Wednesday 23 June 2010

Android Community

Android Community

Droid X for Verizon Official; Ships July 15th for $199

Posted: 23 Jun 2010 10:44 AM PDT

There’s been all sorts of speculation out there. Even leaked image after leaked image. And then some video. But, in the midst of all of that, we never could figure out just what exactly the Droid X was going to feature. A 1GHz processor, yes. A 4.3-inch screen. Yes. And Android. But, so many variables were kept open, that we were all counting down the days until we got some official word about what was coming. And today’s the final day, where Motorola, Google, Adobe, and Verizon have come on stage in New York, talking about the next big thing in the Droid lineage: the Droid X.

The Droid X is official now. And yes, it’s every bit as good as we were all assuming it was going to be. It has a 4.3-inch, 854×480 (400,000 pixels), 16:9 capacitive touchscreen display. It has an HDMI-out port. It has full Flash Player support. Flash Player 10.1, for the record. There is an 8MP camera on the back, which can record video in 720p HD. It is compatible with Windows 7 DLNA. And, there’s a 1GHz OMAP processor powering the whole who under the hood.

There will be 8GB of on board memory on the device, with a MicroSD card slot that can hold up to 32GB of storage. Has 512MB of RAM, and it’s coming with a 16GB MicroSD card in the box. The keyboard is a multitouch-enabled keyboard, and the device has Swype pre-loaded. It has a WiFi hotspot feature, which can connect up to 5 devices simultaneously. The WiFi hotspot feature will cost you only $20 extra per month, so while not breathtaking, at least it isn’t $30. It obviously has GPS, WiFi. But, what about the phone part? Yeah, there’s three microphones on the Droid X. There’s an outward-facing microphone, too, for video.

Other features include: Full Exchange support, push e-mail, company directory and security protocols. You can also remote wipe, and have the ability to utilize complex passwords. The battery? You can count it at 1570mAh, which means it should have plenty of juice to get you through (at least) a day.

But, the big question: it will launch with Android 2.1, but then it will get updated to Android 2.2, or Froyo, later this Summer. Stay in touch, because news is still breaking.

Pricing just got announced: you’ll be looking at $199 after a $100 mail-in rebate. Additionally, you’ll need to sign over a new, two-year contract. And, it ships on July 15th.

Press Release:

July 2010: DROID X By Motorola Lands On The Nation’s Largest & Most Reliable 3G Network
DROID X Delivers More Browsing, More Connectivity, Personal HD Video and Enterprise Features – All on a 4.3" Widescreen

June 23, 2010

BASKING RIDGE, N.J., and LIBERTYVILLE, Ill. – Verizon Wireless, the company with the nation's largest and most reliable wireless 3G network, and Motorola, Inc. (NYSE: MOT), a pioneer in the mobile industry, today unveiled DROID X by Motorola. DROID X does more with ultra high-speed Web browsing; a fast 1GHz processor; 3G Mobile HotSpot capabilities; loads of memory; intuitive social messaging; Adobe® Flash® Player 10.1 ready; and access to Android Market™, which has more than 65,000 applications, along with a host of unique Verizon Wireless applications such as NFL Mobile, Skype mobile™, V CAST Video, EA Need for Speed Shift™ and more.

"Nine months ago, we made a commitment to our customers to bring the openness of Android to the Verizon Wireless network," said John Stratton, executive vice president and chief marketing officer for Verizon Wireless. "Since then, we have introduced the top-selling Android phone in the marketplace today – the DROID by Motorola. DROID X takes that commitment to another level with exclusive content, faster processing speeds, and, of course, the reliability of our network."

Sanjay Jha, co-chief executive officer of Motorola and chief executive officer of Motorola Mobile Devices and Home business added, "Motorola designed DROID X to push the extreme limits of Android innovation, and enable you to do even more with your mobile device. We are breaking down barriers so that you can experience the Web the way it was meant to be and create, share and view content like never before, either in your hand or in your home. Enterprise users will also find DROID X appealing with features including push e-mail and live widgets for e-mail and calendar updates."

DROID X gives customers a 4.3-inch high-resolution screen for viewing the latest movies and video from BLOCKBUSTER On Demand® presented by V CAST Video, the newest addition to the Verizon Wireless V CAST application, which also includes access to favorite TV shows. The DROID X video capabilities let customers capture spontaneous fun, combining a dual-flash, 8-megapixel camera, HD camcorder, as well as DLNA and HDMI connectivity to download, stream and share personal HD content.

DROID X customers will also receive Android 2.2 and Adobe Flash Player 10.1 with an over-the-air update in the latter half of the summer. With the update, the Flash Player will allow mobile users to experience hundreds of sites with rich applications and content inside the browser, including games, animations, rich Internet applications (RIAs), data presentations and visualizations, ecommerce, music, video, audio and more.

"It has been an exciting time for Android momentum and global consumer adoption since the announcement of DROID by Motorola nine months ago," said Andy Rubin, vice president of engineering for Google. "There are 160,000 new Android-powered devices activated daily and Android Market has grown to over 65,000 applications. Plus later this summer, Verizon Wireless and Motorola will update all the DROID by Motorola phones to the latest 2.2 software. For customers, this means great new features and improved browser performance. For developers, this will provide new tools such as cloud-to-device messaging and enhanced enterprise functionality."

"We are excited about full Flash support coming to the DROID X and other devices from Motorola," said Shantanu Narayen, president and chief executive officer of Adobe. "Flash Player 10.1, which is one of Adobe's most anticipated releases ever, has been redesigned from the ground up to deliver the kind of highly engaging experiences that consumers now expect from their mobile devices."

Once updated to Android 2.2, business customers will find DROID X offers the features that turn the device into a workhorse with support for both Exchange and Gmail™ for business. Corporate users can enjoy push delivery of e-mail; live widgets that stream messages to the home screen; filter widgets to differentiate work and home e-mail; corporate directory and Global look-up along with a unified calendar for Enterprise and sync with Google Calendar™. Security protocols allow remote password control and wipe via Exchange server.

Pricing and Availability

DROID X by Motorola will be available at www.verizonwireless.com and in Verizon Wireless Communications Stores beginning July 15 for $199.99 after a $100 mail-in rebate with a new two-year customer agreement. Customers will receive the mail-in rebate in the form of a debit card; upon receipt, customers may use the card as cash anywhere debit cards are accepted. In addition to subscribing to a Nationwide Talk plan or a Nationwide Talk & Text plan, customers will also need to subscribe to an Email and Web for Smartphone plan. Nationwide Talk plans begin at $39.99 monthly access. Email and Web for Smartphone plans start at $29.99 for unlimited monthly access.

Customers can add the optional 3G Mobile Hotspot service to their DROID X for $20 per month. The 3G Mobile Hotspot allows customers to turn the phone into a wireless modem for up to five compatible Wi-Fi devices. In addition, current Verizon Wireless customers who have contracts ending by December 31, 2010, can upgrade to any smartphone, including DROID X, without penalty.

For more information on DROID X by Motorola, go to http://phones.verizonwireless.com/droid/x/. For information about Verizon Wireless products and services, visit a Verizon Wireless Communications Store, call 1-800-2 JOIN IN or go to www.verizonwireless.com.

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Unleashing the Next Generation of Droid: Liveblog [Update]

Posted: 23 Jun 2010 09:43 AM PDT

Everyone, it’s finally that time. We’ve made it! While there were many of us out there counting down the days until the Motorola/Verizon/Adobe/Google event that would bring us one step closer to the next generation of DROID, with at least the full announcement and unveiling of the Droid X (and hopefully the Droid 2). And, finally, we’ve made it.

Keep in mind that we’ll be liveblogging the whole event, starting at 10:00AM Pacific, 1:00PM Eastern, right here. Yes, that’s at SlashGear’s liveblog: http://live.slashgear.com. We’ll be keeping tabs on all the new information as it breaks, so if you want to stay up-to-the-minute, then you know where to find yourself. And there’s no need to hit he refresh button, either! We take care of the auto-refreshing for you!

[Update]: Scratch that, folks. No liveblog for today’s event. However, be expecting the same articles, as soon as we’ve got the details to share with you. So, stay tuned!

Liveblog!

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Google Maps v4.3.0 adds public transit timings, more

Posted: 23 Jun 2010 06:30 AM PDT

Google has pushed out the latest update to Google Maps for Android devices, with v4.3.0 bringing with it improved information on public transport together with better usability for Latitude and venue listings.  Google Maps 4.3.0 now shows upcoming transit departure times for stations, meaning you should be able to time your journey more accurately.

There’s also suggestions in Latitude, Google’s map-based friend tracking system, and more detailed ratings in venue listings.  For instance, places may now be rated for atmosphere and customer service.

We’ve just installed v4.3.0 but are having trouble pulling up transit information, both for London tube stations and for the NYC metro.  The station listings show which lines are served, but tapping them doesn’t pull up any timings.  Anyone else having better luck?G

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Samples of Droid X camera leak

Posted: 22 Jun 2010 01:02 PM PDT

Another leak involving the Droid X, this time with it’s camera. We have samples taken with the Droid X’s 8 megapixel camera. This is a vast improvement over the original Droid’s camera, leaked photos of the 1st Droid’s photos before release date were just awful, here is one of the pictures taken with the new Droid X.

The Droid X has a little hump on it, the large camera justifies that, more size, more quality. There has been some dispute though whether the leaked images were really taken with the Motorola Droid X. Another theory is that one picture was taken with Android 2.1 and another taken with Android 2.2

[via BGR]

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Google music store due to release this fall

Posted: 22 Jun 2010 12:27 PM PDT

Even with iTunes the primary music source, Google has been building on it’s own music service. Possibly as early as this fall Google will have a system that allows you to download and stream music. It’s been signaled by Google that they want to offer better music support to those with Google’s Android.

Top labels would warmly welcome a Google vs iTunes on legal online music sales, as they’ve tried for years for the likes of Google and Facebook to challenge iTunes. Amazon and My Space, the two other music stores don’t have the effectiveness of Google with their web users. Currently Apple is on an iTunes that is web-based, so music and video can be streamed to devices that are web-enabled.

[via CNET News]

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HTC Magic will get Android 2.2, According to SFR

Posted: 22 Jun 2010 12:21 PM PDT

Most Android Smartphones released this year will receive the Android 2.2 Froyo. If you have a 2009 HTC Magic, then you might receive the Android 2.2 Froyo as well. France’s 2nd largest largest mobile carrier SFR officially announced the Magic will be receiving the Froyo update.

Rumours started popping up in the first half of June about the Android 2.2 for the Magic. T-Mobile USA said the myTouch 3G, basically the same thing as a HTC Magic would be updated with Froyo a bit later this year. So it looks like the old Magic will be receiving the new Google OS in the next few months.

[via Unwired View]

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