Motorola will release Droid, which it calls the first smart phone powered by Android 2.0, on November 6. According to the company, the upgraded operating system will provide access to the Internet at 3G speeds via the Verizon network or from any Wi-Fi hotspot. Its multi-window HTML browser also delivers the Web the way many users would expect, Motorola says.

Additionally, users can toggle between six applications at once. They can customize the Droid with thousands of applications and hundreds of widgets available on Android Market. Preloaded applications and enhancements to Google Mobile Services include Google Maps, Gmail, YouTube, Google Talk, Android Market, Calendar, the Amazon MP3 store, and Verizon Wireless Visual Voice Mail.

The voice-activated Google Search serves up results based on location. For more, users type their query into the search bar on the home screen. Droid will then search content on the phone, such as apps and contacts, as well as on the Web. It also is the first device to offer Google Maps Navigation, with turn-by-turn voice guidance, live traffic, Street View and satellite imagery, and the latest business information.

Users additionally can keep track of all of their messages with integrated Gmail and Exchange e-mail pushed directly to them. With the Android notification panel, users can go straight to a message or ignore it and then get back to whatever they were doing. A smart dictionary learns as the user types and automatically includes all contacts.

The Droid offers a 3.7-in. high-resolution screen (see the figure). Its 854-pixel width reduces the need for side-to-side panning. Also, its more than 400,000 pixels is better than twice the total of its leading competitor, according to Motorola. Its 5-Mpixel camera includes a dual-LED flash, AutoFocus, and image stabilization with 16 million-color capability and DVD-quality video capture and playback. And, all of those visuals can be stored on the Droid’s 16-Gbyte memory card. 

Droid will be available in the U.S. exclusively at Verizon Wireless Communications stores and online on Friday, Nov. 6 for $199.99 with a new two-year customer agreement after a $100 mail-in rebate. Nationwide voice plans begin at $39.99 for monthly access for 450 minutes. The E-mail and Web for Smartphone plan is $29.99 for monthly access.