Droid Does ... porn?

The Droid smartphone has something other than nifty commercials to help distinguish it from the iPhone — porn. Unlike Apple's globally successful product, the Google device now allows users to download applications featuring adult content. One third-party developer, Mikandi, has already announced a range of saucy applications. Will porn help Droid beat its more prudish rival?

Pornography alone is no iPhone killer: Adult applications won't "level the playing field" between Google and Apple, says Mike Schuster at Minyanville. It's the quality of "the device itself" that matters. Incidentally, why do Droid users need paid apps from sites like Mikandi when they can already view free videos at "adult streaming sites"?

"Android porn gives Apple a reason to blush"

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

Don't be so sure: Never "underestimate the importance of porn," says Brian Heater at PC Magazine. Remember, it was the adult entertainment industry that helped VHS explode in the 1980s, and adult-content continues to fuel the "adoption of new technology." Apple may want to rethink its "stringent vetting" before Android gets a significant foothold.

"Porn Apps on their way to Android"

Apple's right — porn does not belong on cellphones: I have no problem with the "terminally crude" wanting to download porn, says Jere Hester at NBC Washington, as long as they do it in private. Mobile phone use affects others, so do us a favour: When you're in public, "keep your Droid in your pants."

"Spare us the iPorn!"

......................................................

SEE THE WEEK'S LATEST COVERAGE OF THE SMARTPHONE WARS:

• iPhone vs. Droid: Apple fights back

• Best and Worst Droid ad parodies

• The Droid's 'Stealth' war ad

• 'Droid Does': Going after iPhone