Tech News and Reviews
Posts tagged Motorola
Motorola takes another shot at the iPhone 4, says Droid X is ‘no jacket required’
Jul 29th
Well this is getting good. Motorola was one of the first to take a subtle swipe at Apple’s iPhone 4 antenna dilemma with an ad saying you could hold the Droid X “any way you like,” Apple came right back with a video purportedly showing the Droid X suffering similar attenuation issues when held in the right hand, and now Moto’s responded with this cheeky ad that plays off Apple’s free iPhone case solution by saying the Droid X can make calls “without a bulky phone jacket.” Yeah, it’s pretty good — particularly because unlike most other phones, we haven’t been able to death grip the Droid X with any noticeable effect on 3G reception. (Although, truth be told, we can drop the WiFi signal by a few bars pretty easily.) Either way, we’re certainly enjoying this little slice of swagger from Moto — check a larger version after the break.
Motorola Droid X review
Jul 6th
The original Droid made a powerful statement. Actually, make that statements, plural: for Motorola, it was the largest single affirmation that it was going all-in with Android (after having already released the far less memorable midrange CLIQ on T-Mobile) and that it could play in the very highest rungs of the smartphone elite. For Verizon, the Droid was the carrier’s very first Android device, period — announced to great fanfare in collaboration with Eric Schmidt and crew — serving as a pretty spectacular exit from the Windows Mobile / BlackBerry doldrums that the carrier’s smartphone lineup had historically suffered. By almost any measure, the phone went on to serve its purpose; it let customers (and potential customers) know that Verizon could release a “cool” phone, and they responded. The Droid’s an unqualified success. Today, Verizon’s involvement in Android has never been greater, and Motorola — by all appearances, anyway — seems to be on its way back from the brink.
Motorola Milestone XT720 announced: 8 megapixel cam, 720p video, and Droid heritage
Jun 8th
Motorola has just outed a Europe-bound Milestone XT720, a handset intended to grab the attention of camera lovers with an 8 megapixel sensor, 720p / 24fps video and — a first for Android handsets — a xenon flash. Speaking of Android, this will come loaded up with version 2.1 when it launches later this month. Plans for 2.2 upgrades are, as usual, not yet formalized and not under discussion. Other specs include a 3.7-inch, 480 x 854 screen, a 550MHz ARM Cortex A8 CPU, and a promised 9 hours of talk time and 320 hours of standby time. It looks very much like Moto’s selection of Droid-esque handsets that have been prowling the Chinese market, and it seems the company has enjoyed success with the keyboard-less form factor and is pushing it out to Europe. US release plans are also not being discussed — it might happen and it might not, seems to us like it’ll depend on the Euros’ reaction. We’re just getting to grips with the handset right now, and will furnish you with video of it as soon as we can.
P.S. We’re told this handset is closer to the Motoroi than anything else, Motorola describes them as sister devices. We also spotted a network update from Orange on the demo handset, implicating it as a possible carrier for the XT720 in the UK.
Update: We’ve now got Motorola’s full press release plus a promo video after the break, as well as some comparison pics between this new handset and the original Milestone in the second gallery below.
Update 2: And we’ve just added our hands-on impressions and video, you know where to find them.
Motorola Flipout spotted: an Android 2.1 / Motoblur device with a twist
May 12th
Remember “Square Motorola Android slider?” Ah, those were the days. The little twister’s returned, this time with much greater clarity and a new name. Meet Flipout. According to Gizmodo Brazil, we’re looking at Android 2.1 with a dash of Motoblur thrown into the mix, a 2.8-inch display, full QWERTY keyboard, 700MHz processor, 512MB ROM / 256MB RAM, GPS, and a 3.1 megapixel camera. The HSPA phone is expected in the states this June in at least three different colors — black, green, and pink. Backflip, Flipout… one can only hope Motorola keeps the trend alive with a Soundgarden-themed solar phone, the Outshined.
How would you change Motorola’s Devour?
Apr 19th
Motorola’s Devour has somehow managed to get a little lost in the mix, primarily due to the wealth of Android options on America’s two main CDMA carriers right now. The design is certainly appealing, particularly to those still averse to virtual keyboards, but it’s the Blur user interface that really sets this apart from the Droid. Of course, we didn’t exactly find a whole lot to love about the total package (compared to the other Android options, anyway), but that’s not to say there’s nothing to discuss. On the contrary, actually. Did you plop down a crisp Benjamin to get yourself a Devour? Are you still happy with the decision? How’s Blur been treating you? Would you retool any of the hardware / software aspects? Get honest down in comments below, and yes, feel free to consider this the group therapy you’ve thus far refused to pay good money for.
Motorola CLIQ XT comes to T-Mobile for $129.99
Mar 18th
Your hopes, dreams, and deepest desires for a keyboardless CLIQ have finally materialized today now that Motorola’s CLIQ XT has reached T-Mobile shops across the country. Interestingly, yesterday’s leaked documentation pegged the date, but not the price — rather than the rumored $99.99, the XT will actually be going for $129.99 on a two-year contract. We guess that’s still not bad for a bona fide myTouch 3G alternative with a 5 megapixel cam — as long as you can get down with Blur, of course.
Motorola Devour review
Mar 11th
While Motorola’s vanilla-Android Droid has become the most recognizable Android device on the market — thanks in part to a bombastic ad campaign — Motorola’s primary focus has been on its own custom Blur UI. At least, if quantity of devices are any indication. Hitting Verizon just as the Blur-powered Backflip heads to AT&T, the new Motorola Devour is an odd cross section of the “consumery” Backflip and Cliq, and the high-end Droid slider. We’ve been playing with the phone for a week or so (you can find our initial hands-on, video walkthrough and unboxing here), so follow us after the break as we walk through the triumphs and tragedy that is this device.
Motorola CLIQ XT hands-on
Mar 11th
We know you’ve barely recovered from our Devour review, but Moto just threw another Blur-ified phone in our laps this afternoon – the CLIQ XT. We’ve been playing around with the Android 1.5-based, Flash Lite-supported, multitouch-capable handset for the last couple of hours — but before we grace you with our first impressions, just a fair warning: we don’t yet know the price of the new T-Mobile Android handset, though Motorola did promise us that it will hit shelves this month. With that said, hit the break for a quick rundown of our early thoughts.
Motorola i1 gets clearer: 5 megapixel cam, Opera Mini default browser?
Mar 11th
We’ve been slipped some additional information on Motorola’s imminent Android-powered i1 for iDEN networks today — actually, one correction and one interesting note. First, the correction: we’re now being told (by the same tipster as before) that it’s actually got a 5 megapixel camera on board, a nice upgrade from the 3 we’d previously been told to expect. More interestingly, though, we’re also hearing that Opera Mini has been tapped as the i1′s default browser — a move that Moto is more than welcome to make since this is a Blur-powered, non-”Google Experience” device. It’s also a possible admission that third-party Android browsers are currently outperforming Google’s own, something Microsoft has long dealt with on Windows Mobile as companies like HTC ultimately ended up bundling Opera Mobile with virtually every model they sold. So, Sprint Direct Connect and Boost Mobile customers, you getting excited about this thing or what?
Motorola partners with Microsoft, will use Bing search and maps on Chinese Android phones
Mar 11th
Uh, whoa. When we heard Google’s threatened pullout of China had prompted Motorola to seek out an alternative search provider for its China-bound handsets, we can’t say we were expecting a partnership with Microsoft and Bing to result. But here we are, staring at a press release announcing the Bing search and Maps will be the default on Moto’s Chinese Android phones starting in Q1 — and the partnership is described as “global,” so there’s a chance it could spread.. That’s just one more slap in Google’s face from Moto, following the release of the Yahoo-powered AT&T Backflip — and another step away from the tight relationship with Google that produced the Droid. And does this mean Motorola might yet build a Windows Phone 7 Series device, despite a very public commitment to Android? We’d say Eric and Sanjay have some unresolved differences to work through.
