Motorola - 22/79 - Android Police - Android News, Apps, Games, Phones, Tablets

Feb

Editorial: The Thinness War Needs To Stop, Or, Why I Shouldn't Have To Carry A Portable Charger For My Phone

Posted by David Ruddock in Android OS, Editorials, News, RAZR / RAZR MAXX

When it comes to high tech, downsizing is often looked at as a sign of progress. Microprocessors meant whole computers, for the first time, could fit on a desktop. LCD displays made them portable - in the form of laptops. Moore's law proved that chips that once would have been classified as capable of enterprise-level computing now occupy devices that easily fit in your pocket. And advanced lithium-ion batteries meant you could finally take yourself off the AC teat for an appreciable amount of time, and you could charge your gadgets over and over without worrying about the ridiculous cycling fatigue that plagued earlier rechargeable systems.

Feb

SFR Reveals Existence Of Android 4.0.5, Confirms ICS Update Roadmap For Galaxy Nexus, Nexus S, Galaxy SII And HTC Sensation In March 2012

Posted by Abhiroop Basu in Defy+, Galaxy Nexus, Galaxy Pro, Galaxy S II, Ice Cream Sandwich 4.0, News, Nexus S (Crespo/Soju), Sensation / Sensation 4G (Pyramid), Xperia Arc (Anzu, X12), Xperia Mini / Mini Pro (Smultron / Mango), Xperia Ray (Urushi, ST18i)

Just days after hearing about the leaked release of Android 4.0.4 for the Nexus 4G, French mobile phone company SFR has not only announced (Google Translate) which devices will be getting ICS in the coming months, it has also confirmed the existence of Android 4.0.5.

According to its post, the Samsung Galaxy Nexus and Nexus S will be receiving an OTA update to Android 4.0.5 sometime in March, while the HTC Sensation and Galaxy SII will be updated to Android 4.0. In addition, a number of older Android devices, including the LG Optimus Black, HTC Desire S, Desire HD, Samsung Galaxy S, Galaxy Pro, and Motorola Defy+ will be updated to various versions of Android 2.3.

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 with microSD card)
8MP rear camera w/ 1080p HD video recording
1.3MP front camera
1785mAh battery
Android 2.3.5
Micro HDMI port
Ships with Android 2.3.5

The phone also gets put through some benchmark tests.

Feb

ClockworkMod Touch Recoveries Now Out For All Flavors Of Samsung Galaxy S II, Epic 4G; Motorola Cliq; LG Optimus Black, 2X, 3D; HTC Rezound, G2, MT4G

Posted by Artem Russakovskii in CLIQ / DEXT (Morrison), Development, Epic 4G Touch, G2 (Vision), Galaxy S II, HTC, LG, Motorola, myTouch 4G (Glacier), News, Optimus 2X (Star, p990), Optimus 3D (p920) / Thrill 4G (p925), Optimus Black (p970), Rezound, Samsung

The work to bring touch-enabled recoveries to all supported ClockworkMod devices continues, and since the last update a couple of days ago, the following devices now have ClockworkMod Touch available:

Non-US Samsung Galaxy S II
Sprint Samsung Galaxy S II Epic 4G Touch
AT&T Samsung Galaxy S II
T-Mobile Samsung Galaxy S II
Samsung Epic 4G (looks like this one disappeared shortly after due to some bugs)
Motorola Cliq
LG Optimus Black
LG Optimus 2X
LG Optimus 3D
HTC Rezound
HTC G2
HTC MyTouch 4G

This article deals with a couple of advanced topics. If you’re unfamiliar with some of the terms, hit up our primers here:

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 mobile device.

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 tends to prefer either Thursday or Friday device launches.

Jan

[Updated] Koush Adds ClockworkMod Touch Recovery Support To HTC EVO 4G, EVO 3D, Desire, Desire HD, Sensation, Thunderbolt; Motorola Atrix 4G

Posted by Artem Russakovskii in Atrix 4G (Olympus), Desire (Bravo/BravoC), Desire HD (Ace), Development, EVO 3D (Shooter), EVO 4G (Supersonic), HTC, Motorola, Sensation / Sensation 4G (Pyramid), Thunderbolt (Mecha)

Koushik Dutta, the mastermind behind ClockworkMod recoveries and other goodies, has been hard at work today after releasing the initial beta versions of the new Touch iteration of CWM for the Nexuses. "What was he doing?" you may ask. Adding support for more devices, one by one. They are, as of this moment:

HTC EVO 4G
HTC EVO 3D (CDMA/GSM)
HTC Desire GSM
HTC Desire HD
HTC Sensation
Update #1: HTC Thunderbolt added
Motorola Atrix 4G
and, of course, Galaxy Nexus (CDMA/GSM) and Nexus S/S4G that we already knew about

This article deals with a couple of advanced topics. If you’re unfamiliar with some of the terms, hit up our primers here:

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 News, RAZR / RAZR MAXX

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 looks a little something like this (requires ADB):

Reboot into Fastboot Flash Mode by holding power+volume down.

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 Development, Motorola, News, RAZR / RAZR MAXX

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 have some news for the community of people interested in unlockable/relockable bootloaders.

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, RAZR / 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 source link below to see the product page yourself or to order the phone.