Motorola

Feb

Wirefly Gets Touchy-Feely With The Droid 4 In A 13-Minute Video Overview

Posted by Eric Ravenscraft in Droid 4, Motorola, News, Videos

We can't wait for the Droid 4. In the world of smartphones, the QWERTY sliders are a rare and exotic breed these days. Catching a glimpse of a machine with powerful specs and a keyboard-shaped secret gets our mouths watering. So a thirteen minute video will naturally trigger some flood warnings. Wirefly goes hands-on with the Droid 4 in the first video ~~review~~ overview of the latest in the Droid series.

Here's a rundown of Wirefly lays out in the video:

4" 540x960 LCD display
5-row slide-out QWERTY keyboard
1.2Ghz dual-core processor
1GB RAM
LTE
8GB internal storage (expandable

...

Feb

AT&T Motorola Atrix 2 Gets An Update To v55.13.25 - No, It's Not Ice Cream Sandwich

Posted by Eric Ravenscraft in Atrix 2, Motorola, News

Motorola Atrix 2 owners on AT&T are receiving an OTA update to v55.13.25, by AT&T reckoning. In Android versions, that would be 2.3.6, so sorry - no Ice Cream Sandwich for you, yet. Before your hopes are completely dashed, though, here are the full release notes:

Camera: Enhancements to deliver better overall picture taking experience so you never miss a moment
Google Music: Addition of Google Music application so you have greater access to the world of music. Shop millions of songs and hundreds of free tracks. Store your purchases on Google Music for free, and listen instantly on your

...

Feb

[Leak] Internal Verizon Doc Shows Droid 4 Set To Drop February 10th

Posted by Eric Ravenscraft in Droid 4, Motorola, News, Verizon Wireless

The Droid 4 is the latest iteration in the venerable Droid series. Sporting Motorola's new trademark slightly octagon-ish shape, a 1.2Ghz dual-core processor, LTE, and an 8MP rear-shooter, this device brings the Droid series into the world of the future yet again. That future starts February 10th, if this leaked internal Verizon document is to be believed.

An anonymous, but trusted, source sent us this doc from Verizon's internal equipment guide that shows the Droid 4 will launch via all channels February 10th, 2012. Previous rumors have suggested a February 9th release date, and either date is plausible considering Verizon ...

Jan

Motorola Releases More Details About The Dev RAZR Bootloader Unlock Process (And It's Not As Good As It Sounds)

Posted by Cameron Summerson in Droid RAZR, News

Over the weekend, we found out about Moto's upcoming dev-friendly version of the RAZR, its first device with an unlockable bootloader. What we didn't have, however, were any details about how the unlock process would work, how it would affect the warranty, and so on. Moto has now posted the details answering many of those exactly questions, and there's one thing for sure - it doesn't look like it's going to be as good as it sounds.

How it will work

Since this is a developer device, the process will be the exact same as the Nexus devices. It ...

Jan

Samsung Reinvents Average With the Galaxy S Advance - 1GHz Dual-Core Processor, 768MB Of RAM, And Gingerbread

Posted by Eric Ravenscraft in Galaxy S, News, Samsung

Did you think that the Galaxy S II was the follow-up to the widely-popular Galaxy S line of phones from Samsung? Think again! Samsung just announced the Galaxy S Advance, a dual-core, mid-range device sporting an HSPA+ radio and shipping with Gingerbread. The new phone also sports a curved display, which is quickly becoming a hallmark of Samsung phones.

The device isn't a wimp, by any means, but it's also not going to top any benchmarks, which places it firmly in the mid-range of devices, which is a curious position. The phone has 768MB of RAM instead of ...

Jan

[Updated] Motorola Announces "Developer Edition" RAZR With Unlockable Bootloader Headed To Europe And Another Unlockable Device For The U.S. Soon

Posted by Liam Spradlin in Dev, Droid RAZR, Motorola, News

Motorola announced today through its official community blog that a RAZR "Developer Edition" (evidently based on the original Droid RAZR, not its newer MAXX counterpart) is in the works. The dev-friendly device will carry an unlockable bootloader and is poised to hit European markets relatively soon, with a (yet unspecified) unlockable device bound for the U.S. "in the coming months." Oddly enough, the blog post was pulled (perhaps it was published prematurely; Update: it's live once again), but luckily the text of the post has been retained:

New Motorola RAZR™ Developer Edition will feature unlocked bootloader in Europe
We

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Jan

[Update: $199 ($100 Off) On Amazon] Deal Alert: Motorola DROID RAZR MAXX Just $230 ($70 Off) With Contract At Wirefly

Posted by Aaron Gingrich in Deals, Droid RAZR MAXX, Verizon Wireless

As promised, the ultra-impressive DROID RAZR MAXX went on sale today, but for a premium price of $300 with a new two-year contract at Verizon. Not so, says Wirefly, who is charging just $230 for the thin-yet-juiced phone.

What's so special about the MAXX? It's nearly the same as the DROID RAZR, but with one major difference: it's nearly 2mm thicker (for a total thickness of a still-svelte 9mm) to accommodate a whopping 3,300 mAh battery (versus 1,780 in the non-MAXX version).

Definitely sounds like a winner, especially for power users and road warriors. Hit up the ...

Jan

Motorola Announces Q4 Earnings: Only 200k Tablets Shipped, $80m Loss

Posted by Eric Ravenscraft in Motorola, News

Assuming the Google/Motorola merger goes through, Google might want to rethink that whole hands-off approach to managing its new hardware company. According to Motorola's press release, the company saw a net loss of about $80 million, after $3.4 billion in revenue. It's not the worst loss in the world, but shareholders are never happy when they see red.

The tablet sales figures are bad, though. Motorola says in Q4 of 2011, it shipped 200,000 tablets. That is not a typo. Two hundred thousand tablets shipped. "Shipped," by the way, is corporate-speak for "sold to stores." This doesn't necessarily mean ...

Jan

Editorial: Android May Be Winning (Or Not Losing) Battles Against Apple In Court, But Don't Expect An End To The Lawsuits Any Time Soon

Posted by David Ruddock in Android OS, Editorials, Legal, News

Last Updated: January 27th, 2012

A recent Newsweek article has been making the rounds claiming, through an unnamed Apple "insider," that Apple has spent north of $100 million litigating its various grievances against HTC since late 2010. Verifying the accuracy of this number is pretty much impossible. But that doesn't really matter. It may just as well be $80 million, $150 million, or $300 million - the conclusion drawn would remain the same: Apple is spending quite a chunk of income on its growing lawsuit habit.

Apple currently has open suits against Motorola Mobility, Samsung Electronics, and HTC in the ITC (International Trade Commission), ...

Jan

Motorola Motoluxe & Defy Mini Available Now For Pre-Order From Clove; Defy+ JCB Edition Also In Stock

Posted by Abhiroop Basu in Motorola, News

Motorola recently announced two entry-level Android smartphones for the Chinese, European, and Latin American markets, the Defy Mini and the Motoluxe. Both devices are now available for pre-order on Clove, and they are expected to ship in late February/early March.

The Motoluxe is priced at £215 (£258 inc. VAT).

The Defy Mini is priced at £145.83 (£174.99 inc. VAT).

Additionally, Motorola have teamed up with UK-based construction manufacturer JCB to give the "rugged" Defy+ a makeover. The new "Defy+ JCB Edition" is similar, spec-wise, to the earlier Defy+ model, however it now comes cocooned in a "visco-elastic protective ...

Jan

Motorola Mobility Cleared Of Apple's Infringement Claims By ITC, Faces Other Battles

Posted by Liam Spradlin in Android OS, Legal, Motorola, News

International Trade Commission Judge Theodore Essex decided in Washington today that Motorola Mobility did not violate three of Apple's Patents, as the Cupertino tech giant had claimed. Two of the patents related to touchscreen features, including multi touch, and a device's ability to recognize various types of manual input, like sliding and pinching gestures. The third, as Bloomberg explains, "is for a way to add components without having to run an installation program or rebooting."

This case comes as one of many in a long saga of attacks on Android for alleged patent infringement, part of an effort by Apple ...

Jan

[Update: Install It Manually] Motorola's Xoom Update Is Ice Cream Sandwich (IML77) – Rolling Out Now To Testers

Posted by Liam Spradlin in Honeycomb 3.0/3.1/3.2, Ice Cream Sandwich 4.0, News, XOOM

Well, it's official - the "project" Xoom owners have been waiting for is an update to Ice Cream Sandwich, meant as a soak test, expected to last through the weekend. Moto has begun pushing the new software as of 9pm PST. An anonymous tipster has provided us with shots of a private section of Motorola's official XOOM support forum, which confirm that the update is going live to those lucky enough to join the test group.

As you can see, Moto has indicated that they do in fact plan on releasing this software very soon, unless "there is ...

Jan

[CES 2012] Video Hands-On With The Motorola DROID 4

Posted by David Ruddock in 4G, Droid 4, Motorola, News, Videos

Late yesterday, we got a chance to spend some time with the Motorola DROID 4 over at the Verizon booth here at CES, and we have to say - It sure seems like Motorola has done it again. The DROID 4 will likely once again set the bar for QWERTY slider phones, and thanks to the addition of 4G LTE and a snappy TI OMAP 4430 dual-core processor (the same one found in the DROID RAZR), it's also going to be the fastest DROID yet.

Of course, the biggest feature on any DROID is the keyboard, and you can rest ...

Jan

[CES 2012] Motorola To Stop Flooding The Market With Thousands Of Phones

Posted by Ron Amadeo in Motorola, News

"More wood behind fewer arrows."

That's the phrase Larry Page used to describe Google's recent shut down of underperforming products. Stop flooding the market with crap, and focus on fewer, higher quality products. Now it seems Motorola has somehow gotten the exact same idea.

AllThingsD reports that Motorola "plans to release fewer new models this year, in an effort to concentrate its marketing dollars." I hope they are concentrating their design, polish, and update efforts too.

Motorola's release schedule since they jumped on the Android train has been absolutely insane. Their 2011 US product lineup looked something like ...

Jan

[CES 2012] Motorola To Bring More Capabilities To Webtop, Including Google Chrome

Posted by Cameron Summerson in Motorola, News

Have you ever used the Webtop feature built into a number of Motorola's newest devices? According to CEO Sanjay Jha, not many users are actively firing up the desktop-in-a-cellphone feature - less than ten percent, to be exact. Makes sense, though, as it's basically a watered-down desktop experience, and no one really wants that.

According to Jha, Moto is aware of the issues with Webtop and wants to make it more useable. He told The Verge that the next generation of Webtop would bring more capabilities, including a new browser: Google's Chrome. In all honestly, this is probably what the ...