The tech world is hyperventilating today over Google’s and Verizon Wireless’ big reveal of an official website for the Motorola Droid X, which isn’t at some viral hole-in-the-wall URL, but is located on Verizon Wireless’ website. Motorola, Google, Verizon Wireless, and Adobe haven’t yet put out an official press statement announcing the phone’s launch or detailing its specs, so the smartphone is still shrouded in mystery; it is expected to be revealed at a press-only event on June 23rd.
As pumped as Android fans are about the Droid X, which has all the makings of the next flagship Android phone, there’s one detail on the website which seems too good to be true to some: If you roll over the picture of the Droid X on the site, you’ll see the above display, which promises a 720p screen.
Update: This must have been a mistake. The screen has been changed.
This isn’t just an HD screen; it would, by some metrics, make the Droid X a stronger phone for viewing visual content than the iPhone 4, with the so-called “retina display” that Steve Jobs somewhat dubiously claimed made it sharper than the human eye could perceive.
Is this a game changer, or will the Droid X deliver less than it seems?
Update: Verizon has changed the ad to say “captures 720p,” all but confirming the theory this was a mistake. (Thanks, @volgeek.)
Phandroid‘s Quentyn Kennemer writes, “I’m not sure if it’s just bad wording, an ill-informed designer, or truth, but according to Verizon’s official site for the Motorola Droid X that’s just gone live, it’ll be coming with a 4.3-inch 720p screen.” Previously, when Engadget got an exclusive hands-on with a Droid X prototype, they estimated its resolution at 854×480; 720p on a phone of the Droid X’s proportions would make it an impressive 1280×720 pixels. Could the real Droid X’s resolution have leapt up so much since Engadget checked it out just three days ago?
Apple’s “retina display” consists of a 960×640 display at 326 pixels-per-inch. Multiply the Droid X’s stated 1280 by 720, and you get 921,600; multiply the iPhone 4’s numbers and you get 614,400. Taking into account the Droid X’s larger screen size, as MacRumors points out, that means the Droid X would have significantly more pixels at a “nearly identical pixel size” to the iPhone 4. Taken all together, this means that if the 720p stat is for real, the Droid X could trounce the iPhone as a smartphone for HD media consumption, despite Jobs’ claims that the iPhone 4’s display specs would make it the phone to beat for some time.
What to make of this? CNET writes that they too are “inclined to believe” that 720p is a typo, or that Verizon might have meant 720p output over HDMI, which would be significantly less impressive. Obviously, a typo of such consequence would be an embarrassment. In the absence of official statements about the phone, we’ll have to wait for the Droid X’s unveiling on the 23rd to see: We’re skeptical, but in the interest of making Apple have to sweat a little and in the interest of consumers, we’re hoping they blow us away with some surprise 720p next week.
Update: It appears the Droid X’s screen resolution is actually 854×480, the same as the original Droid’s, and since the screen is larger, the pixel density is actually even less. Bummer. (Thanks, Ed.)
