I wonder if it cost Motorola $6 million to build the Droid Bionic, which raises the bar for smartphones when Verizon Wireless begins selling it Thursday.

The specs suggest that it really is better, stronger and faster than the Droid was before.

The Bionic is Verizon's first dual-core phone that runs on its LTE mobile broadband network. Verizon says users should see 5 to 12 Megabit per second download speeds and 2 to 5 Mbps uploads.

The Droid has a 4.3-inch Gorilla Glass screen, 8 megapixel camera with 1080p video capture, front-facing camera for video chat and HDMI out for playing 1080p videos on a larger display.

Inside there are dual-core 1 Gigahertz processors, 1 gigabyte of RAM and 32 gigs of memory, including a 16 gig memory card.

It runs the "Gingerbread" version of Google's Android software - version 2.3.4. While working with Motorola on this device, Google decided to buy Motorola outright for $12.5 billion.

The phone costs $300 with a two-year contract. Its mobile hotspot feature costs an extra $30 per month, and a "Lapdock" that converts the phone into a laptop-like device with an 11.6-inch screen and keyboard costs $300.

Engadget's first take:

"Early impressions are those of a very nice phone. The styling is a bit drab, to say the least, but it's a sophisticated looking thing, and seemingly quite solidly built, too. The Gorilla Glass up front has a bevel around the edge that does give a bit of flare, but also succeeds in being an exceedingly effective lint trap after just one trip into a pocket."

Mark Smith at the Detroit Free Press said it's a great phone with all-day battery life during regular use, but he was cool toward the industrial design:

"It's an undeniably great phone, powered by the fastest wireless network in the air today.

For those who have been waiting out the 4G smartphone race this summer, hoping for a hit with the Bionic, your wait has been rewarded. This one is worth buying."

It sounds like a Steve Austin special: