droid

The hype surrounding Motorola's Droid is understandable — for the first time, a phone has really started to give the iPhone a run for its money. Although phones can be polarizing, my guy and I have agreed to disagree on our top phone picks: he's a Droid, while I'm an iPhone.

This weekend, we took a road trip south from San Francisco down California's famed Route 1, and as we approached our first destination, we realized neither of us knew exactly where we were going. It was a race for GPS directions.

Who took home the prize for the fastest directions? Both phones successfully run Google Maps, though the Droid's mapping feature was a bit faster than my iPhone's. However, once we tried to find our way from a restaurant back to our hotel, the Droid and iPhone suggested completely different routes. So which phone won the GPS debate? Find out when you read more

What do George Lucas and the new Droid have in common? More than you'd think! I'm stoked to get my hands on the new device being offered up by Motorola to see if it really can top my iPhone, but when I got an invite to the San Francisco launch party I noticed something interesting at the bottom: the word "droid" is licensed to Lucasfilm LTD, which means Motorola pays a fee to the Star Wars icon to use his trademarked term.

I got the facts confirmed by a friend that works at the Lucas compound, but also found some other interesting tidbits about the name. The same device is being called the Milestone in Italy and Germany, but comes with more advanced multitouch support. Ah, the things you learn!

• Powered by Android 2.0, the new DROID smartphone from Motorola will be available on Nov. 6 from Verizon Wireless for $200 — Engadget
• Play multiplayer Grand Theft Auto IV for free this weekend on Xbox Live — CrunchGear
• Google's new navigation app for Maps is free, beyond amazing, and will be available on Android OS 2.0 devices — Gizmodo
• The fourth Apple store in Manhattan is getting ready to open its doors — CNET
• Verizon has debuted their new BlackBerry Storm2 commercial — RIMarkable
• It's giveaway time on GeekSugar! Log in for your chances to win one of these AT&T Smartphones — GeekSugar

Has the iPhone met its match? A new Android phone called Droid is on the way. It's a joint venture from Verizon, Motorola, and Google, and may be available by the end of the month. The phone, which is set to compete with the iPhone, will feature a pull-out keyboard and be available on the Verizon network. The announcement comes with an ad campaign calling out several iPhone's weaknesses — "iDon't take night shots. iDon't have a real keyboard. iDon't have interchangeable batteries."

The phone will run Android 2.0, and according to the Verizon site, features "video, directions, a 5-megapixel camera, and over 10,000 apps". There's no official release date for the Droid yet, but you can register to be notified when it's ready. Will the Droid — specifically targeted to capitalize on the iPhone's weaknesses — finally give Apple a run for its money? If any phone was going to, this could be the one.

To see the full-length Droid ad, read more