13
Sep
R2D2-Droid-Phone

Well, what do you know? Looks like Moto hasn't forgotten about the R2-D2 variant of the Droid 2 after all. We've seen the Gingerbread update come and go for the Droid 2 and Droid 2 Global, and now it's time for our little robot themed friend to join the party.

2011-09-13 10h36_22 2011-09-13 10h35_40

The update brings all of the same features and enhancements of the original Droid 2, and should be hitting devices starting today.

  • New Download Manager
  • App and Power Management Details
  • Multi-touch key-chording
  • Improved word selection copy functionality
  • New UI and color scheme
  • New dock icons
  • App groups
  • Improved security
  • Improved battery life while using Wi-Fi
  • Fixed issue that caused frequent data connection drops
  • Mobile Hotspot status is displayed accurately
  • Improved email application
  • Correct contact name is displayed when receiving SMS messages
  • Emoticons are displayed in messages
  • Forward SMS message conversations accurately
  • Notification LED will flash when new message is received
  • Access My Verizon without any force close errors
  • Compass calibration within Google Maps syncs accurately with your location
  • Geo-tagging features available for camera applications
  • Clock widget updates time correctly
  • Callback numbers now populate in Dialer app
  • GPS apps and programs no longer cause unnecessary device resets
  • Google Books is now preloaded
  • V CAST Apps is now preloaded
  • V CAST Media Manager is now preloaded
  • Blockbuster® movie rentals license remains active after download
  • Keypad backlight turns on in darker settings
  • Improvements in screen display no longer causes display screen to turn black
  • Fixed issue that caused factory resets when the device’s mobile number is changed
  • Fixed issue that caused device reset and a black display screen after over the air upgrades.
27
Sep
droid-2-r2-d2-dock-ofc-2

Not many phones come at the on-contract price of $249, save for the Epic 4G, and now, the latest addition to the Droid family - the R2-D2 edition of the Droid 2. At $249 it's not exactly cheap, but then again, that buys you not just the Star Wars-themed phone itself, but also:

  • a box designed to look like carbonite
  • a special Star Wars dock
  • the interactive live wallpapers we caught sight of earlier
  • a bunch of custom sounds, photos, and widgets
  • a "binoculars" app (your guess is as good as mine as to what that's for)
  • an Empire Strikes Back app that will be available from the Android Market for $2.99 for this device and all other Android phones on Verizon running Android 2.1 and above

droid-2-r2-d2-dock-ofc-2 droid2-r2d2-ofc droid-2-r2-d2-dock-ofc

Of course, the software side of this phone should be ported over to other Android devices soon enough - look no further than the clever hackers developers over at xda-developers for proof of that - but who could say no to an R2-D2-themed phone?

20
Jul
image_thumb102

All kinds of Droid 2 news floating around the interwebs the past few days. We already knew it was coming in August and replacing the original Droid, we caught some blurrycam shots a little over a month ago, and Gizmodo caught a hands on a week later. In case you’ve been AFK for the last few months, it will slot in just below the Droid X:

  • 5 MP Camera
  • 3G Mobile Hotspot
  • 1 GHz CPU
  • 8 GB onboard memory
  • 8 GB mSD card installed, support for up to 16 GB
  • Dark chrome color (rather than black)
  • Roughly the same size as the original

image_thumb102

As speculated last month, new reports seem to confirm that the D2 will ship with Android 2.2 (FroYo).