HTC Desire to be part of a larger Droid brand?
updated 12:30 am EDT, Sat October 24, 2009
HTC Desire may show Nov. 6 as Droid Eris
The upcoming HTC Desire may become part of what Verizon considers an entire series of devices, multiple leaks tonight appear to confirm. Following a source speaking to Phone Scoop that says all Android-based phones at Verizon will carry the "Droid" name as a brand, gdgt has posted a page for the phone that suggests it will be called the Droid Eris based on the Greek goddess of discord and get an all-black color scheme not unlike the Motorola Droid. The phone is already known to be a touch-only model with a trackball as a backup control and should bring a 5-megapixel camera.
Other details surfacing this evening appear to narrow down both the Droid Eris' launch as well as some of Verizon's overall plans. A tip to Engadget claims that the Motorola phone may just be known as the Droid and that the planned October 28th unveiling will just center on that device. HTC's handset would arrive in a lower-profile release and would start shipping on November 6th.
The positioning would all but see Verizon wrest the title of top Android carrier away from T-Mobile and make it both the most direct rival to Apple and AT&T as well as the chief proponent of open mobile development. Verizon has lately reversed some of its prior attitudes to phone software and has promised not to dictate in a significant way what software Android phones can run.
