Verizon Wireless to begin accepting Droid 2 orders tomorrow

Verizon Wireless said it would begin taking pre-orders on the Motorola Inc. Droid 2 beginning tomorrow ahead of its expected launch later this month. The device will retail for $200 after all rebates and a two-year contract.
The device is set to replace the original Droid that launched late last year and was bolstered by an ambitious advertising campaign targeting Apple Inc.’s iPhone. The Droid name has now become the brand for some of Verizon Wireless’ devices powered by Google Inc.’s Android operating system.
Verizon Wireless began offering the Motorola-built Droid X last month for $200 after all rebates, and prior to that launched the HTC Corp.-built Droid Incredible for the same price.
The Droid 2 improves on the original model using Google’s latest Android 2.2 OS, “enhanced” QWERTY keyboard, greater social networking integration, mobile hot spot capabilities, more enterprise functionality and support for Adobe Systems Inc.’s Flash 10.1.
More importantly for those drawn to the Droid name, Verizon Wireless also said it would offer a limited edition R2-D2 version of the device in honor of one of the stars of the “Star Wars” movie franchise. The model, which will be available only online beginning in September, will include exclusive Star Wars content and an external hardware design to look like R2-D2. Verizon Wireless licenses the Droid name from Lucasfilm Ltd.
The Droid 2’s presale availability falls just one day before AT&T Mobility is set to begin exclusively offering Research In Motion Ltd.’s Torch smart phone.
The smart phone segment is becoming increasingly important for carriers as the devices typically require extra-cost data plans and typically encourage consumers to download more applications. Strategy Analytics recently noted that smart phone shipments jumped 43% year-over-year to 60 million units globally in the second quarter of 2010, making up nearly 20% of all mobile devices shipped.