Verizon [VZ] has announced the Motorola DROID 2 along with a release date and pricing. The pre-sale of the DROID 2 will start tomorrow on August 11 with shipping of the smartphone starting August 12.

Price wise, the DROID 2 will cost $199.99 as expected along with a two year contract agreement that you’ll need to sign.

OS wise, it comes with Android 2.2 pre-installed. Android 2.2 is the latest OS from Google [GOOG] and just in the last month has started rolling out to various smartphones. Thanks to Android 2.2, the DROID 2 is able to run Adobe Flash 10.1 which is available to download on all 2.2 based devices.

“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.”

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Vodafone in the UK is now offering the iPhone 4 on PAYG (pay as you go). The 32GB iPhone 4 costs £570 while the 16GB costs £480. When purchasing a PAYG iPhone 4 from Vodafone, the phone arrives locked on to the network which is why they are slightly cheaper than buying unlocked from Apple [AAPL] direct.

To try tempt you in to purchasing the iPhone 4 slightly cheaper, Vodafone is giving away a years worth of data which will see users who buy the PAYG iPhone 4 before November getting 250MB/month of free data along with 1GB of free WiFi.

Although this saving sounds very minor, Vodafone is hoping to convince users to switch quickly, as buying the iPhone 4 by November 2010 on this PAYG device will land you with 12 months of free data. This gives users 250MB a month of 3G data and 1GB a month of Wi-Fi from BT Openzone. Vodafone’s PAYG rates are 20p per minute for calls and 10p texts (although presumably you can still use their freedom packs).

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The BlackBerry 9300 Curve 3G was made official yesterday by RIM. A few of the details were provided although no information of who was providing the smartphone was given.

T-Mobile has announced that they will be offering the BlackBerry 9300 Curve 3G in the US when it launches. Unfortunately no release dates of prices have been provided just yet.

T-Mobile is the only network at the moment who has announced they will be offering the phone, but we expect to hear from AT&T [T] shortly as it should be on that network also. [Read more…]

Tawkon is an app that can be used to measure radiation on a cell phone. When gripping a mobile phone with a so called “death grip”, the amount of power needed by the call increases to keep the signal active. In turn, radiation levels rise.

A video has been posted by Tawkon that shows three popular smartphones being tested with a death grip see if they each suffer with death grip problems.

The death grip is normally associated with signal loss. This test shows the radiation increase which is caused because of the signal dropping. [Read more…]

BGR managed to get it’s hands on a roadmap for Verizon [VZ] that shows new device launches for this year and in to next year. As well as going in to 2011, the roadmap also makes mention of a few 2012 plans for the company.

New items include Android 3.0 tablets, LTE MiFi units as well as video conferencing to name a few things.

Before heading over to BGR, a few of the more interesting items I could find include a new Motorola Droid called the Motorola DROID Pro. This device will run a faster 1.3GHz CPU and have a 4 inch screen along with global roaming capabilities. [Read more…]