Oct 30

November 6: stores open at 6AM for DROID, Droid Eris?

Posted in: Android, AndroidOs, droid, Google, motorola, Today's Chili, verizon, Verizon Wireless, VerizonWireless, vzw
So, you’re a prospective Moto DROID customer. You’ve soaked up the review, studied the manual, and even built your own cardboard dock in anticipation of the big November 6 street date. What’s next, you ask? Well, set your alarm early — if the rumors are true, Verizon Wireless will be opening its retail shops at 6:00 AM sharp. Of course, all that is in addition to the Droid Eris, which is rumored to be making its debut on that auspicious date as well. So what’s the plan, guys — wake up early or camp out the night before?

[Via i4u]

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November 6: stores open at 6AM for DROID, Droid Eris? originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 30 Oct 2009 15:03:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Oct 30

Motorola DROID review

Posted in: Android, AndroidOs, droid, Features, Google, motorola, review, Today's Chili, verizon, Verizon Wireless, VerizonWireless

It’s hard to look at the DROID without looking at the company which brought the device to life. Motorola: for years the name has been synonymous with… well, disappointment. While the industry-stalwart made cellphones sexy with the RAZR, the days which followed have not been especially fruitful or compelling. Over the past year or so, we’ve seen Motorola beating its way back into the mainstream through a series of smart plays: first embracing Android as a platform, then shucking off the weight of Windows Mobile and finally bringing some desirable (and high profile) devices to market.

With the DROID, the company has perhaps created its most attractive and intriguing piece of technology yet. Forging an alliance with both Verizon and Google, Motorola has come up with a second compelling reason to count the phonemaker down, but certainly not out, while the other two giants have finally found a seemingly worthy device to position against the iPhone. So we must pose these questions: is this the phone which will catapult Android into the mainstream? Is it the device that will pull Motorola back from the brink? And — most importantly — is it the lynchpin Google and Verizon have needed to challenge the leader in mindshare in the smartphone market? After putting the device through its paces, we think we can give you the answers you seek — so read on to find out!

Gallery: Motorola DROID review hands-on

Continue reading Motorola DROID review

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Motorola DROID review originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 30 Oct 2009 13:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Oct 29

Motorola DROID user guide unearthed in its entirety

Posted in: Android, droid, Google, motorola, Today's Chili, verizon, Verizon Wireless, VerizonWireless, vzw

We’re not sure how much more Motorola DROID tidbits you need to whet your appetite until its November 6th Verizon launch, but in hopes of keeping those cravings at bay, we’ve got the entire user guide here. No revelations so far, but seeing as we’re already in possession of the phone, we weren’t really expecting any. See it for yourself either via the gallery below or as a PDF just past the read link.

Gallery: Motorola Droid User Guide

[Thanks, BBLeaks]

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Motorola DROID user guide unearthed in its entirety originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 29 Oct 2009 23:11:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Oct 29

Best Buy offering DROID pre-orders as of today, automates the mail-in rebate

Posted in: BestBuy, droid, motorola, pre-order, Today's Chili, verizon, Verizon Wireless, VerizonWireless

In the best sort of tradition, Best Buy Mobile has gone for a repeat of its Palm Pre offering and is offering the $299 Motorola DROID at $199 thanks to the automation of a mail-in rebate you’d have to actually “mail in” if you were to purchase the handset straight from the carrier. Best Buy also seems to be the first place to offer pre-orders of the phone, so if you’re worried about a sell out or just generally averse to affixing stamps to things, Best Buy appears to have you covered.

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Best Buy offering DROID pre-orders as of today, automates the mail-in rebate originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 29 Oct 2009 10:03:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Oct 28

HTC Droid Eris priced at $99 for Verizon?

Posted in: Android, HTC, Today's Chili, verizon, Verizon Wireless, VerizonWireless

Sure, the DROID’s getting all the attention today, but you might recall that it’s not the only thing Verizon has in the pipe has it preps its first Android assault — HTC’s got the Droid Eris in there somewhere, too, which is shaping up to be little more than a branded Hero in a slightly different shell. Against the insanely-spec’d DROID, that may not be a drool-worthy proposition, but fortunately, it’s looking like Verizon is going to be pursuing an aggressive tiered pricing strategy that might allow these phones to coexist in peace and everlasting harmony: unlike the DROID’s $199 sticker, gdgt has it on good authority that the Droid Eris will run a hundie less at $99. That spanks Sprint’s version which currently runs $179.99, but hey, if this means we’re going to see a price war down in the 528MHz trenches for the Android midrange, we’re all for it.

[Image via AndroidGuys]

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HTC Droid Eris priced at $99 for Verizon? originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 28 Oct 2009 15:37:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Oct 28

Motorola DROID spotted in fine GSM form (video)

Posted in: Android, droid, moto, motorola, qwerty, Today's Chili, verizon, Verizon Wireless, VerizonWireless, vzw

While the newly launched DROID is keeping us plenty busy, we’d be remiss if we didn’t hep you to this hands-on video that’s recently popped up on the YouTubes. Of Vietnamese origin, we do believe that this is the first GSM version of the phone we’ve caught on tape. All seems to be going well until about 2 minutes 7 seconds, when the viewer encounters a considerable lag in between gesturing to open the app drawer and the event itself. But don’t take our word for it — see for yourself after the break.

[Thanks, Vincenzo]

Continue reading Motorola DROID spotted in fine GSM form (video)

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Motorola DROID spotted in fine GSM form (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 28 Oct 2009 11:41:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Oct 28

Motorola DROID official on Verizon: $199 on contract, coming November 6th (video)

Posted in: Android, breaking news, BreakingNews, droid, Google, moto, navigation, smartphone, Today's Chili, verizon, Verizon Wireless, VerizonWireless

We knew good and well this thing was coming sometime in November, and now Verizon Wireless has made it official: the Motorola DROID will hit Big Red on November 6th for $199 on contract (after a $100 mail-in rebate). Naturally, the DROID itself is just the first of what could be many Android-laced phones coming to the carrier, and Verizon Wireless CMO John Stratton even stated that the phone “is wide open” — pretty big words from a company like VZW. Android 2.0 will be front and center, along with Visual Voicemail, a 3.7-inch display (854 x 480 resolution), 5 megapixel camera (with dual-LED flash), a bundled 16GB memory card and a beta version of Google Maps Navigation(!). For those wondering, yeah — the DROID is the first phone to offer that, which transforms Google Maps into a turn-by-turn routing system that’ll have your dedicated TomTom / Garmin trembling in fear. There’s also a slide-out QWERTY keyboard, 3G, WiFi, voice-activated search and over-the-air Amazon MP3 downloads. With all that, who needs the iPhone, right Ivan?

Update: Check on our in-depth hands-on coverage on the DROID, Google Maps Navigation and the accessory dock!

Gallery: Verizon Wireless’ DROID by Motorola

Continue reading Motorola DROID official on Verizon: $199 on contract, coming November 6th (video)

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Motorola DROID official on Verizon: $199 on contract, coming November 6th (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 28 Oct 2009 10:23:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Oct 26

Verizon’s BlackBerry Curve 8530 gets reviewed early

Posted in: BlackBerry, cdma, reviewed, RIM, smartphone, Today's Chili, verizon, Verizon Wireless, VerizonWireless

The phone you’re peering at above has more names than we’d care to count, but the so-called Aries (or the Gemini‘s CDMA’d sibling, if you please) may end up on Verizon as one of two things: the BlackBerry Curve 8530 or the BlackBerry Curve 2. The folks over at CrackBerry managed to get their hands on a unit far before this thing has even been officially released, and of course they’ve given us the rundown just as the Storm2 is stealing all of the attention over at Big Red. The WiFi-equipped handset (yeah, you read that right) was said to be “identical to the Curve 8520” with the exception of the back cover design, meaning that while solid, the device definitely felt “entry-level.” The interface was said to be satisfactorily snappy, the optical trackpad was dubbed “really great” and the web browser was still thoroughly worthless. If you really need to hear more, give that read link a look.

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Verizon’s BlackBerry Curve 8530 gets reviewed early originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 26 Oct 2009 16:35:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Oct 26

Verizon chief says offering the iPhone is Apple’s call

Posted in: Android, Apple, droid, iPhone, moto, motorola, Today's Chili, verizon, Verizon Wireless, VerizonWireless, vzw

Remember how in grade school, you usually made fun of the people you had crushes on? Verizon — hot on the heels of some surgically strategic anti-iPhone marketing to promote its upcoming Android line — is singing a very different tune in the corporate boardroom, with CEO Ivan Seidenberg (who has a storied reputation for running his mouth) saying during the company’s earnings call today that the company “obviously would be interested at any point in the future that they would be interested in having us as a partner.” He went on to say that the decision to bring the iPhone to Verizon is “exclusively in Apple’s court,” though we doubt that’s entirely true — Verizon has a reputation for putting manufacturers and devices through the wringer, and if any carrier in the world were to spike the iPhone for failing acceptance testing or throw its gargantuan weight and reputation around to put pressure on the contract, it’d be Big Red. Either way, though, it’s an olive branch and a potential start to the near-constant cries of “if only the iPhone were on Verizon” that we’ve been hearing for the past two years; we’re still having an awful hard time picturing a CDMA-equipped version ever happening, but with Verizon’s LTE network progressively lighting up over the next few years, it might just be the perfect opportunity for these wayward souls to finally find common ground, especially with the tune AT&T’s singing these days.

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Verizon chief says offering the iPhone is Apple’s call originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 26 Oct 2009 14:52:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Oct 23

Verizon’s Droid is a series, not just a phone; Droid Eris coming from HTC

Posted in: Android, breaking news, BreakingNews, droid, HTC, Today's Chili, verizon, Verizon Wireless, VerizonWireless, vzw

We just got some wild information from a trusted source about Verizon’s Android strategy, and let’s just say this shakes things up a little bit. Here are the big takeaways:

  • Droid is the brand name being applied to Verizon’s Android devices. It isn’t a single phone.
  • The Sholes — the phone we’ve been calling the Droid so far — may simply be known as the Droid.
  • HTC’s Desire will be coming to market as the “Droid Eris.” (Allow us to save you the Wikipedia lookup — Eris is the Greek goddess of strife.) Interestingly, it’s already up on gdgt as such.
  • Droid Eris will be released — not announced, actually released — on November 6. In all likelihood, it will not be announced or shown at Verizon’s October 28 event — that will probably just be for the Sholes.

That’s all we’ve got so far, but it’s a heck of a change in plans, isn’t it? It’s interesting that Verizon will be applying a sub-brand to its Android line — and a pretty solid sign that Big Red’s got a serious commitment to the platform going forward.

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Verizon’s Droid is a series, not just a phone; Droid Eris coming from HTC originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 23 Oct 2009 19:41:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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