Jul 16
Jul 16
It’s time again for Verizon to bring the re-up – an event has been scheduled for the 23rd of July, 2013 likely set for a set of new DROID devices. What we’ve seen in leaks thus far suggests updates to the Motorola DROID RAZR HD, RAZR HD MAXX, and RAZR M devices, each of them coming in with a bit less “RAZR” to their name and a bit more on the DROID side – brand-wise.
The invite suggests that Verizon will indeed “unveil the next generation of one of their most popular family of devices” – how much more obvious could it be? We’re in a place at the moment where keeping this secret isn’t paramount to the success of the line, as it were, while the Moto X hides in the wings.
We’re expecting the Motorola hero smartphone to make its debut not long after this line of DROID devices, coming to Verizon right along with the three-device lineup. This is odd for Verizon, a company that will go so far as to delay the launch of a smartphone for months just to make sure its predecessor gets enough airtime. See: the HTC One.
The Moto X will be coming with a lovely collection of next-generation abilities straight from Google, while the DROID lineup we’ll see sooner will have a much more Verizon-tuned software experience. Stay tuned for the full run-down!
Verizon event July 23rd: DROID reboot on tap is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2013, SlashGear. All right reserved.
Jul 16
Verizon is sending out invites to the press regarding a mystery event next week. While the invite doesn’t reveal which products are set to be announced, we have a pretty solid indication of what to expect: we’re told that the event will involve “the next generation of one of [its] most popular family of devices.” Given that the Droid is Big Red’s most popular device lineup — not to mention the fact that the rumor mill indicates a series of new Motorola-made Droids are on the way in the near future — it’s quite likely we can expect to see two or three devices decked out with Verizon’s favorite brand.
Filed under: Cellphones, Wireless, Mobile, Google, Verizon
Jul 12
The next Motorola smartphone launch, the Moto X, is going to be massive. There’s very little we haven’t heard – or cannot guess – about the machine that’s just this week appeared in the hand of Google’s own Eric Schmidt. While we’ll be going over the suspected specifications of this device here in this article soon, right now the most important bit of information for you is this: Google will be backing this machine from start to finish.
With Google supporting the release of this machine, several things will certainly be true. The first is that Motorola will have a level of support and visibility in the market that they’ve not had since the height of Verizon’s “DROID” line. And what’s more, while Verizon had a contract with Motorola for that release and continue to have a licensing agreement with Lucasfilm for that name, Google owns the operating system inside the Moto X.
So Google owns the software as well as the hardware, having secured their ownership of Motorola long enough ago that they’re through with their scheduled creations still needing to be completed before Google could have a real hand in the process.
Though Motorola and Google operate separately, and indeed one does not communicate on every single level with the other, Google will be supporting the launch of this phone. This device will have a backing unlike any Android phone has had before it – unless you count Samsung, of course.
But even Samsung, with their Galaxy line of smartphones – the most popular line of Android devices in the world – still have a barrier that a company like Apple does not. Apple owns the software and the hardware in the iPhone. Now that Google owns the smartphone hardware manufacturing process with Motorola and the software that runs in it, we’ll get to see what it’s like for Apple to finally have an opponent attacking from the same angle – more or less.
The Moto X itself will be appearing with modest specifications. According to an amalgamated set of rumors, tips, and inferred truths from the leaked images of the machine that’ve appeared thus far have shared, the Moto X will exist as follows:
• 4.3 OR 4.7-inch display with 720p resolution
• Customizable Body
• Bluetooth 4.0 + EDR
• 4G LTE for multiple carriers (Verizon, AT&T, possibly T-Mobile)
• Wi-fi 802.11ac
• Stock or near-stock Android (with minimal carrier-added software, if any)
The styling of this device will be – is – guaranteed – to match that of the first image in this post. It’s a photo of Eric Schmidt, co-founder of Google, and it matches leak after leak of the device as it’s appeared from factory floor photos in multiple colors. We’ve seen green, bright pink, light purple, and both black and white up front.
The full “taste the rainbow” collection will likely be based – at least lightly – on the Motorola logo updated earlier this month. There you’ll not be seeing black, white, or gray, but they’re rather good bets if you’re betting.
The machine is coming in both a flat, solid bit of soft plastic and a more textured edition as you’ll see Schmidt carrying above. Exceedingly thin, this machine will be aimed – as most Motorola phones are – at being robust, as well. You wont be complaining about scratches to this device any time soon (at last to the back panel), while the front will still need to be made with some form of reinforced glass or the other.
The actual final release of this machine will likely be coming somewhere in the latter half of August. According to a Verizon roadmap, the big red version of the machine will be appearing on the 23rd of August, while the announcement for the phone could take place far closer to the end of the month we’re in right this minute.
Sound like a solid release, based on what you’ve read? Are you ready to pick a color and texture – not to mention engraving – for the back and front of your phone yet, or are you still deciding if it makes sense to move away from a top-tier smartphone to join the Moto X party? Or could it be that this machine isn’t aimed at early adopters, but the everyman instead?
Moto X and the details you need for an ideal launch is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2013, SlashGear. All right reserved.
Jul 11
Those looking to get a better handle on how long they’ll have to wait before their beloved Motorola Moto X and/or HTC One will be waiting to hit Verizon will be able to rejoice today. A roadmap tipping the release dates of devices through the end of August has been leaked, here showing not just the Verizon HTC One, not just the Motorola Moto X, but machines from Samsung and LG as well.
The roadmap sets the stage for the HTC One to hit on the first of August, putting it at three weeks away – to the day – from today. That’s also well within the bounds of several other key releases from other companies aiming to eat the HTC One’s camera domination lunch, namely the Nokia Lumia 1020 with its 41-megapixel sensor. Will 10x the megapixels make up the difference?
Verizon also has the “Motorola X”, aka Moto X set for the 23rd of August. At that point we’re still calling it a far-off sort of drop, but with the machine having leaked essentially in full several times over already, it wouldn’t be surprising to see Motorola reveal the device well before then, with pre-orders starting closer to the beginning of the month. For more information on the Moto X, head down the rabbit hole with SlashGear’s Moto X tag portal.
This leaked roadmap comes from PhoneArena, mind you, and it points to several other odd devices as well. There’s an LG Exalt, a basic flip phone with “largest display available” on said sort of device with “crystal-clear sound quality” to boot. You’ve got NFL Mobile 2013 launching the same day as the HTC One, this version likely to have additional abilities and streaming boosts.
There’s a Samsung Convoy 3 set to replace the Convoy 2 on the 15th of August, a prepaid phone addition in the Samsung Stellar, and boosts to “Verizon FamilyBase”. This is an update to the current Verizon Usage Controls with added functionality and bits and pieces like family based pricing. Exciting stuff!
Verizon roadmap leaks Moto X and HTC One release dates is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2013, SlashGear. All right reserved.
Jun 19
This week the group behind Verizon’s DROID brand have released a trailer for a game that’s already been out on the market in BETA form: D:COM. This game is suggested to be coming in as a Verizon-exclusive title in the near future: augmented reality robot combat and all. What’s not as clear is the idea
Jun 18
If it wasn’t going to happen with the HTC One, it certainly had to hit Motorola. That’s what’s happening this week as the infamous @DroidLanding twitter account fires back up for the first time since November of 2011. As the time spread between releases for DROID-branded devices grows long, so does the time before the
May 05
As editor of both Technabob and The Awesomer, the number of submissions I get for “unique,” minimal, RFID-blocking wallets over on Kickstarter has gotten ridiculous. But just when I thought I’d never post another wallet again, Popov Leather has made me once again believe in humanity.
Sure, it won’t hold your iPhone, or prevent your RFID chips from being hacked, but this wallet has a hand-tooled image of R2-D2 on the front. How could you not want one? And just like an actual droid, it’s made from high quality 4oz. cowhide, lined with 30z. calfskin and card pockets made from 20z. pigskin. Ok, I made that part up about droids being made from leather.
Each wallet is handmade, so it’ll take a couple of weeks to get yours. So bleep-bloop on over to Etsy and order yours now, before the Jawas come along and take them all so they can sell them out of the back of a sandcrawler.
Apr 16
Motorola is going to be launching a series of next-gen phones that will forgo Motorola’s old, bloated UI, and offer the Stock Android experience instead. In an interview with PC Magazine, Motorola’s Design Chief, Jim Wicks, says that the company plans on releasing Google-influenced smartphones to the market the second half of this year. Not only will the phones feature a stock experience, they will also be smaller than the current smartphones on the market.
While Motorola’s RAZR line-up was great, it didn’t have the “wow” factor that Google was looking for, at least according to Google’s CFO Patrick Pichette. Because both Motorola and Google wanted to create devices that would “wow” the community, they have been working together for over 8 months on a new generation of phones. Throughout various discussions, Motorola realized that it needed to drop its bloated UI, and go for the natural Android experience. Both sides also agreed that bigger isn’t always better, so Motorola adopted the philosophy “better is better” and nixed the philosophy “bigger is better”.
Jim Wicks said, “Certain people like a large screen, but there’s a sweet spot for consumers that we’re currently exceeding in the market.” He says that many consumers want a screen size that feels “just about right”. Motorola wants to address the needs of those people. Along with smaller screens, Motorola will also reduce the size of its bezels to reduce the size of its phones. Wicks says, “When you buy a TV, you’re not wanting a frame.”
Wicks also says that they’re not going to be participating in the spec wars that all of the other major manufacturers seem to be participating in. He says that he wants to focus more on consumers, and not the “simple way out”. He says that “spec, spec, spec” is not the answer. Wicks also said that he will focus less on carrier exclusives, like the Atrix line-up or the DROID line-up, and focus on cross-carrier brands. While those line-ups will still exist, the company will “drive a more singular expression of our brand across multiple carriers.”
[via Android Community]
Motorola to launch stock Android phones sized “just right” is written by Brian Sin & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.
Apr 07
Ever since I was a little kid, I’ve been a fan of the Star Wars saga – so I was pretty excited to hear that with the Disney LucasFilm acquisition, new movies would be on the way. Of course, with J.J. Abrams behind the camera of Episode VII, the franchise could definitely go in a different direction, with more mysteries and unanswered questions as J.J. has been known for. One thing is for certain, there will be plenty of lens flare.
In celebration of the marriage between J.J. and Star Wars, designer Crackerbox came up with this hilarious mashup…
The design perfectly melds the logo from J.J. Abrams’ Bad Robot production company with the little droid that couldn’t, R5-D4, as he peeps out from some tall blades of grass.
If you want it, you’d better motivate yourself on over to ShirtPunch! today, as the t-shirt only available until 11:59pm Eastern time tonight. The design is also available in hoodies, long sleeve shirts, posters, buttons, magnets, and skins for your gadgets.
[via Shirtoid]
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