Best Buy Mobile today announced it will begin pre-selling the highly anticipated Verizon Motorola DROID smartphone today. The phone will land in stores Nov. 6.
The Motorola DROID is the first Verizon device running on Google’s Android operating platform.
Customers who purchase the smartphone at Best Buy Mobile can avoid the hassle of mail-in rebates with instant savings applied at the point of purchase. The phone will retail for $199.99 with two-year activation.
The DROID comes equipped with a 3.7-inch high-resolution screen, a 5-megapixel camera with auto focus, image stabilization and dual-LED flash, video capture, 3G Internet capabilities and access to applications and widgets available on Android Market.
Unveiled yesterday, the DROID is the first Android smartphone to feature the 2.0 version of Google’s Android platform. However, what really created a stir was Google’s inclusion of a free voice-driven turn-by-turn navigation service that employs Google Maps.
As a result of the release, shares yesterday of companies that make stand-alone GPS units plummeted. Shares of TomTom ended the day down 20.8 percent. Rival Garmin dropped 16.4 percent to $31.50 during regular trading.