Finally: The Motorola Droid 2 Pre-Sale Officially Starts August 11th for $199.99, In Stores the 12th, R2D2 in September!

It’s about time we got some official confirmation from Verizon! The long-rumored phone (which was damn near confirmed in every way, shape, and form outside of official word from Big Red) has finally been officially acknowledged by the carrier and is on its way sometime soon. Pre-sale starts this August 11th (tomorrow, if you’re reading this on published date!) which – if previous Verizon pre-sales are anything to go by – means we could be seeing this phone sometime next week.

All of the August 12th launch date rumors be damned, August 11th is still technically just one day before that window: could we be seeing a 24-hour pre-sale window through the carrier? No date has been confirmed so the actual launch date is still in limbo, but failing that, just remember that we usually see Verizon phones released a week after they go up for pre-order. If the date doesn’t turn out to be August 12th, we’ll all have to point and laugh at ourselves and get a refresher on the true meaning of the word “rumor”. In any case, we can finally say the phone officially exists and is ready to go on sale.

Confirmed specs and features: Android 2.2 with Flash player 10.1, 3G Mobile Hotspot, a 3.7-inch display, 8GB of on-board storage accompanied by an 8GB microSD card, Blockbuster and NFL apps, and more processing speed (if we’re going by what we officially know). We should also be seeing the R2D2 special edition of the device sometime next month complete with Star Wars content to sink your teeth in. Read on for the full press details.

[Update]: Perhaps I should read through the entire press release before allowing my excitement to get the best of me! As one of our commenters pointed out, the device will indeed be in stores August 12th, available to all for $199.99 after a $100 mail-in rebate and a new two-year agreement. I guess Verizon didn’t need much of a head-start on this one as the internet gave them plenty.

[And now with a product page, courtesy of Trident in the AndroidForums.]

See What DROID™ Does Next: DROID 2 By Motorola Pre-Sale Starts August 11 At VerizonWireless.com
Built on Android 2.2 with Adobe® Flash® Player 10.1, DROID 2 Comes Equipped with More Power, More Speed and an Improved QWERTY Keyboard
BASKING RIDGE, NJ, and LIBERTYVILLE, IL — Verizon Wireless, the company with the nation’s largest and most reliable wireless 3G network, and Motorola, Inc. (NYSE: MOT), a pioneer in the mobile industry, today announced that DROID™ 2 by Motorola will be available for pre-sale on August 11. Hitting all the right keys, DROID 2 is a feature-packed device that helps manage work and social life with an enhanced QWERTY keyboard, ultra high-speed Web browsing, 3G Mobile HotSpot capabilities, full push corporate e-mail, intuitive social messaging and Adobe® Flash® Player 10.1 for access to the full web – all built on Android 2.2.
“When we announced DROID X last month, we reaffirmed our commitment to continue to bring unique Android experiences to the Verizon Wireless network,” said Jeffrey Dietel, vice president – wireless device, marketing and development for Verizon Wireless. “The DROID by Motorola was our first Android device, so it is important for us to include the successor to that phone in our portfolio. DROID 2 is not only a continuation of our commitment to Android but offers customers the features and form-factor they crave on the Verizon Wireless network.”
“With the new DROID 2, we’ve taken a big leap forward from the original DROID,” said Bill Ogle, chief marketing officer of Motorola Mobile Devices and Home Business. “We listened to consumers and are providing an even more robust experience built on Android 2.2 that includes a new keyboard, increased processing power, Adobe Flash Player 10.1 and 3G Mobile HotSpot capabilities to send, access and share information even quicker than before.”
DROID 2’s super-slim design helps customers e-mail, text and tweet with ease. DROID 2 offers a redesigned symmetrical keyboard with raised keys for more responsive typing to push out notes and status updates. Speech-to-text input and the virtual multi-touch keyboard allow for quick messaging; or customers can also use Swype for even easier text input. In addition, full push corporate e-mail delivers enhanced features such as remote wipe and password enforcement so that information remains secure.
DROID 2 packs power and speed. Customers can enjoy the freedom of wireless with the 3G Mobile HotSpot and the ability to connect up to five compatible Wi-Fi® devices, and watch content on the full multi-touch 3.7-inch brilliant display, or share content captured on the 5-megapixel camera with enhanced functionality and DVD-quality video capture with DLNA connectivity to share on compatible devices.
Customers can also download favorite apps from Android Market™, which has more than 70,000 applications, and store them on 8 GB of preloaded on-board memory and the 8 GB microSD™ card, which can be upgraded to a 32 GB SD card for a total cargo capacity of 40 GB. Popular apps available on DROID 2 include NFL Mobile (downloadable), Skype mobile(™) and BLOCKBUSTER On Demand® presented by V CAST Video. Customers can even manage their wireless accounts or their contacts from their phones with My Verizon and with Backup Assistant(SM).
“It’s great to see amazing new smartphones like the DROID 2 come pre-installed with Flash Player 10.1,” said David Wadhwani, senior vice president and general manager, Creative and Interactive Solution Business Unit at Adobe. “With the completely redesigned and hardware accelerated Flash Player 10.1, DROID 2 users will be able to experience the full Web on the go.”
Adobe Flash Player 10.1 lets mobile users experience millions of websites the way they were meant to be seen – with rich Internet applications (RIAs), content inside the browser, including games, animations, data presentations and visualizations, e-commerce, music, video, audio and more.
R2-D2 DROID 2
In honor of the iconic Astromech Droid from the Star Wars™ Saga, Verizon Wireless will offer a limited-edition R2-D2 version of the DROID 2, available only online in September. The special version of the phone will feature exclusive Star Wars content and external hardware designed to look like the trusty Droid from the film saga. Visitors to the upcoming Star Wars Celebration V in Orlando, Fla., can see a preview of the limited edition phone and sign up to receive alerts when the phone is ready for sale.
Pricing and Availability
DROID 2 by Motorola will be available at www.verizonwireless.com on August 11, and it will be in Verizon Wireless Communications Stores beginning August 12 for $199.99 after a $100 mail-in rebate with a new two-year customer agreement. Customers will receive the rebate in the form of a debit card; upon receipt, customers may use the card as cash anywhere debit cards are accepted. In addition to subscribing to a Nationwide Talk plan or a Nationwide Talk & Text plan, customers will also need to subscribe to an Email and Web for Smartphone plan. Nationwide Talk plans begin at $39.99 monthly access. Email and Web for Smartphone plans start at $29.99 for unlimited monthly access.
Customers can add the optional 3G Mobile HotSpot service to their DROID 2 smartphones for $20 per month. The 3G Mobile HotSpot allows customers to turn their phones into a wireless modem for up to five compatible Wi-Fi® devices. In addition, current Verizon Wireless customers who have contracts ending by December 31, 2010, can upgrade to any smartphone, including DROID 2, without penalty.
For more information on DROID 2 by Motorola, go to www.droiddoes.com. For information about Verizon Wireless products and services, visit a Verizon Wireless Communications Store, call 1-800-2 JOIN IN or go to www.verizonwireless.com.