Motorola Droid 2 (and R2-D2 edition!) finally official: Android 2.2, Swype, $200 on contract

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All together now: “Finally!” At long last, the leaks are being plugged by none other than Verizon itself, who today confirmed that the Droid 2 is more than just a figment of everyone’s imagination. Shortly after hamstringing the Froyo update for the original Droid, Big Red is tossing a tempting upgrade all up in your grille, as the Droid 2 ships with Android 2.2, mobile hotspot (a $20 / month add-on), Flash Player 10.1 and a revised QWERTY keyboard. It’s also the first smartphone to ship with Swype pre-installed, though we’d prefer Swiftkey thrown in for good measure. You already know the specs by now — a 3.7-inch multitouch display, 5 megapixel camera, DLNA streaming, 8GB of onboard memory and a 8GB microSD card — but what you haven’t known is the on sale date. VZW is putting this gem up for pre-sale tomorrow at $199.99 on a 2-year contract, though the exact ship date remains elusive.

In other news, that R2-D2 edition Droid 2 we told you about last month is legit, and we’re having a hard time containing our excitement just dreaming about the design. Said phone will be available online only in September, and it’ll ship with “exclusive Star Wars content and external hardware designed to look like the trusty Droid from the film saga.” We’re guessing these will sell out in no time flat, but there’s no price being divulged just yet. Oh, and if you’re wondering how on Earth you’re going to swing this upgrade, Verizon’s allowing any customer with a contract ending by December 31, 2010 to upgrade now (to any other smartphone, including the Droid 2) sans penalty. Sheesh guys, you shouldn’t have!

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