-screen display. There have even been rumours that both devices will be released on the 23rd as so many details have been leaked about them already.
”A strong installed base”
It is not clear how far the clash with the iPhone 4 release day is intentional but the closeness of the dates has led some to speculate that Motorola is deliberately attempting to draw attention away from Apple’s new phone and many are doubting whether this is a shrewd plan. Though analytics company Flurry has named the original Droid the fastest selling Android device yet, sales figures of 250,000 devices sold in the launch week still do not compare to the iPhone 3GS’ 1,600,000, and the new Droid mobile will have a big Apple fanbase to contend with.
While the popularity of Droid devices does not seem to match up to iPhone demand, Flurry has stated that it is not worth dismissing the phones just yet as they can in fact be seen to be performing just as strongly as the iPhone when all factors are taken into consideration. “Apple simultaneously launched its device across eight countries, while the Droid launched only in the U.S.,” said the company of the statistics.
”Additionally, the iPhone commanded a strong installed base of over 25 million at the time the 3GS launched.”
With the volume of iPhone fans so high that Apple servers have not been able to cope with iPhone 4 pre-orders, however, it remains to be seen whether placing themselves in direct competition with Apple will turn out to be a smart idea for Motorola.
In related news, new data from comScore has shown that Google has just edged ahead of Apple in social media app use. The figures show that 64.9% of users access social networking sites on Google’s Android devices compared to a slightly lower 64.3% for iPhone users. With social networking being one of the most popular uses for smartphones, Google taking the edge is sure to be disappointing for Apple.
Posted by Carli Harris
