Posted under Gadget Reviews
This post was written by Journalist on April 11, 2011
The R2-D2 Droid Phone You Have Been Looking For
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Geeks and Star Wars fans can soon get a souped-up limited edition of the Droid 2 phone. Verizon Wireless will introduce a R2-D2 Droid phone in a custom box resembling carbonite, a fictional compound in the Star Wars universe. The phone will include features such as themed widgets, media dock and a new app.
The phone will be available online starting September 30. At $250 after a $100 mail-in rebate and with a new two-year contract, the R2-D2 Droid will be more expensive than the regular Droid. The Droid 2 costs $200 with a rebate and a new contract.
The back of the R2-D2 Droid phone has a graphic pattern designed to look like the Astromech Droid from the Star Wars saga. The phone will come pre-loaded with special notification sounds, ringtones and wallpapers.
Other Verizon customers with Android devices running Android 2.1 OS or higher won’t entirely be left out. They will be able to download an app from the Android Market called ‘The Empire Strikes Back.’ The app lets users browse and download Star Wars related content such as trivia and games. ‘
Verizon introduced the second generation Droid phone in August with a faster 1 GHz processor and Android 2.2 Froyo operating system.
Photos: Verizon Wireless
Source:wired.com
Posted under Gadget Reviews
This post was written by Journalist on September 27, 2010
Motorola Cracks Down On Leaked Android Updates For Droid X Phone
Motorola has a tangled history with hardcore Droid X fans as the company in the past has tried to crack down on attempts on to tweak the device. In its latest move, Motorola has sent cease-and-desist letters to websites that hosted a leaked version of the Android 2.2 Froyo update for the pohone.
The leaked files contain Motorola copyrighted software, says the letter sent to the My Droid World, which was one of the sites that hosted the update files. My Droid World says it has now removed the software from its servers.
Motorola introduced the Droid X as a large touchscreen Android phone with a focus on high-definition video and Flash compatibility. On July 15, the Droid X debuted exclusively on Verizon Wireless but it launched with Android 2.1 operating system instead of Android 2.2 Froyo. Motorola planned to offer over-the-air firmware updates to bring Froyo to the Droid X but some users tried to get a step ahead.
The Droid X has been mired in controversy since its launch. Motorola used a bootloader and chip combination that made it difficult for hackers to mod the phone and install custom versions of Android. The bootloader is the software component that loads the operating system in a gadget. Despite that, Android developers have been able to root the device.
For now, intrepid Droid X users have no choice but to wait for the official Froyo update to the Droid X, which is scheduled for early September.
Photo: Droid X (Stefan Armijo/Wired.com)
[via PCmag.com ]
Source:wired.com
Posted under Gadget Reviews
This post was written by Journalist on August 23, 2010
Droid X Gets a Fix For Its Flickering Screen
Motorola Droid X is hit among consumers, having sold out at most Verizon stores, but for some the phone’s display has been an issue.
Some Motorola’s Droid X phone users are experiencing flickering of their display, horizontal and vertical bands in it, and at times a blackout of the entire screen.
But those problems may be fixed soon, says Verizon.
Verizon has issued a statement to say only “a very small number” of users are facing the issue. And help for them is on the way.
“Motorola has resolved the issue and is continuing to ship the phones. Any consumer who experiences a flickering or banding display should contact a Motorola customer support center or Verizon Wireless,” a Verizon Wireless spokesperson told Engadget.
Motorola announced the Droid X on June 23 and the phone hit retail shelves on July 15. The $200 Droid X (after a $100 rebate and with a two-year Verizon contract) has a 4.3-inch screen and a 1 GHz processor. The phone launched with Android 2.1 operating system, but is expected to get an upgrade to Android 2.2 Froyo in the summer.
Droid X’ debut though has left more than just users with display problems unhappy. Last week, Android geeks found that Motorola has made difficult for hackers to mod the Droid X by using a bootloader and chip combination that could potentially brick the phone if it is broken. Motorola has said that the chip combination will boot the phone only when software is installed, squishing hackers’ hopes that they can quickly get custom-ROMs on the device.
Meanwhile, check out this video of a Droid X user whose phone screen started flickering after the device was woken up from its sleep mode.
Photo: Stefan Armijo/Wired.com
Source:wired.com
Posted under Gadget Reviews
This post was written by Journalist on July 21, 2010
Droid X Debut Leaves Hardcore Android Fans Leery
Many Android fans are lining up to get Motorola’s latest phone, the Droid X, which hit retail shelves Thursday morning. But the phone has raised the hackles of some Android geeks.
Motorola has reportedly made it difficult for hackers to mod the Droid X by using a bootloader and chip combination that could potentially brick the phone if it is broken. The bootloader is the software component that loads the operating system in a gadget.
Some Android hackers say Motorola’s move has made it extremely difficult, if not impossible, to load custom versions of Android on the Droid X.
“Motorola wants to keep people from modding their devices,” says Ryan Mills, an Android modder and blogger. “I don’t know if they are just afraid for security purposes, or they just want to stay proprietary.”
However, not everyone agrees that the Droid X will be un-hackable — and it’s impossible to confirm at this point, because almost no one has yet attempted the mod.
Motorola did not respond to a request for comment, while Verizon declined to comment.
The questions around the ability to hack the Droid X have stirred up a debate about how much a handset maker can control Android, which otherwise touts itself as an open source operating system. Android’s ability to be hacked and modded is one of the major draws of the OS.
Handset makers and wireless carriers decide which operating system can run on a phone and customers usually have no choice in the matter. In case of Android, hackers have created their own versions of the read-only memory, or ROM, on their cellphones, which holds the firmware. These custom ROMs can be loaded on an Android device to unlock features in a process known as “flashing.” That means devices that run the custom ROMs can boast features that the handset manufacturer or carrier may not have otherwise included. DIYers have gone so far as to buy phones running Windows Mobile OS and replace it with Android.
In case of the Droid X, the phone’s processor includes a feature invented by IBM called eFuse. eFuse, which is baked into the chips, gives manufacturers the ability to make changes to information on a chip that would otherwise be ‘hard coded.’ It also helps manage power and memory in the device.
p3Droid, a commenter on the MyDroidWorld forum speculates that the eFuse technology looks for information from the bootloader associated with the device. If it doesn’t get that, the eFuse trips the boot up process, leading to a potential bricking of the phone.
“The bootloader in the Droid X is signed with the recovery and the kernel for the device,” explains Steven Bird, who has created custom ROMs for other devices. ” If those don’t correspond it won’t work. It’s not any sort of self-destruct in there.”
The Droid X is not the only Motorola phone to have this technology, he says. Bird says that many of Motorola’s phones including the Droid, Droid X and Milestone all have chips that integrate the eFuse technology.
“HTC has a similar technology with the Incredible that made it very difficult to write custom ROMs for it,” says Bird. “It just means it takes longer to mod the device.”
But at this point, almost all of this talk around the Droid X is “conjecture,” says Steve Klondik, aka ‘Cyanogen,’ an Android hacker who runs the highly popular Cyanogen Mod community.
“From what I have gathered, no one has really tested anything to see if it is true,” he says. “One person who has tried to modify the bootloader says the system broke but we know nothing about how the mod was done and if it was done right.”
Klondik says the first step will be to root–the Android equivalent of jailbreaking–the device. From there, building custom ROMs for the Droid X may be difficult but it can be done, he says.
But it may not be enough to soothe modders like Mills. Mills and a few other Android developers are questioning if Motorola should be part of Android’s Open Handset Alliance if it doesn’t really want its phones to be toyed with.
Photo: Stefan Armijo/Wired.com
Source:wired.com
Posted under Gadget Reviews
This post was written by Journalist on July 15, 2010
