Verizon Droid

Wait – before you rush to the store to pick up the Motorola Droid from Verizon, you should really, seriously consider the HTC Droid Eris. The Motorola Droid has been getting all the glory as of late, thanks to it’s cathartic bashing of the iPhone via its “iDon’t but Droid does” commercials, but the Eris might actually be the Droid you’re looking for. Check out the reasons why from Cell Phone Plans:

1. Form Factor
2. HTC Sense – Eris Has It, Motorola Never Will
3. Coming Soon to HTC Droid Eris: Android 2.0
4. Still Packs a Punch
5. Price

We’ve seen the Motorola Droid and the HTC Droid Eris from Verizon Wireless so far, but apparently there is a third Verizon Android handset waiting in the wings, if rumors are to be believed.
Rumors are that it will be the HTC Passion, which is supposedly powered by a 1GHz Snapdragon chipset (the Passion might also be called the Dragon). The rumor mill (from Boy Genius, Phone Arena, and elsewhere) claims that the HTC Passion will feature a 5-megapixel camera, a large WVGA-resolution screen with multitouch, a 3.5mm headset jack, 256MB RAM, and it’s said to run Android 2.0 with the HTC Sense overlay.

[source: Cnet]

It comes as little surprise given we’ve already seen it unboxed and know the pricing, but Verizon Wireless have officially announced that, as of tomorrow, they’ll be offering the DROID Eris by HTC. Basically another version of the HTC Hero, the HTC DROID Eris packs a 3.2-inch capacitive touchscreen, 5-megapixel autofocus camera, EVDO Rev.A and the HTC Sense UI.

There’s also a microSD slot – Verizon are popping in an 8GB card as standard – and both GPS and a digital compass. The browser gets Flash Lite for in-page video streaming and there’s all the usual Gmail, Google Maps and other standard Android applications. No Google Maps Navigation, however, as the DROID Eris – unlike the Motorola DROID – doesn’t come with Android 2.0.

As we’ve already heard, it’s the pricing that makes the HTC DROID Eris something of a bargain. Verizon have priced at it at $99.99 (after a $100 mail-in rebate) and presuming a new, two-year agreement.

[source: Slash Gear]

Manufactured by HTC (and also known as the HTC Desire), the HTC Droid Eris is widely tipped to be the second Android phone to launch on the Verizon Wireless network.

Apparently planned for a November 6th launch alongside the Verizon Motorola Droid, the Droid Eris has somewhat underwhelming specs in comparison to the Moto Droid.

Whilst the exact specs of the Droid Eris are still unknown, the latest batch of leaks reveals that the handset will run Android 1.6 and will feature 528MHz Qualcomm CPU. The Droid Eris also includes a 5 mega-pixel camera, and Wi-Fi connectivity.

Latest reports also suggest that the handset will be priced at just $99, which when compared with the HTC Hero ($180 on Sprint for 2-year contract) seems like a good deal.

The HTC Droid Eris does ofcourse feature the HTC Sense custom Android interface.

[source: Talk Android]