Verizon has finally made the successor to the original Droid official. Uncreatively billed as the Motorola Droid 2, it will be the first handset to ship with the latest Android 2.2 Froyo.
Like its predecessor, the new smartphone will pack in a heavyset collection of features, paired with a full QWERTY keyboard. According to Motorola, the device "takes a big leap forward from the original Droid," packing a faster processor, 3G mobile hotspot capabilities (for up to 5 devices) and an upgraded keyboard, which promises to address user complaints about the previous phone's uncomfortable keypad.
Core hardware consists of a 1GHz TI OMAP processor, paired with a dedicated GPU. Details include a 3.7-inch touchscreen display, a 5.0 megapixel camera module (with DVD-D1 video capture), aGPS (with VZ Navigator), 3G with HSPA, WiFi, DLNA wireless sharing, Bluetooth 2.1, a 3.5mm jack, 8GB of onboard storage and microSD card expansion (with another 8GB preloaded).
A semi-world phone, the handset is ready for use in up to 40 countries. It will come with all of Froyo's updated capabilities, including hardware-accelerated support for Adobe Flash Player 10.1 and a unified calendar (both Google and corporate).
The Motorola Droid 2 will go on preorder from Verizon's website beginning tomorrow. Price is $199.99 with a $100 mail-in rebate and a two-year customer agreement. No word on actual ship date, although it's being speculated for the 12th. A special R2-D2 version will also come sometime in September, which will come preloaded with exclusive Star Wars content and “external hardware designed to look like the trusty Droid from the film saga.”
[via Mobile Crunch]
