droidStory

The sales event was kicked off last night by numerous launch parties at Verizon stores across the country. The latest addition to Verizon’s Android line-up is basically a Motorola Droid2 in R2-D2 disguise. I am sure the many Star Wars fans will love the look and the extras (wallpapers and ring tones) packaged with the phone.

Any bets on how quickly it will sell out, or how much it will cost on eBay?

Long awaited, often rumored, now reality – the Incredible is getting the Android 2.2 OTA update starting today. The first announcement showed up on twitter this morning from the official VZW account.

Then Verizon posted update instructions on its support website.

All OTA (Over the Air) Updates are staggered to avoid system overload. So it may still take a few days before Froyo actually shows up on your phone. Still no luck on my Droid Incredible, when I checked a few minutes ago.

If you still wonder what all the hubbub is about: This release will bring Adobe Flash, application auto update and improved battery performance, amongst some other general improvements to the Incredible. It will make this cool Droid even better.

Big Red is not known to be the cheapest carrier around, but their excellent (data) coverage at least shows that the company heavily invests into their network infrastructure.

I don’t mind paying a little premium for the trusty Verizon network.  What bums me out though is that Verizon always seems to find new ways to pile on extra fees. There used to be the $12.95 VZ-Navigator tax for the privilege to use your phone’s GPS with Google Maps. The BES data tax to connect to your company’s Blackberry Enterprise Server. And now the $20 surcharge for WiFi tethering, an Android 2.2 (Froyo) feature that Verizon conveniently removed from the default build.

But here is yet another strange twist in the Verizon fee structure. There are two data plans currently offered for Android handsets and other smartphones. Which one do you need?The distinction between Corporate and Personal Email seems to be an oxymoron. Are corporate users  getting more emails than private accounts? What if my company uses Google Apps for corporate email? Do I still need the corporate plan? The details for the corporate plan offer the following explanation:Is Verizon restricting access to ActiveSync or other corporate messaging protocols, unless you pay up? I’m using ActiveSync for both MS-Exchange and Lotus Traveler, so my first impression was that I needed the more expensive corporate plan. Yet, I’m syncing with my corporate mail servers just fine on the personal plan. My calls into Verizon yielded conflicting responses. One person suggested that I only need the corporate plan for BES connectivity and that the higher cost is simply a result of Verizon having to pay RIM some sort of access fee. Still, why list this option for Android phones?

Whatever you do, try the cheaper plan first. It works just fine for me. I’m still peeved about the extra $20/month for WiFi tethering…

Motorola published their Android upgrade schedule on their support forum.

Nothing new here. Obviously, Motorola acknowledged that the Devour was a total flop, so they don’t even bother with any future upgrades.

Verizon and Motorola still going strong with their Droid marketing campaign. Earlier this week I received this little “care package” from Verizon with a bunch of DroidX swag – a t-shirt, an accessory coupon book and a bumper sticker.

Did you get your DroidX flaunting package?

Motorola and Verizon now officially announced the Droid 2, available for pre-order tomorrow and in stores this Thursday.

DROID 2 is a feature-packed device that helps manage work and social life with an enhanced QWERTY keyboard, ultra high-speed Web browsing, 3G Mobile HotSpot capabilities, full push corporate e-mail, intuitive social messaging and Adobe® Flash® Player 10.1 for access to the full web – all built on Android 2.2.

In addition, they will offer a Limited Edition R2-D2 Droid 2, in September.

R2-D2 DROID 2
In honor of the iconic Astromech Droid from the Star Wars™ Saga, Verizon Wireless will offer a limited-edition R2-D2 version of the DROID 2, available only online in September. The special version of the phone will feature exclusive Star Wars content and external hardware designed to look like the trusty Droid from the film saga. Visitors to the upcoming Star Wars Celebration V in Orlando, Fla., can see a preview of the limited edition phone and sign up to receive alerts when the phone is ready for sale.