Motorola rises ahead of next Android phone launch

*Boy Genius Report praises Motorola's Droid

*Verizon ad outlines iPhone weaknesses vs Droid

*Motorola shares rise more than 8 percent

NEW YORK, Oct 19 (Reuters) - Shares in Motorola Inc (MOT.N) rose over 8 percent on Monday on investor anticipation that its second phone powered by Google Inc's (GOOG.O) Android system would be a hit at Verizon Wireless.

Shares in Motorola rose 65 cents to $8.50 on New York Stock Exchange after popular technology blog boygeniusreport.com praised the upcoming device dubbed Droid, describing it as the best phone it had used since Apple Inc's (AAPL.O) iPhone.

A Verizon Wireless ad campaign for Droid also appeared to confirm for the first time that the No. 1 U.S. mobile service would sell an Android device from Motorola. Motorola and Verizon Wireless declined comment.

"You've probably got some investor enthusiasm over a favorable review," said Avian Securities analyst Matthew Thornton, referring to the blog. "That's fairly powerful."

T-Mobile USA, a unit of Deutsche Telekom AG (DTEGn.DE), was due to start taking orders for Motorola's first Android phone on Monday Oct. 19. Motorola had said Sept. 10 that it would have another Android device to announce in coming weeks.

Verizon Wireless, a venture of Verizon Communications Inc (VZ.N) and Vodafone Group Plc (VOD.L), has long been seen as the U.S. vendor of Motorola's second Android device although neither company has confirmed an agreement.