Background and Identification
The Motorola Droid is a series of Internet and multimedia-enabled smartphones designed by Motorola, an American telecommunications company. Motorola Droid phones run on Google’s Android operating system. The series name “Droid” is a trademark of Lucasfilm (yes, the company that created Starwars) but has been licensed to Verizon Wireless for use with Motorola phones. The original Droid smartphones started the Android phone revolution, helping to keep Motorola in business.
Many Motorola Droid phones are sold in various countries under different names. In Europe, for example, the Motorola Droid is called the Motorola Milestone. In 2013, Motorola announced that the company will exclusively manufacture Droid phones for Verizon.
The original Droid smartphone (also called the DROID 1) sold 100,000 units during its first weekend on sale. Time Magazine named the DROID 1 the 2009 Gadget of the Year, and this model is regarded as the smartphone that started the green robot revolution and made Google and Verizon close partners on smartphone development.
Motorola Droid smartphones generally include the Motorola logo, which features a stylized ‘M’ inside of a circle. Droid phones also include the Verison logo, which includes the name “Verizon” in lowercase letters with a large checkmark before the word. Motorola Droid phones also often include identification information on the bottom of their back panel.