Google’s Android operating system seems to be gathering pace, with more and more phones emerging that run the Open Source mobile OS – in the past few months we’ve reviewed the Samsung i7500 Galaxy, HTC Hero and HTC Magic.

One phone that’s gathering momentum across the pond is the Motorola Droid and, from early previews, it’s easy to see why: as well as offering the numerous benefits of Android, it also has a sliding Qwerty keyboard, 3.7in capacitive touchscreen, 5mp camera, GPS and Wi-Fi. It’s also the first phone to ship with Google Maps Navigation installed.

In short, it sounds superb – but that’s not the most interesting thing about one of the most-hyped smartphones of the past several months.

The most interesting thing about Motorola’s new phone can actually be found on the Droid homepage. Look past the flashy graphics towards the copyright notices at the bottom of the screen – you know, the part that everyone usually ignores – and read the bottom line, which says:

“DROID is a trademark of Lucasfilm Ltd. and its related companies. Used under license.”

So it appears that Motorola can’t call its new Android phone the Droid unless they pay a certain Mr. Lucas a hefty wodge of cash to stop him turning up at the Chicago firm’s HQ with a battery of lawyers.

Who knew that R2D2 could prove so profitable?

Thanks to Brian Sharp at WikiTravel for the R2D2 image.