A Motorola DROID owner thought that his phone was a real robot when it started surfing the web, answering emails and making phone calls by itself in the middle of the night. The next evening, not only did the handset get back on the web, it again answered emails and made calls to the owner’s parents, neighbors and a client. The neighbors were so alarmed by the call in the middle of the night that they rushed over to see if anything was wrong. A virus scanner showed no problems. Did this DROID actually have a mind of its own? Uh, not really. His problem was traced to one of those replacement chargers that you might see on sale at your local drug store. Another forum member had the same problems arise after he purchased a cheap replacement charger from eBay. But there is more to this story. A number of DROID owners using the Motorola supplied charger are complaining about their beloved handset doing things on its own. Verizon has been good so far in replacing these runaway units, but no one can give a precise explanation why it happens. Some are blaming static electricity while others point to some kind of software bug. For some, even a Master Reset would not help.
If your Motorola DROID starts to come to life, do not panic. If you are using a charger that is not original equipment, go back to the one that came with the phone and see if that fixes the problem. If that fails, you could bring your DROID back to Verizon and see what they suggest. This is an ongoing problem that started within weeks of launch and new complaints keep popping up on the DROID FORUMS board. Not even for one second do we believe that a contingent of Android powered Motorola phones will each start making rogue calls, sending out gibberish emails and surfing the web in a diabolical plot to take over the world. That we leave up to Apple and the iPhone.
source: DROIDFORUMS
Many people might not be too familiar with the name Martin Cooper, but unlike the big CEO names in the mobile world out there, he has some deeper connections with the foundation of the modern cell phone. In fact, Martin Cooper is none other than the inventor of the cellular telephone that today we consider an all too needed commodity. Cooper was able to to sit down and do a piece on C-SPAN where he discussed the spectrum and politics surrounding the cell phone industry. After much talk, the topic on hand then shifted to the focus of what handset he was carrying on a day-to-day basis. Cooper went on to say, “Depends when you ask me. I always have the latest cell phone, and I try every cell phone out, only because people like you keep asking me. Right now I’m using the Droid, because I want to get some experience with the Android operating system, and I, so far, have some favorable results.” Android has seemed to get under the nose of a lot of people in the industry – as we’ve heard not too long ago how Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak took a dive into Android with the Nexus One. Cooper actually was using an iPhone prior to the Motorola DROID – he ended up giving that to his grandson. Even though the DROID does almost everything, Cooper still relies on the using a tried and true feature phone for day-to-day calls.
via Android Central
At long last, the Motorola BACKFLIP has finally been made available to the starved customers on AT&T that have been eager to get their taste in Android’s goodness. We managed to get our hands on the Motorola BACKFLIP and pleased to already find AT&T going through with some of their commitments in being more green friendly as the packaging was extremely compact without all the usual hefty cardboard. Underneath it all was the Motorola BACKFLIP which really has this mystical aura surrounding it – seeing that it has been given the duty to launch Android’s push into the final frontier. You can check out our video below in our unboxing experience and get a first hand glimpse of what to expect with the Motorola BACKFLIP. Check back soon as our full in-depth review will be up shortly!
Just because the Motorola i1 is an iDEN model doesn’t mean that the Android flavored phone has to scrimp on features. For example, the same tipster that originally told Engadget that the handset would come equipped with a 3MP camera is now recanting that and passing along the word that the phone will have a 5MP shooter on board. Not bad, Motorola, not bad. But wait, there’s more. The device, formerly known as the Opus One, will feature the MOTOBLUR UI which integrates all of your social networks on your desktop and is not a Google-experience phone. As such, Motorola is free to put an Opera Mobile browser under the hood as the default browser. Wow! When you think of all those handsets available for the prepaid networks, the Motorola i1 has the specs to really, really stand out. And with the economy improving slowly at best, offering handsets like this could make it a lot less painful for some to switch to the unlimited non-contract carriers that will offer the model.
source: Engadget
Sometimes all it takes to sell something so sweet like the Motorola CLIQ XT is nothing but pieces of information on paper. Well, that’s seemingly how it’s actually turning out to become as these pamphlet leaks of the Motorola CLIQ XT provide some pointers to T-Mobile employees and everyone else in between. Just looking at one of the pamphlets, it insinuates a sales process that would clock in at 60 seconds or less to get someone sold on this Android powered smartphone. Obviously one could simply throw in their own flare to really up-sell the handset to would be buyers, but features like its 5-megapixel camera, pinch and zoom navigation, and MOTOBLUR should hopefully be enough to convince the most uninterested consumer to take notice. If you do your homework before this handset is available, you can do a role reversal in stores and really impress that salesperson – potentially getting a part time gig working there as well.
source: Engadget via TmoNews
Macy’s doesn’t tell Gimbels went the old saying. It would be even stranger for Macy’s to tell customers to go shop at Gimbels. As strange as that seems, imagine Steve Jobs telling would-be iPhone buyers to pick up a Palm Pre Plus instead. That is akin to the situation that Motorola found itself doing to Android developers. While the Motorola DROID can load custom ROMs, get overclocked past 1GHz and basically can be hacked into without a problem, the handset’s European relative, the MILESTONE is locked up tighter than the Queen’s Jewels. Digitially signed firmware makes it impossible to load custom ROMs on the MILESTONE and developers were asking Motorola for some help.The response came from Lori Fraleigh from the Motodev team. Her response was that the company knows there are Android developers who want to go beyond application development to experiment with Android system development and re-flashing phones. She recommended that for those doing such work, buying a Google ADP1 developer’s phone, or a Nexus One as both of those models were “intended for those purposes”. Motorola’s Android phone, she explains, are made for the consumer. the DROID, she added, was a deviation from their common business practice and when such deviation occurs, it is because of a specific business reason.
Motorola has released 9 different Android handsets under 12 different names and the DROID is the only one to accept unsigned images and the manufacturer won’t discuss the business reason that made the DROID different. With talk of a Motorola built device heading for Google’s phone store, will the latter force the former to open up that model? In the meantime, developers have the answer to their question. It might not be something that the Schaumburg based company wants repeated like a mantra, but developers looking to experiment with Android should buy HTC.
source: MOTODEV via MotorolaOwnersForum, AndroidandMe
Remember when Motorola told DROID owners to expect the Android 2.1 update by the end of the week? Of course you do. The update never came, and DROID owners have been waiting ever since for Android 2.1, like a jilted lover who keeps waiting for her/his beau to return. But imagine what your handset would be like had Motorola actually done what it promised to. Web site droid-life was able to update a DROID with what they believe to be the official Android 2.1 update that the phone will actually receive-when it finally does come down from the heavens above like manna. What you are about to see is not some custom 2.1 ROM. And, as droid-life warns, following in their footstep could easily brick your DROID, make you miss the OTA upgrade, and turn the universe upside down. Note how smoothly the device runs, especially scrolling and the pinch-to-zoom feature. The handset seems to run faster, too. Now back to reality. The update still is MIA, but hopefully it will be coming soon.
source: droid-life
Motorola is going all out by making its trio of Android handsets enter the market to our friends to the north. Consumers in Canada can really jump up for joy as Motorola has announced that the QUENCH, BACKFLIP, and DEXT are all slated to be available for sale some time within the first half of the year. That looks pretty promising because we’re already heading into the last leg of the first quarter – so there’s a slight possibility it could be released within the next few months. These Android powered smartphone will undoubtedly offer MOTORBLUR to keep owners connected to various social networking sites all from their home screen. The trio of handsets is scheduled to be available through the three major Canadian wireless carriers – that consists of Rogers, Bell, and Telus. One specific thing to point out is that Motorola didn’t exactly specify if all three handsets will actually be available on each of the carriers or if one gets some kind of exclusivity on a handset. Motorola’s latest Android offerings will supplement its growing presence in the Canadian market as the Motorola MILESTONE is already making some headlines over there.
source: Motorola via Unwired View
Eerily similar to the events that unfolded between Google’s Android launch in China, AT&T executed a move that makes some people scratch their heads – they opted to go with using Yahoo for the default search provider as opposed to Google. This is similar to how Motorola ended up choosing Baidu as the search engine of choice in its Android phone in China as Google and the country were still not in good terms over some recent events. As AT&T customers will soon have their chance in purchasing the Motorola BACKFLIP in stores, rumors also suggest that AT&T might take out some of the native Android apps in favor for their own – this would include AllSport GPS, AT&T Maps, AT&T Music, AT&T Navigator, AT&T Wi-Fi Hotspots, Mobile Banking, MobiTV, MusicID, Where, and YPmobile. It may seem a bit foreign to some customers as they begin to comprehend why a Google Android phone uses Yahoo as its default search engine – we’ll see how it all pans out as the BACKFLIP makes its way to Android starved AT&T customers.
source: Engadget via Android and Me
As we recently reported, AT&T is expected to launch it’s first Android flavored device this Sunday, March 7th. Engadget was able to get its hands on the Motorola BACKFLIP. With its unique form factor, the handset has the honor of being the carrier’s first phone with the green robot. When the device is closed, the display faces out on one side and the QWERTY faces out on the other side with a 5MP camera that is better than the DROID’s shooter according to the web site. When closed, the QWERTY keyboard shuts off to prevent accidental touches of the letters. Behind the display is a touchpad that allows you to use your thumbs to move things around the screen. The manufacturer calls it the BackTrack. Engadget calls it a waste, saying that it doesn’t add any value.
Engadget made some interesting comments. The phone, they said, is laggy out of the box-and that’s before you start downloading apps. Yahoo provides the default search engine on the device and yeah, AT&T has that blood feud with Google which is why the Touch Diamond and Touch Pro variants for AT&T didn’t have a YouTube client out of the box. Back to the BACKFLIP. Engadget says that one handed closing of the phone is a no-no unless you like bending over and picking up the pieces of the phone on the floor. The food is shoe-horned full of AT&T apps like AllSport GPS, AT&T Maps, AT&T Music (replacing the usual music app), AT&T Navigator, AT&T Mobile Banking, MobiTV and more. The unit is built solidly, a step above the CLIQ, and while MOTOBLUR looks and acts the same as on the CLIQ, the widgets-Social status, Messages and Happenings-have been moved to the home page one move to the left of the main one. In an hour of use, the BACKFLIP had one spontaneous reboot, which means this could be something to keep an eye on. The manufacturer has had problems with its firmware upgrade for the CLIQ, so let’s hope that this isn’t something that Motorola is having trouble wrapping its hands around. Anyway, let’s concentrate on the positive. March 7th, AT&T, Motorola BACKFLIP, $99.99 after a $100 mail-in rebate and a 2 year contract. Be there.
source: Engadget
