Verizon plans to push out updates to the Samsung Fascinate and Motorola Droid Pro. Not a new version of Android, but “enhancements and improvements.” – Verizon Wireless is planning to push out software updates to
its Samsung Fascinate (Verizons Galaxy S handset) and Motorola Droid Pro, it
announced Jan. 13. The updates arent new versions of the smartphones Android
operating system, but rather “enhancements” and “improvements” the
distincti…
The speed of Motorola’s new Atrix 4G and Droid Bionic will raise the bar in smartphone performance later this year. Will consumers jump for the speed bump? – Tablets may have defined the geeky gestalt of the 2011 Consumer Electronics
Show, but the show will also be undoubtedly viewed as the coming-out party for
smartphones and a tablet with dual-core processors.
Motorola’s Atrix 4G handset, Droid Bionic smartphone and
Motorola Xoom tablet will all ru…
Motorola, Toshiba, HTC and other tech giants are using this year’s Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas to debut their latest and greatest products. In what should prove a surprise to exactly nobody, many of those products are smartphones and tablets. While every company is offering something different with regard to software and hardware, some trends are definitely emerging: Many of the upcoming tablets, including the Motorola Xoom and Toshiba’s tablet, embrace Android 3.0. With regard to smartphones, manufacturers definitely have their eye on 4G networks.
If last year’s CES was all about e-readers for many companies, this one is all about tablets. Companies such as Research In Motion (with its PlayBook) hope to make a dent in the increasingly crowded space. Other tech stalwarts, though, seem more concerned with offering the latest devices in entirely different product lines, including connected TVs and in-car IT systems. In any case, the sheer number of new devices poised to enter the market suggests that 2011 will be a very big year for tech. – …
LAS VEGAS& With more than 10 million Galaxy S handsets sold, Samsung may be the worldwide leader in Android smartphones. But Motorola easily dusted Samsung in the presentation category at the 2011 Consumer Electronics Show here this week. The phone maker, which has put all its chips on the Android table, became a tablet maker with the Motorola Xoom dual-core device, slated for launch in February. The Xoom sports Android 3.0 with several 3-D capabilities baked into the UI. Motorola also unveiled two high-end smartphones running on the top two U.S. carriers’ networks: the Atrix 4G on AT&T and the Droid Bionic for Verizon Wireless. After their initial launch Jan. 5, eWEEK tracked down all of the gadgets on the show floor. The devices were tethered, so it was hard to judge their weight and feel, but the processing speed was definitely impressive running YouTube and other applications. We took a few pictures here for good measure, and also noted a Toshiba Android tablet that no one is allowed to touch. We have more details on that below. – …
On Jan. 4, Motorola will split off a portion of its enterprise business into a separately traded company. The move will reportedly help it to better focus on customers. – Motorola has announced that its planned separation into two companies will occur Jan. 4, despite hopes of completing the transition by years end. The company will separate its consumer side, which makes products such as the successful Droid and Droid 2 smartphones, from a side that sells enterprise …
Verizon Wireless is selling the Motorola Droid 2 Global, powered by a 1.2 GHz processor for $199.99 with a two-year contract. It’s also got quad-band GSM global roaming. – Verizon Wireless last week very quietly began selling the Motorola Droid 2 Global, a faster device than its predecessor and one that works around the world, for $199.99 with a two-year contract.
Like the Motorola Droid 2 Verizon began selling in August, the Droid 2 Global is based on Android 2.2, s…
Samsung, Motorola, RIM, Acer and Intel are just some of the companies angling their newest products toward holiday shoppers. Whether providing a new twist on the BlackBerry or Droid franchises, a new Android-powered e-reader from Barnes & Noble, or the chips powering new lines of netbooks and tablets, these companies hope that consumers (and maybe a few businesses) will prefer their wares over rivals in an increasingly crowded field.
Mobility seems to be bigger than ever, both in terms of the actual devices again, tablets and smartphones seem to be the most highly prized items and the array of companies creating software or hardware to make them better. At a recent New York City event, Corning which makes the ultra-tough Gorilla Glass now integrated onto a growing number of smartphone screens hosted a booth near manufacturers such as Motorola. Should holiday shoppers gravitate toward these products, then manufacturers and companies of all stripes could be looking at a merry quarter, profitwise. – …
The Droid Incredible, Motorola Droid X, Motorola Droid 2 and new Motorola Droid Pro are available through Monday for $0.01 from AmazonWireless.com. Merry Christmas. – Amazon.com reprised its 1-penny sale, offering four Verizon Wireless Droid
models and more than 100 other phones for $0.01 each with a two-year contract
and a $35 credit for the activation fee.
The Droid Incredible, Motorola Droid X, Motorola Droid 2 and the new
Motorola Droid Pro are available …
Have smaller fingers? The Android 2.2-based Motorola Droid Pro for business users on Verizon Wireless may be the smartphone for you. To all others, get a BlackBerry. – Motorola’s Droid Pro, which Verizon Wireless is selling now
for $179.99 after a $100 rebate with a two-year deal, presents a case study in
smartphones that look great, feel great in the hand, but whose user experience
is wanting.
That sums up the Droid Pro hardware, which I will circle
back to…
Launched to Verizon Wireless stores Nov. 18, Motorola Droid Pro is one of the carrier’s latest stocking stuffers for the holiday season, joining the summer’s Motorola Droid X and Motorola Droid 2 as an Android 2.2-based smartphone with a 1 GHz processor with the complete Google Mobile apps experience. But this Droid isn’t like the others. Droid Pro is markedly different from those media-friendly devices because it’s enterprise-friendly, or tries to be. The handset eschews the virtual keyboard of the other Droids for a full QWERTY keyboard, giving it a RIM Blackberry feel like no other Droid before. Also, this is the first device to fully leverage the enterprise capabilities baked into Android 2.2. That means the device supports both Exchange e-mail and Gmail for business, letting users view, edit and share Google Docs as well as Microsoft Excel spreadsheets, PowerPoint presentations and Word documents. There is also corporate directory look-up and unified calendar for enterprise and sync with Google Calendar. The real hook for security-serious enterprises may be the AuthenTec IPSec multiheaded VPN integration, remote wipe of the device and SD card and the complex password support Android 2.2 affords the Droid Pro. Verizon is selling the compact handset now for $180 after a $100 mail-in rebate and with a new two-year contract. This eWEEK slide show runs through the hardware and provides several snapshots of how apps look like on the device. – …
The enterprise-ready, Android 2.2-running Motorola Droid Pro will be available for preordering on the Verizon Wireless network Nov. 9. – Verizon Wireless will begin accepting preorders for the Motorola
Droid Pro Nov. 9, before launching the Android 2.2-running smartphone
in stores Nov. 18.
Pricing has been set at $180, after a $100 mail-in rebate and with a
new two-year contract. Users will also need to subscribe to a Verizon
N…
Verizon Wireless will push out V Cast App for Android store on its HTC Droid Incredible smartphone next week. V Cast Apps is an alternative to Googles Android Market. – Verizon Wireless Nov. 4 said it is making its V Cast Apps for Android store
available on its HTC Droid Incredible
smartphone via a software upgrade next week.
Launched in September, Verizons V Cast Apps for
Android is one of a handful of Android application stores companies with stakes
in Andro…
Coverity found 88 "high-risk" defects in the Android kernel used in HTC’s Droid Incredible smartphone. – App testing firm Coverity uncovered 88 high-risk defects in the source
code for the Android kernel used in HTC’s
Droid Incredible.
The data was collected for the quot;2010 Coverity Scan Open Source
Integrity Report. quot; Although Coverity refrained from revealing
the specific defects, the …
Motorola’s Android-based Droid X and Droid 2 helped buoy the phone maker to a $109 million profit for the third quarter. Revenues hit $4.9 billion, up 13 percent from Q3 2009. – Motorola’s bet on Google’s Android operating system paid
off again in the third quarter, as the company reported a $109 million profit
well above the $12 million earned in the year-ago quarter.
The phone maker’s revenues hit $4.9 billion, up 13 percent from a
year-ago. Motorola’s stock rose to $…
Verizon Wireless is now featuring Kindle for Android directly on the application screens of the Samsung Fascinate and Motorola Droid X and Droid 2 smartphones. – Verizon Wireless Oct. 13 teamed with Amazon.com to preload the
Kindle for Android application on the application screens of the
Samsung Fascinate and Motorola Droid X and Droid 2 smartphones.
Kindle for Android lets readers search, download and read from more
than 700,000 books in the Kindle S…
Motorola debuted its holiday lineup of Android smartphones at the CTIA Enterprise & Applications show in San Francisco Oct. 5. The phone maker’s collection is led by the Android 2.2-based Droid Pro, which includes AuthenTec IPSec multiheaded VPN integration, remote wipe of device and SD card, and complex password support. Device and SD card encryption will be available in early 2011. Push e-mail with corporate-grade security is also a big draw for the device. Verizon Wireless will sell the device sometime in November, one year after launching its flagship Motorola Droid device. The Motorola Citrus and Spice, both based on Android 2.1, are lower-end models with a focus on the environment. The Citrus is rounded while the Spice is a little longer to support the slideout screen. The Android 2.1-based Flipout and Flipside–cousins to the Motorola Backflip–will also be available in Q4 this year. Bravo provides the encore with a 3.7-inch display. With lineups like these for the holidays, there’s no small surprise Android is gaining market share versus RIM and iPhone. Check out the new devices here. – …
A push of six Android smartphones, including the Android-running Droid Pro and Citrus, comes as Motorola prepares to spin off its handset business. – Motorola introduced two new Android-running smartphones for the Verizon
Wireless network Oct. 5. The Droid Pro, the first Android phone specifically for
business users, will arrive in the coming weeks, while the Citrus, an
entry-level consumer handset, will arrive later in the quarter.
Motorola …
Skype made its VOIP calling capabilities available to HTC and Motorola smartphones running Google’s Android operating system version 2.1 and above. – Skype Oct. 5 made its voice over IP calling capabilities
available to HTC and Motorola smartphones running Google’s Android platform version 2.1 and later.
Users with Skype accounts who own such handsets as the
Motorola Droid, HTC Droid Incredible and HTC Evo 4G can now make free Skype-to-Skype
…
Attention Star Wars fans: Verizon Wireless will begin selling its Motorola Droid R2-D2 smartphone Sept. 30 for $249.99 after a $100 mail-in rebate. It’s the Droid 2, only geekier. – Verizon Wireless will begin selling its Motorola Droid R2-D2 smartphone
Sept. 30 for $249.99 after a $100 mail-in rebate.
Available online and in some Verizon Wireless stores this Thursday, the Droid
R2-D2 is a Star Wars-themed version of the Motorola Droid 2 handset Verizon
launched for $199.99…
Google’s Android 2.2 operating system began rolling out on Verizon Wireless’ Motorola Droid X smartphone Sept. 22. Customers can have it pushed over the air or pull it manually from their phone. – Google’s Android 2.2 operating system began rolling out on the Motorola
Droid X smartphone Sept. 22, more than two months after Verizon Wireless
launched the handset as its midsummer Droid update.
Verizon Wireless spokesman Albert Aydin confirmed the upgrade, telling eWEEK
that the software bump…
