Verizon Wireless and Motorola today unveiled the next Droid, the Droid X, at a media event in New York City. The new smartphone, which packs a 4.3-inch touchscreen, will be available July 15 exclusively with Verizon Wireless for $199.99 after a $100 rebate and a two-year agreement.
The Droid X features a list of hardware specs similar to those of its HTC look-alike, the HTC Evo 4G from Sprint. The new phone features an 8-megapixel camera, a 1GHz OMAP processor, 720p video capture, HDMI out, 8GB of internal memory expandable up to 32GB and multi-touch keyboard that comes with Swype for Android pre-installed. Users can pay $20 a month to use the Droid X as a personal Wi-Fi hot spot for up to five devices at once.
In a Q&A after the event, Motorola co-CEO Sanjay Jha said that battery life on the Droid X should be exactly the same as that of the original Droid, according to a live blog of the event from Engadget.
The new phone is built around a 4.3-inch screen and high definition content. The phone comes pre-installed with a Blockbuster app that will allow users to rent, buy and watch movies on the Droid X over Verizon’s 3G network. But users won’t have to settle for watching content on the phone itself. The Droid X allows users to share personal videos with friends using either an optional HDMI cable or Digital Living Network Alliance (DLNA) certified technology, enabling the device to stream, store and share content with multiple DLNA compatible devices such as a HDTVs, game consoles or PCs. Additional content partners include V Cast Video and NFL RedZone.
On the software side of things, the phone will include the MotoBlur UI running atop Android 2.1 at launch, with OTA updates later in the summer that will bring it up to 2.2 (Froyo) speed. Another omission at launch will be Flash 10.1. While Adobe CEO Shantanu Narayen was on hand to assure the audience that the Droid X will be running the latest mobile version of Adobe’s Flash player, users will have to wait for an OTA coming in late summer.
As for data usage, it appears Verizon won’t be knocking off its unlimited plans. According to Verizon Wireless Chief Marketing Officer John Stratton, the phone requires what Verizon is calling the “Smartphone Service,” which is unlimited data for $29.99 a month. In a highly publicized move, AT&T recently did away with offering any new unlimited data contracts, choosing instead to offer tiered pricing.
