Verizon’s second 4G LTE phone to be launched is the Samsung Droid Charge. After the launch of the HTC ThunderBolt Verizon is having some small issues with the stability of the LTE network. This might be the reason why the official launch date of the Samsung Droid Charge has been moved from April 28th to “Coming Soon“.

With an 8 megapixel camera and a 1.3  megapixel front facing camera in combination with the Super Amoled Plus Display and a 1 GHz Hummingbird processor this Samsung promises to be a buzzing device to have.

Unboxing

The video below will give you a good impression how the device looks and feels.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dvP8u0MO7L8

Availability

The Samsung Droid Charge will be avaialble on the Verizon network soon for $299.99 with a 2 year contract.

Specifications

Full Technical Specifications Of Samsung Droid Charge

Navigon is one of the best navigation software on the market today for the mobile market. In Europe they still sell their Personal Navigation Devices, but worldwide they sell their navigation software on the Microsoft Windows Phone 6.x  and Apple iOS platforms. However today the announced launch of their Navigation software for the Android Smartphones.

We have covered the Navigon Software on other platforms earlier. But besides the Apple iOS and Windows Mobile platform , they have added now their Navigation Software to the Android (Google).

The special price for the MobileNavigator for the first two week is $39.99  in the Android Market and Google Checkout. After that the price will be a one time fee of  $59.99 which will include the Traffic Live Services. Now we have to wait when they will bring out the Navigon MobileNavigator for Windows Phone 7.

The great features of the Navigon Mobile Navigator are:

• Reality View Pro
• Traffic Live
• Reality Scanner
• Lane Assistant Pro
• Speed Assistant
• Text-To-Speech
• NAVIGON MyRoutes
• Day & Night Mode
• Direct Access to Contacts
• Route Planning (of course)
• Branded POI’s on map and in reality scanner
• Automatic Portrait or Landscape orientation
• Intelligent address entry
• Real street and highway sign display
• Direct calls to POI’s
• Pedestrian Navigation
• Red Light Camera’s

Screenshots

The image below is from their reality scanner. Which helps you find points of interest by showing them in a live camera view.

Full Press Release

NAVIGON Launches On-Board Navigation App for Android Smartphones
Provides Premium, All Inclusive Experience with On-Board Map Material, Industry First Reality Scanner and Traffic Live
Hamburg, Germany October 27, 2010—NAVIGON AG, a leading provider of mobile on-board navigation, today announced the release of the US version of its award winning MobileNavigator for the Android platform. The first on-board navigation app of a major navigation company to launch on the Android platform, MobileNavigator brings premium navigation to the growing Android user base. Among many signature functions, the app includes the industry-first feature Reality Scanner that identifies points of interest by showing them in a live camera view. MobileNavigator is available now from the Android Market and includes Traffic Live and without an additional cost.

MobileNavigator brings first-class developments in GPS navigation technology and real-time travel information to the Android platform. “For almost two decades NAVIGON brings preeminent navigation technology; this long standing experience enables us to deliver sophisticated navigation solutions that transform smartphones into navigation solutions comparable to standalone devices,” said Gerhard Mayr, NAVIGON vice-president worldwide mobile phones and new markets. “Other than free navigation apps for the Android platform, NAVIGON’s app provides on-board premium maps and driving related features that go beyond providing simple directions, helping to make driving a more relaxed experience.”

Reality Scanner is an industry first feature for the Android platform. Utilizing the phone’s build-in camera, positioning, and compass components together with NAVIGON’S extensive POI database to project POI (points of interest) icons directly on the camera’s image. Users can point the device and instantly identify POIs in or around the location. Other premium features include, Reality View Pro, displaying photo-realistic 3D views of actual road, highway/interstate, signs and exits, and lane guide markers for easy driving decisions. Traffic Live uses real-time data from over a million drivers to route around traffic. NAVIGON MyRoutes analyzes driving habits, patterns, location, time/day and provides up to three routes clearly displayed in-map with ETA, distance and driving times for each (a comprehensive list of features is below). The NAVIGON Red Light Cameras feature provides drivers an advanced visual warning for most red light and speed cameras.

MobileNavigator relies on the devices’ GPS receiver as well as the pre-loaded NAVTEQ® maps, providing full function navigation capabilities when a cell signal is not available. Off-board navigation, in comparison, is dependent on a cell phone connection to download map and routing data. Therefore, no cell signal renders navigation useless or interrupted until a connection is re-established. “MobileNavigator addresses the concerns of savvy consumers who are dissatisfied with the inconsistent performance of off-board turn-by-turn navigation solutions using lower quality data that has recently entered the market. NAVTEQ maps are a key differentiator and part of NAVIGON’S overall strategic vision for enabling a more sophisticated navigation experience for consumers,” said Jeff Mize, executive vice president, Global Sales, NAVTEQ. “The superiority of NAVTEQ® maps is defined by its verified accuracy, richness of content and its breadth of coverage data. Equipped with proprietary data collection tools and state-of-the-art technologies, NAVTEQ’S Geographic Analysts continually drive the roads to collect, verify and update over 260 attributes, many of which can only be captured through direct field collection. This in-depth “human factor” delivers data consistent with real world conditions and is one of the most robust and accurate geographic databases in the world.”

In addition to the benefits of an on-board solution, NAVIGON’S hallmark navigation capabilities and third party partnerships come together in MobileNavigator customized and developed for the Android platform.

The extensive set of features and capabilities include:
·      Reality View™ Pro clearly displays photo-realistic 3D views of actual road, highway/interstate, signs and exits, and lane guide markers for easy driving decisions.

·      Traffic Live The most precise traffic information available today, using real-time speed data from over a million drivers including commercial fleets such as trucks and taxis and non-commercial drivers with GPS capabilities.

·      Reality Scanner helps finding points of interest by showing them in a live camera view.

·      Lane Assistant Pro prepares drivers to make an upcoming exit or turn with a lane map complete with arrows and actual road geometry.

·      Speed Assistant Adjustable audio-visual warning alerts drivers of speed and can be turned on or off.

·      Text-to-Speech Complementing turn-by-turn directions; informs the driver of both the street name and the direction to turn.

·      NAVIGON MyRoutes analyzes driving habits, patterns, location, time/day and provides up to three routes clearly displayed in-map with ETA, distance and driving times for each.

·      Day & Night Mode for map display.

·      Direct Access to Contacts Allows navigation to contacts saved in the phone’s address book.

·      Route Planning

·      Branded POIs and POIs along the route and in Reality Scanner.

·      2D and 3D map view

·      Coordinate Input Employ longitude and latitude coordinates as a destination as an alternative to traditional input like an address or POI by name. Email geographical coordinates for precise location identification.

·      Automatic Portrait or Landscape

·      Intelligent address entry for quick text entry and lookup results.

·      Real Street and Hwy sign display

·      Directly call POIs

·      Pedestrian Navigation

·      Google Local Search Connected instant search of local points of interest.

·      Red Light Cameras provides drivers an advanced visual warning for most red light and speed cameras.

Pricing and Availability
MobileNavigator is available now in the Android Market and Google Checkout for *$39.99 for two-weeks. Post promotion the app retails for a one-time fee of *$59.99. The price includes the Traffic Live services. MobileNavigator is equipped with maps of the U.S.A. from NAVTEQ®.

*NOTE: Price subject to slight variations based on exchange rates between Euros and US Dollars.

Compatibility
NAVIGON MobileNavigator is compatible with most Android phones and runs with Android 1.5, 1.6, 2.0, 2.1, 2.2. The application requires a minimum of 30 MB of free RAM and about 1.5 GB storage space for maps, voices etc. Supported screen resolutions are 320×240, 480×320, 800×480, 850×480 and vice versa.

The Google website started this week to refer Verizon customers to the Verizon website to buy the Verizon HTC Incredible instead of the Google Nexus One which is made by HTC as well. To tell you you truth I really like this HTC Incredible much better compared to the Google Nexus One we unboxed before.

Verizon took on the “Droid” branding with their phones which could be confusing to consumers. Consumer who just say say they have a Droid, don’t know there are now at least three different Droid’s out there. The Motorola Droid, the HTC Droid Eris and now Verizon is marketing this new device has the HTC Droid Incredible or Droid Incredible by HTC

What makes this device different compared to other phones on the Market today?  The Specifications and the HTC Sense User Interface. The 1GHz Snapdragon Qualcomm chip , 8 mega pixel camera and a 8 GB internal memory gives this device the ultimate power and memory to make it the device you want to carry around. The memory is expandable with a 32 GB micro Sd card. (the mention 32 MB support on the HTC site, but I think that is an error).

The HTC Sense user interface is called the Next Generation. More widgets, more formats of the same widgets and Pinch to zoom across the applications on the device including for the slider panels on the home screens. HTC specific widgets are giving the standard applications the nice HTC look,  like the Calendar. Like I said, the HTC Sense Next Generation User Interface sets this device apart and brings it to a new level compared to other devices.

Normally we are used to thicker devices from the CDMA carriers like Verizon and Sprint, but this device is lighter and just as thin as the iPhone. This was really a big surprise to me.

I have made a short video with my first impressions of this, yes really an Incredible device. Unfortunately I have to give this device up today, but we are are hoping that Verizon will send us a sample device soon to get a better feel and experience that we will be able to share with you all.

The Verizon HTC Droid Incredible cost $199.99 with a 2 year contact which includes the $29.99/month data package. Check out the special Verizon HTC Droid Incredible site here.  On this site you can see the full specifications, features and a overview of this Incredible device.

The Verizon Motorola Droid phone running on the Google Android platform is going to be available on November 6 to Verizon customers. We are lucky to receive a review unit just before the launch. Below is a short video unboxing the DROID.

In the mean time I have been playing with this phone for a couple of hours and it is growing on me. The interface is very easy to use. I only had to move the Phone Icon to the home page for easier and quick access to the phone. Reaction time between switching screens, application and Landscape orientation is really, really fast.

The android platform is indeed a very customizable platform which gives me with each screen new surprise possible actions.

The Verizon Motorola DROID will be available to Verizon Customers on November 6, 2009 for $199.99 with a 2 year contract.

The specifications are all available at the Motorola website, But here are some key specifications:

• CDMA 1X 800/1900, EVDO rev.A
• Slider keyboard
• 5 MP camera with image stabilization, 4x zoom, automatic focus and Flash
• Music and Video functionalities, recording at DVD quality.
• 1400 mAh Li Ion up to 385 min. in continuous use  with 270 hours standby
• E-mail and corporate E-mail synchronization
• MMS, SMS and IM(instant Messaging)
• Bluetoothv2.1 +EDR (many profiles supported)
• Synchronization with Gmail accounts, corporate accounts and Facebook
• WIFI 82.11 b.g
• Internal GPS with Google Maps Navigation
• Web Browser
• Google Mobile services
• O yes, it is a phone as well.

Take a look at the interactive Verizon Motorola DROID website outlining all the features as well.