“What in the world is that?”  Simple…that’s Verizon’s iPhone killer, the Droid, which is not a single device but an army of devices Verizon is adding to their arsenal (it’s hard to avoid being cheesy when writing about Droid).  As I’ve mentioned in previous posts, Verizon is going on a full assault against Apple/AT&T, and this week Verizon’s first Droid device launched.  There were a couple well written comparisons between the iPhone and Verizon’s first Droid this week that evaluates the phones side-by-side for a variety of features and usability (review#1, review#2).  Which one wins?  Well the reviews call it a tie, so that means Verizon wins in the end.  Verizon doesn’t need a device that flat out beats the iPhone but they need “cool” devices to keep their subscribers happy, on their network, and help recruit subscribers that are disappointed with AT&Ts crappy, awful, non-reliable network.  It looks like Verizon’s done it!  Their first device looks good, has the analysts and consumers buzzing and two more Droid devices are on their way that will offer different consumer price points and features (HTC Droid Eris and third Droid phone).

This week China Unicom reported statistics from its recent iPhone launch, and so far only 5,000 units had been sold since launch (no, I’m not missing a zero, it’s five thousand).  Another misstep for Apple?  Yes.  I think Apple (along with many other US companies) see the big volume potential in China but forgot to do their consumer research and truly understand the market.  If you ship it, doesn’t mean they will buy it.  To keep their momentum, Apple really needs to find a way to drive volume growth for the iPhone internationally since their volume is severely capped in the US without a Verizon deal.  And, once Android volumes increases with dozens (eventually hundreds) of handsets worldwide, app developers will stop focusing on the iPhone and give their attention to the largest distribution channel which makes them money.  So instead of hearing that the app store surpasses 100,000 available apps, we might just hear that the app store has 100,000 outdated, non-operational, useless apps.  It could happen.

Here are this week’s handset announcements:

• Motorola CLIQ now available to all
• Sprint Samsung Moment Android-powered smartphone now available
• BlackBerry Curve 8530 smartphone added to Sprint lineup
• HTC Tattoo unboxing and tour – part 1 of 2
• BlackBerry Bold 9700 for T-Mobile – unboxing and first look
• Sony Ericsson details its first Android phone
• The Motorola DROID goes global as the MILESTONE for Europe

Finally, here are some other stories or articles I found interesting during the week I want to share with you:

• Dos and don’ts of holiday mobile marketing: Experts speak out
• 5 iPhone Accessories We’re Still Waiting For
• Microsoft Bing mobile adds touchscreen optimization, NFL portal, and flight tracking
• Google Voice surpassed 1 million users before light version launched
• Nokia exec talks Ovi platform
• Verizon confirms pricey Motorola DROID tethering service
• Google partners with Best Buy to distribute Google Mobile App in stores
• T-Mobile loses 77,000 customers in third quarter
• T-Mobile shares some Android statistics, will soon support carrier billing

See or hear anything else interesting in mobile.  Let us know by leaving a comment below.