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Sphero's BB-8 remote control toy was a massive hit when it was released in 2015, partially because it was a great product, but also because the hype machine for The Force Awakens was at full speed. Now that another main series Star Wars film is on the way, it only makes sense that Disney would again partner with Sphero. Except this time, there are two of them.
What's better than a remote control BB-8 toy, you ask? A remote control BB-8 toy on sale. Perhaps a day early for May the 4th (as in "May the Force be with you"), Sphero has discounted the popular toy to just $122 on Amazon.If you're not familiar with it, the droid is primarily designed to be controlled with the provided iOS and Android applications. It can move up to 30m away from the controller, and should last for about 60 minutes on a single charge.The bundle on sale includes the 'Force Band,' which allows you to control BB-8 with hand gestures. You can find it on Amazon at the link below.
The Verizon-exclusive Droid Turbo 2 was released almost a year ago, and promptly made headlines with claims of a shatterproof screen. Verizon and Motrola have at least made an effort to keep the device updated, compared to other devices on Big Red, and it even received Android 6.0 Marshmallow earlier this year. Now owners of the Turbo 2 can finally use WiFi calling, courtesy of a software update.
We've learned a lot since Lenovo's (this is still a bit difficult to say) Moto Z and Z Force were announced last month. First, that they'd be launching as Verizon exclusives (unlocked versions are scheduled for September), then that they don't have a 3.5mm plug but do come with a USB-C to 3.5mm adapter, and have 2 years of free original quality Google Photos uploads. Pros... and cons. We also heard rumors about the different Moto Mods' pricing, but no date or prices were fully confirmed until today.
Motorola under the stewardship of Lenovo is doing something very different this year. The Moto X brand may not be gone, but it's certainly not the company's focus right now. Instead, we have the Moto Z and Moto Z Force. They're thin and they have Moto Mods—snap-on modules like projectors and speakers that make the phones much less thin. The Z is coming to Verizon first as a Droid phone (that's what I have to review), but the device I'm looking at now is very similar to what Motorola will release unlocked later this year.
Like it or not, it's clear that Motorola's often-leaked upcoming batch of phones will be very different from the relatively straightforward designs in its current lineup. Previous leaks indicated that at least some of the models in the refreshed Moto X (or possibly Moto Z) and DROID series will have add-on modules called "MotoMod" that snap onto the back of the phone via a proprietary interface. It's a lot like the direction that LG is taking with its modular G5.
Motorola has never been very good at keeping a secret, and rumblings of its next-gen phones in the Moto X and Moto G lines have been leaking out to the Internet for several months now. Between a supposed "prototype" image and what look like rendered press shots, no one has been able to completely confirm the design of the upcoming phones, but they certainly look promising. Today the HelloMotoHK Google+ account has posted three new images, two of which seem to show a rendered version of the leaked 2016 Moto X and another that looks like a DROID variant.
Sphero's tiny, motorized BB-8 droid (based on the company's well-known ball robot design) was the Star Wars toy to have when Episode VII hit theaters last year. It's become less of a hot commodity since then, but Sphero keeps adding new things to do with the toy, and now you can actually find it on store shelves. The miniature astromech was just a little past the impulse buy range at $150 retail, though it looks like most retailers have taken it down to $130 or so. Today Amazon has the toy for even less.The BB-8 toy and its wireless charging base are now down to 0 even, thirty bucks off of the original retail price. (Remember that you'll need a phone or tablet running Android or iOS to use as a controller, just like the original Sphero.) It's available with free two-day shipping for Prime members, but it's still expensive enough that it should qualify for free shipping anyway. The main Amazon listing is charging sales tax in California, but it looks like another merchant (also with Prime) is selling it for the same price with no tax. Nice.The Sphero can be remote controlled in its default mode, and it includes some rudimentary autonomous functions like voice control and various movie-style boops and beeps. A software update to the controller app made it possible for BB-8 to "watch" Episode VII with its owners, reacting to the on-screen scenes from the movie. There's no indication of when the price will go back up, but bargain hunters might want to wait until the Rogue One toys start hitting shelves... and collectors deplete their disposable income.Source: Amazon
Verizon's yearly refresh of its exclusive DROID line is fast approaching. The company will announce its new Motorola-produced phones on October 27th (a week from Tuesday), but thanks to a series of leaks, there won't be a lot of surprises on stage. The latest one is a pamphlet for the DROID Turbo 2, a high-end sequel to last year's flagship, and the DROID Maxx 2, a mid-range option that focuses on battery life. The leak comes from Droid Life, and it confirms several details that were leaked and/or rumored previously.
The new Moto X Pure Edition is great, and it works on Verizon. Still, if you're looking for something with direct carrier support for things like VoLTE and financing, Motorola will soon have something for you. Verizon and Motorla will be having a joint event on October 27th to announce the new Droid phones. Yes, phones, plural.
When the economical and long-lasting Moto X Play was announced specifically without US availability, it raised a few eyebrows here at Android Police. Some of us speculated that Motorola's tight relationship with Verizon, which goes all the way back to an exclusive on the original QWERTY-packing DROID, might have something to do with it. According to a report from Phandroid, that may indeed be the case. The site is reporting that the American carrier will sell a customized version of the Moto X Play as a sequel to its 2013 flagship, the DROID Maxx.
Google and the various major Android device vendors and carriers are scrambling to patch the recently-discovered Stagefright exploit, a weakness in Android's multimedia processing that can allow remote access via a simple MMS message. Google has already begun patching Nexus devices, and Samsung is working its way through its extensive product range starting with flagships. Yesterday Motorola released its plans to update its phones.
Our friends over at Android Central have apparently gotten their hands on some marketing materials for the upcoming Droid Turbo for Verizon. They confirm much of the information that was already leaked, and also add a few new tidbits for you to chew on. As expected, this phone is packing some crazy hardware.
You have to admire Verizon's commitment to the robot thing. Every year the @DroidLanding Twitter account comes back to life in the lead up to a new Droid announcement. This year it's just in time for the Motorola event on Thursday.
Motorola first released the Droid Zap app back in August, and while it consisted largely of blacks and reds, it still provided a relatively integrated experience. But already, things were changing, and they haven't slowed since - Android apps these days are filled with image-heavy cards and convenient sidebars. Now the latest version of Droid Zap has both of these elements.
This afternoon, Motorola's Punit Soni shared a post on Google+ to follow up on the company's earlier "more to share soon..." post. Soni's post pointed users toward Motorola Mobility's online upgrade checking interface, which tells users whether or not their Motorola device will be receiving any planned updates.
The new Verizon DROID devices announced last week had been thoroughly leaked before the event, but one thing nobody expected was Motorola's new X8 mobile computing platform. The Google subsidiary was intentionally vague when discussing the chip, leaving us scratching our heads. Now Motorola has opened up about the hardware powering those DROIDs, and maybe the Moto X, which will be announced tomorrow.
We have less than half a day left before the big Verizon triple-threat reveal of the new 2013 DROID family in New York City and San Francisco. The DROID Mini, DROID Ultra, and DROID MAXX should be worthy follow-ups to last year's DROID RAZR M, DROID RAZR HD, and DROID RAZR MAXX HD. In this post, I'm not going to talk about processor specs, RAM, or internal storage. Instead, I wanted to provide reliable information about these phones' batteries, along with the confirmations of wireless charging support built right into them. As a bonus, NFC and Wi-Fi details are also presented.
Motorola has new phones for Verizon coming very soon, in case you hadn't heard. We've already seen a pretty convincing leak of the DROID MAXX, a Kevlar-cloaked updated version of Moto's DROID RAZR MAXX HD. Leakster extraordinaire Evleaks just posted another press shot, this time showing off the DROID Mini (or possibly MINI) next to the DROID Ultra and the nearly identical DROID MAXX with a bigger battery. The Mini and Ultra are assumed to be updated versions of the DROID RAZR M and DROID RAZR HD, respectively. Now pardon me, I need to get a new Shift key for my keyboard.