Droid Launches Nov. 6 Priced To Match iPhone

Ed Sutherland ()

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‘Droid,’ Motorola’s Android 2.0 handset will launch Friday, Nov. 6, the handset maker announced Wednesday. Verizon Wireless will offer the smartphone priced at $200 (after $100 rebate), matching the iPhone 3G.

Verizon will charge $70 per month for a voice and data plan when purchased along with the Droid. A $100 mail-in rebate will reportedly also be available. Droid users will use Verizon’s EVDO Rev. A 3G, along with GPS and Wi-Fi.

As far as features, the new smartphone will include Google’s Android 2.0 and be the largest rollout of an Android-based phone. The Droid will include a Web browser, a beta version of Google Map Navigation with voice commands and Gmail. Droid owners can also access the Amazon MP3 store, chat using Google Talk and access voice mail using Verizon Wireless’ Visual Voice Mail.

Physically, the Droid sports a 3.7-inch 854×480 capacitive touch screen, slide-out keyboard, a 5 MegaPixel camera and a 16GB microSDHC card.

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[Via Verizon, Gizmodo, Droid Review]

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About the author

Ed Sutherland

Ed Sutherland is a veteran technology journalist who first heard of Apple when they grew on trees, Yahoo was run out of a Stanford dorm and Google was an unknown upstart. Since then, Sutherland has covered the whole technology landscape, concentrating on tracking the trends and figuring out the finances of large (and small) technology companies.

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  • http://facebook.com/chris.keating2 ambienteternity

    Seems like a decent competitor, but I prefer the design of the iPhone so much more.

    I’m excited to see what Apple will come up with for it’s next iPhone in response.

  • Don Pope

    Man, that thing is ugly!

  • Charli

    a key here is ‘after rebate’. with the iphone you don’t have to jump through hoops to get another $100 off. the only rules are the ATT subsidy ones. but when they say “$199 for qualifying customers” that and tax is what you pay. not “$299 and here is this form you can fill out and send in for the $100 off”

  • iGenius

    This phone is what lots of folks have been waiting for. The hardware is vastly superior to the iPhone (screen resolution alone makes the iPhone look sick), and it has an exclusive on Google Navigation, which looks like a killer, game-changing app.

    Are there any must-have apps in the iStore that Android does not also have?

  • Sam

    “Are there any must-have apps in the iStore that Android does not also have?”

    For me, yes.

    - Navigon navigation software that works even when there’s no phone signal, UNLIKE Google Navigation (My Verizon phone I had before iPhone had no advantage over the iPhone getting a 3G connection in rural areas in Washington State).

    - Duke Nukem 3D (my favorite 1st person shooter)

    -OneBusAway (Seattle metro transit with GPS tracking of buses)

    - GeoLogTag (synchs up with and geotags photos)

    Oh, and the iPhone has iPod, Safari (still the best mobile browser) and Mail, which while as not as good as my corporate Blackberry’s push mail is still good enough for my personal email needs.