The Droid X, Motorola’s follow-up to the original Motorola Droid, lands on shelves today. The new phone is available online and in Verizon Wireless Communications Stores for $199.99 after a $100 mail-in rebate with a new two-year customer agreement.

The Droid X features a 4.3-inch touchscreen, 8-megapixel camera, HDMI output, 3G Mobile hot spot capabilities and comes standard with 8 GB of memory expandable up to 32GB via microSDHC card. The Droid X runs Android 2.1 (Eclaire), but will receive an OTA update to Android version 2.2 (Froyo) later this summer.

An update supporting Flash 10.1 also will be delivered OTA in the near future.

Customers can take advantage of the 4.3-inch high-resolution screen on Droid X for viewing the latest movies from Blockbuster On Demand presented by V Cast Video.

Customers who choose to add the optional 3G Mobile HotSpot service to their Droid X will pay $20 per month for the service. The 32GB SanDisk microSDHC card is available for $99.99 when purchased along with the new Droid X or for $149.99 when purchased separately.

Verizon is allowing customers who have contracts ending by Dec. 31, 2010, to upgrade to Droid X without penalty.

The Droid X enters the summer smartphone fray with strong competition from other OEMs, most notably the HTC Evo 4G from Sprint, Apple’s iPhone 4 and the Galaxy S devices from Samsung.

Microsoft announced availability of the beta version of the Software Developer Kit (SDK) for the company’s upcoming Windows Phone 7 OS. Andy Lees, senior vice president of mobile communications business for Microsoft, made the announcement in a keynote at the company’s Worldwide Partner Conference, which runs from July 11-15.

Microsoft hopes to create mobile solutions that offer deep integration between Windows Phone 7 and the company’s suite of business productivity software such as SharePoint Server, Exchange Server, Microsoft Office and Business Productivity Online.

Meanwhile, the official Windows Phone 7 blog yesterday confirmed that the new OS will support Windows Phone Live, a new Web-based service, similar to Apple’s Mobile Me. Windows Phone Live will offer mobile device support in the form of sync backup for contacts and photos, as well as tools for recovering a lost or stolen device with remote wipe and locate features. At launch the service will offer a SkyDrive with 25GB of remote storage, Office and Zune support for media sync.

The latest version of Microsoft’s OS comes as the battle of the smartphone platforms rages this summer between Android and Apple’s iOS 4. Both Microsoft and Research In Motion (RIM) are expected to have launched devices running their latest operating systems by the end of the year.

Fring, the mobile communications and social networking aggregator, says that VoIP provider Skype is blocking all interconnectivity between the two services. But Skype says it’s not to blame.

According to a press release from fring, it is “being forced to stop its four years of Skype interconnectivity following threat of legal action.”

The news comes just days after fring announced that a new version of its iPhone app had been approved at the App Store. The new app allows users to make video calls over 3G, something the Skype iPhone app still lacks. Fring calls the move by Skype “anti-competitive ambush.”

Fring went so far as to call Skype “cowards” in a blog post on the company’s website:

“They are afraid of open mobile communication. Cowards.

Needless to say, we are very disappointed that Skype, who once championed the cause of openness, is now trying to muzzle competition, even at the expense of its own users.

We’re sorry for the inconvenience Skype has caused you.”

Skype says fring is the one causing the inconvenience.

An official statement from Skype said that “Skype is disappointed that an amicable resolution was not possible but Fring’s decision to withdraw Skype functionality immediately was of its own choice.” The statement goes on to say that Skype encourages developers to build products that work with Skype APIs but that it will “rigorously protect its brand and reputation and those companies that do not comply with our terms will be subject to enforcement.”

Skype and fring do compete in the same market, as both companies offer VoIP, IM and video calling services. Skype recently released a new iPhone app that will bring changes to the service come the end of the year. While Skype-to-Skype calling will remain free, users will be asked to pay if they want to make Skype calls to cell phones or landlines over 3G using the iPhone app. Pricing details for this feature are yet to be announced, as price testing is ongoing.