Droid (Sholes) - 10/17 - Android Police - Android News, Apps, Games, Phones, Tablets

Mar

Support For Dinosaurs: OG Droid Set To Receive Update FRG83G To Fix SMS Bug

Posted by Will Shanklin in Droid (Sholes), News

It appears that a major glitch like the recent SMS bug can help spur on support even for an ancient (in Android years at least) phone. The original Motorola Droid will start receiving an OTA update today, sporting several crucial messaging-related bug fixes. Update FRG83G brings the Droid's Froyo version up to 2.2.2.

Released over 16 months ago, the OG Droid has actually been fairly well-maintained by Moto, launching with Android 2.0 'Eclair,' and now running an updated build of Froyo. In addition to several property space exploits (like rageagainstthecage) that were patched with 2.2.2, the SMS-related changes to this update include:

Sporadic issues with unintended recipient list corrected for text, picture, video and audio multimedia messages
Correct message populates when messaging application is opened and quickly accessed

While this may not be the Gingerbread update some have been hoping for, there is always CM7 for that, right?

Mar

Droid X2 Is Looking A Lot Like The Droid X - Available "This Week?"

Posted by Will Shanklin in News, Rumors

In an internal memo leaked from SCK (the Radio Shack subsidiary that sets up wireless kiosks at Sam's Club) it appears that the Droid X2 is on its way very soon, and it may not be much of an upgrade over the original. The note to employees says that kiosks can expect to see the Droid X2 (which showed up at the FCC recently) "this week."

So surely Motorola's sequel is an exciting upgrade over the original, right? Well, according to the memo, it will sport a 2GB SD card and sell for the same price as last year's version. As the current model now ships with a 2GB SD card as well (unlike the memo, which has the old information of it shipping with a 16GB card) that leaves us to figure out the rest of the changes.

Mar

[Updated] Google Acknowledges DroidDream: Remotely Wiping Apps, Removing Exploit, Making Changes To Prevent It From Happening Again

Posted by Aaron Gingrich in Android OS, Apps/Games, News

Google continues to be admirably quick to react to DroidDream, the nasty Android Trojan we helped uncover on Tuesday. After removing the offending apps from the Market in just a few minutes of finding out about them, a new post on the Google Mobile Blog reveals that they're now ready to take further steps.

Update: The tool Google is using to bulldoze DroidDream malware off your phone has surfaced in the Android Market: Android Market Security Tool. From the app's description:

"There is no need to download and install this application on your own.

This is an Android Market security update that undoes exploits caused by the malicious applications that were removed from Android Market on 03/01/2011.

Mar

Updated: DroidDream Is Bad - But We Think We Found Something Even Worse (Maybe)

Posted by Aaron Gingrich in Android OS, News

Update: After having a back and forth with Android Security, there's some disagreement as to just how malicious these apps we linked in this post are. We may have jumped the gun here, so hold tight, and we'll keep you informed.

First off, no, we're not trying to be sensationalist. And I'll admit up front that we're a bit light on details at the moment, but we've got a guy who is a professional, seasoned coder, and that's not the type of guy whose opinion you ignore. With that said: yes, we really think that we found something worse.

Among the flood of (mostly) related security/piracy tips we received in the wake of the DroidDream discovery was something that was worth a closer look: two more developers who were putting up more stolen apps.

Mar

[Update: Plug The Hole Yourself] Malware Monster: DroidDream Is An Android Nightmare, And We've Got More Details

Posted by Aaron Gingrich in Android OS, News

Last Updated: March 6th, 2011

Update: Google has officially acknowledged DroidDream and is taking further steps to correct it. Details can be found here: Google Acknowledges DroidDream: Remotely Wiping Apps, Removing Exploit, Making Changes To Prevent It From Happening Again.

Wow - from our perspective, it's almost like the world exploded overnight. We have more information and details on the virus - which Lookout has named "DroidDream" (the word was consistently used in package names by the malware developers) - and some updates on where things stand.

First, we're absolutely amazed at how quickly Google reacted. As mentioned last night, our own Justin Case pinged a contact and the apps were pulled from the market within minutes.

Mar

Updated: Verizon Confirms What It Has Been Saying For A Year: Unlimited Data Is Going Away, Say Hello To Tiers

Posted by David Ruddock in News, Verizon Wireless

While some people were unable to contemplate the possibility that Verizon's all-you-can-eat data plans would be coming to an end, Verizon's CFO Fran Shammo again affirmed the carrier's commitment to move to a tiered system today. When will life start to suck for new or upgrading Verizon customers? This Summer, apparently.

"But David, I already have an unlimited data contract, they have to honor that!" Why yes, they do. Until you want to upgrade to a 4G device, and you have to sign a completely "new" rate plan contract. AT&T is already doing this with the Inspire 4G - if you upgrade from any previous device to the Inspire, AT&T forces you into their limited data plans because your "service" has changed (to "4G").

Feb

Motorola To Offer Webtop Accessories For More Phones, And Gingerbread Updates Are Coming

Posted by David Ruddock in Gingerbread 2.3, Motorola, News

Last Updated: February 4th, 2012

In an investor call today, Motorola's CEO Sanjay Jha revealed two interesting tidbits: first, that the ATRIX 4G's Webtop app and accessory are going to be made available for more Motorola devices in the future, and second, that Gingerbread updates for all of Motorola's high-end Android devices are in the works.

On the former, it may be hard for some to get excited about more Webtop action, as the ATRIX 4G's has been dubbed overpriced and "gimmicky." However, it's important to realize that if Moto plans on continuing to offer Webtop accessories and software, they will also continue improving them. Rather than letting the idea die with the ATRIX 4G, it seems likely that Motorola will work to make Webtop a viable and attractive choice for smartphone users, and that means the technology will have to evolve as time goes on.

Jan

[Giveaway] 6 Excellent Trident Cases Are Up For Grabs - Samsung Vibrant (2), HTC Droid Incredible (2), Motorola Droid X (2)

Posted by Jaroslav Stekl in Contests / Giveaways, Droid X (Shadow), HTC, Incredible, Motorola, Samsung, Vibrant

Last Updated: January 18th, 2011

Introduction

This contest is now over. We have selected the winners - see if you are one of them towards the bottom of the page.

Remember Trident Case, the company that produced the excellent Cyclops case for the EVO 4G? Well, it turns out that very manufacturer has a whole lot more cases in its inventory, including the following beauties:

^{From left to right: the Cyclops case for the Samsung Vibrant, the Kraken case for the HTC Droid Incredible, and the Kraken case for the Motorola Droid X}

As good as they are, however, there will be those of you reluctant to hand over $34.95 for a case to protect your phone, which is understandable in these tough economic times.

Dec

[Rumor] Motorola's Android Tablet To Be Called DROID XOOM, Won't Pack 4G

Posted by Aaron Gingrich in Honeycomb 3.0/3.1/3.2, Motorola, News, XOOM

If Droid Life's sources are to be believed - and given their track record, I'd say they are - then the upcoming Honeycomb tablet from Motorola will be called the DROID XOOM. We've heard of Motorola filing trademarks for the XOOM name, so it would certainly seem to fit. One other tidbit mentioned by their source: the tablet won't come packing LTE.

Is the lack of 4G disappointing? Sure, but based on what we've seen of the tablet (Andy Rubin using it, leaked pictures, teaser video, and teaser site), it may be very, very well worth it anyway.

Dec

Get Into The Holiday Spirit With A Christmas Dock & Droid Icons

Posted by Aaron Gingrich in Apps/Games, Development, News

With Christmas just two (!) days away, it might be time to get in the holiday spirit. Enter XDA-Developers forum members Krynj and AZ2ENVY. Independently of each other, the two have come up with a perfect holiday theme - Krynj a few Christmas-themed docks, and AZ2 a series of Christmas-themed Android icons.

One of the docks (there are six):