I've been playing with Droid a week before the release of Motorola's new smartphone, due next Friday. Aside from the boot-up audio -- "Droid!" -- the voice-activated GPS is the coolest feature of the device. The mapping application is part of the Android 2.0 operating system that Google rolled out this week, and Droid is the first mobile device to use it. Just say where you want to go -- "navigate to 425 Portland Avenue, Minneapolis," for example -- and in a few seconds, you're hearing turn-by-turn directions to that address. When you get there, Droid even shows Google Maps' street-view of the destination. The voice commands can be wonky; I had to speak like a robot to get the words to register. And some of the directions are a little off while Google works out the kinks out. But, still, it's out of this world. By the way, other devices are already lining up for Android 2.0, but if you're with Verizon, Droid is where it's at right now.
