By now, you’ve seen the iDon’t/Droid Does commercials by Verizon, right? If you haven’t, just click the link I provided.

Verizon has recently been taking shots at the iPhone, highlighting the shortfalls of the phone (mainly coverage and some software inadequacies). The new Droid line of phones is Verizon’s attempt at reducing the loss of customers because of the iPhone, but the real question in all of this is of course whether or not the new Droid phones will be “iPhone killers.”

The new Droid phones will come in two configurations according to Engadget Mobile. However, I will only be focusing on the Motorola Droid because, quite frankly, the HTC Eris is nothing special — it uses Android 1.5, has no hardware keyboard, and uses a last generation processor — so the likelihood that it will compete with the iPhone is about nil.

So back to the Motorola Droid (pictured above). It’s being marketed by Verizon as a serious iPhone competitor. While I sincerely hate to say this, even though I haven’t had the opportunity to go play with one yet, I do believe it is an iPhone competitor.

Keyword there is competitor, there is no way it can be an iPhone killer and I’ll tell you why. Keep in mind I am referring to the top of the line 3GS phone, and not the 3G.

Hardware

Comparing the hardware of the iPhone and Droid would leave us with nothing except two phones that are remarkably close in performance, although to be fair, the Droid does have a substantially higher screen resolution and it’s almost a quarter of a inch larger.

Price

This comparison would also leave us with nothing except two phones that are, quite literally, penny for penny the same (okay fine, I’m giving the Droid a pass here, it’s actually $399 on contract but with a $100 rebate). Both require data plans which add $30 on top of a regular voice plan and texting is extra (although if you’re crafty it can be free on the iPhone, watch YBOT Episode 2 to see how).

Coverage Area

Although network reliability can certainly be a factor, I also don’t believe that is terribly big in deciding what is a better phone. Certainly, when deciding what phone is better for you, it can be a huge factor — and I would definitely give Verizon the win in this department — despite the fact that I have had nothing but great service with my iPhone on AT&T.

Software

The Droid is touted to have multitasking, great web-browsing, video-recording, excellent social networking integration into the operating system and a customizable user-interface.

Unfortunately what we get down to here is a matter of opinion.

Multitasking, while a cool feature, is essentially useless on a mobile phone because of screen limitations, and often times widgets (nobody will admit it, but that’s essentially what is meant by multitasking) are stripped down versions of applications.

I find being able to open an application almost instantly, like on the 3GS, is way more important that having the ability to constantly stream 3 or 4 live feeds from my favorite social networking sites. Plus, although the iPhone cannot multitask, there are thousands of lightweight applications designed for everything from CNN to Facebook available for the iPhone in the 100,000 title-strong App Store.

Web-browsing is also supposed to be excellent on the Droid, but the likelihood that it will surpass Apple’s excellent Safari browser on the iPhone is pretty slim. Video-recording is also a toss up because, although the Droid might be able to record better video with its slick 5 megapixel camera, it doesn’t have built in video editing like the iPhone does.

The customizable interface is also not very important when deciding what phone is better, because anyone that really wants to customize the interface can simply jailbreak their iPhone (the newest iPhones cannot be jailbroken as of yet).

Final Overview

The Motorola Droid will likely be a great phone, and what phone you choose now will probably come down to what network you currently belong to and what network offers better coverage in your area.

Unfortunately, Motorola doesn’t have the app catalog that the iPhone does, but maybe someday Android will begin to get the strong developer following needed to produce the fantastic media and games that the iPhone App Store currently has.

I still love my iPhone, and I’m never going to look back to Verizon. But if you’re stuck on Verizon and need an excellent smartphone that isn’t a Blackberry, this could very well be it for you.

At the end of the day, what it really comes down to is personal preference.

I love Apple products. I love the way they seamlessly sync with my computer. I love that the interface is incredibly simple to use and anyone can figure out how to use the iPhone almost immediately.

There will always be people who hate Apple simply because they think Apple users are elitist, but Apple offers its customers a full experience with their products. From the App Store to iTunes, to the incredibly rich applications that have been developed by independent and large developers, they give their customers something to really enjoy and call their own.

iPhone killer? Hell no.

Android, AT&T, Droid, iPhone, Motorola, Verizon