SAN JOSE, Calif. -- In one corner, we have Silicon Valley tech heavyweight Apple and its widely popular iPhone. In the opposing corner, a new smart-phone challenger: the Droid, powered by Mountain View, Calif., Internet juggernaut Google's Android software, built by Motorola and sold by Verizon Wireless.
Verizon earlier this month offered a tantalizing peek at the Droid in an ad campaign with a slogan aimed directly at the iPhone: "Everything iDon't, Droid Does."
On Wednesday, the carrier provided detailed specs for the Droid, which goes on sale Nov. 6. Verizon is pricing the Droid at $199.99 -- after a $100 mail-in rebate, at least, and with a two-year voice and data contract.
Apple's most comparable iPhone 3GS, by contrast, costs $199 for eligible customers -- without a rebate, but with a two-year commitment to voice and data service from AT&T.
Among the Droid's features: a high-resolution 3.75-inch screen, a slide-out keyboard, the ability to run more than one application at the same time, a 5-megapixel camera, turn-by-turn Google Maps navigation (in beta test mode, at least), access to Amazon.com's MP3 store and other features.
The iPhone 3GS comes with a 3.5-inch touch screen, a 3-megapixel camera, a digital compass, access to Apple's popular iTunes music, video and application stores, and other selling points. (But, hey, it's an iPhone.)
The Droid can't match a number of the iPhone's key features in terms of the number of games available for it or its links to content stored in iTunes or available through the iTunes store, noted Avi Greengart, an analyst who covers smart phones for market research firm Current Analysis. But the Droid still has a lot of things going for it, he said.
It's "gorgeous;" it's the first phone to run Android 2.0, the latest version of the operating system; and it's being strongly backed by Verizon.
As such, it's likely to prevent Verizon from losing customers to the iPhone, which is available only from AT&T, and possibly draw in new customers, he said.
"It's not an iPhone killer," said Greengart. "But it is an iPhone defender."
In August, as it became increasingly clear that his company and Apple have become competitors, Google CEO Eric Schmidt left the Cupertino, Calif., iPhone maker's board of directors.
This month, Google and Verizon said they've been collaborating closely on phones that run Android.
"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," John Stratton, chief marketing officer of Verizon Wireless, said in a statement Wednesday.
Of course, the iPhone and the Droid aren't the only smart-phone contenders: Research In Motion has introduced new models of its highly addictive BlackBerry, including the Storm 2, and Sunnyvale, Calif., handheld-device pioneer Palm is offering its new Pre and Pixi phones, which run its webOS software.
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(Troy Wolverton of the San Jose Mercury News contributed to this report.)
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