The Droid, which has sold more units than any other Android phone, has been taken off the factory line to make room for the similar-looking, more powerful Droid 2.
Usurping the Droid Incredible and the Droid X as the official successor to the original Droid, the Droid 2 has just opened up for pre-orders this morning. It is around $200 for Verizon customers eligible for a phone upgrade, or new subscribers who sign up for a 2-year contract.
As a result, Motorola has officially stopped production of the original Droid, which came out less than a year ago but has managed to become the face of Android as the top-selling device to use Google’s mobile operating system – no other phone has even come close.
The Droid 2 looks almost identical to the Droid, which is understandable considering the device’s dominance in the market. Minor tweaks, such as elevated keyboard buttons, have been added but they are subtle changes at best. The bigger changes are under the hood, including a faster processor and more memory.
It also becomes only the third phone in the US to have support for the “Froyo” version of Android, otherwise known as Android 2.2, and otherwise known as the version of Android that lets users turn their phone into a mobile Wi-Fi hotspot. It is the first phone to come with this version of the OS pre-installed.
As pre-orders begin making their way through Verizon’s channel, the question is whether or not Motorola manufactured enough of the device to meet demand. Despite claims that the Droid X supply was more than adequate when it launched last month, it sold out almost immediately.
The Droid 2 will be available in brick-and-mortar Verizon store locations tomorrow. Expect long lines and a lot of news coverage.
