Droid 2 Official Pre-Sale 08/11 Release 08/12 – Contracts ’til 12/31 Upgradeable

Verizon Wireless officially announced the DROID 2 by Motorola will
be available for pre-sale tomorrow on the Verizon website and official release date August 12. It is the first Droid smartphone shipping with the new Android 2.2 operating system, Star Wars fans will be delighted to know that they can buy an RD2-D2 edition in September with special Star Wars content and design.

Verizon Wireless
customers who have contracts ending by December 31, 2010, can upgrade to
any smartphone, including DROID 2, without penalty and can get the discounted contract price for the DROID 2 of $199 after rebates with a contract.

The DROID 2 has an enhanced QWERTY keyboard, 3G
Mobile HotSpot (for up to 5 connections,) push corporate e-mail, social messaging and Adobe Flash Player 10.1 support. DROID 2 also offers a multi-touch 3.7-inch display, 5-megapixel camera/camcorder and DLNA connectivity to share on compatible devices.

The DROID 2 comes with 8 GB of preloaded
on-board memory and the 8 GB microSD card, which can be upgraded to a
32 GB SD. Popular apps
available on DROID 2 include NFL Mobile (downloadable), Skype mobile
and BLOCKBUSTER On Demand presented by V CAST Video. Customers can
even manage their wireless accounts or their contacts from their phones
with My Verizon and with Backup Assistant.

DROID 2 by Motorola will be available at on August 11 on the Verizon website and it will be in store
beginning August 12 for $199.99 after a $100 mail-in rebate with a new
two-year customer agreement. Customers will receive the rebate in the
form of a debit card; upon receipt, customers may use the card as cash
anywhere debit cards are accepted.

The last two Droid smartphones from Verizon sold-out around the first day of sale, then customers had to wait for their Droid Incredible or Droid X to
ship. We learned a lot from those releases that we shared with readers earlier, they include phoning stores and ordering online in the wee
hours of the morning. Ordering online seems to be easier in the wee hours of the morning be sure to refresh your browser if you are returning to the Verizon website.

Along
with free shipping an added bonus for ordering online from Verizon when
using the Wireless and Mobile News coupon-link you get Instant Phone Rebate Only Available with Online Purchases.

Adobe Flash Player 10.1 lets mobile users experience millions of
websites the way they were meant to be seen - with rich Internet
applications (RIAs), content inside the browser, including games,
animations, data presentations and visualizations, e-commerce, music,
video, audio and more.

R2-D2 DROID 2

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.

In addition to subscribing to a
Nationwide Talk plan or a Nationwide Talk & Text plan, customers
will also need to subscribe to an Email and Web for Smartphone plan.
Nationwide Talk plans begin at $39.99 monthly access. Email and Web for
Smartphone plans start at $29.99 for unlimited monthly access.

Customers can add the optional 3G Mobile HotSpot service to their
DROID 2 smartphones for $20 per month. The 3G Mobile HotSpot allows
customers to turn their phones into a wireless modem for up to five
compatible Wi-Fi devices.