Verizon Droid

After months of leaked specs, photos and rumors, the HTC Droid Incredible will officially come to Verizon on April 29 for $200 with a two-year contract. Not to be confused with the Motorola Droid and the HTC Droid Eris, also both on Verizon, the Droid Incredible runs Android 2.1 with HTC’s updated Sense user interface. And with a 3.7-inch display WVGA AMOLED display, slim design and 1GHz Snapdragon processor, the Droid Incredible might make some Droid owners envious.

Source: PC World.

Verizon stated that today they started the over-the-air (OTA) pushing process for all HTC Droid Eris users.
The main improvements and updates are:

• While on a call and the device is in screensaver mode, pressing the End key now takes the device out of screensaver mode, and a second press will end the call.
• On-call mute and speakerphone icon functionality is enhanced.
• Upgraded functionality after activation eliminates the delay users were experiencing in receiving their first call.
• Device now switches effectively from 1x mode to 3G.
• Device no longer requires users to reselect a default email after power-cycling.
• SMS and MMS messaging delivery is improved.
• Eighty-character MMS/SMS message subject lines are now allowed.
• Improved picture messaging functionality allows messages from LG phones to be opened

Source: Android Guys

OTA update for the HTC DROID Eris is being pushed to handsets at about midnight this evening. The ROM is 1.16.605.1 and the radio version is 2.32.40.11.09 . Just as Motorola’s OTA update worked, the DROID Eris will as well — slowly to a small group of people, then expanding over the coming days. Here’s a brief list of some of the fixes and you can always check the documentation on Verizon’s site.

• While on a call and the device is in screensaver mode, pressing the
• End key now takes the device out of screensaver mode, and a second press will end the call.
• On-call mute and speakerphone icon functionality is enhanced.
• Upgraded functionality after activation eliminates the delay users were experiencing in receiving their first call.
• Device now switches effectively from 1x mode to 3G.
• Device no longer requires users to reselect a default email after power-cycling.
• SMS and MMS messaging delivery is improved.
• Eighty-character MMS/SMS message subject lines are now allowed
• Improved picture messaging functionality allows messages from LG phones to be opened.

Source: BGR

HTC Droid Eris (Verizon Wireless) has garnered many beguiling features like digicam, internet browser, internal antenna, polyphonic ringer, track ball to use as a phone navigation button, and above all a gizmo with a candy bar design.

Its price is tagged at USD 99.00 that means, as a gesture of goodwill of the manufacturer the kind of cell phone is offered, is entirely budget friendly and never discriminates with less privileged class.

HTC Droid Eris (Verizon Wireless) is offering the dimensional specs like width 2.2in, depth 0.5in, and height 4.4in, whilst its weight is 4.2oz. Its service provider is Verizon Wireless.

HTC’s this latest series is the second lineup in Droid series. HTC Droid Eris is employing the Verizon Wireless Google Android 1.5 platform that has ensued after Motorola Droid. Basically the past series is quite showy and attaching classy features relatively to this latest series, yet the latest string is offering an austere approach and giving a natural look.

HTC Droid Eris can be considered a low profile branded version comparatively to HTC Hero, as the touchphone framework of this latest series is entirely worthy to use and attractive to carry along everywhere.

HTC Droid Eris (Verizon Wireless) is offering Call timer, Conference call capability, Voice recorder, Caller identification and Speakerphone functionality either. This series is additionally lending multifaceted messaging and data management recourses like, Mobile Email, and HTML Browser either.

HTC Droid Eris (Verizon Wireless) is additionally lending other services like Android Market, and having EV-DO (Evolution-Data Optimized). This cell phone is offering the multimedia features such as different Playback Digital Video recourses like H264, MPEG-4, H263 video and AMR audio, WMV (Windows Media Video).

This cell phone’s screen is a smart touchscreen, having the resolution of 320 by 480 pixels, giving an intuitive and fine Visio, offering remarkably transparent and clear colors of snaps.

[Source: ReviewBuzz]

If the Motorola Droid is too much and too expensive an Android phone for you, Verizon now offers an entry level Android phone, the HTC Droid Eris, for half the price ($99 with contract and post-rebate). Even though oddly named for the Greek god of strife, Eris provides anything but. Essentially a slightly spruced-up version of the HTC Hero from Sprint, Eris is a quick powerhouse packed with a 5 MP camera, WiFi and visual voicemail, and offers seven home screens, four more than the more expensive Droid.

Verizon took its sweet time jumping into the Android marketplace, but the carrier has quickly jumped into the fore of Andoid phone suppliers. Eris is an excellent and inexpensive Introduction to Android for its subscribers looking for an iPhone alternative. While its short battery life is annoying, Eris is an outstanding phone in every other way.

read the full review at Digital Trends]

HTC’s first “DROID” phone is nothing more than a rebadged, shape-shifted Hero, and that it’ll be launching on Verizon on November 6th, the same day as Motorola’s DROID. That means Android 1.5 “Cupcake,” Sense UI, 3.2-inch screen, 528MHz processor and so forth. The Eris will retail for $199 but with a $100 mail-in rebate. It’ll pack in an 8GB microSD card and the hopes and dreams of a generation of cheapskates that will be hopin’ and prayin’ that HTC manages to push Android 2.0 onto this thing so they don’t look too bad in front of their DROID-toting buddies on Verizon.

[source: EngadgetMobile]

The Motorola Droid party is still going on, and here are 2 more reviews for you:

From Phone Arena:
Comparison between the leading Android phones:

Conclusion:

It’s almost unfathomable to see Verizon tie the knot with Android – especially seeing how the carrier passed up the iPhone and usually packs on its applications on smartphones. The obvious comparisons will be made between the DROID and other premier handsets available on the market, including ones that are already part of the Android lineup. Verizon has definitely got itself a jewel in the form of the Motorola DROID and will most likely provide some much needed attention to the open platform. In doing so, it shows Verizon’s commitment in lessening their control on how a phone should be retrofitted with software out of the box. As for Motorola, the hype and talk around this phone lives up to the expectations. Being the creators of such a quality product, it clearly places Motorola in the correct direction to becoming the dominant figure it once was. We’ve slowly seen in the last year how they’ve changed their focus on the design of their handsets, for example the Motorola Krave ZN4 and Karma QA1 – all culminating to the eventual creation of the Motorola DROID.

With a lot of attention in both ads featured online and television, the DROID is fast becoming a household name. We found very few faults with the device – specifically the minor choppy movements when you navigate through the three home screen pages. Its improvements in the hardware department make it a worthy addition to the Android lineup that’s becoming more robust. It’s too early to tell whether the DROID will have a profound impact on how the Android platform is received by consumers, but we’re sure that its presence on Verizon will attract a whole new audience, not to mention that the HTC DROID Eris will also make its Verizon debut. For Google, this is a win-win position for them thanks partly to Android 2.0 – we’re going to expect to see a shift in the mind share of Google’s playing field in various software industries. Pack all of these things in a sleek body that’s constructed and put together with the finest of materials, you’ll have yourself a winner that’s sure to stand top among the best of the best. It may not be completely perfect, but it does place the emphasis of DROID in Android.

From The Gadgeteer:
The Droid’s home screen:

and Facebook widget:

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]

Verizon has the HTC Droid Eris in the pipe too, which is shaping up to be little more than a branded Hero in a slightly different shell. It’s looking like Verizon is going to be pursuing an aggressive tiered pricing strategy that might allow these phones to coexist in peace and everlasting harmony: unlike the DROID’s $199 sticker, gdgt has it on good authority that the Droid Eris will run a hundie less at $99.

[Source: Engadget]

The upcoming HTC Desire may become part of what Verizon considers an entire series of devices, multiple leaks tonight appear to confirm. Following a source speaking to Phone Scoop that says all Android-based phones at Verizon will carry the “Droid” name as a brand, gdgt has posted a page for the phone that suggests it will be called the Droid Eris based on the Greek goddess of discord and get an all-black color scheme not unlike the Motorola Droid. The phone is already known to be a touch-only model with a trackball as a backup control and should bring a 5-megapixel camera.
Other details surfacing this evening appear to narrow down both the Droid Eris’ launch as well as some of Verizon’s overall plans. A tip to Engadget claims that the Motorola phone may just be known as the Droid and that the planned October 28th unveiling will just center on that device. HTC’s handset would arrive in a lower-profile release and would start shipping on November 6th.

The positioning would all but see Verizon wrest the title of top Android carrier away from T-Mobile and make it both the most direct rival to Apple and AT&T as well as the chief proponent of open mobile development. Verizon has lately reversed some of its prior attitudes to phone software and has promised not to dictate in a significant way what software Android phones can run.

[Source: Electronista]