Slideshow: The Definitive Android Smartphone Guide
Slideshow: Motorola Droid vs. Apple iPhone 3GS

The HD2 matches the Droid for screen resolution at 480x800--dwarfing the iPhone resolution--but the HD2 has significantly more screen real estate with a 4.3 inch display. Initial reviews report that it is blazing fast as a result of its 1GHz Snapdragon processor. It has the seemingly obligatory WiFi, GPS, and 5 megapixel camera features, but also makes better use of the iPhone-like capacitive multitouch screen than the Droid.

While the Droid runs on the Google Android operating system (the first device based on Android 2.0), and the iPhone runs on its own proprietary iPhone operating system, the HTC HD2 is built on Windows Mobile 6.5. In true HTC fashion though, it has customized and tweaked the OS to expand its capabilities. HTC's TouchFlo 3D skin and Sense UI definitely enhance the Windows Mobile 6.5 experience.

Sadly, the three-way cage match between the Droid, the iPhone, and the HD2 may never happen. Timing is everything. As my PC World peer Daniel Ionescu noted, releasing a device at a time when a competing device is dominating the headlines can overshadow it. The Blackberry Storm 2 and Bold 9700 may be very capable devices, but so much attention is being paid to the Droid that you barely know the two devices exist. Even the Droid Eris (also from HTC) is getting much less attention and seems sort of like a consolation prize for those who can't afford the 'real' Droid.

Perhaps HTC is waiting to incorporate Windows Mobile 7 into the device? A good part of the buzz around the Motorola Droid is related to the Android 2.0 operating system. If Droid were just another Android 1.6 device it might not be as exciting. If HTC is working with Microsoft to be the first out of the gate with Windows Mobile 7 it could be a marketing boost for the HD2 and the Windows Mobile 7 OS.

It could just be that HTC is playing the chess game better than RIM and is waiting for the dust to settle. Finding a true iPhone-killer is like the hunt for Bigfoot or the Loch Ness Monster--elusive to say the least. By the beginning of 2010 the honeymoon with Droid may be over and HTC HD2 can dominate headlines as the Droid has done the past few weeks, and it won't have to compete for attention.