Verizon DROID 2 spotted in wild: 1GHz & Android 2.2 tipped

It seems that while the majority of us have to wait for leaks to see the Motorola DROID 2, those at NASA's Jet Propulsion Lab get a sneak preview courtesy of Verizon themselves.  The carrier apparently attended a tech show there, and a summer intern called Zack spotted the new DROID 2 on their stand.  Promptly filing a report for Gizmodo, Zack describes the DROID 2 as "smoother than the original DROID" and an easier keyboard to use thanks to the removal of the huge D-pad and a dedicated voice-command shortcut key.

As for software, while the unit on show was running the same skin as we've seen on the DROID X recently, the Verizon rep told Zack that it was more likely to launch running Android 2.2 Froyo with no separate UI enhancements.  Alternatively, it might arrive with Android 2.1 but be updated shortly afterwards.

Hardware specs are in short supply, but it apparently has a 1GHz processor and 5-megapixel camera, together with 8GB of internal storage and – in this case – an 8GB microSD card.  No solid release dates, but the Verizon rep did suggest the DROID 2 would launch in the "next few weeks" – perhaps even making an appearance at Verizon's launch event we're attending on June 23rd?