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Verizon trots out Droid to battle iPhone: Motorola platform offers 'smart' option for cell apps
Nov 07, 2009 (The Commercial Appeal - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) --
The invasion continues.
Anticipating heavy local interest in the newest smartphone to hit the market, area Verizon stores opened two hours early Friday to accommodate customers clamoring for its Droid.
"We opened at 7 a.m. and people were waiting in line outside the doors," said Trey Golmon, data sales consultant for Verizon who was directing customer traffic at the company's outlet at 4730 Poplar. "This is huge for us. It's the culmination of a lot of effort and it's paying off for customers eager for a smartphone powered by the Android platform."
Comparable in price to Apple's iPhone, the Verizon Droid by Motorola hit the shelves on Friday following a robust media campaign touting the phone's features.
Among those, the Droid offers a couple different versions, with entry level phones starting at about $100 after rebate and a premium version at $199 after rebate. Monthly data plans begin at just under $30.
"This is an exciting announcement for Verizon Wireless, as the Droid by Motorola is the first device that we are bringing to market under our groundbreaking strategic partnership with Google," said John Stratton, executive vice president at Verizon. "Droid gives customers a lifestyle device with access to more than 12,000 applications that will help them stay in touch, up-to-date and entertained."
The Droid's open source platform was a big deciding factor for John Hudnall, a Memphis software developer who switched from another company to Verizon on Friday and picked up a new smartphone.
"I'm excited about the Google connection and the quality of the Verizon network," Hudnall said. "I've been waiting for this and I'm not disappointed. The quality is exceptional."
For starters, the Droid comes with a couple dozen preinstalled apps and about 1,000 more are available for free. And while that's still well shy of the nearly 100,000 offered by iPhone, Verizon executives don't think that's a drawback.
"There's going to be an explosion of apps available for the Droid in the coming months," Golmon said. "This is the platform most people are going to be using."
For more information, visit verizon.com.
-- James Dowd: 529-2737
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Droid by Motorola
What: Verizon's new smartphone powered by the Android open source platform
Where: Available at all Verizon stores
How much: $199.99 with two-year contract, after mail-in rebate; smartphone data plans begin at about $30 per month
Details: Visit verizon.com
"I've been waiting for this and I'm not disappointed. The quality is exceptional."
John Hudnall
Memphis softwear developer
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