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Soon after Motorola revised its software upgrade timeline, changing the original Atrix 4G's ICS ETA from Q3 2012 to a disheartening "further plans coming soon," a leaked Ice Cream Sandwich build has cropped up on XDA's forums. If you're the owner of an Atrix 4G and you're tired of waiting, there's good news - the leak, which carries an August build date, can be downloaded and installed on your device in just a few easy steps. Here's how it's done:
"I love my lapdock. It's easily the best piece of technology that I've purchased in the last ten years," said no one ever. And Motorola knows that, so they're getting rid of Webtop.
Last week, Motorola made some changes to its ICS timeline. Most of the changes didn't sound so good - several devices that were originally on the roster to get ICS were changed to "further plans coming soon." Among those devices was the ATRIX, Photon, and Electrify, which are all basically the same phone. Now, Motorola has made yet another change to the timeline, and it's not good news for owners of the aforementioned devices.
Motorola Atrix users should be expecting an OTA update this evening (or at least sometime soon), according to Motorola's Global Portal (corroborated by reports from Atrixforums.com). The update evidently includes a handful of improvements, from the "latest Google Android security fixes," to stability improvements, as well as Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, Messaging, and Contacts enhancements. Here's the full list of highlights from Motorola's site:
Hot on the heels of the Droid Razr's leaked fastboot files, two more Motorola devices can now be restored to stock configuration in case of emergency.
[Updated: Here Are The Winners!] Mega-Holiday Giveaway #4: Win A Motorola ATRIX 2, A Samsung Stratosphere, Or A DROID Incredible 2
Mega-Holiday Giveaway #4
You thought we'd stop the prize train because it's Sunday? Well, here at Android Police, we give away awesome stuff seven days a week during the holidays, so we've got a bag of goodies for you today, courtesy of RadioShack.
The Motorola lapdock for the original Atrix 4G is being blown out of the AT&T store starting today for $250 off its $300 list price. Yup, just $50 after an instant discount gets you a laptop shell with a 36Wh battery inside.
Yesterday, we took a look at Riptide GP for Tegra devices with the addition of controller support. To celebrate the update and all the fun that adding a controller to your Tegra tablet can bring, we've once again teamed up with NVIDIA to bring our most massive giveaway yet: The Riptide Gaming Power Pack.
If you've been holding out on getting a bundle of goodies to go with your Motorola ATRIX, there is good news. AT&T has just dropped the price of the ATRIX's Entertainment Centre/Webtop Access bundle down to a cool $99. That's down from the original $190 price tag, and still lower than Amazon's offering of $140.
There is good news for Motorola Atrix users with a penchant for rooting and modding as the CyanogenMod Atrix Developers Team has just released a pre-beta of CM7.
Better late than never, right? Motorola's first dual-core handset, the ATRIX 4G, has finally received the green light for Gingerbread - and the OTA is a go. If you head into your Settings menu, and hit About Phone, then System Updates - the update should be waiting for you. If not, just wait a while - OTA's often take several days or even weeks to complete the "rollout" process.
The upcoming Motorola Photon 4G for the Sprint network has been made available for pre-order on Wirefly. While a ship date isn't listed, we know the Photon is being released on the 31st - meaning you can probably expect to receive yours on or a little before that date, if you opt for overnight shipping. $180 will get you on the list for the Photon, but you'll have to be a new Sprint customer to swing that deal.
As an Atrix owner, these past couple of days have been a bit of a "Christmas in (almost) July" celebration. First, we get confirmation that our bootloader will be unlocked with Android 2.3.4. After that, the phone is placed on sale on Amazon for one measly cent. Then XDA Developers say "screw that; we'll give you an unlock on Froyo!"
Even though we reported yesterday that the Motorola Atrix would be receiving the option to unlock its bootloader, a group of dedicated developers on XDA have found a way to do, even on Froyo. The update involves flashing a specifically-coded SBF, and then running commands from the fastboot menu of the phone. If all goes well, you'll get the fabled "device is now unlocked" message, and you will be one step closer to killing that damned Motoblur.
Notch another victory for the Android community: shortly after Motorola publicly stated they would be moving towards unlockable bootloaders - even retroactively where possible - it appears that the Gingerbread update for the Atrix does just that. Brief Mobile laid hands on a leaked early build of the Android 2.3.3 update, and to their delight, found that unlocking the bootloader was as simple as using a simple console command.
Update: I know that most of you have not yet received the update, and now we know why. According to its Twitter page, Motorola has said that it would be "rolling out in phases", so hopefully you'll start to see some update action soon.
ATRIX 4G users rejoice - HSUPA will soon be here, and without any sort of hacky flashing requiring root access. The official Motorola update page for the ATRIX 4G's latest OTA, 4.1.83, has appeared on Motorola's website today. Here's the change log "highlights" according to Moto:
If you have been lusting over the Motorola Atrix 4G but waiting for the perfect deal to come along, wait no more. Throughout the weekend, you can grab this super-hot dual-core device for only $50 with a new two year agreement on AT&T from Amazon Wireless. Unfortunately, this deal doesn't apply to upgrades on existing plans, so those of you that are already with AT&T will be stuck paying $99, which is still quite a good deal for a phone this beastly.
Motorola Atrix and HTC Inspire owners have had good reason to be upset with AT&T's "4G" network - due to the fact that HSUPA wasn't enabled on either of the two devices, users have been plagued with unbearably low upload speeds, and the announcement of an upcoming Atrix update that ignores the problem didn't seem like a good sign. Fortunately, AT&T has used its Facebook page to confirm that software updates enabling normal upload speeds are in the works and are expected to roll out some time in April.
Motorola is preparing to release its first over-the-air update for the ATRIX 4G (beta signup link here, open until Friday at 12PM EST), which should be exciting news for owners of the device, though it may end up inspiring more angst than joy.