Motorola Droid for Medical Students

December 5, 2009

The Motorola Droid has proven to be quite an incredible device. As a medical student interested in technology, sports, blogging, and headline news, I’ve come across nothing but useful applications to satisfy my interests in an elegant, integrated manner.

I used to be one of those Verizon customers who was eagerly awaiting the iPhone’s release on Big Red’s network, but the Droid changed all that. So what if Apple does make its flagship device compatible with Verizon’s CDMA (or upcoming 4G LTE) network? Heh, I don’t really care. The Droid is perfectly capable of holding its own. I’ve always been a proponent of the open source movement, and Android is the only popular mobile platform which falls into this category.

Pros:

Verizon’s 3G network
Google’s Android platform
Ability to multi-task without loss of performance (16 GB of memory + 550 MHz processor)
Capacitative, high resolution touch screen (multi-touch in future software update?)
Sturdy build

Cons:

Battery life (depends on usage)
Physical keyboard may be cramped for users with large fingers
Battery cover can slide off when removing from pocket

Now from a software perspective, I’ve gotten my feet wet with every mobile platform (Windows Mobile 6.5, BlackBerry OS, and iPhone OS) by owning devices which ran them. Android 2.0 blows them away with its integrated feature set, and with Google serving as the backbone, I’m pretty confident about Android’s abilities to do anything the iPhone can (if not better) in due time. So let’s take a look at the applications I use on a daily basis.

Social Networking

Touiter is probably the best written third-party application for Android and a must-have for Twitter users. Facebook’s application for Android is significantly better than the versions for BlackBerry OS and Windows Mobile.

Browser

The Android web browser makes its analogues on BlackBerry and Windows Mobile look like Internet Explorer 6. It’s fast and easy to navigate across web page real estate. Safari has a perfect 100 Acid3 score with multi-touch capabilities, but Android’s browser will have Flash support starting with Android 2.2 (“Froyo”).

Music

It’s not an iPod, but the default Android audio player is simple, straightforward, and functional. Therefore, in many ways, I enjoy it more than the iPod Touch I own.

Epocrates

It’s Epocrates. You’re a soon-to-be healthcare professional. You need each other. :-D

Google

The beloved search giant has also provided Android users with amazing applications. Google Sky Map, Google Talk, Google Calendar, Google Contacts, Google Maps, Google Navigation, Google Voice Search, GMail, YouTube… yeah, you get the picture. And you’ll end up using most of the apps in an incredibly integrated manner. :-)

I could go on and on about the great things the Motorola Droid offers, but if you have any specific questions, please leave a comment!

Comments

7 responses to “Motorola Droid for Medical Students”

GordonMok
April 25, 2010
I’m heading into my clerkships in this summer and I’m looking into getting the Droid. Aside from Epocrates, what apps do you find useful?
Reply
1. Rishi
  April 25, 2010
  The Google News/Weather widget, Facebook, Touiter (a Twitter client), Helixlauncher (an alternative launcher), and Epocrates account for the bulk of my Android apps.
  If you’re looking to purchase a device this summer, look for what’s been recently released by Verizon at the time. The handsets are likely to be more advanced from a hardware (faster processor, more memory, etc.) and software (Android “Froyo” 2.2) perspective.
  Reply
That Crazy Lout…Oscar
December 6, 2009
Hey, Rishi!
Long time no talk, bud! Hope you are surviving well. =)
I must say I am a bit perplexed as to what phone to get. The Motorola Droid or the Apple iPhone 3GS. What should I get? Is the Droid as good as they say?
Reply
1. Rishi
  December 7, 2009
  Hey Oscar! Well, I can’t talk about the iPhone 3GS, but what I can say is that Verizon is doing some great things. They’ll have their 4G network up and running a full year before AT&T. The current network is amazing. And with Android on a lot of the upcoming smartphones… it’s a great move for Big Red. A lot of people love HTC’s Sense UI, so take a look at the Droid Eris or upcoming HTC Passion before rushing to get a Droid. All the phones are top notch though. You just have to play around with them in a store till you “click” with one.
  Reply
  1. That Crazy Lout…Oscar
    December 7, 2009
    Sounds good enough! I will likely move to the Big Red network sometime soon, T-Mobile just is not cutting it by offering top notch phones. :(
    I will wait to see if the upcoming phones are vicious iPhone killers. ;)
    Reply
adarsh
December 6, 2009
hey, i’ve bought the HTC Hero more than a month ago. it’s still got the 1.5 version of Android but i just love the phone. however, as a med student, i’d like more med apps to be developed for the platform. the market just isn’t there compared to the iphone.
i love my htc for just the same reasons, particularly the Google integration. Do check out the Dolphin Browser (tabs and gestures!) until Mozilla’s Fennec gets a release. Other apps like Evernote and Remember the milk are compulsory for me.
Reply
1. Rishi
  December 7, 2009
  I’m willing to bet that in due time, Android will also garner the interests of medical software writers. Thanks for the suggestions! :-)
  Reply