'Droid Does': Going after iPhone

Does the ad for Verizon's Motorola Droid phone signal a real challenge for Apple's dominant smart phone?

Look out iPhone, said Sascha Segan in PC Magazine. Verizon Wireless "attacks Apple's iPhone in direct language that's rarely been seen before," in a website and video ad touting the Oct. 30 arrival of the new Android 2.0-powered Motorola Droid phone (watch the Droid Does ad). The ad says the Droid phone has what "iDon't," including a 5 megapixel camera, a real QWERTY keyboard, and, more importantly, "open development."

Many carriers and phone makers "have claimed to have iPhone-killers," said Jason Perlow in ZDNet. So we'll have to wait to see whether Verizon's Droid phone can succeed where others failed. But "I’m really looking forward to seeing what the Droid will offer"—this is where Google's Android OS is "put to the test to see if it is now ready for prime time."

Verizon's Droid Does ad says a lot about what to expect, said The Boy Genius Report. But Motorola Droid phone pictures say even more. "It’s thin. Just slightly thicker than an iPhone 3GS and the thinnest QWERTY-slider we’ve ever seen." And it's "easily the best screen we've ever seen on an Android handset." It looks like this is the best Android-powered handset in the cell phone wars so far.