Enough with the "iPhone Killer" alerts. It's not happening. Not any time soon. And if there is an iPK out there, it's a case of latent fratricide, because the iPod Touch combined with a portable wifi device like the Verizon MiFi can essentially perform all the phone functions of the more expensive iPhone over a wireless network rather than through AT&T.
If we don't yet have a true iPhone Killer, at least we have a serious iPhone competitor in the new Motorola Droid. NYT's David Pogue gushes:
Its Verizon service delivers better cell signal. It offers both glass-typing and keyboard typing. The software is free and customizable. And there's this:
the Droid's multitasking pays off in two situations: when you want to listen to Internet radio while you work in other apps, and when you're switching between programs a lot. Since they're already open, you don't have to wait for them to start up again with each switch.
That sounds pretty computer-ish for a phone. This is where the Droid -- and other "app phones," to borrow Pogue's term for super-smart phones -- moves beyond the phone-o-sphere into territory normally reserved for netbooks. The ability to work on simultaneous programs is a key step toward phones functioning as small computers, as opposed to smart phones dabbling in computer functions.
