Motorola is prepping two high-end Android phones for summer release on Verizon — the 4.3-inch Droid X and a keyboard-enabled Droid 2 — say reports. Meanwhile, LG will ship 20 Android phones this year, and Sony Ericsson is readying a mid-range Xperia X8 Android model, say other reports.

Considering the Big Bang-like explosion of Android phones these days, trying to keep up with the latest phone rumors can be a fool's errand. Yet, when it comes to the touted successors to the best-selling Android phone of all time ("all time" being about two and a half years), we can't resist.

Last week, the blog sites dropped rumors of a Droid Xtreme, as well as a second, keyboard-enabled Motorola phone on the way. According to Gizmodo, the touchscreen-only Xtreme was said to offer a Qualcomm Snapdragon, 4.1-inch display, and an eight-megapixel camera, and run Android 2.2.

Now, according to the BoyGeniusReport, the Droid Xtreme is actually called the Droid X, and is set to launch in July with Android 2.1. The Droid X is also said to offer "shadow BLUR," which appears to be an updated version of Motorola's MotoBlur UI layer.

Meanwhile, a Droid 2 phone will ship in August with Android 2.2, says the story. Both devices are said to offer Texas Instruments OMAP3630 processors, which typically run at 720MHz.

Motorola Droid X (left) next to HTC Evo 4G (middle) and iPhone 4 (right)
(Source: "Matrix2004" on AndroidForums)

Meanwhile, some photos of the Droid X have been posted by "Matrix2004" on AndroidForums, showing it alongside the 4.3-inch display HTC Evo 4G and an Apple iPhone 4. The Droid X (pictured above) appears to be taller than the Evo 4G, and does indeed look as if it might offer a 4.3-inch display.

Finally, DroidLife appears to confirm some of the BoyGeniusReport details, having uncovered drafts of two upcoming commercials for a Droid X and Droid 2. The former does indeed have a 4.3-inch display and the new ShadowBlur UI layer, and is touted for its multimedia savvy and new "EyeCon" app, says the story. The Droid 2, meanwhile, is said by DroidLife to offer a 1GHz processor.

Previous reports on the Droid X/Xtreme have also pegged the X as having an HDMI port, and a front-facing camera, possibly for videoconferencing via the EyeCon app.

Whatever the final specs of the two new Motorola Droids, the phones are likely to fade into the background when the promised 2GHz Motorola Android phone appears by the end of the year. Fame is fleeting on the Android stage.

LG to ship 20 Android phones in 2010

LG, which has been a slow starter in the Android world, says it will release 20 Android-based handsets this year, according to StrategyEye. The Korean electronics giant, which had said last year that it would introduce 50 Windows Mobile phones this year, has now shifted most of that effort to Android as it waits for Windows Phone 7, says the story.

LG has so far introduced five Android phones, including its flagship LG Eve and a mid-range Verizon offering, the newer LG Ally (pictured). In April, the company was rumored to be working on two Snapdragon-based models called the Aloha C710 and Eclipse LU2300.

Sony Ericsson finds a middle ground with Xperia X8

Like LG, Sony Ericsson has been struggling to get its Android message — and phones - out, at least by comparison to HTC, Samsung, and Motorola, which have been littering the landscape with Android handsets.

In November, Sony Ericsson introduced the high-end Xperia X10, the first Android smartphone to offer an eight-megapixel camera, as well as the first to supply a four-inch display. The company then followed up in February with the low-end Xperia X10 Mini and the QWERTY-keyboard equipped X10 Mini Pro Android handsets.

Sony Ericsson Xperia X8
(Source: Unofficial Sony Ericsson Blog)

Now the company appears to be readying a mid-range Xperia X8 phone, previously code-named "Shakira." This is according to a brief description and photos posted on the Unofficial Sony Ericsson Blog, as discovered by Phandroid. No specs were offered, but the screen appears to be larger than the 2.5-inch QVGA touchscreens supplied by the X10 Mini.

Availability

The BoyGeniusReport story on the new Droid X and Droid 2 phones should be here.

The "Matrix2004" image post on AndroidForums, which also supplies a photo of the Droid X next to an HTC Droid Eris, may be found here.

The DroidLife post on the Motorola Droid phones may be found here.

The StrategyEye story on LG's Android plans should be here.

The Unofficial Sony Ericsson Blog, with a number of alleged Xperia X8 images that appear to have come direct from Sony Ericsson, may be found here.

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