HTC Droid Eris Will Be the Most Affordable Android Device on the Market

[Ed Hardy]

A document leaking out of Verizon Wireless essentially confirms that this carrier is going to release the HTC Droid Eris next week. This will apparently be the most affordable Android-based smartphone debuting this fall.

Verizon is going to introduce the Droid Eris on the same day as the Motorola Droid, a high-end device with a large screen and sliding keyboard. The Droid Eris will be more humble, but also cost less.

According to several unconfirmed reports, this model is going to sell for $99 with a two-year service contract. That's half the price of the Motorola Droid, and less than Verizon's rivals are asking for any of their Android-powered models.

An Overview of the HTC Droid Eris
The newly leaked document describing this device (shown here) confirms that this will be a version of the HTC Hero. As such, it will be a tablet-shaped model with a 3.2-inch HVGA screen and no hardware keyboard.

The Droid Eris will be able to connect to Verizon's EV-DO mobile broadband service, and also offer Wi-Fi and Bluetooth.

It will debut with Google's Android OS version 1.5, not latest 2.0 version. The standard user interface will be replaced with HTC Sense, but the Google applications will still be included, and users of this smartphone will have access to the 10,000+ apps currently on the Android Market, the on-device software store.

The Droid Eris will be able to get e-mail and synchronize user data with Google service, as well as Microsoft Exchange.

Other features will include a 5-MPx camera, 3.5 mm headset jack, microSD card slot, and a GPS receiver.

This model has the code-name HTC Desire, and it was under that designation that it received FCC approval in September.

Coming This Week
Verizon will reportedly launch the HTC Droid Eris on Nov. 6, the same day the Motorola Droid is launched.

It's not clear why this carrier is heavily hyping the Motorola model, while keeping quiet about the HTC one. There are a number of possibilities though. Sprint is already offering a version of HTC's device, while Verizon will be the exclusive provider of the Droid. And the Droid will debut with the latest version of Google's mobile operating system, while the Droid Eris will not.

Source: Engadget

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• Best Buy Will Make the Motorola Droid Easier To Purchase than Verizon Does
• HTC Hero for Sprint Review
• Pricing for the Samsung Behold II Leaks out
• Sony Ericsson's Android-Based Xperia X3 Will Debut this Week

[Drillbit]

Boy this is going to kill Sprint's HTC Hero, which has a higher contract price ($179?). If the Droid isn't going to kill it already for the same price.

[Ed Hardy]

This will definitely put some pressure on Sprint to lower the cost of its version of the Hero. It may also push T-Mobile to drop the price of the myTouch 3G, a very similar Android-based smartphone.

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[Girt]

This IS interesting. But, hey - wasn't that the whole idea - that the free/open-source OS was supposed to make the phones cheaper?