Verizon turns up the hype for Friday Droid launch

Apple has attracted hundreds, and even thousands of customers to its stores for launches of its three iPhones, although successive versions have resulted in fewer numbers.

It might help that Apple has fewer stores than Verizon, but the iPhone is also on sale at AT&T stores, which are also plentiful. Still, even AT&T hasn't attracted the first-day crowds of Apple stores, where customers have said they feel they get more personal attention.

Verizon spokeman Tom Pica said he couldn't predict how big Verizon's crowds will be on Friday, but noted that when the BlackBerry Storm went on sale Nov. 21, 2008, there were lines in advance of the opening. One man stood overnight at the Toledo, Ohio, store to get the original Storm, with its touchscreen display.

"We're prepared for crowds for Droid," Pica said in a telephone interview. "The buzz with Droid has been bigger than the first Storm."

Pica said the "Droid Does Times Square" digital billboard event in Times Square will allow a passerby to call from any phone to a toll-free number, asking through voice commands for a nearby location, such as the nearest pizza shops. The results of that search will be displayed on Google Maps on the large Nasdaq and Reuters signs in Times Square several times a day for most of November with advertising for the Droid included.