This is the first year that Verizon has an official presence at CES and they’ve blown the top off with a big conference. Stay tuned for a live blog, we’re looking forward to seeing upcoming 4G/LTE devices from Verizon.

4:16 – Promo video… major players represented, Ericsson, Samsung, Motorola, etc.

4:17 – Talking about rural carriers… using LTE to bring broadband to places which don’t have in-ground infrastructure.

4:21 – Tony Milone on stage. Talking about launch of LTE… smooth rollout, etc. Explaining why Verizon went with LTE over WiMAX (time-to-market over longterm performance).

4:22 – Tony is claiming that 1/3 of the US population is covered in LTE coverage from Verizon. 12Mbps and 30ms ping is seen commonly for LTE users, according to him.

4:25 – Not surprisingly… talking about expanding LTE to cover more of the US. Now to the good stuff “devices and applications… that’s what this show is all about”.

4:26 – Devices are rolling onto the stage. 10 devices in total, a few of them familiar… Droid Bionic, Motorola Xoom tablet, and some LTE hotspots. “All devices available by midyear”. 4 smartphones, 2 tablets, 2 mobile hotspots, 2 notebooks.

4:27 – “It’s not about the devices themselves” … I think some of us would beg to differ!

4:30 – Dr. Jong-Seok Park from LG on stage. Introducing the “LG Revolution” smartphone. “Faster, richer, multimedia experience”. Not a lot of detail on that one. Next up…

4:33 – Interesting… CEO of Skype, Tony Bates now on stage (love the accent). Video calling through Skype coming to Verizon. Short video demo showing on screen behind Bates. Looks like Verizon didn’t want to wait for Google to come up with a video chatting solution. Bates is promising “deeply integrated” Skype into Verizon devices with front and rear cameras. “One touch video calling”. Says that Skype IDs will be integrated into device’s phone book.

4:37 – Peter Chao, CEO of HTC now on stage. Announcing HTC’s “Thunderbolt” 4G smartphone for Verizon. He’s pulled the device out of his pocket. Looks a bit like the HTC G2. Claims that he’s been using it as his personal device and that it’s “blazing fast”. 4.3″ “Super LCD” screen. WiFi hotspot functionality to share 4G connection.

4:39 – EA (Electronic Arts) VP, Travis Boatman on stage. Talking about gaming on mobile devices. Showing off portfolio: Tetris, Need for Speed, Monopoly, etcetera. Now showing off Rock Band Mobile. “Leveage speed and mobility of 4G to create a band…”. Jam with friends in real time over 4G.  Video reel now playing: “4 ways to play”, “20 songs”. Drums, Bass, Guitar, Microphone, all being played on 4 difference devices.

4:44 – Samsung bringing 3 devices to Verizon’s service. JK Shin, president of Samsung now on stage. 4G smartphone, 4G Galaxy Tab (!), 4G mobile hotspot. He’s pulling devices out of pockets, doesn’t know which one they are in! Crowd is laughing along with him. I think I might have heard him say 1.2GHz CPU in 4G Galaxy Tab.

Smartphone details: 4.3″ Super AMOLED+ display, 8MP cam, HD recording, 1.3MP front cam.

4:46 – HP and Compaq netbooks with integrated 4G. New 4G MiFi from Novatel will be launching. Motorola Droid Bionic and Xoom tablet – 10.1″ Android 3.0 (Honeycomb) adobe flash, etc. (all the classic bullet points). “Look for all these devices in the first half of the year with some devices coming as early as March.”

Audience Q&A:

Q (from tnkgrl!): Asking about battery lfie with 4G and global roaming devices.
A: Spent a lot of time working with partners to achieve battery life that customers expect. With regard to roaming… devices will be able to roam overseas utilizing 3G networks, 4G networks, etc.

Q: What’s the pricing models for 4G?
A: We are not announcing any pricing models today. Not announcing pricing on devices or rate plans.

Q: Asking about devices being locked to network, bringing up the inteooperability clause when Verizon bought parts of the specutrum their using for 4G.
A: “We will comply with the open access requirements”

Q: Will there be data caps on smartphone plans?
A: As we come to market, we’ll have pricing that you’re used to now. We are looking at different models. The type of structure we have in place now for smartphones is the type we’ll have in place for the forseeable future, caps may be in place at some time.

Q: Are all the phones you showed off today running Android? (me: I guess this question was about Verizon and WP7)
A: Yes.

Q: Can you give an opinion about net neutrality on 4G LTE?
A: In terms of NN, we’ve been very specific about the terms of the network and our resposibilities. We think that for innovation, for the benefit of the customers, that an unfettered development environment is the right thing to have. We think that the free market system works very well and that we don’t need a lot of heavy intervention. With that said: we’ll have open dialog with the folks in Washington. We think that how we got here — with the free market system — is what we need going forward.

Q: Plans for tethering?
A: Some of the devices will have mobile hotspots, but not prepared to comment on tethering at this point.

And that’s a wrap, thanks for tuning in. Stick to the front page for more CES info and more details about these devices as we find them!

Motorola is stepping up it’s game with a powerful new Droid phone, the Droid Bionic. This is Motorola’s first 4G phone that will take advantage of Verizon’s LTE 4G service. This powerful new Droid sports a dual-core 1GHz CPU and Motorola claims that it’ll be able to record and edit 720p HD video directly on the phone. Looks like Motorola is also going to be providing some sort of integrated videoconferencing functionality to take advantage of the phone’s front and rear cameras, though there isn’t a lot of detail about this yet. I hope we don’t see proprietary videoconferencing solutions from several different OEMs… Google should really  create a universal system for this, but they’ve yet to do so. The Droid Bionic has a “qHD” display (960×540) that levels the playing field with the iPhone 4’s “retina” display (960×640) [note that the resolution difference is due to Android’s 16:9 screen ratio, while Apple prefers 4:3].

We’ve got the full specs for the Droid Bionic straight from Motorola:

• Android 2.2
• 4.3” capacitive touchscreen @ 960×540
• nVidia Tegra 2 AP20H Dual-Core CPU @ 1GHz
• 512MB of RAM
• 14GB of integrated memory
• MicroSD slot with support for additional 32GB of memory
• 4G / 3G – LTE band 13 / EVDO
• WiFi b/g/n + Bluetooth 2.1
• HDMI out (likely mini-HDMI, but it’s unclear)
• 8MP rear camera with dual LED flash and autofocus, 720p recording at 30 FPS
• 0.3MP fixed-focus front facing camera

Pricing and availability has yet to be announced, but we’ll let you know when we hear something (possibly at Verizon’s CES conference later today).

A quick heads up. You can now check out the full specs of the Samsung Fascinate on our tracking page. On top of that, you can catch an early glimpse of the Samsung  Fascinate in our gallery while you await the upcoming full review.

Here’s a quick hands-on with the Motorola Droid R2D2. The R2D2 edition is the same phone as the Droid 2 [product page][review] but it has interesting Star Wars branding and content included.

The phone is themed to look like the famous droid from the Star Wars saga and the phone features custom Star Wars themed unlock sliders, live wallpapers, a video, a widget, and an app. The box that it comes in is designed to look as though the phone has been encased in carbonite and the effect is rather convincing, though I think they could have bumped up the box presentation a bit, it’s just a regular old cardboard box with graphics on it (as you’d expect from any regular phone). Some of the stuff is really gimmicky, but I think a major Star Wars geeks might enjoy the phone, particularly for it’s looks. In fact, I know a friend who would absolutely love this thing! The phone launched yesterday in the US on Verizon.

We’ve just added high res shots of Motorola’s Droid 2 to the gallery. Head over and check them out and stay turned for the full review, coming to a Carrypad near you!

Motorola’s new Droid X is one of three recently released Android phones that are part of Verizon’s “DROID inch branding and advertising campaign. Does this phone stand up to the competition? Read on to find out.

Hardware

Here’s a quick rundown of the Droid X’s specs before we get started. Don’t forget to check out our Droid X tracking page for additional specifications, images, news, and more.

• OS: Android 2.1 (at the time of writing)
• Screen: 4.3 inch capacitive touchscreen @ 854×480
• CPU: TI OMAP 3630 @ 1GHz
• GPU: PowerVR SGX 530
• RAM: 512MB
• Camera: 8MP auto-focus with dual-LED flash (720p video recording capable)

And now, a look around the phone:

Design

The Droid X’s most immediately noticeable feature is certainly it’s size. At 4.3 inch, it’s just shy of being the largest Android phone that we’ve seen second only to the Dell Streak’s 4.8 inch screen [portal page].

The Droid X is a fairly well built phone and it feels like a just like a little slate in the hands. There is an odd vibration to it that you’ll feel if you tap it with your fingers; particularly on the back. This vibration makes the phone feel a bit less solid than I’d like, and in particular, it feels somewhat less solid to me than the Droid 2 [portal page], despite the fact that the Droid 2 is a slider and has moving parts, while the Droid X does not.

The phone isn’t perfectly flat on the back. Instead, it has a raised area where the camera is located. This area likely holds the phone’s antennas as well as some of the parts necessary for the camera. It isn’t at all obtrusive to the use of the phone and seems to add some subtle but welcomed curves to a phone that would otherwise be a black rectangle. The back of the Droid X is coated in a cool rubberized material which I really enjoy the feel of. The coating colors the back in a grey matte that is definitely meant to appeal to one gender in particular.

I’m not too pleased with the quality of the hardware buttons on the Droid X. The volume rocker and lock/power buttons are top-notch in their firmness and click-ability, however, the longish camera button could be used as a mini-seesaw and the four front buttons aren’t much to write home about either.

Screen

The Droid X’s 854×480 screen can get quite bright (about as bright as the iPhone 4), but it tends to become slightly washed out with only a slight change in viewing angle (say, 45 degrees from perpendicular). To its credit though, the screen doesn’t go from “slightly washed out inch to “totally washed out inch as you continue to increase the viewing angle it pretty much holds on to “slightly washed out inch all the way through to 179 degrees. The Droid X’s screen represents colors acceptably, except it is slightly lacking in vibrancy in the green part of the spectrum (compared to other smartphones).

The Droid X’s large screen makes typing with the default keyboard fairly easy, and for this reason, I’d definitely recommend it if you have larger hands and want an Android phone, but have found the keyboard on previous phones too squished to be accurate (and aren’t willing to get used to Swype). For me, personally, the Droid X is just a little bit too large. It’s not too comfortable to have my thumb traverse such a large space, especially when the design of Android asks that I reach to the extremes during every-day use. For instance, I might get a notification which requires that I reach all the way to the top and pull down the status bar to read it. Then I might desire to return to the home screen which requires a press of the home button which is all the way at the bottom of the phone (even a little bit further than the bottom of the screen). My hands are slightly on the small end, and not everyone is going to feel the same way; for me, the screen is just a bit too big for comfortable use. On the other hand, the Droid X’s large screen makes it great for use with Google Navigation (more on this in the software section).

We’ve got our hands on a hot little piece of hardware today and the coverage is coming straight to you, my dear readers. Check out Verizon’s latest Droid phone, the Motorola Droid 2. See our Droid 2 tracking page for full specs and details.

The phone feels very solid despite being a slider and therefore consisting of two big moving parts. It’s also thin enough that I’m certain many people won’t realize that it’s a slider the first time they get it in their hands. I’m already somewhat impressed with the keyboard. I will admit though, my expectations were low after briefly looking at the original Droid’s keyboard, but the Droid 2’s keyboard has more tactile feedback than it might appear to. Though it’s still likely going to be too small for someone with large hands.

I must say, Verizon is becoming quite the hub for high-end Android powered phones in the US. After the original Droid, they’ve launched the Droid Incredible, the Droid X [portal page], and now they are updating the original to the Droid 2 which can already be pre-ordered online. Let’s take a quick look at some specs:

• Form-factor: Slider with QWERTY keyboard (now bigger thanks to removal of D-pad)
• OS: Android 2.2
• CPU: TI OMAP 3620-1000 @1GHz
• GPU: PowerVR SGX
• RAM: 512MB
• Screen: Capacitive 3.7 inch @ 854×480
• Camera: 5MP (only capable of video capture up to 720×480)

While the phone can already be pre-ordered, there doesn’t seem to be an official release date at this point, though it could happen before August is out.

Verizon says that there is going to be a Droid 2 “R2-D2 inch edition which will be themed like the lovable Droid from Star Wars, and I’m certain that even more “These are/aren’t the droids we’re looking for inch jokes will ensue. I must say, if you buy the R2-D2 edition, you are a geek. It’s not a bad thing, but there’s simply no way around it!

If you want more info, we’ve got full official specifications in our product database as well as a gallery full of official photos, and if you hang around, you’ll be able to join us for some time with the device itself. Stay tuned.

• Motorola Droid 2 product page (specs, details, and more)
• Motorola Droid 2 gallery