Mobile

You may not be able to get your hands on Verizon's Motorola Droid for another week, but you can get your name on one starting today. Best Buy opened the doors to the first Droid presale on Thursday -- and it's offering an instant rebate if you sign up, too.

There has been a lot of media attention around the Verizon Droid and whether or not it's a viable competitor the formidable Apple iPhone. There has even been a fair amount of coverage regarding the Google Android 2.0 operating system that drives the Droid. The unsung supporting actor behind the Droid though is Motorola, and Motorola's path to recovery is possibly the bigger story.

Well, gang, it's official: Verizon's Motorola Droid smartphone is on its way into the world. The Droid, unveiled Wednesday, will hit store shelves on November 6 with a $199.99 price tag, after a $100 mail-in rebate and with a new two-year contract.

On paper, Verizon's Droid by Motorola seems like it should destroy the iPhone. Its 3.7-inch 480x854 display is dumbfounding compared to Apple's 3.5-inch 480x320 screen. It manages to include a slide-out QWERTY keyboard, yet at 0.54-inches it's scarcely thicker than the iPhone's 0.48-inches. It has a turn-by-turn GPS right out of the box, while the same feature on the iPhone will knock you back an extra $100. Yet, all this is not enough for the Droid to earn the status of "iPhone killer." For that, it will need to rob the iPhone of its customers, and it won't come even close.

The Palm Pixi, the slimmer sibling of Palm Pre, is set to debut on the Sprint network on Nov. 15. Priced at $100 (after rebates) with a two-year deal, the Pixi is a reworked Pre with a few significant changes, including an exposed (not slide-out) keyboard, a slightly smaller display, no Wi-Fi, and a new Facebook application.

The idea that Google is going to be selling wireless handsets proves the company is either a) very cagey or b) going nuts. Which is it?

The punches just keep on coming in the Android smartphone game -- and this time, the manager himself may be getting into the ring. Google is preparing to unveil its own custom Android phone, a report published at TheStreets.com claims. If true, the move would mark Google's first foray into the Android phone fray and could signal a serious shake-up to America's carrier-driven smartphone market.

The Wi-Fi Alliance announced a new wireless networking specification which will enable devices to establish simple peer-to-peer wireless connections without the need for a wireless router or hotspot. Wi-Fi Direct has a wide array of potential uses, many of which encroach on Bluetooth territory and threaten to make the competing wireless protocol obsolete.

AT&T and Nokia will offer the new Booklet 3G wireless netbook for only $299. Is that a good deal? It depends.

The reviews of Microsoft's new mobile OS, Windows Mobile 6.5, are in -- and none of them are glowing. It seems that Windows Mobile 6.5 is more of a superficial cosmetic overhaul, not a bona fide upgrade capable of handling the mobile market's stiff competition.