The Motorola Droid 4 is the latest subject of iFixit's teardowns. The team managed to remove the non user-removable battery fairly easily, though the hardware QWERTY keyboard is oddly integrated into the motherboard and difficult to repair. This was the main reason iFixit gave the Droid 4 its lowest repairability score to date, at 4 out of 10.
A telling scoop Friday has shown that Verizon plans at least one more HTC Droid Incredible phone. The hardware seen by Phone Arena, known at least temporarily as the Droid Incredible 3, would be a major leap in speed over the Droid Incredible 2 with both LTE-based 4G and a dual-core 1.2GHz Snapdragon. The hardware is conspicuously using the same Android 4.0 plus Sense 4.0 interface as the Ville and could be the first US phone to get the updated layer.
Verizon delivered one of its first smartphones of the new year Friday in the Droid 4. The Motorola headliner we tried at CES is up for $200 on a contract, making it one of the more affordable LTE phones. Buyers can also pick it up for $550 contract-free.
Verizon has just released a slew of software upgrades for its Android-powered gear, including the Droid Xyboard tablets which are getting the 1.6.0M_279 update. It promises to enhance third-party pen and native touch performance, better browsing, maintaining a data connection while swapping from Wi-Fi to broadband, and in a twist now has global roaming for data. The update is nearly 84MB.
HTC had to backtrack on upgrade promises Thursday with a follow-up posting delaying most. Only the Sensation, Sensation 4G, and Sensation XE will get the new OS by the end of March. The Sensation XL would come soon afterwards, but the Amaze 4G, Desire HD, Desire S, Evo 3D, Evo Design 4G, Incredible S, Rezound, and Vivid would only get updates "later this year."
Two sources have hinted that the Droid 4 may have an imminent launch and a moderate price point. The Droid-Life contacts had it shipping on February 9 for $199 on a contract, or as much as the pared-back 16GB Droid RAZR. It was originally rumored to come a week earlier but was moved back for unknown reasons.
Motorola Mobility posted fall results Thursday underscoring the gap between its ambitions in tablets and its actual performance. The company shipped 200,000 Xoom and Xyboard tablets in the last three months of 2011, which while better than its low point in summer was still lower than what it managed in the first two quarters of 2011. It shipped just one million of its Android tablets all year, which Apple's iPad at its current pace can eclipse in less than a week.
Good Technology broke down its latest enterprise stats Wednesday to show that the iPhone 4S had a tangible impact on share at work. The new Apple phone made smartphone activations through the enterprise platform "skyrocket," making up for any pent-up demand from the summer with a record in the fall. iOS as a whole made up 70 percent of the newly switched-on activations, keeping its summer share even in the face of theoretically tougher competition.
Following unintentional slips, Verizon on Tuesday confirmed that the Droid RAZR MAXX will be on shelves this Thursday, January 26. The extra-long lived 4G smartphone will be the new high-end version of the RAZR and carry the 32GB that was cut in half to lower the price for the original design. A RAZR MAXX wil cost $300 on a contract like the original 32GB version.
Verizon on Tuesday posted a rare loss for its fall quarter despite an otherwise upbeat result defined by the iPhone. It lost 71 cents per share through pension compensation but had its best subscriber additions in three years, adding a net 1.5 million new customers. Having shipped 4.2 million iPhones, the credit could go primarily to Apple for the record performance.
Samsung product innovation VP Kevin Packingham in an interview from CES claimed his company had a goal of true all-day battery life on smartphones this year. Along with getting higher battery capacities, Samsung would optimize the wireless activity on cellular and Wi-Fi, as well as tune other components, he told CNET. He admitted that phones like the Droid Charge weren't ideal, in part because of the use of new technologies like LTE that still had young chipssets.
On Wednesday, Motorola unveiled its latest high-end 4G LTE smartphones, the Droid RAZR MAXX and Droid 4. The company didn't provide a release date but has inadvertently ">posted on its own product page that the new Android hardware should ship January 26. The mentions aren't consistent but show that the date may have already been locked before CES.
Earlier this week at CES, LG and Motorola unveiled two new phones destined for Verizon's 4G LTE network. Phone Scoop has learned that the two phones, the Motorola Droid 4 and LG Spectrum, will be able to roam globally using GSM as well as CDMA, Verizon's core wireless technology. This capability should be available sometime during the first half of this year.
Motorola launched several Android phones at CES this week, including two high-end Verizon 4G models, the Droid 4 and the Droid RAZR MAXX. We tried all of them at the floor. Continue on after the break for an early look at what you can expect as they launch.
Motorola has introduced the latest device in its Android lineup, the Droid 4. The handset keeps to the tradition that began with the original Droid, advancing the QWERTY slider into the 4G LTE era. The fourth-generation model measures 0.5-inches thick, similar to the earlier models, however the company claims it is the "thinnest and most powerful" QWERTY LTE smartphone.
The iPhone 4S held off the Galaxy Nexus for the top spot in smartphones on Verizon, Canaccord Genuity analyst T. Michael Walkley found through channel checks. Apple's newest phone still had the top sales spot on every major US carrier that sells it in December, keeping the first Android 4.0 phone at second place. As before, the only carrier where Apple didn't lead was T-Mobile, where it doesn't participate.
Verizon may be on the edge of replacing a large swath of its device line if a rumor floated on New Year's Day is an indicator. Among other withdrawals, a lone source for The Verge had Verizon stopping shipments of the Motorola Droid 3 in January. The exit would likely be in prep for the delayed Droid 4 launch the following month.
Motorola's mobile device VP Christy Wyatt in an interview Friday committed her company to the Lapdock concept. In speaking with AllThingsD, she saw notebook docks like the Lapdock 100 still being important to consolidation. People don't want to be "carrying 52 cords and 52 chargers and multiple data plans," she said, so it made sense to give them a way to extend the main device they have.
HTC is continuing to unlock bootloaders for its devices this week, now adding the Droid Incredible 2 and Thunderbolt. The official program is meant to have all 2011 smartphones unlocked, depending on carriers and their permission. Despite being official, the unlock may void users' warranties.
Verizon has already cut the price of the Motorola Droid Xyboard in a sign of possible slow sales. Both the 8.2- and 10.1-inch models have had their two-year contract prices dropped by $50 to reach $380 and $480 respectively. Off-contract pricing added later are still the same $600 and $700 as before.
The last-minute delay of the Motorola Droid 4 was inadvertently confirmed after a pair of sightings. Visting the Best Buy Reward Zone shows a picture of a bonus point giveaway with the unannounced Android slider clearly in view. Separately, a scrape of the DroidDoes.com page by a Droid-Life tipster has produced audio samples that showed Verizon had already prepared at least some of a Droid 4 page.
Fresh leaks have hinted that the Droid 4 may arrive well beyond its original date. Backed earlier by unofficial tips, a document handed to Droid-Life has the 4G Android slider moving from its originally projected launch today, Thursday, to February 2. No reason was given for the apparently last-minute delay.
Verizon has detailed a new software update (PDF) for the Motorola Droid RAZR. A number of bugs will be addressed with this software, including the SIM Error notification and better stability in menus, the browser, the phone dialer, video playback and the music player to cut down on the Force Close errors and freezes. The camera's features and quality have also been addressed.
An upcoming new Motorola smartphone called the Droid RAZR Maxx is nearing release, as yet another indication of its existence has been leaked, Droid-Life found. First spotted in EXIF photo data as the RAZRMax, though it has now shown up in a Verizon system as the Droid RAZR Maxx, in line with the naming scheme Motorola used years ago for its flip phone. The December 15 date isn't a shipping date, however.
The iPhone 4S is overwhelming talk of other smartphones as holiday picks, Nielsen tracked on Friday. The new iPhone has consistently been the most talked-about device in news and social, at about 40 percent between July and early December. When joined with other iPhone models, Apple had 66 percent of all the buzz, or three times as much as Google's 23 percent for Android.
Verizon followed up on the end of its LTE outage by starting sales of the Motorola Droid Xyboard. The 8.2- and 10.1-inch Android tablets are available to buy online as of Friday and should be in physical stores on Monday. Prices start at $430 for the Xyboard 8.2 with 16GB and 4G on a contract, and $530 for the similarly-equipped Xyboard 10.1.
Verizon on Thursday posted details of a major update to the Motorola Droid Bionic that could alleviate the phone's at times infamous camera lag. The notes outline an improvement to autofocusing on the Android phone that will "reduce the shutter response time." Image quality itself will go up as well, Verizon said.
Motorola has confirmed that its Droid Razr smartphone soon will be available in a white color scheme for Verizon customers. The design differs from recent mock-ups based on an inventory leak, as the 'white' variant is actually mostly black. The outer edge around the display bezel and backside frame are white, though the Kevlar panel and the facade match the existing color scheme.
Motorola took its second shot at tablets in the US with the now official launch of the Droid Xyboard. Its versions of the Xoom 2 come in the same 8.2-inch and 10.1-inch sizes but get the expected 4G LTE upgrade and support for creating a hotspot with as many as eight devices. Along with Motorola's custom apps such as its MotoCast streaming, users primarily get Dijit's remote control app to steer home theater gear.
Apple and Samsung have been gradually taking over the US smartphone market, Canaccord Genuity analyst T. Michael Walkley said in a research note Tuesday. Based on channel checks e saw all three iPhone models gain real-world sell-through share in November and the iPhone 4S continue to be the top seller at AT&T, Sprint, and Verizon. Samsung had achieved a rare feat, however, and saw the Galaxy S II take the second-place spot away from the regular iPhone 4 on AT&T.
Corroborating recent leaks, Motorola's Droid 4 and Xoom 2 Media Edition appear to have arrived at the FCC for approval. The Commission's documents point to an unannounced handset, presumably the Droid 4, that was tested in "slider open" and "slider closed" configurations. The device also provides dual-mode roaming functionality, with support for Verizon's LTE and CDMA networks alongside GSM, EDGE and WCDMA.
A new leak supports notions that the Galaxy Nexus will cost $300 on contract. The tip to the Wall Street Journal didn't say more than to give the two-year price and have the phone on shelves in December. The price was expected given Verizon's typical policy of pricing phones like the HTC Rezound or Motorola Droid RAZR at the same level.
Samsung clinched an important win late Friday after Northern District of California Judge Lucy Koh denied Apple's call for a preliminary ban on key Android devices. The San Jose court told Apple that the Droid Charge, Galaxy S 4G, Infuse 4G, and Galaxy Tab 10.1 would have to stay on sale unless Apple won at the full trial. Koh didn't reject claims of validity, but also didn't believe Apple's view that a ban was urgent.
A tentative leak may have narrowed down the release dates for Verizon's last wave of devices for 2011. The tips to Droid-Life had the Galaxy Nexus arriving a day later than widely reported, on December 9. The Motorola Droid XYBoard tablets would arrive just days later, on December 12.
Motorola has submitted a new LTE-enabled tablet to the FCC for approval. The device supports CDMA/EDVO and the LTE band used by Verizon. This gives rise to speculation that this is the Xoom 2 Media Edition which the carrier will be selling in the US as the 8.2-inch version of the Droid Xyboard.
The Droid XYBoard tablet, also known as the Xoom 2, is expected to arrive at Verizon next week, and it appears accessories for the tablet have already began showing up in stores. Droid-Life found evidence of the accessories at Verizon stores. They include a three-pack of screen protectors, an HD dock and HD station (likely one each for each different sized tablets), and a protective portfolio.
Motorola is believed to be working on a revised version of its Droid RAZR smartphone with a more capacious battery to deal with the power-hungry LTE network. PocketNow found some photos whose EXIF data reveals they were taken by a phone called the Droid RAZRMAX. More digging returned a story on a forum that had a Verizon employee tell the user that such a phone is coming soon.
The promised Android 2.3 update to the Droid Charge from Verizon has now started going live. Users can either wait for automatic delivery or check in settings to push it manually. The update comes one day after it was originally promised, however.
Motorola recently introduced two Android 2.3 smartphones due for release in China. The XT928 and MT917 share hardware specs that are an upgrade even over recent devices, using the same 1.2GHz dual-core processor and 1GB of RAM but with a new 4.5-inch, 1280x720 display and an upgraded 13-megapixel camera capable of shooting 1080p video. There is also a 1.3-megapixel camera up front.
(Update: more pics) Motorola's Droid 4 has had its final specifications narrowed down in a sighting that also hints at its near release. The phone caught by Droid-Life is now known to have dual-mode roaming, letting it travel abroad on HSPA 3G even as it gets LTE 4G on Verizon at home. Also new compared to the Droid RAZR is a slight step back in expandability: while the battery still isn't removable, the side door has been replaced with the need for a special removal tool will let users pop the back to add a microSDHC card for storage or swap the micro SIM for 3G.
Motorola has reportedly chosen to launch the Droid 4 on December 8, coinciding with the rumored release date of Samsung's Galaxy Nexus. A leaked Verizon memo appears to show the Nexus and the Droid 4 slated for December 8, though the ship date for Motorola's handset has yet to be corroborated by separate reports.
Verizon Wireless has just brought out holiday pricing and a number of new devices in time for Thanksgiving and the Black Friday holiday rish. It will get a new, red HTC Droid Incredible 2 and offer Motorola's 4G LTE-equipped Motorola Xoom tablet for $200 on contract. Both will be available online on November 24, 25, and 28, and in-store on November 25 only. The phone will be free with a new two-year contract, but only after a $50 mail-in rebate. The Xoom LTE will require a two-year contract with at least a $30 monthly plan for 2GB of data.
Amazon has just launched a limited-time PennyPincher deal, offering all Verizon, Sprint and AT&T phones for just one cent. It started at midnight on November 21 and will finish at 11:59PM on November 28. Free, two-day shipping is included in the price. Buyers can choose from 97 handsets, with some standouts including the Droid RAZR (review), Epic Touch 4G, BlackBerry Torch 9810, and HTC Arrive. New contracts are required with each handset, however.
Early benchmarks of the Galaxy Nexus have shown it to be the first Android phone that can outperform an iPhone 4S on the web. The AnandTech tests show that Google's late addition of dual-core processor support gave the phone the edge over Apple both in the SunSpider JavaScript test and Rightware's BrowserMark. The only other Android device to get close, the Droid RAZR, slightly won in one test but lost in another.
Motorola's renaming of the Xoom 2 to Xyboard may have been confirmed after the spotting of both the device itself and its details. The 8.2-inch and 10.1-inch Android tablets will be rebadged as the Droid Xyboard 8.2 and 10.1, PocketNow heard. While not shown on the device itself, the tablet has both the Verizon logo and its 4G LTE badge, while the logo itself was included in the discovery.
The rule of thumb for 4G Android phones in 2011 has been that they must be tanks: bulky, rounded-off devices that show exactly what sacrifice you're making to get the faster speeds. Motorola with the reborn Droid RAZR (just RAZR elsewhere in the world) not only bucks that, but has what it claims is the world's thinnest smartphone. However, it's coming into especially fierce competition with the Galaxy Nexus, Rezound, and the iPhone 4S. We'll see in our Droid RAZR review if it's competitive enough to swim with the pack.
iFixit has, once again, published one of its device teardowns, this time turning its tools on the Motorola Droid RAZR. The team found the ultra-thin 0.28-inch design of the phone cost it a strong repairability score, with the handset posting a 4 out of 10 lower than most Apple devices. This was due to a lot of glue to hold it together, an LCD fused to the glass, and lots of fairly delicate plastic throughout the construction.
Amazon Wireless is now offering the Motorola Droid RAZR handset at a steep discount. At $111.11, it's a savings of nearly $189 from the original $300 price tag on contract. The price is symbolic and lines up with the November 11, 11:11AM release date at Verizon's own stores.
Motorola's near-shipping Droid RAZR will back off of the tendency towards non-removable carrier apps, Electronista and others can confirm. Apps that Motorola and Verizon install, even the Blockbuster video and GoToMeeting apps, can be uninstalled outright. Others, including on other carriers, can be hidden to get rid of unwanted apps from the view without technically deleting them.
Consumer Reports partly changed its tune on Apple and recommended the iPhone 4S on Tuesday. It claimed that the dual, auto-switching antenna system on the newer Apple phone had solved the 'death grip' problem cause by covering up the bottom-left antenna gap. It also didn't notice the battery life issues reported by some and saw iOS 5.0.1 covering those might have problems.
