More than 2,000 Verizon Wireless stores will open early Friday morning for the release of the Droid, Motorola's new smart phone that might pose serious competition to the iPhone.

Three Verizon stores in Lincoln will open early at 8 a.m. Friday: 5141 O St., 4920 N. 26th St. and 4815 Old Cheney Road.

A few things you should know about the Droid:

-- Cost: $200 after a $100 rebate. That price comes with a nationwide calling plan and a $30 data plan.

-- The phone is the first to run on the Android 2.0 operating system, an OS that, industry pundits say, is the first real rival to that of the iPhone.

-- The Droid is about the size of the iPhone. Both devices boast multi-touch screens. Unlike the iPhone, Droid offers two typing options: a virtual keypad and a slide-out keyboard.

-- The Android 2.0 OS allows for users to multi-task and run multiple apps at once.

-- Android has about 10,000 apps on the market, vs. iPhone's 100,000.

-- If you're in a Verizon contract, can you upgrade to a Droid? Maybe, maybe not. A customer service rep said this would be decided on a case-by-case basis. It will largely depend on how far you are in your current contract and what plan you are on.