Motorola DROID MAXX, DROID ULTRA, and DROID MINI officially announced by Verizon, preorders begin today

This will come as no surprise at all if you've been following the site, but today, as expected, Verizon made their new line of DROIDs official. The DROID MAXX, DROID ULTRA, and DROID MINI were officially launched at an event today in New York City.

The MAXX and ULTRA both come with great specs, including  a new in-house SoC, the “X8″ 8-core processor with a dual core CPU and quad-core GPU that was announced by Motorola today. The MAXX comes with a whopping 48 hours of battery life and wireless charging, however it's about a millimeter thicker than the ULTRA, which Motorola hails as the “thinnest 4G LTE smartphone available.” The MINI comes with a compact 4.3 HD display, as well as wireless charging capabilities.

The ULTRA will run for $200 in your choice of red or black, the MAXX for $300, and the MINI will cost you $100, each with a 2-year contract, of course.The new phones will be available immediately to preorder from Verizon's website. The Ultra and MAXX will go for sale on August 20, while the MINI will follow on August 29.

You can see the press release in full after the break for more information.

Trio of New DROID Smartphones Coming to Verizon Wireless

MINI, ULTRA and MAXX: Cutting-edge design meets strength and agility.

A new family of exclusive DROID smartphones is coming soon to Verizon Wireless: DROID MINI, DROID ULTRA and DROID MAXX by Motorola. Keeping up with the DROID tradition, these devices give users what’s expected from a DROID on Verizon – intelligence, strength and endurance.

It starts with DROID Command Center, an exclusive homescreen widget for users to easily access notifications for text messages, missed calls, battery level and weather. It also serves as the gateway to new features including Wireless Display to mirror what’s on the screen onto a compatible HDTV to play games, browse the web and share pictures on a big screen.

Taking a picture and sharing it is now as easy as shake, tap and swipe. Quick Capture lets users access the 10-megapixel camera by shaking the phone twice, then tapping anywhere on the screen to snap a pic or a selfie. Sharing with a friend or a group of friends nearby is simple with the DROID Zap feature. Swiping up on a picture instantly shares it with fellow new DROID owners nearby, all they need to do is swipe down on their screen to receive it.

Hands are full or messy? Wake up the DROID by saying “Ok Google Now” and then tell it what you want to do. And for those users who constantly lose their phone under the couch or around the house, they can simply say “Ok Google Now, call my DROID” and it will start ringing. And Active Notifications lets users preview messages and app alerts without waking their phone.

These Touchless Controls and Active Display let users make calls, send texts, get directions, play music, set a reminder and preview notifications hands-free without having to unlock the phone, giving DROID users a whole new way of interacting with their phones.

The first DROID launched in November 2009 and included features new at the time such as Google Maps Navigation. It was also the first smartphone to feature Android 2.0. The new trio of DROID devices continues to give innovative features.

DROID MINI: A compact design with an edge-to-edge 4.3-inch HD display and wireless charging capabilities.

DROID ULTRA: The thinnest 4G LTE smartphone available, measuring 7.18mm, and with a 5-inch HD display. The ULTRA will be available in Black and Red models.

DROID MAXX: Features wireless charging and a 3500mAh battery that gives users nearly two days of battery life on a single charge, making it the longest lasting 4G LTE smartphone available.

These DROID smartphones are made with DuPont Kevlar fiber unibody design and will be available for pre-order online starting today, July 23, at 1 p.m. ET. The DROID ULTRA and DROID MAXX will be available for purchase starting Aug. 20 and the DROID MINI will be available starting Aug. 29. The DROID MINI will be $99.99, the DROID ULTRA will be $199.99 and the DROID MAXX will be $299.99, all with a new two-year customer agreement.