Motorola Droid: $188 At Wal-Mart?

Topic:

This Friday is the day Android fans around the globe have been waiting for. The Motorola Droid is about to launch, and scores of Android fanboys will (presumably) be lining the streets to get first dibs on their new handsets. While the Droid is definitely a smartphone worth lining up for, you might want to be careful choosing which store to line up in front of.

If you'd planned on picking your Droid up from a Verizon store, you seriously need to reconsider those plans. There the Droid will cost you $299.99 out of pocket, with a $100 rebate redeemable afterwords. As we reported earlier, Best Buy will sell you the Droid for just $199.99, with no rebate hassle of any sort. In addition, Android and Me states that a tipster has informed them that Wal-Mart will be selling the Droid for a total price of just $188 with a 2 year contract. Read more

Posted on Thu, 5 Nov 2009 06:58:54 CST | by Robert Evans

Tethering For The Motorola Droid Is Near

Topic:

Verizon subscribers now have yet another reason to choose the Motorola Droid. While the current incarnation of Big Red's flagship smartphone is fairly hot, it lacks the ability to act as a modem for your notebook. Thankfully, GearLog has it on good authority that Verizon is about to offer tethering on the Droid.

Starting ”early” next year, subscribers who choose the “Broadband Access Connect” plan will be able to use their smartphone as a modem for an additional $15 a month. Of course, your current unlimited data plan won't apply to tethering. Users will have up to 5GB a month. Anything more than that will result in the usual steep penalties.

Posted on Wed, 4 Nov 2009 11:25:22 CST | by Robert Evans

Motorola Droid Review

Topic:

The Motorola Droid will launch on Verizon Wireless this week and comes as the Motorola Milestone to Europe. Our review partner tested the first Android 2.0 smartphone and published this review.
Quote from the review: "Each new Android smartphone seems to improve on its predecessors. But Motorola's latest, the Droid from Verizon Wireless, is a veritable quantum leap well beyond recent peers such as the Samsung Moment and the HTC Hero, both from Sprint - and even the Motorola Cliq (available on T-Mobile). Thank three advantages that the Droid possesses over all other previous Android phones: Its gorgeous 400,000-pixel 16x9 3.7-inch LCD touchscreen, the largest available on a cell phone; the handset's status as the first to run the Android 2.0 operating system; and its pedigree as the first Android phone for Verizon, which arguably operates the nation's best 3G network.
Read more

Posted on Tue, 3 Nov 2009 00:38:39 CST | by Luigi Lugmayr

Motorola Cliq Ships With Bug?

Topic:

Oops! Someone at Motorola didn't check their work quite as thoroughly as they should have. According to Android and Me quite a few owners of the Motorola Cliq have reported a glitch that stops several popular apps from working. The bug apparently stops the phone from accessing the OpenGL API VBO.

Posted on Mon, 2 Nov 2009 11:07:33 CST | by Robert Evans

Motorola Milestone Is Official In Germany

Topic:

The Motorola Milestone already appeared over the weekend, but now Motorola presents the Milestone aka Droid in full glory on their German site.
There is actually one interesting difference between the Droid and the Milestone. The two finger pinch zoom gesture is available on the German Milestone, but not on the U.S. Droid. Engadget features video of the Milestone doing the pinch. The German Milestone specifications on the Motorola site confirm that zooming with two fingers is a feature of the Milestone. Read more

Posted on Mon, 2 Nov 2009 03:56:49 CST | by Luigi Lugmayr

Motorola Droid Goes Germany As Motorola Milestone On O2

Topic:

The Motorola Droid gets a new name when it arrives on O2 in Germany. The Droid will be known as Milestone. I guess because Verizon Wireless takes ownership of the Droid brand, other carriers have to come up with theirs. Verizon is using the Droid brand also for other Android devices like the Droid Eris.
O2 did not unveil the Motorola Milestone yet, but the word is out via BGR and also a link to an O2 webpage appeared in this forum.
Read more

Posted on Sun, 1 Nov 2009 10:37:16 CST | by Luigi Lugmayr

Motorola Droid Coming To AT&T, Canada?

Topic:

If you're an Android fan who lives in Canada, or who uses AT&T as a carrier, I've got some good news for you. The sexy, critically-acclaimed and ultra-fast Motorola Droid could be coming to you. An FCC filing (via Electronista) shows that the Droid is set to run both CDMA and WCDMA. This means that Moto's new flagship smartphone will be able to handle HSPA-based 3G.

Since the Droid can connect on the same bands used by AT&T in the states, and Bell/Rogers/Telus in Canada, it seems likely that the phone is meant to spread to both. It is in Motorola's best interest to get their new #1 smartphone into as many hands as possible. Adding AT&T as a carrier would help that, as would selling the Droid in Canada.

Posted on Sun, 25 Oct 2009 13:32:56 CDT | by Robert Evans

Motorola Cliq Review

Topic:

Our review partner Digital Trends published a review of the new Motorola Cliq Android Phone available on T-Mobile.
The Cliq scored an Editors' Choice Award, calling it the best Android phone so far. Well, the Droid hasn't launched yet.
Quote from the review: "Are you an active Web 2.0 socialite? Do you Twitter and Facebook (or whatever the verbal form of Facebook is)? If you are, the Motorola Cliq is for you. This first Android phone from the company that invented the cellphone aggregates all your social networking accounts and contacts and delivers updates right to the home screen in ways both intuitive, clever and potentially overwhelming. Read more

Posted on Fri, 23 Oct 2009 15:00:00 CDT | by Luigi Lugmayr

Motorola Zeppelin's Backside Spotted

Topic:

What's that, over in China? It's a bird! It's a plane! No...it's a zeppelin! Don't worry, you haven't been transported back in time to the mid-30s, and we're not stuck in some weird steampunk alternate universe. Motorola just has yet another Android smartphone coming down the line. It's codenamed the Motorola zeppelin, and it was captured on film by DIGI.QQ (via Gizmodo), a Chinese tech site, very recently.

DIGI.QQ notes that, due to its dual CDMA/GSM compatibility, the Zeppelin could be designed as the world's first Android travel phone. We don't know what hardware it will pack or what it's front looks like, but we do know that it's set to have a 3.1" touchscreen, a 5 MP camera with flash, and HDMI-out. The Zeppelin is set for a Q1 release in China, and a wider release at some vague point in the future.

Posted on Fri, 23 Oct 2009 09:51:25 CDT | by Robert Evans

Droid Appears In Full Glory On Motorola Site Early

Topic:

The hottest new smartphone that will be officially unveiled some time soon appeared in full detail on the Motorola site. The pages have now been removed, but of course the cat is out of the bag. See the Droid product pages on BoyGeniusReport.
Read more

Posted on Fri, 23 Oct 2009 00:36:21 CDT | by Luigi Lugmayr

Motorola Calgary Android Phone Photos Leak

Topic:

The rumored second Verizon Wireless Android phone from Motorola dubbed currently Motorola Calgary appears in the flesh in photos on BoyGeniusReport.

Verizon Wireless is already teasing and pushing the new Droid as iPhone killer.

The new Motorola Calgary is not as impressive as the Droid. It also has a slide-out QWERTY keyboard but is aimed at the low-to-mid range. Read more

Posted on Wed, 21 Oct 2009 03:00:00 CDT | by Luigi Lugmayr

T-Mobile Users Can Now Get Motorola Cliq

Topic:

If you are a T-Mobile customer, you can now get the Motorola Cliq for $199 plus activation fees and the typical associated costs with getting a new mobile phone. All other users will not be able to get the Cliq until November 2nd.

The Cliq is one of Motorola's very anticipated Android smartphones. One of the key features of the Cliq is Motoblur to allow you to see apps without having to launch them fully. The device is built around social networking with access to Facebook, MySpace, Twitter and more from the home screen. Read more

Posted on Mon, 19 Oct 2009 12:00:00 CDT | by Shane McGlaun

Motorola Droid Hands-On Test And Photos Appear Early

Topic:

Verizon Wireless started officially teasing their new iPhone killer Motorola Droid over the weekend.
If you want to see the Motorola Droid in the wild and get some first hand impressions, BoyGeniusReport has you covered. BGR got their hands on a brand new Verizon Motorola Droid early and published several photos as well as unannounced details. Read more

Posted on Mon, 19 Oct 2009 00:30:11 CDT | by Luigi Lugmayr

Will The Droid Save Motorola?

Topic:

It's been a long, winding road for Verizon's newest smartphone offering, the Motorola Droid. The Droid, which initially went by the name of Sholes, followed by Tao, is Motorola's answer to the iPhone. The struggling manufacturer has pinned all of its hope for recovery on the Android OS, and the Droid itself in particular.

While the Motorola Cliq is a solid smartphone, it doesn't have the power or the hype behind it to become the hit Moto needs. The Droid, on the other hand, features a powerful 600 MHz ARM processor, a 5 MP camera, a 3.7" screen, plus a separate dedicated GPU and Image Signal processor. It's got at least as much 'oomph' behind it as the iPhone, and packs several features that Apple's smartphone can't yet compete with.

Posted on Sun, 18 Oct 2009 12:14:32 CDT | by Robert Evans

Motorola Droid Teaser Video Leaked

Topic:

Somehow, those rascals at Boy Genius have managed to get their hot little hands on a teaser video for the Motorola Droid. The video opens with a black screen, and only the Motorola logo visible. A big red eye appears, a synthetic voice says, "DROID", and we get a glimpse at the unlocking screen, and the UI. It's not exactly a thorough walkthrough, but it's our first look at one of the world's hottest smartphones in action.

Posted on Fri, 16 Oct 2009 04:00:00 CDT | by Robert Evans

Motorola Cliq Android Phone Review Round-Up

Topic:

T-Mobile announced the Motorola Cliq Android phone in early September. Today several tech sites published Motorola Cliq reviews.
Features of the Motorola CLIQ include slide-out QWERTY keyboard, 3.1-inch HVGA touch-screen display, 5MP camera, Wi-fi and Motoblur software.

Engadget reviewer sees the Motorola Cliq as a good basis for future Motorala Andriod phones: "Would we recommend the CLIQ? Against a G1, yes, if for no other reason than the fact that you're getting more internal memory and a more robust, modern, un-weird hardware design. In the bigger picture, though, we'd keep our wallets in our pockets for the time being -- the CLIQ looks and feels like a testbed, not quite ready for primetime but a genuinely heartening sign that Moto's still got a pulse."
Read more

Posted on Thu, 15 Oct 2009 03:00:00 CDT | by Luigi Lugmayr

Motorola Sholes Tablet Coming?

Topic:

Now is a good time to remind everyone that all rumors are not created equal. Sometimes a leak will come out that everyone knows is true. The only thing it lacks is official confirmation from the source. Other times, we'll come across a leak or a rumor that seems almost too weird, silly, or unrealistic to possibly exist. This rumor is one of the latter.

DialAPhone (via Engadget) has come across a possible European roadmap for Motorola's Q4 2009-Q1 2010 releases. It looks like every other roadmap we've ever seen, but the devices it claims to portend sound a little...unbelievable.

Posted on Wed, 14 Oct 2009 11:44:44 CDT | by Robert Evans

Motorola Droid, Calgary In Verizon Internal Systems

Topic:

There's been more hype around the release of the Motorola Droid (aka Sholes aka Tao) than pretty much any smartphone since the iPhone 3GS. By contrast, very little is known about the Calgary, which was initially billed as Motorola's first Android smartphone. The one factor (other than Android) that unites these two smartphones is the fact that, according to Boy Genius, they've both just been spotted in Verizon's internal systems.

Every VZW retail outlet has a gadget called a Cellebrite. The Cellebrite allows employees to transfer customer data from phone to phone. Apparently, the latest Cellebrite update added both the Motorola Droid, and the Calgary A555 to its internal library. This means that both phones are very close to a release date.

Posted on Tue, 13 Oct 2009 09:33:22 CDT | by Robert Evans

Motorola Debut i856 PPT Phone Now Also On Sprint

Topic:

The first slider phone offering push-to-talk service, Motorola Debut i856, is now available from Sprint with the Nextel Direct Connect push-to-talk services. The Debut i856 is already available on Boost Mobile since early September.
The Motorola Debut i856 features a 3.5mm headphone jack for wired headphones and has Bluetooth supporting wireless stereo streaming. The device can be fitted with an optional 8GB microSD card for storage. It also has an integrated camera with video camera function with 1.3MP resolution.
Read more

Posted on Mon, 12 Oct 2009 10:02:07 CDT | by Luigi Lugmayr

Motorola: No WinMo 6.5 Phones

Topic:

In light of their recent financial issues, Motorola made the wise decision to cut down to supporting just two platforms. One of these is obviously Google's Android operating system, and the other will be Windows Mobile 7. You'll notice I specified 7. That's because, according to Phonescoop.com, Motorola will not be supporting WinMo 6.5.

Posted on Wed, 7 Oct 2009 10:13:26 CDT | by Robert Evans

Motorola Unveils Third-party Solutions for its Android Devices

Topic:

Motorola has announced innovative third-party applications that promise to deliver improved experiences for mobile customers using Motorola Android handsets. Motorola is allowing customers to extend and customize their phones with apps that can be pre-loaded, embedded, or downloaded on its Android handsets.

Motorola reports that its ecosystem partners have developed signature applications that consumers expect with their mobile devices. These signature apps are designed to help users personalize their phones so that the user experience is tailored to their lifestyle. Read more

Posted on Wed, 7 Oct 2009 08:00:00 CDT | by Shane McGlaun