For those unfamilar with the name, the latest Motorola phone has previously been known as the Sholes, a name we’re glad has been given the boot.  The Motorola Droid is the company’s second device to run Google’s Android operating system, but where the DEXT could be viewed as a good-time social networking fun phone, this is a serious, high performance smartphone.

If anyone needs convincing that US network Verizon and Motorola are gunning for anything except the iPhone with the Droid, then take a look at this 30-second TV advert, where their intentions are made pretty clear.   Following the DroidDoes link takes you to a Verizon portal where a mysterious counter steadily ticks down to an event on the 30th October, plus you can register your interest.

We’re very lucky in that a hands-on report has hit the Internet too, giving us a peak at the specification and a brief reaction to the new phone. The Droid will be running version 2.0 of Android, the first major revision for theOS, and it will be powered by a quick ARM Cortex A8 processor, exactly as you’ll find inside the Palm Pre and the Sony Ericsson Satio.

It has a large capacitive touchscreen and a QWERTY keyboard behind a G1-style side-slider, plus a 5 megapixel camera with xenon flash and a 3.5mm jack plug too.

At this stage, there is no indication when or even if the Droid will make it to the UK and Europe, however with the DEXT hitting Orange recently, we’re willing to believe they could be getting ready for the Droid too.  Whatever happens, the Droid certainly ticks all the boxes on our ‘next big thing’ checklist!