Game On! - Droid vs. iPhone

On friday, November 6th, Verizon launched the Droid Smartphone (from Motorola) and hopes to pose a significant challenge to the iPhone.

The phone is a collaborative effort between Motorola, Verizon and Google. It looks a lot like the iPhone, and may even be as thin or thinner than the iPhone 3GS.

It has two key advantages over the iPhone – a slide out physical keyboard, and use of the Verizon network. The keyboard addresses the serious blackberry user concerns about the keyboard transition and last but not the least, its the network (I am sure you have seen the Verizon commercial). The Droid is backed by the Verizon network. Time will tell if "Verizon Market", the droid equivalent of the App Store for the iPhone will compete with its Apple counterpart. It is clear that Apple hit a home run with the App Store and time will see if Verizon hit the mark here...

The Droid sold an estimated 100,000 units in the first two days following its Nov. 6 release- a solid start for the much-anticipated phone. But this is nowhere near the 1 million both the iPhone 3G and iPhone 3GS sold in their opening weekends. (Source: Appleblog.com)

You can view the Droid Guided tour to get an overview of the features. If you’re thinking about getting a Droid to use with a Microsoft Exchange e-mail account (one of the many new features with the included Android 2.0 software), be prepared to fork over some extra cash for the privilege. Verizon will be charging $44.99 a month for users who want Exchange support, versus the $29.99 for users that don’t. A downside to Droid compared to the iPhone for Exchange users.

Based on the initial consumer sentiment for the Droid and their marketing campaign, Verizon is in it for the long haul.

Game On! between Verizon and Apple (AT&T). Next few years will be very interesting in the Mobile market as the two giants compete.