Motorola Flipout preview

We know you’re excited — the Nokia Twist finally has a legitimate competitor in the square-shaped pseudo-smartphone space! Motorola snuck up on us with its Flipout unveiling yesterday, so today we diligently trudged along to its local offices to get properly acquainted with this new Android handset. Running version 2.1 (Eclair) on a 600MHz processor might seem like a recipe for trouble, but it’s the same Cortex A8 (TI OMAP 3410) as used in the Droid, and our time with the little quadrangle revealed it could handle itself with aplomb. The Flipout also boasts a freshened up Motoblur implementation and 512MB of both RAM and ROM, but only 150MB for user storage — time to bring on Froyo, eh? With interchangeable back covers (two will come in the retail box) and that handbag-friendly form factor, the Flipout is unashamedly flirting with being a phone for style-conscious lady-geeks, but let’s see if it doesn’t appeal to gruff old types like us as well. Join us after the break for our full hands-on impressions.

Continue reading Motorola Flipout preview

Motorola Flipout preview originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 03 Jun 2010 13:39:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Motorola Droid Shadow / Xtreme pictured again, powered by Ninjablur?

Because we can’t seem to get enough Motorola Droid Shadow / Xtreme teasers in our lives, here’s a few more with which to tide you over. First on the docket is a pair of pics from Droid Life, with the screen-saving film intact (and a still-visible Verizon logo underneath) and a cleaner side shot of its bulbous derriere. If that wasn’t enough, the clue-dropper wnrussell of HowardForums — who gave us the vast majority of the previous leaks — is back showing off a 1500mAh battery and claiming a name for that monochrome Motoblur-esque skin we saw earlier. In his words, “Ninja Blur is Blur running without the user knowing. For those who don’t like Blur.” Translation: it’s an Android skin that does very little but make aesthetic differentiators and probably slows down the processing speed a bit. Any chance the ninja can go into hiding in lieu of a vanilla robot experience?

Motorola Droid Shadow / Xtreme pictured again, powered by Ninjablur? originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 02 Jun 2010 15:59:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink Android Authority  |  sourceDroid-Life, HowardForums (1), (2)  | Email this | Comments

Motorola XT502 another Android phone for North America?

There’s no shortage of Motorola buzz going around lately — thing is, nearly all of that buzz is focused on the Verizon side of the camp. What about the other six-odd national carriers in the States and Canada, five of which are using GSM? Well, for you guys, we submit this so-called XT502 — a phone that may be codenamed “Greco” thanks to the naming of the image file found over in the Bluetooth SIG’s certification directory. We can’t gather much from the microscopic image the SIG is using, but they’ve kindly listed radio details, which indicates we can expect a triband HSPA setup working on the 850, 1900, and 2100MHz bands — perfect for AT&T, Bell, Telus, and Rogers with a little dash of Europe thrown in for good measure. It’ll also have WiFi, Bluetooth 2.0 + EDR, and AGPS; in other words, all the basics you expect on a modern Android device. No word on a release plan, but at least it’ll be coming out with some totally legal Bluetooth, right?

Motorola XT502 another Android phone for North America? originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 31 May 2010 22:15:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink Unwired View  |  sourceBluetooth SIG  | Email this | Comments

Motorola’s Sanjay Jha talks tablets, Android, HTC, and more

It looks like an investors conference hosted by Barclays earlier today was the place to be for anyone looking to get Motorola co-CEO Sanjay Jha‘s thoughts on, well, just about anything, as he took advantage of the occasion to address about as wide a range of topics as you could ask for. That even includes the topic-du-jour of tablets, which Jha says makes sense as a “companion device,” adding only that Motorola is “engaged in thinking about the right solution there.” Jha also addressed the issue of Motorola possibly building or acquiring its own OS by saying that “nearly all of my focus is on Android today,” and that any other OS would have to match Android’s capabilities. On that Android note, Jha also said that Motorola would be “aggressive” in bringing Android 2.2 to its phones (taking a Flash-related shot at Apple in the process), and he said that he wasn’t concerned about the HTC Droid Incredible eating into Motorola’s own Droid sales, noting that the company has more Droid phones in the pipeline that he’s “excited” about, including some for Verizon — the Droid Shadow, perhaps? Still with us? Jha also confirmed that Motoblur now has more than a million users, and that Motorola will be introducing a new version of it “later this year.” That’s all to say nothing about Motorola’s feature phone business, its plans to sell smartphones in China, and Jha’s own new role when Motorola splits into two companies next year. Dive into the links below for all the details.

Motorola’s Sanjay Jha talks tablets, Android, HTC, and more originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 27 May 2010 15:26:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink Electronista  |  sourceMarketWatch, NASDAQ  | Email this | Comments

Motorola expects Android 2.2 update to hit Droid ‘in the near future’

Hearing Google say that Android 2.2 would be filtering out to the Nexus One in short order was no huge shock — after all, it’s Google’s first smartphone. But for those who purchased Motorola’s first heavy-hitter since the RAZR, it looks as if they’ll be close behind in enjoying the spoils. According to a Motorola spokesperson quoted at Slashgear (full statement is past the break), the company is expecting the original Droid to get Android 2.2 “in the near future,” though he / she wouldn’t go so far as to provide specifics beyond that. Better still, the same person stated that Motorola is excited about Froyo in general, and it’s “looking forward to integrating it on [the firm’s] Android-based devices as [the software] is made available.” We hate to read too deeply into anything, but “devices” sure gets our digits tingling.

[Thanks, Alex]

Continue reading Motorola expects Android 2.2 update to hit Droid ‘in the near future’

Motorola expects Android 2.2 update to hit Droid ‘in the near future’ originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 24 May 2010 05:13:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Cisco buys MOTO Development Group to beef up consumer design chops

Cisco’s already taken some big steps into the consumer market by buying the Flip cam line and releasing the Valet routers, but the company isn’t done yet — it’s just acquired the MOTO Development Group, a San Francisco design house that’s worked on a variety of high-profile products like Zune 2.0 and the LiveScribe Pulse. MOTO’s also done some work on Android-based e-readers and MIDs that never really went anywhere, but you probably know the company best for its controversial smartphone touchscreen linearity test, which caused so much ruckus the firm actually re-did the whole thing with a robot in charge. Cisco says the MOTO crew will live in the consumer products division, alongside Linksys, Valet, and Flip, so we should see some interesting cross-pollination soon — and based on Cisco’s middling recent efforts like the Flip Slide HD, we’d even say MOTO might do well to lead a total revamp of the company’s approach to consumer design. We’ll see how it goes.

Cisco buys MOTO Development Group to beef up consumer design chops originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 18 May 2010 14:52:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink GigaOM  |  sourceCisco PR  | Email this | Comments

Motorola Ruth / Flipout leaks again, due in June?

We’re still not quite sure to make of this odd little square of a Motorola, but it certainly looks like it’s coming our way soon: Italian site Zumo says the Ruth (or Flipout, as we’ve seen it called) is actually the Moto MB511, and it’s due out sometime in June. We’re also told that it’ll have WiFi, GPS, and a memory card slot, but that’s pretty par for the course — what we’re really curious about it how this thing actually works in person. We’ll just have to wait and find out.

Motorola Ruth / Flipout leaks again, due in June? originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 14 May 2010 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Motorola Flipout spotted: an Android 2.1 / Motoblur device with a twist

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.

Motorola Flipout spotted: an Android 2.1 / Motoblur device with a twist originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 11 May 2010 01:33:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink Electronista  |  sourceGizmodo Brazil  | Email this | Comments

Motorola Droid solves Lego-encased Rubik’s Cube in 24 mind-melting seconds (video)

Oh sure, you’ve seen your disgustingly hairy cousin solve a Rubik’s Cube in 3 minutes and 13.4 seconds, and we’ve seen quite a few sophisticated robots do it in far less time. But in the latest episode of “Yes, Droid Really Does,” we’ve got Motorola’s darling solving a Lego-encased Cube in just over 24 seconds. Let’s recap: a Droid, a Mindstorms NXT monstrosity, a Rubik’s Cube and faux techno. Is there any chance you aren’t clicking through to watch this video?

Update: Whoops — had the wrong image in there somehow. Fixed now!

Update II: Drats — the video owner removed the clip. We’ll keep it embedded should it return.

Continue reading Motorola Droid solves Lego-encased Rubik’s Cube in 24 mind-melting seconds (video)

Motorola Droid solves Lego-encased Rubik’s Cube in 24 mind-melting seconds (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 08 May 2010 23:12:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink Slashgear  |  sourceYouTube (ARMflix)  | Email this | Comments

Motorola rumored to have acquired Azingo, part of some grander OS plans?

This one isn’t official just yet, but if some changes in employment status on LinkedIn is any indication, it looks like Motorola may have recently acquired mobile Linux OS company Azingo. It may not exactly be a major player in the mobile OS field, but its Linux-based Azingo Mobile OS does look to be capable enough (complete with a Webkit-based browser and Flash runtime), and the acquisition is especially interesting in light of some recent comments made by Motorola co-CEO Sanjay Jha. Back during Moto’s Q1 earnings call, he said that he has “always felt that owning your OS is important, provided you have an ecosystem, you have all the services and you have an ability and the scale to execute on keeping that OS at the leading edge,” adding that he continues to believe “that at some point, if we have all of those attributes, that owning our own OS will be a very important thing.” Is Azingo Mobile that OS? Probably not, but it’ll certainly be interesting to see where this leads — as long as it doesn’t lead to something called MOTOZINGO.

Motorola rumored to have acquired Azingo, part of some grander OS plans? originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 05 May 2010 14:54:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  sourceAndroid and Me  | Email this | Comments