The Motorola Droid 2 (

GSM The Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) is a family of standards to describe the protocols for second-generation (2G) digital cellular networks, as used by mobile devices such as mobile phones and Mobile broadband modem, mobile broadba ...

UMTS The Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) is a 3G mobile cellular system for networks based on the GSM standard. UMTS uses Wideband Code Division Multiple Access, wideband code-division multiple access (W-CDMA) radio access technolog ...

version: Motorola Milestone 2;

CDMA Code-division multiple access (CDMA) is a channel access method used by various radio communication technologies. CDMA is an example of multiple access, where several transmitters can send information simultaneously over a single communicatio ...

version: Motorola Droid 2 Global) is the fifth

mobile phone A mobile phone or cell phone is a portable telephone that allows users to make and receive calls over a radio frequency link while moving within a designated telephone service area, unlike fixed-location phones ( landline phones). This rad ...

in Verizon's Droid line. In the U.S., it is available exclusively on

Verizon Wireless Verizon is an American wireless network operator that previously operated as a separate division of Verizon Communications under the name Verizon Wireless. In a 2019 reorganization, Verizon moved the wireless products and services into the div ...

,Motorola Droid 2 Officially Announced, Pre-Sale Starts Tomorrow on Verizon
-

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, 10 Aug 2010 and was released August 12, 2010 (pre-order sales of the device began August 11). It runs the Android operating system by

Google Google LLC (, ) is an American multinational corporation and technology company focusing on online advertising, search engine technology, cloud computing, computer software, quantum computing, e-commerce, consumer electronics, and artificial ...

, and can run

Flash Player Adobe Flash Player (known in Internet Explorer, Firefox, and Google Chrome as Shockwave Flash) is a discontinuedExcept in China, where it continues to be used, as well as Harman for enterprise users. computer program for viewing multimedia c ...

10.1. It comes with 8 GB of internal memory and is shipped with an additional 8 GB

SDHC Secure Digital (SD) is a proprietary, non-volatile, flash memory card format developed by the SD Association (SDA). Owing to their compact size, SD cards have been widely adopted in a variety of portable consumer electronics, including digi ...

card, upgradable to 32 GB. It has a 3.7 in display and a 5-megapixel camera. Unlike the

Droid X The Droid X is a smartphone released by Motorola in July 2010. The smartphone was renamed Motoroi X for its release in Mexico on November 9, 2013. The Droid X runs on the Android operating system, and the latest version supported was 2.3 Ginge ...

, the Motorola Droid 2 features a redesigned slide-out

QWERTY keyboard QWERTY ( ) is a keyboard layout for Latin-script alphabets. The name comes from the order of the first six keys on the top letter row of the keyboard: . The QWERTY design is based on a layout included in the Sholes and Glidden typewriter ...

, but still features the

Swype Swype was a virtual keyboard for touchscreen smartphones and tablets originally developed by Swype Inc., founded in 2002, where the user enters words by sliding a finger or stylus from the first letter of a word to its last letter, lifting only b ...

keyboard found on the Droid X. A limited edition version featuring the ''

Star Wars ''Star Wars'' is an American epic film, epic space opera media franchise created by George Lucas, which began with the Star Wars (film), eponymous 1977 film and Cultural impact of Star Wars, quickly became a worldwide popular culture, pop cu ...

'' droid character

R2-D2 R2-D2 () or Artoo-Detoo is a fictional robot character in the ''Star Wars'' franchise created by George Lucas. He has appeared in ten of the eleven theatrical ''Star Wars'' films to date, including every film in the " Skywalker Saga", which inclu ...

with exclusive apps and content was announced by Verizon for September 30, 2010, to commemorate the thirtieth anniversary for ''

The Empire Strikes Back ''The Empire Strikes Back'' (also known as ''Star Wars: Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back'') is a 1980 American epic film, epic space opera film directed by Irvin Kershner from a screenplay by Leigh Brackett and Lawrence Kasdan, based o ...

''.

Pricing

In the US it was sold by Verizon for $149.99 on contract or $559.99 with no contract. Secondary seller pricing as of December 2010 is $0.00 with contract

Reception

Reviewers felt that the good aspects of the prior Droid, like the sturdy build and functional styling, were maintained in the Droid 2, but with many refinements. Some reviewers thought that the styling was less abrupt, but some criticised the device for not departing enough from the prior design. The consensus on the screen was that, while it was not as big as some phones, or as high resolution as the

iPhone 4 The iPhone 4 is a smartphone that was developed and marketed by Apple Inc. It is the List of iPhone models, fourth generation of the iPhone lineup, succeeding the iPhone 3GS and preceding the iPhone 4s. Following a number of notable leaks, ...

, it was good quality and not too small. The new keyboard was praised by some reviewers for being less awkward than on the prior Droid, but others found little improvement. The keyboard overall had mixed reviews but was generally the same but without a d-pad. The camera, like other parts of the device, was criticised by some for being little better than the prior device, but most were happy with picture quality. Most reviewers found the device to be good and solid all around, but saw it as a small evolution of an already successful model rather than a revolutionary new device.

Patent suit

In October 2010,

Microsoft Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational corporation and technology company, technology conglomerate headquartered in Redmond, Washington. Founded in 1975, the company became influential in the History of personal computers#The ear ...

filed a lawsuit against Motorola with the

International Trade Commission The United States International Trade Commission (USITC or I.T.C.) is an agency of the United States federal government that advises the legislative and executive branches on matters of trade. It was created by Congress in 1916 as the U.S. Tari ...

in a

district court District courts are a category of courts which exists in several nations, some call them "small case court" usually as the lowest level of the hierarchy. These courts generally work under a higher court which exercises control over the lower co ...

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

, claiming the manufacturer had "infringed on nine patents in its Android-based devices." The court papers specifically mention the Droid 2 and

Motorola Charm The Motorola Charm is a smartphone manufactured by Motorola. It was released exclusively to U.S. carrier T-Mobile, and Canadian carrier Telus. The Motorola Charm is the second Motorola Android phone to feature the updated Motoblur UI for Android ...

smartphones but Microsoft claimed that it was not limited to these phones.

Revised model (new keyboard)

The original Droid phone received criticism for its keys being too flat and for not having an offset placement. The Droid 2 was designed with a replacement closer to that of standard keyboard as seen with computer's keyboard with significantly raised ("domed") keys. A revision of the Droid 2 features keys that are much closer to the flatness of the Droid 1, but it does maintain the offset placement. Both phones are labeled as Model: A955, HW B on the inside of the battery compartment. Other changes may have been made as well.

References

External links

* {{Linux devices