Verizon's Droid is a series, not just a phone; Droid Eris coming from HTC
By Chris Ziegler 
posted Oct 23rd 2009 7:41PM
posted Oct 23rd 2009 7:41PM
- Droid is the brand name being applied to Verizon's Android devices. It isn't a single phone.
- The Sholes -- the phone we've been calling the Droid so far -- may simply be known as the Droid.
- HTC's Desire will be coming to market as the "Droid Eris." (Allow us to save you the Wikipedia lookup -- Eris is the Greek goddess of strife.) Interestingly, it's already up on gdgt as such.
- Droid Eris will be released -- not announced, actually released -- on November 6. In all likelihood, it will not be announced or shown at Verizon's October 28 event -- that will probably just be for the Sholes.
How long until the specs on this puppy comes out? My guess is that the Motorola Droid still outspecs it since HTC has basically been making the same phone with a different form factor for a year now.
What phone is pictured along with this article? Just another unnamed HTC device that no one knows anything about? That phone looks incredible... probably because it is strikingly similar to the iPhone.
Its the Droid Eris that the article is talking about. Pretty much Verizons take on the Hero... running sense UI as well
sense UI has got to be the biggest waist of time ever. along with motoblur like what is this... just use the damn regular android set-up, its the best android.
heres to hope googles makes there own hardware.
Curious as to why nick is "low ranked" For knocking "Sense"? Personally, I am not a fan of Sense either. I sort of understand why it (TouchFlo technically) was used with WinMo 6.1... to make a non Touch Based WinMo finger friendly... But why on Android?
I don't knock those that like eye candy, assuming you don't mind the lag and processor cycles stolen by adding a layer on top, but honestly, when all is said and done, Nick is right... it is really a waste. I can't honestly comment on Motoblur since I haven't had an opportunity to try it (and unless you are a reviewer... neither have you), but the "idea" behind it is fine... if you are somebody more in feature phone and social networking than the actual power of a smartphone. If you want the raw power, and multitasking... then Motoblur (my guess) is not for you either. But at least from what we have been leaked, at least Motorola seems (so far) to be picking and choosing where to put sense, whereas HTC seems to think Sense belongs everywhere.
If however, you Low Rank based on the "Hope Google makes their own hardware"... well... then I agree. Google is not a hardware maker, and doing so will only alienate other manufacturers that may stop making handsets if Google jumps into the mix. (For a bit of reference, how many "PlaysForSure" devices have you seen since the Zune was released, even though Microsoft doesn't support PlaysForSure on the Zune?).
480x320? Come on now, HTC. Let us have our HD2.
I second that...Nokia N900 looks good to, with that SNES emulator and all :)
I think the phone looks hot. It actually looks better than the Sprint version. I like the black a lot. Verizon is starting to come out with some really good looking devices.
"pretty solid sign that Big Red's got a serious commitment to the platform going forward."
They have no other platform worth a penny.
Why would Verizon release another Android phone, with a similar name, at the same time as THE Droid? They're really idiots: Two droids and the Storm 2 all within less than two weeks. Talk about confusing customers. AT&T may be a boring one-hit wonder, but at least they don't actively try to cannibalize their bread and butter.
hey as phone starved as we have been over the years at Verizon, i feel like 'too many to choose from' is a good problem to have at this point. Verizon may not have a flagship phone, but a whole flagship line with Droid.
Yeah, because consumers hate having choices, right? We also don't know that the Motorola "Droid" is for certain only going to be called just Motorola Droid... we all *assumed* it was... but we will have to wait and see.
What concerns me with them releasing both of these at the same time (forget the Storm2, which is most likely going to be Blackberry Bust 2.0), is that if they are planning on releasing the "Eris" at say approximately $179 - $199 range, then they would in all likely hood price the Motorola phone considerably higher to give it that "exclusive higher end appeal" which would only suck for Motorola and for those of us hoping that the Motorola would land in that $179 range.
@ who didnt a certain carrier that has a name that starts in a and ends in t just release two brand new htc winmo handsets?? How many qwerty candybar blackberries do they have? How many more are coming down the pipe? Come on man you need to brush up on your knowledge before you come here spoutin ridiculous statements out of your posterior...
@teknikkle: are you seriously analogizing WinMo and Blackberries, on the one hand, to iPhone OS and Android, on the other? And you accuse me of not having enough knowledge and making ridiculous statements?
Even as a relatively happy AT&T Tilt owner I understand the chasm between these two groups. One is old, outdated, and relatively uninteresting, while the other is popular, promising and the future of smartphone OS.
What don't you understand? If you are AT&T you don't mess with the iPhone. Period. And AT&T doesn't. You think the average customer cares about BBs or WinMo? They don't. For them AT&T is the iPhone; plain and simple. AT&T could release a thousand BBs or WinMo phones and the iPhone would still kick their asses. You should know this simply from experience. Are any phones on AT&T a threat to the iPhone? No. And if there's ever a phone that poses such a threat (see HD2, Storm [before it was revealed to be a dud]), AT&T simply won't stock it while they still have the iPhone exclusively.
Likewise, if you're Verizon, you don't mess with the Droid (at least until you've realized it's a bust). As someone who claims knowledge, I'm sure you've read the glowing review on BGR and the massive amount of hype the device is creating. You don't start creating questions in consumer's minds: "Oh, should I get the Droid or the Droid Eris," before the Droid comes out. Verizon needs a go-to device, a device people associate with the brand, a device you don't even have to think twice about buying. When customers are out of contract and thinking about what they should do next, they should be thinking one thing: Should I go to AT&T and get an iPhone or go to Verizon and get the Droid. Plain and simple. That's it. Verizon's messing that up before it even had a chance to get started.
Oh, and I have plenty of knowledge. Thanks for playing.
that isn't the verizon branded hero, I think there will be a htc desire (rebranded htc hero keyboard less) and htc eris (htc qwerty slider).
kg.
@Who? Stop the hating,Verizon doing big things now so just deal with it. The only thing that would really be a knockout punch is if they lowered prices to Sprint or better levels. Then watch how many People leave the other three carriers...
@Who? seems ton only like one flavor of soup, day after day after day... For years and years...
That's what's awesome about Android devices... Each manufacturer can make their own flavor, including within their own line up... And just cause you don't like the Italian Wedding w/ spicy meatballs... Doesn't mean you won't like the Crunchy Tortilla Soup w/ Real Chicken Breast.... In other words... Choice is where is at...
ton= to
"Droid is the brand name being applied to Verizon's Android devices. It isn't a single phone."
Makes sense... Seems licensing Droid from Lucas just for one device seem excessive... Now it seems brilliant... D R O I D S !!!!
Is it just me or does that screen seem a bit familiar....
http://www.engadgetmobile.com/2009/10/18/mysterious-htc-android-phone-spied-might-lean-the-way-of-the-dr/
Humn....
familiar? yeah...because it's basically this
http://www.engadgetmobile.com/2009/09/17/htc-hero-for-sprint-hands-on-and-impressions/
that unknown HTC has a larger resolution, more along the lines of the Moto Droid/Sholes
Now it makes sense why Verizon's iDon't commercial for the Droid didn't mention Motorola.
I have only one concern. With Verizon creating fame for themselves as device cripplers, it now seems like they'll try to be different in regards to the Droid. I hope that holds true, but also that they stop crippling BlackBerrys, Windows phones and don't leave the Pre out of their newly found love for openness.
Actually, they have been doing this across all handsets, but it seems the reputation is clinging regardless. The Wifi was not crippled or removed the the TouchPro 2, the Imagio, and is (supposedly) in place on the Storm2 (though I continue to wonder why anybody cares), the GPS was unlocked on the Tour. Everything is pointing to Verizon making good on the promise it make about not messing with these devices.
I guess, it took them a long time to build this reputation, and it will take more than just a few handsets for people to stop wondering if a particular device is going to be crippled before it comes to the VZW network.
I hope the better looking, HTC phone will have just as good hardware as the Motorlla
I'd almost certainly bet against that being the case. HTC, while they make perfectly nice phones, is in the market and best known for making *affordable* devices, and as such, unfortunately always seems to cut back somewhere (this would be, to me, the only reason they have continued to release devices with the same 528 mHz processor, even though each and every devices gets dinged for this fact).
Heh, Discordians are going to mighty happy to have a phone named their Goddess.
It was a genius move on Verizon's part to secure the "Droid" name/rights. It will allow them to separate themselves from the other handsets on the market/carriers.
http://www.droidforums.net