Gear

Is This the Motorola Droid 2?

A new version of Motorola’s Droid phone could be in the works — one that improves on the device’s keyboard and increases its computing power. Motorola is removing the copper-colored rectangular trackpad on the keyboard, says the Droid Life blog, which posted the unconfirmed details today. The trackpad had drawn criticism for not being responsive […]

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A new version of Motorola's Droid phone could be in the works -- one that improves on the device's keyboard and increases its computing power.

Motorola is removing the copper-colored rectangular trackpad on the keyboard, says the Droid Life blog, which posted the unconfirmed details today. The trackpad had drawn criticism for not being responsive enough.

Droid 2 is likely to launch with the Android 2.1 operating system (upgradable to the latest version Android 2.2 aka FroYo) and have the same 3.7-inch display as its predecessor.

Droid 2 will have a 750-MHz OMAP processor, an upgrade over the 550-MHz processor in the current version of the phone, says Droid Life.

Motorola released the Droid in November as a device available exclusively on the Verizon network. The phone has become a best-seller. Motorola CEO Sanjay Jha said earlier this week that the device is still selling well. "If I could build more I'd sell more," he told Reuters.

But since the original Droid's release, other Android smartphones such as the Google Nexus One, the HTC Evo 4G and Incredible have eclipsed the Droid in terms of features. These phones have a better processor, at 1 GHz. The HTC Evo has dual cameras (an 8-megapixel camera and a 1.3-megapixel front-facing camera) and an HDMI port among other things. Earlier this week, Apple announced its iPhone 4, featuring a stunning display and video chat.

The Droid 2 won't entirely catch up to these devices. The refreshed version is still likely to have a 5-megapixel camera and no video-chat capability. But as incremental as the upgrades seem, it's good to see Motorola not let the device languish after its launch.

Image courtesy Droid Life

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Photo: Droid Life