Add to del.icio.us     Digg this

Nov. 7, 2009

Verizon Wireless says it has unveiled its second Android-based phone, dubbed the Droid Eris made by HTC.

The new wireless device is available today along with the much-anticipated Motorola Droid.

The HTC Eris features a 3.2-inch touch screen and support for Flash, along with a 5.0 megapixel camera and full HTML browser.

The new handset is also equipped with HTC Sense, which allows users to customize a seven-panel wide home screen with widgets and shortcuts.

The Eris also organizes interactions by person, allowing users to access text messages, e-mails, phone calls, Flickr streams and Facebook updates from a single contact card.

The Eris is available for $99.99 after a $100 mail-in rebate with a new two-year contract.

Motorola's DROID is priced at $199 with the customary contract, rebates and rate plan.

The launch of the Eris comes just weeks after HTC announced its first advertising campaign, a move designed to raise the profile of the historically quiet handset manufacturer.

The company's YOU campaign is being rolled out across 20 countries and focuses on HTC's customizable smartphone lineup, which includes the myTouch3G and the HTC Hero.

The Droid has been largely publicized as of late, and now Verizon Wireless is moving into what looks like phase two of its Droid marketing campaign.

In its advertising, Verizon touts the Droid as the best smartphone yet, seemingly admitting that previous attempts didn't meet Verizon's minimum standards. Verizon hasn't had a real strong contender in the smartphone category to answer the iPhone.

Now the anticipation is mounting fast. Tomorrow, RIM (Research In Motion) is launching its BlackBerry Storm2. The first Storm touch-screen device from RIM was a big disappointment, although the upcoming Storm 2 is expected to solve a lot of software and other problems.

The Droid "white noise" in commercials and online is giving Droid maker Motorola a much-needed boost. Visitors online who sign up for more information receive an e-mail saying: "You don't need a smartphone, you need a supergenius in your pocket. A phone that listens better than the person on the other end of the call."

There's actually a reference to the 10,000+ apps in the Android Marketplace: "Apps of every shape and size." The ad doesn't mention the 85,000 or so apps in Apple's popular App Store, though...

Historically, neither Verizon nor handset maker Motorola have specified a price or date for commercial availability.

The Droid site also touts the apps, the network, multitasking, hi-res, 5 megapixels, tunes, directions, speech recognition, video and the Android 2.0 OS among the features.

Verizon of late has focused on "there's a map for that" and the "iDon't" themes when it comes to Apple's iconic iPhone, available only with AT&T in the U.S.

So far, the Droid marketing appears the most aggressive from Verizon Wireless in answer to the iPhone.

Now people are anxious and are anticipating the arrival of the Droid.

It will be interesting to see in the next few weeks how successful it is at attracting new mobile users.

Add to del.icio.us     Digg this

Source: Verizon Wireless.