Hasta La Gadget!

There’s been a lot of chatter going around the interwebs in the past 24 hours about the Droid X’s exceptionally well-locked bootloader — a situation that is going to make running custom ROMs considerably more difficult (bordering on impossible) compared to your average HTC. Specifically, the culprit is said to be a technology known as eFuse — developed by IBM several years ago — which allows circuits to be physically altered at the silicon level on demand. Thing is, the term “eFuse” has taken on an unrelated meaning this week, with My Droid World claiming that some chip inside the Droid X is commanded to “blow the fuse” if it’s unable to verify the stock bootloader, which permanently bricks the phone. It amounts to a really, really hard slap on the wrist for anyone trying to hack, say, Sense or stock Froyo onto it.

Considering IBM’s historically non-nefarious usage of the term “eFuse,” we suspected something was amiss here, so we reached out to Motorola for an explanation. Read on to see what we got back.

Continue reading Motorola responds to Droid X bootloader controversy, says eFuse isn’t there to break the phone

Motorola responds to Droid X bootloader controversy, says eFuse isn’t there to break the phone originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 16 Jul 2010 11:45:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |   | Email this | Comments

A recent survey of 4,028 US consumers by ChangeWave has thrown up a number of illuminating statistics, which you might consider as predictable as they are informative. The chief takeaway is that people are keen on buying smartphones like never before, with 16% of respondents saying that they’ll be taking the plunge within the next 90 days, which marks the biggest increase in the survey’s history. Secondly, and crucially for vendor loyalists, Apple and HTC seem to be the biggest beneficiaries (or are they the stimulants?) of this interest, with both improving their share by over 50 percent between March and June of this year. RIM and Motorola have taken a tumble in that same timespan, while Palm has sadly failed to register even a single percentage point. We can definitely see the Droid X and BlackBerry 6 remedying things for the big boys, but Palm’s route out of ignominy seems a little less straightforward. You’ll find a chart of customer satisfaction — dominated by Apple in imperious fashion — after the break, and the full breakdown at the source link.

Continue reading Apple and HTC lead charge as smartphone market looks set to grow and grow

Apple and HTC lead charge as smartphone market looks set to grow and grow originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 15 Jul 2010 05:49:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink Electronista  |  ChangeWave Research  | Email this | Comments

Yeah, we said trailer. The Droid family has seen its fair share of atypical ads, and while this one won’t tug on your heartstrings, it’ll definitely captivate. Unless you’re already three sheets to the wind and well on your way into an early weekend. Either way, you should really have a look after the break.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

Continue reading Motorola Droid X gets cinematic ‘See You Tomorrow’ trailer (video)

Motorola Droid X gets cinematic ‘See You Tomorrow’ trailer (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 14 Jul 2010 23:08:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  motodroidlife (YouTube)  | Email this | Comments

We knew the original Droid’s replacement was coming, but we were never able to nail down the market name with confidence — until now, it seems. The Droid 2 makes a prominent appearance in an official catalog of Verizon devices leaked to BGR, talking up its 5 megapixel cam, 8GB of onboard storage, and 1GHz processor, positioning it just ever so slightly below the mighty Droid X. Also finding their way into the catalog are the recently-launched Pantech Jest, the self-branded Verizon Salute, and the Intensity II and Gusto both from Samsung, all dumbphones that just add more evidence to the theory that all the good names for mobile devices have already been taken. No date’s given for the Droid 2, but we imagine it can’t be long now that they’re openly talking about it, right?

Verizon catalog reveals Motorola Droid 2, new dumbphones originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 13 Jul 2010 18:44:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  BGR  | Email this | Comments

This seems to happen with virtually every hotly-anticipated device Verizon ever offers, so we can’t say we’re too surprised to hear rumors that Motorola’s Droid X has already started showing up in customers’ hands. Usually, this happens through a combination of persistence, repeated calls to customers service, and finding just the right rep who doesn’t realize that he or she shouldn’t be selling a particular device yet — but in the case of the Droid X, Verizon’s been teasing the launch with its @DroidLanding Twitter account, saying “you might get yours before” the official July 15 release. In other words, we think we’re in the process of getting punked by some viral marketing… but hey, if you’re getting punked by something, it might as well be one of the baddest-ass Android phones around.

Droid X already knocking on buyers’ doors? originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 06 Jul 2010 19:01:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  Droid Life, Via @DroidLanding (Twitter)  | Email this | Comments