By upgrading to Ice Cream Sandwich, Bionic users will get a variety of new features, including the customizable launch bar, Face Unlock, simplified multitasking, improved notifications, and Motorola’s SmartAction app. ICS users will have Direct Access Lock, which lets the users skip directly to either the camera, messages, texts, or unlock. In addition, users will be able to create folders by drag and dropping apps on top of each other.

The Droid Bionic features a 4.3 inch qHD TFT display with a resolution of 960×540, as well as a Gorilla Glass overlay to help protect the screen. The Bionic has both a microUSB and micro HDMI port, as well as a standard 3.5mm headphone port. Its wireless tech includes LTE, EVDO Rev.A, b/g/n Wifi, and Bluetooth 2.1+EDR.

Some of this smartphone’s best features includes its 8MP camera with autofocus and an LED flash, which can record in full HD 1080p, as well as its dual-core 1GHz processor. The Bionic was released in 2011. According to the Verizon Facebook page, it will receive a Jelly Bean update “in the coming months.”

[via Verizon]

Before we continue, I must disclose that I’ve not had an extended time with the DROID BIONIC – if you’ll take a look at the reviews here and over at the other site I’ve reviewed for in the past, Android Community, you’ll see that it was Vincent Nguyen and Cory Gunther who took that review on when the device dropped. You’ll imagine my surprise then when a Motorola representative at the DROID RAZR event informed me that there was a function on the device that allowed you to hide applications – and my double-down surprise when I was later informed by Cory that the BIONIC had this ability too!

Have a look at how this function works on the DROID RAZR here:

Now the hiding of apps works, from what we can tell, exactly the same on these Motorola devices as it will in the basic build of Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich, so we can look forward to being able to do something like what you see above on all Android phones in the future! Or so we can hope. There’s always the possibility that manufacturers and/or carriers will want to disable this ability on devices under their care – hopefully not. The right to have no more apps than the game Shadowgun is a right I feel I’m right to demand!

Be sure to check out our Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich Complete Guide for all the information you could possibly want on the upcoming mobile OS, and head to our Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich hands-on post for a real live close-up look! The video from that post can also be seen below if you like:

As you may be aware, there’s also an Atrix 2 out there right now, complete with a lovely smooth overhaul and the newest version of Motorola’s vision for Android for a user interface. The Motorola DROID BIONIC was supposed to be the king of all machines – and if you’ve got all the Motorola machines it connects with, it certainly is. Now there’s a new device popping out, popping out tomorrow no less, that MUST be the next step in this evolution for Motorola. It’ll have Verizon 4G LTE, we can be pretty sure of that, but how will it out-do the BIONIC?

Tomorrow at NOON Eastern Time here in New York City, we’ll be with Motorola as they reveal this new “Faster Thinner Smarter Stronger” device. First have a look at the promo photo above. It was found earlier today in the teaser site for the smartphone — right now that same site has transformed into one that advertises for every recent Motorola device including the Atrix 2, the BIONIC, the XPRT, the Droid 3, and more.

This new device which we’ll continue calling the Motorola DROID RAZR is tipped to have a 4.3-inch display with qHD resolution similar to what we’ve seen on the BIONIC and the Droid X2. This device is said to have LTE on Verizon and will be the thinnest LTE device on the market when it’s released. The processor inside is yet unknown, but we’ll go ahead and guess that it’s the same dual-core 1.0GHz OMAP4 processor found in the BIONIC upgraded to 1.2GHz — perhaps though it’ll be the 1.5GHz Qualcomm dual-core chip we’ve seen in the HTC Jetstream?

Another rumor has the device using 1GB of RAM and a 960×540 pixel resolution Super AMOLED display. The camera on the back appears very likely to be the same 8-megapixel camera that the DROID BIONIC has, also capable of 1080p resolution video.

Then here’s where it gets real exciting: the front of the device is said to be fully Gorilla Glass, while the rest of the chassis is said to be Kevlar with a splashproof coating. No more poolside mishaps for you! Docks will be offered right out of the box, similar to what we’ve seen with the BIONIC and the PHOTON, and the device has been called three things: DROID RAZR, Motorola Spyder, and DROID HD. We’re guessing for the first option.

So JOIN us tomorrow, again at NOON EST, right here on SlashGear. Then stick around (or go somewhere and have a snack) and find us LIVE in HONG KONG at 10PM EST when Samsung and Google will be revealing a device running Android Ice Cream Sandwich. Don’t miss anything!

iPhone 4S

This is the newest device of the pack, it packing a lovely new A5 chip that, optimized to the max for this one single phone, will allow you to play such fantastic games as Infinity Blade II – see a preview of what’s to come in our review of the first in that series of games for iPad 2. This device will be released worldwide and on three of the four major US carriers this month in three models, the least expensive of these being $199 with 16GB storage inside. Some other nice neat new apps revealed at the iPhone event on October 4th were Cards physical greeting cards app and Find My Friends for GPS tracking of all your best buddies. There’s also some little additions to the iPhone line via iOS 5 like the camera shortcut on the lockscreen. Then there’s some real strange things like: Bluetooth 4.0, the lovely fingerprint-resistant oleophobic coating on both the front and the back, three-axis gyro, and again, a global release on 100 carriers worldwide.

Learn all about the iPhone 4S in our full reveal guide as well as our hands-on look.

Samsung Galaxy S II

The Galaxy S II is one of the most popular Android devices in history. It’s sold over 10 MILLION units worldwide of its original version, and the new versions on AT&T and T-Mobile plus the EVO 4G Touch version are set to be massive sellers as well. This device runs the newest version of Android – as all the Android devices on this list do, but with a special user interface Samsung calls TouchWiz. This interface is the most updated version of what Samsung calls its most optimized interface for users using Android -and it’s quite nice, if I do say so myself, having one in my pocket right this second. Instead of working with the Apple Appstore, you’ll be using the Android Marketplace, one of the most popular app stores in the world after the Apple app store which, if I’m not mistaken, is still beating every other store by a longshot for legitimate checked-and-ready apps. The Samsung Galaxy S II comes in many shapes and sizes but, for the most part, always has the lovely Super AMOLED Plus display, Samsung’s sharpest and brightest in the world. This device comes with an 8 megapixel camera on the back, similar to the 8 megapixel camera the iPhone 4S is using, and another webcam-ready camera on the front, also similar to what the iPhone 4S is using.

This device, as is true of each of the other Android devices on this list, is a powerful choice, and will last you the 2 years you’ll have it on contract unless you’re the sort of person that always needs the most advanced handset around. For you I recommend not purchasing a smartphone at all, as sure enough, several months down the line, no matter what you’ve purchased, you’ll have been trumped by the newest technology.

You can check out our several reviews of this device here:
Samsung Galaxy S II original international edition
Samsung Galaxy S II AT&T version
Samsung Galaxy S II Epic 4G Touch

HTC Sensation

The device known as the HTC Sensation is the culmination of HTC’s efforts to create the perfect phone, similar to what Apple has done with the iPhone and Samsung has done with their Galaxy line, here is where HTC puts it all on the line. You get nearly the newest version of HTC’s custom user interface Sense (currently only beat by the feminine device HTC Rhyme at the moment) and the most comfortable shape for a handset that your humble narrator has ever felt hit his palm. It’s shaped to please, ladies and gentlemen, and like the last two devices, this smartphone has the 8 megapixel camera on the back and a webcam-ready camera on the front.

Unlike the previous two devices, this smartphone is only available on T-Mobile here in the USA and on a broader market internationally. HTC generally releases their devices across the sea first, bringing them then to the USA market on one carrier at a time. Prices for this device are, once again, comparable to the first two smartphones.

Our reviews
T-Mobile Sensation 4G
HTC Sentsation original international edition

Motorola DROID BIONIC

The BIONIC is another dual-core device (like all devices on this list), this time in a device that also works on Verizon’s 4G LTE network. This is the only device on this list that can say that it’s got those kinds of upload and download speeds, and it’s also one of the most widely anticipated Android devices to have been released this year. It’s running Motorola’s newest UI over Android and is pushed as a device that can accomplish many things with its several docks and desktop-mode for advanced computing beyond that of a normal smartphone. Apple made fun of the camera on this device because it is said to be significantly slower in taking photos than the competition, meanwhile it has a similar 8 megapixel camera on the back and video chat capable camera on the front.

The DROID BIONIC is only carried by Verizon, and only here in the USA. This makes the device by far the smallest in distribution numbers, but does offer an exclusive sort of feel, if you know what I mean. It’s also got a bit of a curve to the edges of the glass, this making it, the G2x, and the Sensation each part of the curved Gorilla Glass club – strength and a lovely feel.

Review
DROID BIONIC

LG G2x

The LG G2x is, in its original form, the first smartphone in the world to hold a dual-core processor in it. It was called the Optimus 2X then, and it, like I mention above, has one of your humble narrator’s favorite display glasses in the world – a couple of large bends and this device is unique. Inside you’ll find the second most advanced Android operating system out of the box, but it’s instantly ungradable to the newest Gingerbread – as all the other Android devices are on this list. This device has the 8 megapixel camera on the back and the video chat capable camera on the front, and, like the DROID BIONIC and the Galaxy S II, has the ability to play videos via HDMI on your big screen HD TV. The iPhone 4S can do this in a similar way to the Galaxy S II, both of them requiring a special converter cord to do so.

Review
T-Mobile G2x from LG

Processors

Since the Apple processor and the rest of these Android-powering processors aren’t able to all really work on the same benchmark tests, we’ll just have to speak on what we’ve seen here. A dual-core processor on an Android device makes it capable of wiping the floor with all of their single-core counterparts, but unless you’re really ramming away on video and playing the highest-tech games, you’ll not notice a WHOLE LOT of difference in your daily activities. If you’re going to be using your device to play videos through your TV, it’d make a lot of sense to have a dual-core processor. If you’re going to be playing games like Riptide GP for Android, you’ll absolutely NEED a dual-core processor because it requires it.

That said, different processors are doing different things to pump themselves up for consumers – Qualcomm – whose chip sits in the HTC Sensation, recently announced their support for game developers in the Qualcomm Snapdragon Game Pack. Similarly, NVIDIA has a whole NVIDIA Tegra Zone of apps created with the developers to work specifically with their own Tegra 2 dual-core chip – these games are then only playable on NVIDIA-powered devices, including the G2x. Texas Instruments (on the DROID BIONIC) have been finding their way into several big-name devices of late including the Kindle Fire and is rumored to be part of the next Google hero phone Nexus Prime. Samsung sits in this pack with their own Exynos dual-core processor on the Galaxy S II – this processor has been known to beat out competing dual-core processors on benchmarks that are, admittedly, not that precise, but by a LOT in some cases. Finally there’s the A5 dual-core processor from Apple for their newest iPhone 4S, this is a processor that’s quite similar (if not basically identical) to the A5 processor sitting in the iPad 2, the most popular tablet-type mobile device in the world – and by the looks of it, it’ll be at least keeping up with the competition if not beating it due to the small library of devices it must be optimized for.

Anything else you’d like to know? You can see the full specs on the iPhone 4S by heading to our iPhone 4S Hands-on post, then for the rest you can see our http://device.ac/ device archive for the rest: Galaxy S II (AT&T and original), Galaxy S II Epic 4G Touch, LG G2x, DROID BIONIC, and the HTC Sensation. Let us know which one you’ll pick if you’re in the market!

First let’s take a look at the football ad. This one shows off an app wich which you can watch NFL games and such, here played on the DROID BIONIC by several disparate individuals. Look at that DROID BIONIC shine!

Next there’s that rude reality show judge Simon Cowell, a fellow whom you’d be lucky to never encounter in real life, tossing competitor devices off a pier. You’ll probably not be identifying any of these phones as they’ve been disguised to look like generally crappy looking devices, but the DROID BIONIC is quite simple to identify. Will you trust the British know-it-all host and his television show app?

Finally there’s the DROID BIONIC science fiction video campaign. Originally the press was quite certain that it was Natalie Portman appearing in these ads, now it’s pretty clear that it’s not – at the same time there’s Lance Henriksen’s unmistakable voice in the background. Henriksen’s most droid-related role has been in the ALIENS series of movies where he plays several characters, most notably the robotic man by the name BISHOP.

Any of this give you the feeling you need to jump on this BIONIC train?

Hardware

This is one of the first devices you’ll find on the market using the Texas Instruments OMAP4 dual-core processor (running here at 1GHz) and the first tablet you’ll see running the processor (other than developer units, of course). This is Texas Instruments first dual-core processor on the market and one we first saw up and running all the way back at MWC 2011 in Barcelona. We first got out hands on these devices (prototype versions, at least), back in June of 2011 where we saw both versions again. Have a look first here at the video from that session:

Next have a look at our most recent re-introduction to these devices courtesy of ARCHOS themselves just this past week:

If you haven’t just watched the videos above, you should know that the ARCHOS 80 G9 tablet has a kickstand. It’s got a microSD slot, an HDMI port, headphone jack, power/lock button, and microUSB port, and that’s all on the same side – the left-hand side if you’re holding the device in landscape mode which, if you’ve not noticed by now, is the way ARCHOS intends you to hold it (or set it on the tablet, as the kickstand would suggest). Unfortunately the kickstand itself is not as strong as we’d like, especially given the fact that this one will be holding up a whole tablet. It’s constructed of plastic and won’t survive very long if a child (or a clumsy adult) gets ahold of it. While it is in tact, on the other hand, it works very nicely to give this unit a unique ability to hold itself at exactly the angle I use tablets at every day.

The ports (ports galore!) make this device one of the most versatile tablets right out of the box, right after the Toshiba THRIVE which prides itself on being able to plug in anything. Having basically every kind of port that I’d ever need certainly ads to the out-of-box experience that many of the higher-priced tablets simply do not. They’ve got converters and 3rd party cords that need to be purchased to make it all happen. ARCHOS scores big points for this.

Along those same lines is the construction of the tablet. We’ve not yet seen a tear-down of either of the G9 tablets so we’re not aware of the innards, but outside it appears that this is the nicest set of tablets ARCHOS has yet presented. They’re a real big-time effort, this tablet able to be placed amongst the rest of the Honeycomb tablets we’ve reviewed here on SlashGear, not low quality like some of the similarly priced units we’ve come across.

The 80 G9 is nice to handle, has a unique shape to it, and has a relatively decent display on it. Where previous ARCHOS tablets suffered from some not so perfect viewing angles, here we get at least 90 degrees of good color and alignment, where you’re not QUITE able to see perfectly when you’ve got the device nearly flat, it’s alright, because why on earth would you be looking at it like that anyway? The tablet is light, it’s thin enough to run with the big dogs, and again, it feels very nice to handle.

Before we go on, let’s catch some unboxing and hands-on action courtesy of yours truly, opening the box and handling the device like a pro:

Note that there’s a bit of an issue with the music in this video – turns out the song file happened to be corrupt – there doesn’t appear to be anything wrong with the speakers, the playback, the music app, any of that. Just the file that you’ll never ever come in contact with for the final release. No worries!

Software and Performance

Devices that also run the same processor as you’re seeing working here in the G9 series are the LG THRILL 4G glasses-free 3D smartphone and the Motorola DROID BIONIC, a 4G LTE device and the first to have both a dual-core and LTE connectivity. What this should tell you is that this processor, the Texas Instruments OMAP4, is no small cookie. This device should feel unique running it, especially since ARCHOS now has the only two Android tablets on the market with a dual-core processor not made by NVIDIA. Is that a good thing? It’s certainly a unique thing.

In the above photo, the apps Antutu Benchmark (the bunny in the upper right) and CF-Bench are the only two apps that do not come with the tablet right out of the box. You’ll see all the different apps you get with the tablet in the hands-on videos above.

Inside the tablet you’ll find a unique range of apps (that, again, you can see listed in the hands-on and unboxing video above. Best of all is the fact that ARCHOS didn’t do TOO much to change Honeycomb at all. This appears to be a trend amongst tablet producers since Android 3.0 Honeycomb was released, not changing it very much at all (with a few big exceptions) leaving a Vanilla experience for Android users across the states. Will all this change with Ice Cream Sandwich? We shall see. For now, the bees continue to buzz.

We can run any number of high-flying apps requiring the full processor power of a dual-core chip, and most of them run just about as well as they can on either of the other two devices running the same OMAP4 right this moment. This is a tier-one device and you can tell by the quickness in the running of every app. The smallest amount of disappointment comes from the space right around the rim of the display where the border begins – it’s here that touch responsiveness appears to wane just the smallest amount, and this is certainly not because of the software, but because the hardware leads our fingers past the border. Strange? Yes. Will I get used to it after a few weeks of work and play? Certainly I will.

For benchmarks, you’ll have to note that we’ve got the 1GHz version of the 80 G9 tablet here, where we still understand a 1.5GHz version to come out as well. Have a glance at what this 1GHz version of the OMAP4 can do:

Camera

There’s but one camera on this device, and it’s forward facing. Here we’ve got a brief video and a photo or two to show you the quality. More than likely you’ll be using this device’s camera for video chat and that’s it.

Battery

As you can see here, there’s been some major optimization done with OMAP4′s processor conserving energy while the device is in sleep mode. It looks as if this device could survive essentially forever if we’d simply let it stay at home in bed. In use, we get less than a day’s work out of the device before we need to charge, but that’s with movie watching, HDMI outputting, high-demanding games, and the like. Normal users should expect right around a full day’s use.

Wrap-Up

This is the first Texas Instruments dual-core 1GHz OMAP4 processor-toting Android tablet on the market, and it’s pretty decent. The kickstand, being as large and obviously important as it seems, is a bit of a disappointment as it’s made of plastic and isn’t very sturdy. Even if it should fail, though, you’ve still got four rubber nubbins on the back of the device to sit flat for some excellent tablet-top action. This tablet is uniquely sized, has the ability to plug in many devices and cards, and is reasonably priced at $299 at the ARCHOS online store right now with a 1.5GHz version on the way for an increased price. At this price, I think we’ve got a winner. At least for those students looking to purchase a tablet computer without dropping their whole week’s wages on one.

As far as the software goes, it’s your basic Honeycomb experience with a few awesome app bonuses right out of the box. I hesitate going too far into out-of-box app experiences since unless it’s a unique app to that device, you can download them yourself no matter what device you buy. Here we’ve got a few from column B, and a few from column A, this second column being ARCHOS and apps that we can only get here. These apps are certainly decent and definitely a selling point (or it should be) for retailers and ARCHOS online.

Is this the tablet for you? It’s a strange time to be purchasing a tablet since we know that before the end of the year, we’ll be seeing quad-core processors on the market. That said, we’ve seen single-core devices out-perform dual-core devices in the past, it all depends on what software you’re running. ARCHOS, you did a pretty decent job here making a tablet that’s going to be accessible by the masses. People will buy it and love it if you include replaceable kickstands. The rest of the tablet is good to go!

This device is also said to be running Android 2.3.5, this being the newest iteration of the most advanced Android handset-based operating system on the market also called Gingerbread, and there’s no current time frame for release. In fact this device hasn’t been officially released in any way shape or form quite yet, with only whispers of the device existing popping up thus far. I think we can pretty much put the rumors to rest given the obvious authenticity of these photos today, seeing that they’re rolling out with a pretty solid new-looking build in them giving us confidence that Motorola will be releasing real info in the very near future.

At the moment we can only see four photos, the back of the device looking just about as interesting as the front – it appearing to have a sort of rubbery looking battery cover and a speaker hole not unlike what we saw with the Photon 4G, while the camera setup isn’t unlike every recent DROID release from Motorola as well. The single Motorola M is present on the back in the center as it should be, and no other carrier marks can be found other than the large AT&T logo on the front at the top. Again also the glass appears to be curved around the edges, not unlike what we’ve just seen on the DROID BIONIC.

Looks like a pretty solid release, wouldn’t you say?

[via BGR]

Hardware

Motorola hasn’t strayed too far with the design of the DROID BIONIC, with a squared-off and masculine aesthetic that neither particularly disappoints or delights. With everything the company has squeezed inside, the 66.9 x 127.5 x 10.99 mm, 158g chassis is probably understandable, but it’s inescapably chunky all the same. At least it’s creak-free and the plastics – along with the Gorilla Glass fascia – feel high quality.

That toughened glass covers both the BIONIC’s 4.3-inch qHD 960 x 540 LCD TFT display and the row of touch-sensitive buttons for menu, home, back and search. Although LCD has for many been superseded by the various AMOLED technologies, we can’t really criticize Motorola’s choice of panel here. Colors are bright and viewing angles broad, and the capacitive touch is responsive.

Ports include microUSB and micro HDMI, along with a 3.5mm headset jack, while wireless connectivity includes LTE, EVDO Rev.A, WiFi b/g/n and Bluetooth 2.1+EDR. There’s also GPS/AGPS and the usual range of sensors: digital compass, accelerometer, proximity and ambient light. Unfortunately Motorola obviously couldn’t find a way to add a GSM/HSPA radio, which means this isn’t one of Verizon’s World Phones. Step outside the embrace of CDMA coverage and you’ll have no GSM to fall back on when travelling.

On the back is an 8-megapixel camera with autofocus and an LED flash, capable of 1080p Full HD video recording. A VGA camera for video calls lives above the display, next to an LED status indicator for flagging up missed calls and new messages. Under the battery door is a 1,735 mAh pack along with a microSD card slot (with a 16GB card preloaded) to augment the 16GB of internal storage.

It’s the dual-core 1GHz processor that singles the BIONIC out among other LTE handsets, with Motorola turning to its old favorite Texas Instruments and the OMAP4430. In the BIONIC it’s paired with 1GB of RAM.

DROID BIONIC hands-on video

Software and Performance

Motorola hasn’t left Android 2.3.4 Gingerbread alone, and there are various customizations and preloaded apps cluttering up the DROID BIONIC. The days of the all-invasive MOTOBLUR are thankfully past, and instead you get a selection of resizable widgets and a non-stock onscreen keyboard similar to previous Motorola Android phones we’ve reviewed.

Unfortunately, roughly half of the 16GB of internal memory is taken up with preloaded software, most of which can’t be deleted. As well as all the usual Android apps – like Gmail, Google Maps and Navigation – Motorola adds Citrix GoToMeeting and Quickoffice, VCast Music, Verizon Media Manager and Verizon Back Up Assistant, Blockbuster, MOTOPRINT, Let’s Golf 2, Netflix, ZumoCast and others. Certainly we can understand that some apps will be of use to some owners, but it’s unlikely everyone will want everything and we wish Motorola had offered them as optional downloads rather than making them mandatory.

Of them all, it’s ZumoCast that Motorola is most pleased with. The company’s own remote file access app, once you’ve installed the client on your PC or Mac you can access documents, photos, music and video remotely on your BIONIC. It works, though is obviously very much network-dependent; if you have a less than ideal connection then video is the first to suffer, dropping frames and generally becoming unwatchable.

In terms of benchmarks, the dual-core processor didn’t disappoint. Quadrant Pro came back at 2780, comfortably exceeding recent Tegra 2 devices we’ve tested. However, a stock Samsung Galaxy S II – running at 1.2GHz – bested the BIONIC with its score of 3540. Vellamo, a combination test of CPU and memory, Javascript, HTML5, canvas rendering speed, scrolling, network access and other elements, came in with a surprisingly low score of 705, however, easily beaten by even single-core phones.

Nonetheless, in general use the BIONIC felt fast and slick, with neither lag nor delay in loading and moving between apps, accessing webpages and playing media.

Camera

If the BIONIC’s processor offers speed, the smartphone’s 8-megapixel camera offers frustration. We had reasonably high hopes, based on previous Motorola handsets, but woefully sluggish autofocus meant we missed more photo opportunities than we captured. Focus lock can literally take seconds to fix, and even when we waited the end result was sometimes blurry all the same. Motorola tells us it’s looking into camera performance, and we’re hoping this is something a firmware update can address.

DROID BIONIC Sample 720p recording

Video recording, thankfully, is considerably better. The BIONIC can record Full HD clips at 30fps, and the lazy auto-focus makes less of a difference most of the time. Fast focus switches are out, but generally footage is crisp and very watchable. Unfortunately you don’t even get an HDMI cable in the box.

Phone and Battery

The BIONIC handles voice calls well – the absence of World Phone support already noted – even when the signal indicator might lead you to expect otherwise. You can make 3G voice calls while simultaneously using the 4G connection for data, though not 3G data. Audio is clear and loud, and those we called had no problems hearing us. There’s Bluetooth for headsets, including stereo headsets using the A2DP profile.

As with other recent Android phones, you can use the BIONIC’s 3G/4G connection to get your laptop, iPod touch or other gadget online, by turning it into a mobile hotspot. Up to five WiFi-enabled clients can be connected at any one time, though you’ll need to pay Verizon extra for the privilege.

Just like with other 4G devices we’ve tested, if you have LTE coverage the BIONIC simply flies. We saw peak download speeds of over 13Mbps and upload speeds of 3Mbps, faster than many people get with their home broadband connection. At that sort of level – and with the kind of use it encourages – Verizon’s data packages begin to look short-sighted. 2GB is $30 a month but you could easily burn through that in short order with some video streaming; the carrier also offers 5GB for $50 or 10GB for $80, with each further gigabyte costing $10.

The downside to all this speed and performance is battery life. Motorola has outfitted the BIONIC with a 1,735 mAh battery, but we were still caught short well before the day was through. With minimal use including a few phone calls and some IM, and when in a 4G area, we squeezed just over 6 hours and 45 minutes out of the phone. In contrast, a 3G-only GSM Galaxy S II still had roughly half its battery life left at the same point in the day, even though we’d actually used the Samsung more. Turn on the BIONIC’s mobile hotspot app, and things go downhill even more quickly. Motorola offers an extended battery for the phone, though you sacrifice style for extra longevity.

Accessories

Lapdock: ($299.97) Just as with the original Laptop Dock for the Motorola ATRIX, the DROID BIONIC’s Lapdock promises to turn your smartphone into a notebook replacement. Unfortunately, if you had the old Laptop Dock, you can’t use it with the BIONIC, which is a frustrating decision on Motorola’s part. Your money gets you an 11.6-inch, 1,366 x 768 display, battery promising 8hrs of runtime, a full keyboard and a trackpad, though not multitouch gesture support unlike, say, a MacBook Air.

Slot the BIONIC into the bay behind the screen and Motorola’s Webtop app automatically boots, allowing you to access Firefox 4 as well as view the Android phone’s display – and any apps on it – in a window. Performance is certainly faster than we experienced with the ATRIX, which was painfully slow, but still not a match for a regular notebook. Some mild document editing and maybe a tab or two in the browser is fine, but anything more and the whole thing grinds disappointingly.

Webtop Adapter: ($29.99) If the Lapdock is too rich for your blood, the Webtop Adapter offers another way into Motorola’s Webtop app. Pass-through microUSB and micro HDMI ports allow you to hook up an external display, and you can pair Bluetooth peripherals if the on-screen keyboard gets too limiting. Of course, you’ll face the same issues with performance as with the Lapdock.

HD Station: ($99.99) Although the HD Station does allow Webtop use – and has three USB ports which let you plug in wired peripherals – it makes more sense as a multimedia dock. A 3.5mm audio out port and HDMI output make it simple to keep speakers and a display permanently attached, though we’re frustrated at Motorola’s decision to use micro HDMI rather than a full-sized socket. An infrared remote lets you navigate the phone’s menus as well as control media playback.

Standard Dock: ($39.99) Identical from the front as the HD Station, turn the Standard Dock around and you’ll find the cheaper price means no HDMI or USB connectivity. Instead it’s only power and the 3.5mm audio output, and Motorola doesn’t include the remote either.

Standard Dock vs HD Station

Vehicle Navigation Dock: ($39.99) Google Maps Navigation has replaced dedicated PND units for many, and the official Motorola Vehicle Navigation Dock makes for a straightforward way to mount and charge your BIONIC in the car. It’s the usual combination of a suction cup and adjustable cradle, with a pass-through microUSB port for easy charging. Unlike some other cradles we’ve seen, however, there’s no external GPS antenna for better results, and no speaker system to amplify guidance prompts.

Wrap-Up

Make no mistake, there’s plenty to like about the DROID BIONIC. The combination of a dual-core processor and LTE adds up to a phone that’s fast in both performance and data access, while the solid display and HDMI connectivity mean it’s a good choice for multimedia playback. On the flip side, however, mediocre battery life and underwhelming stills performance from the camera take off some of the shine.

Pricing, too, is on the expensive side. Verizon is asking $299.99 for the BIONIC itself, though other vendors have sub-$200 deals; either way, you’re looking at a two-year agreement including a $50+ per month data package if you want to make the most of LTE. Throw in a couple of the official accessories and the total cost of ownership climbs fast, while Motorola’s decision not to make the original Laptop Dock compatible with this new phone leaves us suspicious whether docks and gadgets for the BIONIC will work with any future device.

Meanwhile, there are faster phones on the horizon. Samsung’s freshly-announced Galaxy S II variants for the US market promise faster processors, while Verizon likely has it’s own fresh superphones just around the corner too. Nonetheless, if you want the strongest combination of LTE, dual-core and display today, the DROID BIONIC by Motorola is your only option. Just don’t expect perfection.

The Droid Bionic features a 4.3-inch qHD anti-reflective touchscreen display covered with Gorilla Glass, a 1GHz dual-core processor, 1GB of RAM, and 16GB of onboard storage that’s expandable with an up to 32GB microSD card, although a 16GB microSD card is already included. It comes running Android 2.3.4 Gingerbread and supports Verizon’s blazing 4G LTE.

The device also comes with plenty of optional accessories, including a $299.97 Lapdock that turns the Droid Bionic into a notebook replacement, a $99.99 HD Station dock, and a $29.99 Webstation Adapter.

For more details on the device, make sure to check out our hands-on and first impressions. Or you can go directly to the Amazon product page. Some folks have reported getting $199.99 after adding to cart the handset, but we’ve been getting $179.99 as shown in the screenshot above, so it could be regional. Let us know how it goes for you.

[Thanks, Doug!]

There are also plenty of accessories to be had, including the $299.97 Lapdock which turns the BIONIC into a notebook replacement complete with a 13.3-inch display, full keyboard and trackpad. Alternatively there’s an HD Station dock, priced at $99.99, and the Webstation Adapter at $29.99.

More on the DROID BIONIC by Motorola in our hands-on preview from yesterday. We’ll have the full review of this speedy smartphone very soon!

DROID BIONIC Hands-On:

In short, if you have the original Laptop Dock, you’ll still need to buy the Lapdock if you upgrade to the DROID BIONIC. It’s a disappointment, because neither version of the peripheral comes cheap: the original was $299.99, while the new Lapdock is $299.97, though it doesn’t demand a tethering fee as charged for the ATRIX 4G.

We can’t help but see Motorola’s decision as a snub to existing users, whereas investing in accessories could have been the hook that encouraged them to upgrade to another Moto device. We’re guessing there’ll be modifications of the original Laptop Dock – which are selling for as little as $150 on eBay at the moment – in an attempt to accommodate the new phone, as Android users get creative to bypass Motorola’s lapse.

More on the DROID BIONIC in our hands-on first impressions coverage

Aesthetically it’s in keeping with the squared-off Motorola DROIDs we’ve seen recently, fronted by a bright and colorful 960 x 540 LCD panel. It’s a big display, the same as you’ll find on the HTC Sensation 4G for instance, though the extra pixels can leave the on-screen keyboard smaller what with everything Motorola has squeezed into it. 4.5-inches seems like a sweeter size considering our fingers.

Still, we can’t really fault the performance. Apps load quickly and run smoothly, webpages render fast, and there’s plenty of eye-candy. Motorola’s homescreen widgets are resizable – though not the regular Google ones, obviously – but we’re less impressed by the amount of bloatware the company installs, including Zumacast, GoToMeeting, Citrix Receiver, MOTOPRINT and more. Initial benchmarking suggests that the dual-core Texas Instruments CPU is faster than NVIDIA’s Tegra 2 but still lags behind Samsung’s 1.2GHz chip in the Galaxy S II.

DROID BIONIC Hands-on video:

The other headline feature is LTE connectivity, and that works well. So far we’ve tested it in San Francisco, Las Vegas and Phoenix, with 3G-busting data speeds in each area. Obviously it’s still very much coverage-dependent, but when you’ve got a 4G signal the DROID BIONIC really lives up to its name. The potential downside is battery life; Motorola estimates up to 650 minutes talktime or 200hrs standby from the 1,735 mAh battery, though it’s too early to say whether the BIONIC will last a full day of heavy use. It’s also worth noting that there’s no World Phone support, so the Motorola won’t play nicely with GSM networks if you’re roaming.

Elsewhere there’s an 8-megapixel rear-facing camera capable of 1080p HD video capture (which can then be played back via HDMI), with an LED flash and auto-focus. A front-facing VGA camera is above the screen. Unfortunately we’re seeing some issues with sluggish auto-focus on the main camera: it takes a while for the BIONIC to lock focus and fire off a shot, and even after that the stills are often blurred. Motorola is looking into the issue, which we’re hoping is fixable with a simple firmware update. There’s a sample 1080p HD video clip filmed using the BIONIC below.

Sample 1080p video recording:

Motorola hasn’t been shy with accessories. In addition to a desktop dock there’s a Lapdock as we saw for the ATRIX, which turns the smartphone into a notebook, a HD Station for multimedia output into your HDTV or projector, a vehicle dock and a portable HD adapter. The Lapdock is probably the most interesting of the set, an 11.6-inch display, full keyboard and trackpad for the BIONIC that, when the phone is docked, boots into Motorola’s Webtop app with a full Firefox browser, multitasking with Android apps and control over calls and messaging. If your company has Citrix Receiver support you can even log in and remotely access your desktop. Unlike with the ATRIX, however, performance seems swift enough to make the Lapdock a realistic possibility as a notebook alternative.

We’ll be putting the Verizon DROID BIONIC by Motorola – as well as all the accessories – through its paces for the full SlashGear review, including benchmarks and speed tests, so let us know what questions you have and we’ll do our best to answer them! The smartphone will go on sale on Thursday, September 8 priced at $299.99 with a new, two-year agreement, while the Lapdock will be $299.97, the HD Station $99.99 and the Webstation Adapter $29.99.

The scavenger hunt will start in just over two days, so you still have some time to download the app and get prepared. To start, you should read all the details and instructions on DroidDoes.com and watch the below video to get an idea of what’s involved. You’ll be running around town with your current Android device with the ARena app installed trying to find hidden prizes nearby.

The prizes include 16 Droid Bionic handsets, four 40-inch LED HDTVs, four Motorola XOOM tablets, four laptops, and four video-streaming Quadcopters. You will have 30 minutes per game to track down a prize and you can play up to 48 times a day for the four days of the scavenger hunt. There will be a total of 16 winners with four from each day, so good luck!

UPDATE: Check out SlashGear’s first-impressions of DROID BIONIC!

In case you’re not familiar, @DroidLanding has been orchestrating tons of giveaways for each Droid launch, including the Droid X, X2, and the Charge. These giveaways are done in the form of scavenger hunts, where you run around town following clues as to where a stash of Droid devices could be hidden.

DROID BIONIC Hands-on:

They are calling this ARena, for Augmented Reality scavenger hunt where you’ll take your current Android smartphone using an augmented reality application to find your own Droid Bionic. The event has officially kicked off today with the first video of clues shown on DroidDoes.com. The contest will run until September 7, which falls in line with the rumored September 8 launch.

Additionally, there’s word that an official Verizon product page for the Droid Bionic will be going live soon here. But for right now, it may still be blank.

Previously we’ve heard just a bit about this device, specs that seem fairly possible given the current progression of things at the moment: a 4.3-inch display with 1280 x 720 pixel resolution, a 1.5 GHz dual-core processor, 2 megapixel front-facing camera, 8 megapixel back-facing camera, and HTC Sense 3.5 running on top of Android 2.3.4 Gingerbread. We also heard that its size would be similar to that of the HTC Thunderbolt – minus the kickstand of course.

As you can see in this leaked roadmap for 2011, the HTC Vigor is set to be released on 10/5/11 and will, as the list says, be “replacing the HTC ThunderBolt.” Certainly there can be no room for 2 HTC devices running LTE in the same small western town now, can there be? Time for a shootout.

Another thing to note is how similar this device looks to the smaller DROID Incredible 2, a device released earlier this year on Verizon. The red rim around the lens in the back, should this device be carried by Verizon, may indicate that this is a DROID device and that at long last, the DROID Incredible HD may be surfacing.

Here’s another thing, on the other hand. This device is certainly taller and/or less wide around the hips than the HTC ThunderBolt – place your device flat out on the block and you’ll find that it’s true. What we’re seeing here therefor is a slightly different shaped device than we’re used to. HTC, are you starting to stretch out your devices? We’ll see!

Meanwhile, waiting for the Verizon 4G LTE dual-core device of your dreams and have your heart set on an HTC device? This may be your future ticket.

[via DroidLife]

The video is silent but goes for a full four minutes to walk through the Droid Bionic interface, showing its static and live wallpapers and even throwing in an LTE speed test and pointing out a home screen bug. Overall, the phone is looking mighty speedy as animations and transitions pop up in a snap.

And now that the Samsung Galaxy S II won’t be heading to Verizon, the Droid Bionic will indeed be the first and only dual-core LTE bad boy on the Verizon network for now. The phone is set to get a 1GHz dual-core processor, a 4.3-inch qHD display, a VGA front-facing camera, and a 8-megapixel rear-facing camera capable of full 1080p HD video capture. The Droid Bionic will come running a new Motor Blur UI on top of Android 2.3 Gingerbread and is expected to launch on September 8.

[via Android Community]

There are several factors to consider here, the first and very possibly the most important of which being that there’s a new iPhone coming to at least a couple of carriers in the next few months. Verizon is certainly on the list for future iPhone devices, so carrying a Samsung Galaxy S, perhaps the iPhone’s biggest competitor yet, may not be in the cards. On the other hand, it does appear that AT&T will be getting the Galaxy S II even though they’ve carried the iPhone for longer than any other group.

Next thing to think about is the Motorola DROID Bionic. This device is a 4.3-inch display having dual-core 4G LTE Android much in the same way the Galaxy S II is a 4.3-inch display having dual-core and possibly 4G LTE-having device of the future. Would Verizon be willing to market them both at the same time? Verizon is one gigantic group and they’re certainly not incapable of showing both the Bionic and the Galaxy S II at the same time. Only question is – since Natalie Portman is promoting the Bionic, will Mila Kunis be tapped for the GSII? We’ll see!

[via PocketNow]

With a gigantic batch of alternate Samsung devices soon to be released at IFA 2011, we’ve got to guess that Verizon will continue to lead with Samsung’s DROID Charge as it runs on their 4G LTE network as well as some future Galaxy devices, perhaps the Galaxy R, for example, a “Premium” version of the new Galaxy line while the Galaxy S II is considered “Flagship.”

One reason for this possible decision should be obvious to all those lovers of the Verizon DROID line, that being the upcoming dual-core LTE 4G capable Droid BIONIC. This device is set to be the world’s first 4G LTE device with a dual-core processor on the market, this device to be rolling out SOON by the looks of it. Why have two of what consumers might see as essentially the same device on one network? On the other hand, Verizon may seek to continue to dominate the market as it ends up holding, again, the only 4G LTE dual-core smartphone in the world while the rest of the networks have the Galaxy S II. I’m sure you can see how they’d be able to market that as a major advantage.

[via WSJ]

This same device was seen on the 5th of this month as well in two photos, one showing the front of the device with a battery charging symbol, perhaps pointing to the idea that it needs more than your average charge during a normal day, and another showing the device’s display sitting next to the DROID Charge, showing its size to clearly be larger than the Charge’s 4.3-inch screen, this indicating a 4.5-inch display that would content with the recently revealed Samsung Hercules, also known as T-Mobile’s version of the Samsung Galaxy S II. The first of these two photos also indicates that the edges of the glass covering the display of the device could be curved slightly downward as is the trend in recent high-end smartphones utilizing the super-strong display cover known as Gorilla Glass.

Update: we’ve now got our own hands-on video and photos with the DROID BIONIC – check it out!

DROID BIONIC Hands-on:

What the newest set of photos shows is again the possibility of curved glass on the front of the device as shown by the light hitting the front lower left of the device, as well as the Verizon logo in the lower right, Motorola in the center on the top near the speaker grill, an at least reasonably bright display, four Android buttons below, and a standard looking border around the whole screen. Along the left side of the device you’ll see a recognizable microUSB and microHDMI post combination, this indicating that docks similar to that which we’ve seen on the Motorola ATRIX and Motorola PHOTON 4G will be in order – this same setup can be seen on the side of the recent DROID 3 just released on Verizon as well.

The right side of the device shows a simple volume rocker, and the back shows the same 8-megapixel camera we’ve seen in the past along with a speaker grille in the opposite corner, Motorola symbol, 4G LTE logo, Verizon logo, and “with Google” logo. All of this facing in a direction that indicates the device is meant to be held in a landscape mode, again, for docking purposes.

What do you think? Look like the Motorola device for you? Or will you be banking on the Samsung Galaxy S II with a possibility for no LTE? How about thinness? Everyone knows that the Samsung Galaxy S II is and will continue to be the thinnest smartphone on the market – does the bulk of the DROID Bionic turn you off? — Thanks for the tip Josh!

UPDATE: Additional FCC photos added in gallery below:

UPDATE 2: Videos now added to the fold courtesy of Android Community:

[via GottaBeMobile]

The leaked images obtained by DroidLife reveal that the new Droid Bionic has a more squarish design than the one shown back at CES, looking rather simlar to the Droid 3. It also appears to have a larger screen, which supports rumors that the handset now sports a 4.5-inch screen instead of a 4.3-inch screen.

The below image was tweaked by Androidandme to compare just the screens between the Droid Bionic and the Droid Charge. The screen on the Droid Bionic appears clearly larger than the 4.3-inch screen of the Droid Charge.

After several months of delays, the handset has finally been confirmed for a September launch, and a leaked internal Verizon document has it down for September 8. But with the Samsung Galaxy SII, also a dual-core 4G LTE phone, set to launch on Verizon in August, the Droid Bionic could see a lot of its potential customers snatched away.

However, if it does turn out to have a 4.5-inch screen, which will be larger than the SII, would that affect your decision if you were on the fence between the two phones?

[via Android Community]

Motorola’s long delayed 4G LTE dual-core flagship phone, the Droid Bionic, has been confirmed for a launch next month. But now we get an exact date for September 8. Also scheduled for release that date, is Motorola’s 4G LTE version of the XOOM tablet and the 4G LTE BlackBerry Curve 9370.

Other interesting bits to note from the leak is that the rumored handset designed for women, the HTC Bliss, is scheduled for a September 29 launch. There also looks to be a replacement for the LG Revolution in late October and what might possibly be the 4G LTE 8.9-inch Samsung Galaxy Tab in November.

[via IGN]

Samsung:
Samsung Galaxy S II passes 5m sales worldwide
Samsung Galaxy S II Coming to USA via Verizon First, So Sayeth Mueller
Samsung Galaxy S II Slide from AT&T Pictured in Photos
Samsung Galaxy S II Telescope Teaser Sent to Publishers
White Samsung Galaxy S II gets official
Samsung Galaxy S II Sign-Up Page For US Goes Live

Motorola:
Motorola Confirms Droid Bionic In September, Plus Two New 4G LTE Tablets
Motorola XOOM 4G LTE Upgrade Confirmed For September

HTC & ASUS:
HTC confirms 6-8 new phones/tablets in 2H 2011
HTC Puccini Tablet Press Images Leaked

Apple:
Apple top US smartphone manufacturer; Android pulls ahead of iOS
Apple Grabs Two-Thirds Of Mobile Phone Industry Profits
Apple and Samsung take top smartphone sales spots; Nokia falls to 3rd
Apple Readying Ultra-Thin 15-inch and 17-inch MacBook Pros?
iPad 3 Contract Goes To Pegatron Instead Of Foxconn
iPhone 5 To Hit Second Week Of September, iPad 3 In November?
iPhone 5 Case Prototypes Reveal Radical New Design

AT&T:
AT&T reportedly readying staff for iPhone 5 September debut
AT&T Confirms Data Throttling To Start October 1

Verizon:
Verizon 4G LTE Adding More Markets On August 18
RadioShack To Ditch T-Mobile For Verizon
BlackBerry Bold 9930 Outed By Verizon Ahead Of Official Announcement

Microsoft:
Windows Phone Mango Released To Manufacturing
Fujitsu Toshiba IS12T WP7 Mango phone official [Video]

Giveaways:
Tabletpalooza Week 3 Acer Iconia Tab A500 Giveaway Final Countdown!
SlashGear Archos 101 Internet Tablet Giveaway

Reviews/Unboxings/Hands-on:
Motorola Triumph Review [Virgin Mobile]
Motorola PHOTON 4G Review
LG Thrill 4G Review
Motorola XPRT Review
Galaxy Tab 10.1 with 4G LTE on Verizon Hands-on and unboxing
Vizio Tablet Unboxing And Hands-On

Recent rumors have suggested a September 1 launch for the Motorola Droid Bionic, which is expected to land on Verizon’s 4G LTE network. Jha confirmed the September time frame for the Droid Bionic but also adds that they have at least one other 4G LTE smartphone planned for this year. Additionally, the Webtop interface for the Atrix 4G could get some enhancements before the end of the year as well.

As for upcoming tablets, Jha revealed that there will be two new 4G LTE tablets due within the coming months, with one of them likely to be a Motorola XOOM sequel since shipments of the original are planned to go down during a “transition” to the new product. Almost no details were given on the other tablet except that it will have a smaller size.

Motorola seemed rather confident that it can deliver all this before the end of the year. We can only keep our fingers crossed considering how long it took them to ready the Droid Bionic and to offer the 4G upgrade for existing XOOM 3G customers. The promised upgrade is expected to start in September, when customers will have to ship their tablets back to the factory to get the component installed for free.

[via CNET]

The word on the street from multiple sources is that the Droid Bionic will be arriving on September 1. It’s further supported by some insider information received by Droid-Life that came with the above photo. They claim that Motorola reps have already informed Verizon to expect the Droid Bionic by early September.

Additionally, the source notes that the device still has the same 4.3-inch screen, as opposed to the rumored 4.5-inch screen, but also has far less ghosting than the screens of the Droid X2 and the Droid 3. Also worth noting was that the device feels much lighter and more responsive than expected, which is likely due to the internal upgrades and the sleeker design.

To see other images of the Droid Bionic, you can take a look at the leaked product shots for the handset’s accessories from Amazon. The device is expected for Verizon’s blazing fast 4G LTE network, which recently just expanded coverage to several new markets.

[via Droid-Life]

The product pages for a couple official accessories have landed on Amazon and the Bionic is relaxing in the two docks in the shots. The smartphone looks cool and we have a few details on the phone itself already. Notably the smartphone will pack a 4.3-inch screen, dual-core 1GHz processor and will run on the Verizon LTE network. The new docking stations look pretty cool too and more than a few folks will be looking for the smartphone and an accessory or two.

One of the accessories is a standard landscape mode desktop dock. It packs in a 3.5mm audio output, three USB ports, and a HDMI output. That will allow you to shoot the music out to a stereo or speaker set and funnel video to your computer screen or TV. The other dock is the Vehicle Navigation Dock that sticks to your windshield with a suction cup. Both accessories have ESP tech that turns to a custom home screen showing only the apps you want to see for each environment when you dock them. Pricing and availability isn’t offered on either dock.

[via Android Community]

The original image ran over on androidcentral with all those details we already knew such as the 4.3″ display, dual-core TI OMAP processor and more, but then they added a photo that was the DROID DOES landing page we all know — it just looked different. The leak also showed a suggested price tag of $299 for the Bionic and that lines up with previous pricing on LTE handsets for Verizon such as the Droid Charge, but with the Bionic being both dual-core and LTE the price could very well be different. It pains me to see sites throw things like the above image up just for hits, or whatever it may be but at least the community was quick to spot the differences.

Without getting too deep into details it looks as if the image was pieced together by a few tricky photoshop users. I don’t fully understand this next link but I’ll let you guys be the judge. This is a test to see how many layers an image has, and how many times each layer has been saved — check it out. Pretty interesting results to say the least. Images like the one below also just seem a bit odd and totally different don’t you think?

We are all excited to see what the Droid Bionic brings to the table. It recently passed the FCC, then we saw leaks from Best Buy and we already knew it was coming soon so why get everyone excited for nothing until it’s actually official? Verizon has a sign-up page for those interested in hearing more details as well. With no other details other than these few links above it pains me to see something like the price leaked only to find it not to be completely accurate.

Either way we are all excited about the upcoming Droid Bionic and can’t wait to get our hands on the blazing fast dual-core and 4G LTE working together in harmony. The entire launch of this device has been a bit of a mess but once we get it in for review I’ll probably forget all about the leaks, delays, and other gibberish. Stay tuned as we will have it for review as soon as possible.

[via Android Community]

You can access this signup page right over at Verizon and be sure to tell em SlashGear sent ya! That or just enter your email and they’ll send you the info right after we get it first. Sound good? Sounds good! Meanwhile, our pals at Android Community have just last night had a tip that uncovered the most recent specs for this miraculous devices. They’re from China and third hand, which doesn’t do a whole lot for their credibility on their own, but they’re very similar and most of the time exactly the same as previous leaks of information on this device, so let’s have at em!

System: Android 2.3.4 Gingerbread
Shape: Straight (aka candybar)
Display: 4.5-inches
Resolution: 640 x 960 pixels
CPU: TI OMAP 4430 dual-core 1GHz processor
GPU: SGX540 graphics processor
Mobile Band: CDMA (Telecom) 1X 800MHz , CDMA (Telecom) 1X 800/1900MHz
Phone System: CDMA , CDMA EV-DO
MicroSD: Expandable up to 32GB
Cameras: 1.3-megapixel front-facing camera, 8-megapixel back-facing camera with LED flash

Check out a bit more info over at Android Community, and note that we’ll be getting this device in for review as soon as we can possibly muster it!

NOTE also that still present, and forever forward will be present below anything Verizon has the word DROID on, is the Lucasfilm trademark note, that is, the following:

DROID is a trademark of Lucasfilm, Ltd. and its related companies. Used under license. 4G LTE is a trademark of ETSI. Motorola and the stylized logo are registered in the U.S. patent and trademark office. Google, Google logo and Android Market are trademarks of Google, Inc.. Unauthorized use or duplication of these marks is strictly prohibited by law.

R2, where are you?!