Verizon's first Droid ad goes on the iPhone attack

Verizon has begun running a hard-hitting ad aimed at building excitement for its first phone powered by Google's Android-operating system. Dubbed the Droid, the phone, which until recently went by the code name "Sholes," is expected in early November. It joins other Android-powered phones already on the market, including T-Mobile's G1 and myTouch, HTC's Hero on the Sprint network, and the Motorola Cliq, which debuts this Friday.

The ad, which first appeared on network TV over the weekend promotes the Droid mostly by assaulting the iPhone, the Apple smart phone.Over happy pop music and rapid-fire images, apparently to emulate Apple's own advertisements, the ad highlights the iPhone's limitations, including these:

• The lack of a physical keyboard
• An inability to run simultaneous applications
• The absence of a 5-megapixel camera
• It's hard to personalize
• Its batteries are not replaceable by the user

The happy music ends abruptly, and the ad shifts to emulating a futuristic broadcast alerting the masses that a new mobile challenger will arrive in November. Viewers are directed to DroidDoes.com, a Verizon site that brags that the Droid possesses the missing iPhone features. It also highlights the new 2.0 version of the Android operating system, which succeeds the existing 1.5 version.

Some people who've handled the device say the Droid is the most sophisticated mobile device to hit the market to date from a hardware standpoint. When you combine that with the Verizon network, a consistent leader in our cell-phone service Ratings, available to subscribers, you've got a promising challenger to the iPhone.

The Boy Genius Report speculates the device will have a desktop cradle/charger to enable the device to display weather, the time or other information while docked.

The negative tone of the ad seems to reduce the likelihood of a Verizon version of the iPhone anytime soon, as has been rumored. However, fonefrenzy.com reports that an Verizon iPhone may, indeed, be coming. Further, the report suggests the phone may be among the first to run on Verizon's next-generation 4G network, slated to roll out next year.

Check out the Verizon ad below, and keep your eyes on the calendar. November may mark the beginning of a technology war between Android and Apple as Verizon's Droid and other Android phones hit the market, including Samsung's Moment, from Sprint, and a possible one from Dell that will debut on AT&T in early 2010, according to the Wall Street Journal. —Mike Gikas