31
Mar
Motorola Droid

Don't Wait For Verizon To Update Your Droid To 2.1 - Do It Yourself And Do It Now

Posted by in Development, Droid (Sholes), Motorola, News, Tips & Tutorials, Verizon Wireless

Yesterday, Verizon released the Motorola Droid 2.1 update schedule which turned out to be so drawn out that by the end of it, we would have seen Android 5.0 (OK, not really but it could take 2-3 weeks).

Who wants to wait this long? It didn't take long for some smart folks over at AndroidForums to figure out where the update was located on Google's servers and provide instructions on how to accomplish it in a few easy steps. Here they are:

If you have rooted your phone, the 2.1 update will unroot you back.

 

  1. Download https://android.clients.google.com/updates/voles/signed-voles-ESE81-from-ESD56.fa406da6.zip onto your computer.

30
Mar
Motorola Droid Android 2.1

Updated: Verizon Finally Starts Upgrading All Motorola Droid Users to Android 2.1 Today, Pinky Swears This Time

Posted by in Droid (Sholes), Motorola, News, Verizon Wireless

Earlier today Verizon started rolling out the long awaited and repeatedly delayed Android 2.1 upgrade to the selected few Motorola Droid customers - 1,000 to be exact.

The Rollout

According to the internal document obtained by Android Central, the rollout schedule is the following:

  • the first 1,000 very lucky Droid owners should have already gotten their OTA (over the air) updates today, March 30th, at 9AM PST/noon EST.
    If you are one of the lucky few, please share your experience with us, as soon as you stop calling all your friends to share the joy but right before you go on a spree of making fun of all the Hero owners with their ancient 1.5s.

29
Mar
Android fragmentation

Editorial: Why Google Could Not Avoid Android Fragmentation And What It Plans To Do About It

Posted by in News

Android Fragmentation

If you currently own an Android phone, chances are you are running one of the four major release versions: 1.5, 1.6, 2.0, or 2.1.

Each version has its own set of supported features and a separate SDK (software development kit) which makes developers' lives a living hell - they have to develop and test on 4 different major operating systems or face users' wrath in the cruel world of application reviews.

Furthermore, there is a very high chance your phone manufacturer spent months customizing the OS with its own applications and UI: for example, HTC has Sense and Sony Ericsson's version is called Rachael.

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