Motorola's Droid Launch Impresses

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- If Motorola (MOT Quote) had a make or break moment, this might be it.

The future of Motorola's phone business rides on the Droid, Motorola's best new phone, powered by Google's (GOOG Quote) Android software and sold exclusively by Verizon (VZ Quote), the nation's largest wireless player.

Motorola and Verizon introduced the Droid Wednesday at a New York City press conference. The initial takeaway: Ladies and gentlemen, we may have a winner.

The Droid phone is amazingly thin for a device with a slide-out keyboard. It is a half-inch thick, with a metal top and a brilliant 3.7-inch touch screen. In the hand, the Droid feels hefty, and it's sliding keyboard mechanism is sturdy.

The Droid smartphone.

Verizon will sell the Droid starting Nov. 6 for $199 with a two-year contract.

For Verizon, the Droid is likely to be the best and strongest alternative to AT&T's (T Quote) Apple (AAPL Quote) iPhone.

In keeping with Verizon's new openness initiative, the Droid -- at least in its early release -- won't have the carrier's proprietary VCast and VZ Navigator services. Verizon has opted to let users determine their own music and video services.

Motorola has had some big turning points along its winding wireless path. And many of those moments have been moves in the wrong direction. After a big success with the Razr phone, Motorola failed for years to find any new models to continue the streak. Sales dived, layoffs ensued and billionaire activist Carl Icahn forced out former CEO Ed Zander and pushed for a breakup of the company.

Now, after a year at the helm, Motorola wireless chief Sanjay Jah gets to see if his strategy to toss out Microsoft software and build a new line of phones around Google's Android operating system will work.