Motorola - 38/79 - Android Police - Android News, Apps, Games, Phones, Tablets

Jul

BootManager Allows You To Install Up To 5 ROMs On One Device, Flashaholics Rejoice

Posted by John Thompson in Applications, Development, Droid (Sholes), EVO 4G (Supersonic), News, Thunderbolt (Mecha)

Not content to wait for manufacturers to get in to shape and update our phones to the latest and greatest versions of Android, most of us here at Android Police have had a brush with a number of custom ROMs in the past.

Whether it's the latest version of Cyanogen or a more obscure mod, there is always a ROM floating around on my phone, and until now I've always had to uninstall one before installing the other. Fortunately, that's about to change thanks to a new application on the Market called BootManager.

This article deals with a couple of advanced topics.

Jul

[Leak] Another Photo Of The Motorola Droid Bionic Surfaces, Tipster Confirms PenTile Display

Posted by Cameron Summerson in Bionic, News

It looks like yet another leaked image of the not-so-illusive Droid Bionic has surfaced over at Droid-Life, but it's really nothing that we haven't already seen:

What this does bring, though, is some new information -- and I can't say that it's welcome news. According to the tipster, the Bionic is sporting the PenTile display that we're not the biggest fans of. However, s/he did point out that there was less ghosting than on the Droid 3/X2 -- but we'll have to see that with our own eyes to determine whether it actually makes the PenTile display more acceptable.

Jul

[Deal Alert] New XOOM WiFi 32GB Available For $429.99 Plus $5 Shipping At Daily Steals

Posted by John Thompson in Deals, News, XOOM

We've seen some great deals on XOOM as of late, with Staples offering the tablet for just $450 brand new earlier this month, and a refurbished model going for a mere $399.99 a few days later.

If, despite those deals, you still haven't pulled the trigger on the XOOM, this latest offer may just tempt you even further. Daily Steals is offering the tablet brand new with Wi-Fi and 32GB of storage for just $429.99 plus $5 shipping until the end of the day.

Although the price may not be as low as the refurbished one from a few weeks ago, it certainly is a rock bottom price for a new tablet which is still very capable with a dual core 1GHz processor and 1GB RAM.

Jul

Here Is The Winner (And Runner-Ups) Of The Creative XOOM/Otterbox Defender Design Contest

Posted by Artem Russakovskii in Contests / Giveaways, XOOM

A bit over a week ago, we decided to do something different compared to our regular giveaways and launched a creative contest with the Otterbox Defender case for the XOOM tablet as the grand prize. In order to win, all you had to do was produce the best combination of a XOOM and a reference to Android Police in one picture.

Now that the contest is over and we've sorted through all the entries, I'm ready to announce the winner, unanimously selected by the Android Police team.

#1 - The Winner

Nicholas Smith, your Otterbox Defender case will be in the mail once we get in touch with you.

Jul

[Update: Confirmed] Motorola XOOM To Receive 4G LTE Upgrade In September

Posted by Cameron Summerson in News, Verizon Wireless, XOOM

In the slowly unraveling drama that is the XOOM 4G LTE upgrade, another chapter has been put in place. Rumor has it that VZW XOOM owners may receive an email today letting them know the the upgrade will happen in September -- but we have no confirmation as of yet.

Update: Here is the email we received confirming that the update should indeed start in September:

The original word on the street was that the upgrade should have happened only three months after launch, a deadline severely missed by Motorola/Verizon. If the September date is correct, the VZW XOOM will have been out for seven months when it finally gets its 4G LTE chip. To add insult to injury, the 4G LTE equipped Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 is set to hit Big Red's shelves on July 28th.

Jul

AT&T Promises Gingerbread To All Post-Paid 2011 Android Phones

Posted by Cameron Summerson in AT&T, Atrix 4G (Olympus), Captivate, Gingerbread 2.3, Infuse 4G, Inspire 4G (Ace, Stallion), News

It looks like the ATRIX Gingerbread update that started over the weekend is just the start of a line of updates set to hit all AT&T 2011 model post-paid smartphones by the end of this year. Ma Bell is standing on the rooftop shouting out this glorious news for all to hear, along with a list of the phones that will see Android 2.3 sometime this year:

HTC Inspire 4G
LG Phoenix
Motorola ATRIX 4G
Pantech Crossover
Samsung Captivate
Samsung Infuse 4G

Once the ATRIX update is complete, the next device to get some Gingerbread lovin' will be the HTC Inspire 4G, with the update rolling out "in the coming weeks."

Where applicable, the updates will be in delivered OTA (over-the-air) fashion, but in some cases may require PC intervention (because we all know how much manufacturers love their proprietary software).

Jul

ATRIX 4G Gingerbread Update Now Available Via OTA - Brings Sideloading, New MOTOBLUR

Posted by David Ruddock in Atrix 4G (Olympus), Gingerbread 2.3, Motorola, News

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.

What does the update bring? Well, Android 2.3.4 is the big star of the OTA. ATRIX 4G users will experience better app performance, UI refinements, and (hopefully) a slew of bugfixes. You'll also get a shiny new version of MOTOBLUR - hopefully one that's similar to what the DROID 3 is running, which we think is the best (well, least bad, maybe) version of the skin to date, and by a country mile.

Jul

The 5 Best Android Phones Under $60 (US Only) - July 2011

Posted by David Ruddock in Deals, Droid 3, Droid X2, Nexus S (Crespo/Soju), Nexus S 4G (Crespo4g), Revolution, Sprint, T-Mobile, Verizon Wireless

I know, I know. The last one was under $50, and preferably free. But in our attempt to keep you updated with the latest and greatest deals on the latest and greatest devices, we had to make sacrifices. Fortunately, that means there are also no repeat appearances from last month's post, though you should still check it out - a lot of those handsets (aside from the DROID 2) are still viable choices.

So, you get a fresh batch of deals, on a fresh set of phones. Oh, 4 of the 5 are for Verizon - and AT&T and T-Mobile are left out of this month's roundup (though the $50 Infuse deal at Target gets an honorable mention).

Jul

Motorola Droid X2 Gets 2nd-Init Support, Opens The Gate For Custom ROMs

Posted by Cameron Summerson in Droid X2, News

The technology that allowed custom ROMs like CyanogenMod on the Droid X/2 and Atrix - 2nd-Init - has now been ported to the Droid X2 by XDA forum member edgan. According to the source thread, it was a direct port from the Atrix, as the code was not modified whatsoever, only re-compiled.

Before I go any further, let's get one important piece of information out of the way: this does not unlock the bootloader or allow custom kernels; it simply brings full custom ROM support.

This is still in very early stages of development, so it's recommended that the average Joe leave it be until devs can spend a little more time with it.

Jul

DROID 3 Review: It's The Best DROID To Date - Pentile And No 4G Be Damned

Posted by Jaroslav Stekl in Droid 3, Motorola, Phone Reviews, Reviews, Verizon Wireless

Last Updated: October 3rd, 2011

The original DROID blew everyone away. It saved Motorola from almost certain bankruptcy, breathed new life into Verizon's smartphone catalog, and made Android a desirable mobile operating system rather than a cheap alternative to iOS. In short, it ushered in a new age of Android devices.

A lot had changed by the time its successor, the DROID 2, launched. The latest Android handsets had larger displays, better designs, and (perhaps most importantly) less buggy custom UIs. While the D2 wasn't a bad phone, it didn't stand a chance - frankly, Motorola had brought a knife to a gunfight.

And now, in July of 2011, yet another sea of change has hit the Android realm.