Last month, Verizon Wireless, Motorola, and Google combined efforts to release a new “smartphone” to an already competitive market.  As I’m sure I’ll be getting questions about these, I thought I’d share some of my observations about this cool new device versus other options.

• Droid vs. iPhone

1. I’d get a Droid phone simply because it’s on the Verizon network as opposed to AT&T
2. Droid has a slide out keyboard and a touch screen keyboard.  iPhone has only the latter, which is cumbersome to use in my opinion.
3. I’d imagine that the iPhone apps are far superior to Droid’s at this point
4. Both work with Exchange out of the box, which is critical to me
5. Styling features seem to be a wash for me

• Droid vs. BlackBerry Tour (my current phone)

1. Droid works out of the box with Exchange.  Exchange will “push” e-mail, contacts, and calendar.  BlackBerry requires “BlackBerry Enterprise Server” to accomplish this, which costs $$$ for multiple users.
2. The BlackBerry trackball stinks… no such thing on the Droid.  It’s got a touchscreen (and the slide-out keyboard).
3. Battery life seems better on the BlackBerry, especially with its power saving features.
4. BlackBerry apps availability is somewhat better, though this will level out in time.

My recommendation?  If I were buying a phone today, I’d get the Droid.