Hasta La Gadget!

A leaked instructional video highlights new features of Motorola’s latest Droid phone.

By Casey Johnston, Ars Technica

Some instructional videos featuring the Motorola Droid 3 on Verizon’s network surfaced on YouTube on Sunday, thanks to enthusiast blog PhonePad. The two videos show off the buttons on the phone, the various methods of text input on the Droid 3 (physical keyboard, virtual keyboard, and Swype), and handing of contact information.

Details on the Droid 3 have been trickling out for some time now. The device is expected to have a 4-inch, 960×540 qHD display and a dual-core processor, as well as an HDMI-out port and an 8-megapixel camera with a flash that will take HD video. Boy Genius Report has speculated that the phone will not have access to Verizon’s 4G LTE network, a decision that wouldn’t situate it well against competitors in the coming months.

The Droid 3 instructional videos are directed at beginners, and don’t focus on what is new or different about the phone from its predecessors. A couple physical changes of note are the migration of the power button from the top right of the phone—where it was on the Droid 2—to the top center, and the addition of a number row to the physical keyboard. The top sliding layer of the Droid 3 also no longer fully covers the bottom portion.

An official release date and price for the Droid 3 still haven’t been announced, but recent speculation pegs it for a launch later this month. The videos posted to YouTube were taken down, but we’ve embedded a Vimeo-hosted video of the Droid 3 below.

Motorola Droid 3 / Milestone 3 Partie 2 / 3 from Fred on Vimeo.