Hasta La Gadget!

Been wondering why Verizon would seek to curb its unlimited data plans with bogus restrictions? Wonder no more. Jennifer Byrne, a business development executive director at Big Red, has shared with us the shocking stat that early data usage from Droid X owners is five times what other smartphones are suckling down. Clearly, the jumbo screen is being used to the fullest by those lucky enough to get an X when they wanted one, and Verizon is (outwardly, at least) really, really excited to see such keen use of its network. Enjoy it while it lasts, Droidsters!

Droid X users gobbling up 5x the data of other Verizon smartphones originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 22 Jul 2010 07:52:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Now that the Droid 2 has officially reached “leaking like a sieve” status, we thought we’d toss you another couple shots of the Droid X’s QWERTY-equipped cousin, which we’re being told is locked for an August release on Verizon. If you’re more of the BlackBerry type, though, we’ve got some news for you, too: our source is telling us that both a Curve 3 and Storm 3 are “possible” for the holidays this year. If we had to guess, the Curve 3 is likely a variant of this 9300 we’ve been seeing lately, whereas the Storm 3 could be a version of the 9800 slider or an entirely new keyboardless slate. There’s also a 10.1-inch tablet on the docket; the carrier has already confirmed that Android tablets are in the pipeline, but this could also be a version of the rumored BlackBerry beast. More on this noise as soon as we get it; in the meantime, follow the break for another shot of that Droid 2, won’t you?

[Thanks, RWN]

Continue reading Verizon leaks another Droid 2, getting BlackBerry Storm 3, Curve 3, 10.1-inch tablet later this year?

Verizon leaks another Droid 2, getting BlackBerry Storm 3, Curve 3, 10.1-inch tablet later this year? originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 19 Jul 2010 01:53:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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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.

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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.

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So this little number just rolled into our tips inbox — and at a glance, it appears to be the anti-Droid X, if that makes any sense. We’re being told this is the Motorola WX445 for Verizon (street name unknown), featuring Android 2.1, a flash-less camera of unknown pixel count, a touchscreen ranging somewhere between 2.5 and 3 inches, and a pretty light 1170mAh battery on board. Our tipster tells us it runs Blur, though we imagine it’s possible it runs the Blur-esque skin seen on the Droid X that doesn’t actually make use of Moto’s back end to do its deed. We’re also told it’s “not a very impressive phone” and resembles a keyboardless Pre Plus in the flesh “but cheaper looking,” so needless to say, you’re not going to be cross-shopping this against an EVO 4G; if anything, we suppose it might make a decent Devour alternative. More on this one as we get it.

[Thanks, Besiktas Fan]

Exclusive: Motorola WX445 leaked, offers low-end Android for Verizon originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 10 Jul 2010 15:10:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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