Google’s Android Ready

 A Motorola Droid smartphone goes on sale on Friday, joining the growing ranks of smartphones on the open-source operating system backed by Google.

With Droid, which will work on the Verizon telecom network, Motorola is taking on mobile device powerhouses, including Apple, Nokia, as well as Research in Motion.

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

Taiwan-based HTC brought the first Android phone to market late last year.

Google chief executive Eric Schmidt recently proclaimed that the smartphone market was on the cusp of an "explosion" of Android devices.

Market tracking firm Gartner agrees, predicting that there will be at least 40 models of Android phones within a year.

Reports surfaced on Thursday that Verizon was poised to add an HTC Android phone to its stable.

"In a few years, Android will be the second-most-popular smartphone, running neck-and-neck with Apple," Gartner analyst Van Baker said.

Apple iPhones have become coveted devices since they were introduced in early 2007.

Verizon and Motorola have managed to create a marketplace buzz with mysterious video featuring fighter jets releasing metal pods that slam like meteorites into forest, sea and prairie.

The pods crack open to give glimpses of Droid devices, then end with a cowboy uttering "What in the world is that?" and a message that proclaims Friday the "drop date." Verizon poked at Apple with "iDon't" advertising, highlighting things iPhones lacks, and US newspapers on Thursday sported full-page ads heralding the Droid's arrival.

Droid devices are likely to pose more of a threat to Blackberry smart phones made by Canada-based RIM than they are to iPhones, according to analysts.

"It's not an iPhone killer," Gartner vice president of mobile computing Ken Dulaney said of Droid. "This is really about changing the mix at Verizon. It will be some attack on RIM."

Blackberry devices dominate the Verizon network, and the upcoming Droid offering will give subscribers a tempting alternative to RIM devices.

Meanwhile, iPhones in the United States are serviced exclusively by telecom colossus AT&T, which has no Android smart phones on its network.

"Droid is not going to draw anyone away from AT&T to Verizon," Dulaney said.

"It will keep people at Verizon from going to AT&T and keep some people from going to Blackberry," he added.