Leaked Motorola Droid Shadow headed to Verizon this summer?

If the rumors are to be believed, it looks like the next flagship phone from Motorola might be right around the corner.

The Internet was abuzz this weekend with rumors of a rather powerful Droid 2 or "Shadow" handset bound for Verizon. The first glimpse of the device came from what appears to be the cover of a "Getting Started" guide. Subsequently, a thread over at HowardForums started piecing together the specs that go along with the sleek-looking beauty.

Rumors are pegging the phone with a 4.3-inch touch screen similar to that of the HTC Evo 4G from Sprint. Other details included upwards of 8GB internal storage, an 8-megapixel camera capable of 720p HD video recording, and HDMI output. Also, at roughly 0.35 inch thick, it's pretty safe to assume this is a touch-only device. It's expected that the handset will be loaded with Android 2.1 (Eclair) but 2.2 (Froyo) isn't entirely out of the question.

The second sighting of the smartphone came earlier on Tuesday when it was reported that a working model was found in a Verizon corporate gym. Apparently whoever found the phone decided to confirm a few specs before sending along a photo to Gizmodo. According to the tipster the phone actually has 16GB of memory and has a 1GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon processor to keep things humming along.

Personally I like the idea of another high-end Android phone out of the Motorola camp. The balance over the last few months shifted away from Motorola to HTC's Droid Incredible and Evo 4G. If these specs prove to be right, I wouldn't mind seeing the Droid 2/Shadow as the first Froyo-flavored handset to hit the market. That is, of course, provided Motorola doesn't simply push out an over-the-air update for the Droid first.

Look for this one to arrive sometime in June or July with a Verizon-exclusive deal attached to it.