Hasta La Gadget!

The rumored Charm has just gotten a proper unveiling from Motorola — and while it’s not getting nearly the media fanfare its Droid X corporate cousin did, it’s arguably even more unique. The phone features a full portrait QWERTY keyboard placed directly below a 2.8-inch landscape touchscreen, but for most operations, you don’t have to touch it if you don’t want to because you’ve also got a touchpad mounted on the back of the phone (the so-called “Backtrack”) much like AT&T’s Backflip. Not only is this the first widely-launched Android phone to employ such a form factor, it’s also the first to run Android 2.1 with Blur — and interestingly, they’ve carried over the old version’s general look and feel rather than going with the Droid X’s updated skin. It’s got a 3 megapixel camera (with Kodak co-branding, something we haven’t seen on a Moto in a long time), WiFi, and a noise-canceling second microphone. Pricing and availability haven’t been announced, but T-Mobile customers can expect it “this Summer.”

Motorola Charm official for T-Mobile: portrait QWERTY Android at long last originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 07 Jul 2010 11:04:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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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.

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Remember that so-called XT502 “Greco” from Motorola that the Bluetooth SIG slipped a few details on last month? We can’t blame you if you don’t, so allow us to refresh your memory: it’s supposedly a full-touch Android device with 850 / 1900 / 2100MHz 3G, and from the looks of the tiny, crappy image they’d posted, it’d probably be a midrange phone. Well, the FCC just passed a Motorola handset codenamed “Greco,” conveniently, and a look at the test docs says that this phone will be known on the market as the Quench XT3 and XT5 (we’re not sure what the difference will be between the two exactly). As you might recall, the current Quench is the international version of the CLIQ XT, which makes perfect sense — the XT is a midrange full-touch Android phone, so as far as we can tell, we’re looking at its successor here. No word on who will be getting it in the US, but the version that’s been approved is for WCDMA bands II and V — so AT&T (which already offers the Backflip) seems the likely candidate. No firmware stupidity this time, alright, guys?

Motorola Quench (and CLIQ?) XT3 / XT5 get an FCC reveal originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 01 Jul 2010 11:41:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The world of corporate cheap shots has today been enriched in its number with one supersized ad for one supersized phone. BGR reports that Motorola took out a full-page spread in the New York Times on this final day of June, which was ostensibly dedicated to promoting the positives of its mighty Droid X. But Moto has also followed in the footsteps of Nokia in making a not so subtle jab at the latest king of the smartphone realm. According to the ad, one of the most important things about the Droid X is that:

“It comes with a double antenna design. The kind that allows you to hold the phone any way you like and use it just about anywhere to make crystal clear calls.”

Glad we got that established — next Moto will be telling us the alarm clock on its phones works just fine too. Skip past the break for the untrimmed ad.

Continue reading Droid X ad pokes fun at iPhone 4 antenna troubles

Droid X ad pokes fun at iPhone 4 antenna troubles originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 30 Jun 2010 17:31:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Care for some more specificity on when exactly to expect the Droid X to become even awesomer? Well, according to one “very reliable” source over at Droid Forums, we can look forward to a late August landing for Android 2.2 on the X, which will be preceded by a late July delivery on the venerable Droid. Both dates are caveated with an ominous “currently planned” proviso, so don’t consider them carved in (Mile)stone, but we’re liking the idea of Motorola having both its flagship devices tasting of Froyo by summer’s end. There’s no mention of the Droid 2, however, which may mean nothing or might suggest that handset’s still a fair way away from its release. We shall see.

Android 2.2 coming to Droid in ‘late July,’ Droid X in ‘late August?’ originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 25 Jun 2010 08:34:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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