A Little Follow Up:Droid Incredible 2

For the couple months, Erin and I have been using HTC's Droid Incredible 2 on Verizon. As you may remember were reviewed and loved the first Droid Incredible. And as I've mentioned in previous tech reviews, I'm no expert when it comes to tech specs, but I can perspective of someone who uses the smartphone a lot for work and leisure. I just want to know if a device is easy to use, reliable and if it'll fit nicely into my clutch when I go out.

The new Incredible 2 is definitely an improvement over the already great Incredible 1, and there are more apps available in the Android Marketplace compared to last summer. Some of the key updates and highlights of the HTC Incredible 2:

It's so fast! Almost everything felt instant, even browsing through photo albums on Facebook. Sometimes things would load quicker than I could hit the back button. A couple of my friends were so impressed they bought the Incredible 2 instead of iPhone 4 when their AT&T contracts were up.

The universal back and search buttons are handy. A few weeks ago, I saw a presentation at Ignite NYC by Whitney Hess, Design Principles: The Philosophy of UX , and in her presentation, she mentions the importance of making actions reversible. I couldn't agree more! While I love the sleekness of a touchscreen phone, it does lead to a lot of accidental taps, so a universal back button is super useful. And true to Google spirit, search is also a key button on the phone.

The GPS navigation is hard to beat. In neighborhoods like West Village in Manhattan or Queens, I rely heavily on Google Maps to show me the way. Since I walk, I don't usually find myself using GPS, but I travelled twice with the Incredible 2 and both times it was a lifesaver. I used it while driving in LA and Cincinnati, and I found that it was better than the Garmin GPS that came with the rentals.

The camera is ah-mazing! We miss the mini-optical joystick that was on the first Incredible because it made it slightly easier to snap pictures and scroll through them. But more importantly, we've been super impressed and pleased with the quality of the photos and how easy it is to upload and share straight from the phone. Many of the photos snapped at sample sales were taken on Erin's Incredible 2, which says a lot. The lighting at sample sales isn't always the best and she has to move fast in order to shop and be on her way.

Here are some of the photos I've snapped on my Incredible 2.



We're both fans of the Incredible 2 and would definitely recommend anyone looking for a new smartphone to consider it! Double rainbow!

Back to Basics with Droid Incredible 2

So I think in some ways as I look back on my nearly 5 years in NYC I have become one of those New Yorkers who are always moving, thinking what's next from moment to moment and finally realizing it's a little unhealthy to be constantly frazzled, constantly moving and feeling stressed out by impending deadlines, crushed by my inbox or at times hounded by overly eager PR folks simply trying to pitch story after story. Yes, I need of a vacation. So when the opportunity arose and the lovely folks at HTC invited us for a spa day of relaxation, I couldn't refuse. I took a mini break from my everyday life and decided it was worth it to take a half-day from my day job.

Lani and myself surrounded by some of our favorite Blogger friends had the chance to relax, sip cucumber and have a refreshing lunch of fresh fruit, mini sandwiches and some Mediterranean fare at the Townhouse Spa. We learned about some of the new features of the phone and then got to use demo models to check out some of the unique new features including an 8 megapixel camera and new larger screen size. Since I have inadvertently become somewhat of a tech junkie since starting the blog a few years ago I couldn't wait to take it for an immediate road test. 

HTC since re-designing the Incredible really felt like they were going back to basics and so they thought it would be a great excuse to help some fatigued New York City bloggers a chance to get back to basics while getting manicures, pedicures and mini massages.  Since I enjoyed the HTC Incredible so much last round, I was like a kid in a candy store with the device and immediately ripped open the box to start using it while I was getting a pedicure.  Even while drying my nails I was using features while chatting with Nicole, the woman behind designing the phone about how she got into working in Tech and into designing phones.  Turns out that she worked with phones many many years ago but back when phones were simpler there was not much to design, so she left stopped for quite a few years.  Now that phones have become so much more multi-dimensional she’s really enjoyed putting a woman’s touch to the design and getting feedback from other women what they think about the product.

Initial thought are that the new phone has a larger screen and is slightly wider than the previous model and features a rubberized finish in matte black to help keep a good grip on your phone and prevent fingerprints.  Although it’s slightly larger, the weight feels pretty comparable.  Like it’s predecessor, it’s blazingly fast and super intuitive to use using HTC Sense to help make uploading multiple photo’s to Facebook a snap.  The joystick button has been removed and the phone is entirely touch now, save for the side volume control and the power button.

After geeking out a bit, I got my glam on!  On my toes I tried Liz and Ginger Goin’ back to Cali and on my nails I went for OPI Dutch Tulips with OPI Black Shatter on top.  After a drying break, I snagged a mini massage and I was ready to melt into the chair.  While Lani was getting her make-up done, I called my mom on Skype and caught up with her!  I just logged in using my Skype ID and all my contacts imported in automatically including contacts that I already had saved in Google.  Pretty awesome!

Feeling like a a truly polished lady and with sparkling nails, toes and faces, we left feeling rejuvenated and ready to face the rest of the week.  I forgot what a difference that even a few hours away from the regular can make in a girl’s life.  Thanks HTC for such a fabulous day.  We’ve been putting our demo phones to good use the past couple weeks!

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