Meet the Droid

Verizon may finally have a phone that can compete feature-wise with the iPhone. The Droid made its official debut today following weeks of Internet buzz. Made by Motorola and running Google’s Android software, the system is an amalgamation of many smartphone trends.

The Droid will go on sale Friday, Nov. 6 for $200. It comes with a touchscreen, physical keyboard, the ability to simultaneously run several applications and a 5MP camera- with flash.

Beyond the usual social network synching, there’s also a free GPS program on Droid that offers turn-by-turn directions and live traffic updates. That’s a big advantage over the expensive GPS apps on other systems.  Unfortunately for Verizon, it won’t be exclusive to Droid for long – and may eventually appear on the iPhone.

Best Buy is already taking orders for the phone (allowing you to skip the rebate process at Verizon). And Engadget has a quick first-impressions piece up about the system after a few hands-on hours with it.