Motorola Droid X Announced for Verizon

Today Google, Verizon and Motorola announced the latest Android powered smartphone, the Droid X will be available on July 15th for $199, after a rebate and a 2 year contract. The Droid X joins the Droid and the Droid Incredible as a member of Verizon’s star Android devices and is clearly meant to counter the iPhone 4.

The new Droid X has a 1GHz CPU, 4.3″ widescreen display and an 8 MP autofocus camera with dual LED flash capable of 720P video capture. The powerful phone includes 8GB of onboard storage and a pre-installed 16GB MicroSD card to store all of your music, movies and more. The phone also packs an HDMI port for connection to a HDTV and is DLNA certified. The Droid X also has a 3-microphone solution aimed at capturing better audio when you are recording a video. While this doesn’t mean you’re ready to film a feature-length movie, you should notice better sound in the clips you share online and with friends.

The Droid X will ship with the Android 2.1 operating system and will be upgraded to Android 2.2 “FroYo” later this summer; an update that all Droid devices on Verizon should receive as well. When the Droid X is updated to Android 2.2 it will also be able to support Adobe Flash 10.1.

Other features on the Droid X include the “Personal Mobile 3G Hotpot” which turns the Droid X into a miniature wireless router in order to share your connection with up to 5 devices like a notebook, iPad, PSP or more. The Droid X will also have an optional widget to stream all of your social network information and come pre-installed with Swype, a new keyboard which allows you to type by moving your fingers across the keys instead of tapping on them.

The Droid X is clearly Verizon’s attempt to keep customers on their network who have been considering the iPhone 4 on AT&T. Time will tell how good the device is, but it does look impressive; even without a front facing camera.