Verizon Wireless has tipped details about an upcoming Android phone in TV ads that hype a “Droid” phone while bashing Apple's iPhone, says eWEEK. Meanwhile, the Boy Genius Report has published a first-look preview of the Motorola Droid (previously called the “Sholes”) and calls it “the Android device to beat.”

Verizon's "iDon't" ads for the Droid are likely familiar to anyone who watched NFL Football yesterday. Shown on Fox and CBS, the 32-second clip appears to diss the iPhone for its omissions, such as a keyboard, five megapixel camera, flash, widgets, or the ability to run simultaneous apps.

The ad also knocks the iPhone for not offering an open development environment or allowing developers to customize apps, and ends with the tag line, "Everything iDon't, Droid Does."

A teaser website for the Droid goes on to briefly state other features. These include speech recognition, a notification panel, directions, video, tunes, multitasking, high-speed communications, a hi-res display, and Android 2.0.

According to Clint Boulton, writing in eWEEK, "The ad reminds everyone that Verizon Wireless and Google are at full war with AT&T and Apple."

The Droid appears to be the same rumored phone that has previously been referred to by various reports as the "Sholes" and the "Tao." Two weeks ago, Verizon announced it had signed a deal with Google to co-develop two Android smartphones for release by the holidays, and that it planned additional Android-based PDAs, netbooks, and other devices next year.

Motorola's first Android phone, the T-Mobile destined Cliq

The wireless carrier continues to omit the name of the device's manufacturer, but the ad points to a phone that seems to match up perfectly with rumored features of the Sholes, which is expected to be the second Motorola Android phone after the Cliq (pictured above).

According to Boulton, the Droid is expected to ship on Oct. 30. Verizon's other Android phone is expected to be from HTC, although it's unclear whether it's the Hero or another HTC phone called the "Desire."

Droid preview: "the Android device to beat"

Meanwhile the Boy Genius Report has published a hands-on preview of the Droid, which it says is a vast improvement over the Cliq, a phone that it calls "a toy," but which has received some positive reviews of its own. The site not only calls the Droid "the fastest Android device we've ever used," with "easily the best screen we've ever seen on an Android handset," but goes on to gush that the slider phone is "the Android device to beat, and easily the most impressive."

Pictured at right in a photo from the Boy Genius Report (yes, that's a Verizon logo in the lower right corner), the Droid bests the well reviewed HTC Hero, according to the review, and is "the most impressive phone we've used since the iPhone."

The Droid is said to be based on the Texas Instruments ARM Cortex-A8-based OMAP3430 system-on-chip (SoC), which has been used in several recent smartphones, including the Palm Pre and the Nokia N900. The Droid is also touted as being the thinnest phone the reviewer has ever seen with a QWERTY slider. The Droid runs the upcoming Android 2.0 ("Eclair"), and ships with a cradle/charger accessory that turns the phone into a "multimedia station, says the Boy Genius Report.

The story also claims that Google "has had a direct hand in the Motorola Droid. Something to the point of almost dictating every move Motorola made when designing and making the phone. "

Availability

Verizon's minimalist Droid website should be here.

Clint Boulton's eWEEK story on the Verizon Droid commercials may be found here. The Boy Genius Report story on the Droid may be found here.

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