Verizon Droid

Verizon Wireless announced on Tuesday that the HTC Droid Eris will get much needed OS update in the first quarter of 2010. The HTC Droid Eris is currently stuck with Android 1.5 when compared to Motorola Droid which comes with Android 2.0.

Verizon spokesperson Brenda Raney said, “The Droid Eris currently using Android 1.5, can and will be upgraded to newer a Android operating system software in first quarter 2010.

The Android OS update will bring Google Maps Navigation to HTC Droid Eris along with other benefits of Android 2.1. The combination of Sense UI and Android 2.1 will make Eris a highly capable device.

The HTC Droid Eris uses a 3.2-inch screen and a trackball, as well as a 5-megapixel camera, GPS and Wi-Fi.

[Source: Area cellphone]

Remember the talk in early October about a third Verizon Android smartphone from a small company and certified through the carrier’s Open Development program? The HTC DROID Eris and Motorola DROID pushed that mystery device to the back of our minds, but an FCC filing has seemingly revealed the device as the Saygus VPhone V1, another sliding form-factor with a 3.5-inch 800 x 480 capacitive touchscreen, 624MHz Marvell PXA310 processor and a 5-megapixel autofocus camera.
Other specs include 512MB of ROM and 256MB of RAM, a microSD slot, WiFi, Bluetooth and GPS; there’s also an accelerometer and digital compass. An FM radio is a welcome addition, but we wish Saygus had found room for a proper 3.5mm headphone jack; still, the mini USB port can act as USB Host for peripherals, and there’s a front-facing camera for video calls.

If there was any doubt about this headed to Verizon’s CDMA EVDO Rev.A network, the fact that Saygus’ own site mentions the same “third mystery device” article seems to clinch it. No word on when we might see it arrive, but given the FCC clearance and Verizon’s current full-steam-ahead adoption of Android the “early 2010″ predictions seem reasonably probable.

[source: SlashGear]

Further detail have hit the net waves on the HTC Droid Eris, the second Android smartphone to join the Verizon line up along with the Motorola Droid reports an article over on itproportal.

The HTC Droid Eris was formally known as the HTC Desire and will become available on the Verizon network commanding a price tag of $99 based on a 2 year agreement and should become available as of the 6th of November as warehouses across the US already have the HTC Droid Eris in stock.

Unlike the Motorola Droid, the HTC Droid Eris loses the QWERTY keyboard, but does pack Android OS 2.0, a 5 megapixel camera with auto-focus but no flash, HADPA, GPS and WiFi.

[source: Phones Review]