HTC Passion Coming to Verizon [HTC Dragon Gets Renamed as Passion, Runs Android 2.0 on a 1GHz Snapdragon CPU]

Looks like there’s not a single day without something new in the cellphone market. So here’s soemthing interesting. Remember how a couple of weeks ago we found trace (leaked in a firmware upgrade) of a new handset dubbed the HTC Dragon? Well it looks like the Android-powered smartphone will actually see light on Verizon, but will be codenamed HTC Passion.

Probably a CDMA version of the Dragon, the new HTC Passion is an ultra-fast handset that runs Android 2.0 Eclair on a super snappy Qualcomm 1GHz Snapdragon processor. With its rather large 4.3-inch capacitive touchscreen display (800 x 600 screen resolution) and the hardware it packs, many would say that the HTC Passion is the Android-counterpart of the HTC HD2 which runs WM6.5. Add to all these the fact that the handset will come packed with Sense UI and Big Red got us sold on that one, already!

Rumors have it that the new HTC Passion will be available on Verizon before the year’s end, which means there’s another smartphone option on Verizon, other than Motorola Droid or the new BlackBerry Storm2.

Can’t wait to see Verizon’s financial results next year with all these new additions.