Motorola and Verizon on Friday launched the long-awaited Droid, the first device using version 2.0 of Google's Android operating system, but the device won't be an iPhone killer to Apple, analyst said.

Droid, which comes with a bigger multi-touch screen, better camera and boasts of a powerful mobile processor and the latest Google Android platform 2.0, is said to the latest iPhone killer on the block to challenge Apple handset's dominance in the smartphone segment.

But the iPhone, which has become coveted since its introduction in early 2007, has its own advantages over the Droid in terms of onboard memory and other aspects.

While Droid comes shipped with only 512MB storage and a 16GB microSD card, iPhone 3GS comes in two variant - 16GB and 32GB storage. The more memory is a big plus for iPhone though Droid can accept up to 32GB cards.

Industry analysts and specialists were very optimistic of the Motorola Droid in their reviews.

The Droid is potentially a big win for Verizon, Motorola and Google, as well as for loyal Verizon customers, gadget guru Walt Mossberg told the Wall Street Journal on Friday.

Reviews from Gizmodo ranked Motorola Droid as the second best phone around, on the best network around despite the fact that it's deeply flawed in some ways.

Gartner analyst Van Baker also agrees that android will be the second most popular smart phone running neck-and-neck with Apple in a few years.

People are gravitating to Android phones because they are different and trendy. Droid may be the new 'in' phone, analyst Rob Enderle of Enderle Group in Silicon Valley said, according to AFP.

However, Droid may not be an iPhone killer despite its promising future.

It's not an iPhone killer, Gartner vice president of mobile computing Ken Dulaney said of Droid.

The iPhones are serviced exclusively in the US through AT&T , which has no Android smart phones on its network.

The Droid, whose service provider is dominated by Blackberry, is more likely to be a threat to RIM rather than Apple.

Droid is not going to draw anyone away from AT&T to Verizon, Dulaney told AFP. It will keep people at Verizon from going to AT&T and keep some people from going to Blackberry.

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