Verizon turns up the hype for Friday Droid launch

Verizon Wireless will open many of its 2,000 retail stores early on Friday for first day sales of the Droid smartphone, adding to the marketing hype already begun for the Android 2.0 device from Motorola Inc.

Some stores will open at 7 a.m. and others at 8 a.m. A list of stores is available on Verizon's Web site although the site doesn't say which will open earlier and advises calling the store in advance to be sure. The QWERTY keyboard slider device sells for $200 after a rebate and a new two-year contract.

Also, with Droid sales, Verizon is coordinating an unusual Times Square event in New York City this month to allow nearby voice callers to control two large digital billboards there, with some of their voice search results for nearby restaurants and attractions displayed on Google Maps on those billboards.

Google Inc., Motorola and the Verizon, the nation's largest wireless carrier, started the Droid campaign with an unusual TV ad that belittled missing features, such as a physical keyboard and multitasking, in its chief rival, the iPhone.

It's fair, then, to wonder whether first-day-of-sale hoopla and other creative (and expensive) advertising are becoming what's required to do well in the competitive smartphone world. Or maybe this kind of campaign is what's required by carriers and manufacturers who dare to attempt to catch up with the iconic Apple iPhone, which has been on the market for more than two years and is in its third version.

"No, you don't have to conduct this kind of Droid campaign to sell a new smartphone," said Ramon Llamas, an analyst at market research firm IDC today. "Look at BlackBerry, which has had some success for its devices without all the hype. But I'd say if you want to plant a stake in the ground, you do this kind of [Droid] campaign."

In a sense, Motorola has the most at stake with the Droid launch, since it has pinned so much of its smartphone future on the Android platform and a variety of new devices in coming months.

"For Motorola, this is one of the ways they get back in the game," Llamas said.

It's uncertain whether the early TV ads and other hype will generate interest and crowds on Friday, or whether the Android operating system, with its open source allure might have drawn some crowds anyway.

Llamas said he expects some crowds for sales of the Droid on Friday. "The reaction has been very positive already," he said. "It's interesting to see how much hype they are generating. When they open the doors, I would bet you'll see lines from buyers and also people who are curious and close to the end of a contract and want a demonstration."

While early hours and other gimmicks might steal a little from the slick methods of Apple Inc.'s marketers, Llamas said there's nothing wrong with "taking a page out of the playbook of somebody who's been successful."

Apple has attracted hundreds, and even thousands of customers to its stores for launches of its three iPhones, although successive versions have resulted in fewer numbers.

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