What's a Droid Phone?

In the strictest sense, a droid phone is any mobile phone that uses the Android mobile operating system. To the public, there may be some confusion because Verizon Wireless™ owns a phone called the Droid. The open source platform unique to the Android system makes droid phones different from other smartphones, in that users have greater ability to customize their handsets using a variety of internal and Web-based technologies.

The development of the Android platform was spurred on in large part by Google. Google purchased Android Inc. in 2005. Two years later, Google helped form the Open Handset Alliance, a collection of more than sixty leading companies in the mobile phone industry that helped develop and launch the Android platform for public use. Companies among the alliance included Google, Motorola, T-Mobile and HTC.

The first phone to use the Android software, the HTC Dream, debuted in late 2008. The first phone to legally use the droid brand name, the Motorola Droid, launched in late 2009.

Android technology developed out of the Linux kernel open software. Since the early 1990s, Linux specialized in open source operating systems that any developer could add on to, develop and mutate.

This open-ended approach has allowed Linux products to be easily modified to new technologies as well as to a user's personal preferences. Android was launched by the Open Handset Alliance as a means to bring such technology to the mobile phone. This makes the droid phone a unique alternative to other smartphones, such as the iPhone.

Whereas many smartphone interfaces have limited capacity for customization, the interface on an Android phone is left up to the user's imagination and technological savvy. On many smartphones, for example, only one application can be run at a time. On a droid phone, however, a user can not only launch multiple applications, but instruct them to interact with one another.

As a working example, someone could have all of their e-mail and social network accounts stream into one convenient box on his or her Android phone such as a HTC Hero, making it possible to read messages from all accounts at the same time.

Refurbished Cell Phones vs. New...Does It Matter?

Is it a good idea to buy a refurbished cell phone? It all depends. A refurbished cell phone is one that has been returned to the factory from a cell phone company and rebuilt, usually to new specifications. Sometimes, a favorite model will no longer be manufactured new, but a customer can get a refurbished one.

A refurbished mobile phone should, in all respects, work exactly as a new phone. This is probably more likely to be the case when the refurbished mobile phone does not have many complex features, such as a camera, personal digital assistant and Bluetooth® capabilities.

Cell phone customers routinely upgrade their mobile phones every couple of years or so, and the old ones have to go somewhere. Some are discarded, if they are no longer compatible with the cellular system, but many are sent back to the factory to be refurbished. This is also the case for phones that malfunction.

Whether buying a refurbished mobile phone is a good idea depends greatly on the manufacturer. Reputable makers usually produce a good product, but this may not be the case with "off" brands. A consumer should also always ask his or her cellular service provider if they have many refurbished phones returned for malfunction.

Sometimes, the manufacturer will provide a warranty of some description, but the consumer should insist on one from the service provider.

The question of getting a refurbished mobile phone may be crucial for someone who needs a phone at a moment's notice and cannot afford to risk having a refurbished cell phone malfunction. On the flip side of that coin are elderly customers who have a good phone that they like.

Many elderly customers don't want to have to learn how to use their phones all over again, and if a refurbished mobile phone in their preferred model is available, they may want one.

Price is another consideration. No customer should be asked to pay top dollar for a refurbished cell phone. This is not fair. Even if a phone has many features, if it is refurbished, the customer should not have to pay what she would for a new phone. However, cellular service providers are aware of this, and they often offer a refurbished mobile phone as one of the free models for upgrade or for signing a service contract.