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Verizon Documentation Reveals December 11th Firmware Fix for Droid / HTC Eris

Humberto Saabedra — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 23:14:46 +0000

Following up on the myriad of Motorola Droid issues this week, a recently leaked Technical Bulletin has surfaced that clearly spells out all of the major issues Droid owners have been complaining about since launch(speaker echo/audio problems and recent autofocus problems found on the camera) and what steps will be taken to address them, culminating in a large firmware update.

The update is scheduled for release on December 11th following Motorola’s own recent confirmation of such an update for the Droid’s camera issues this morning, which is a part of the same larger update.

The Droid Eris will also receive its oen update to address issues with the Sense UI as well as other general bugfixes.

Verizon Omnia II on December 2nd

Humberto Saabedra — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 18:07:13 +0000

Verizon will launch the Samsung Omnia II on December 2nd for $519.99 Retail/Month to Month, $369.99 after a 1 year agreement and $299.99 after a 2 year agreement before an additional $100 mail-in rebate.

The Omnia II features a 3.7 inch AMOLED widescreen resistive touch display at WVGA resolution, Windows Mobile 6.5, Bluetooth with stereo audio support, 3.5mm headphone jack, microSDHC expansion slot, speakerphone and a 5.0 megapixel camera with flash, autofocus and video recorder.

Verizon BlackBerry Tour Update Released

Humberto Saabedra — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 01:11:21 +0000

Verizon has released a firmware update for the BlackBerry Tour. The update addresses issues with email sync on personal accounts and other issues yet to be listed by the changelog.

The update requires BlackBerry Desktop Manager to be installed on the host Windows or Mac computer in order to be completed.

Verizon Announces G’zOne Rock

Humberto Saabedra — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 12:41:23 +0000

Verizon has announced the successor to the G’zOne Boulder in the G’zOne Rock.

The Rock features a mil-spec rugged bodyshell that can withstand water, shock, dust, vibration, humidity, salt fog, solar radiation, altitude, high/low temperature storage and six different outdoors- oriented applications which include Earth Compass, Walking Counter, Thermometer, Astro Calendar (astrology/biorhythm readings), Sunrise/Sunset (sun cycle readings) and Tide (tide cycle readings).

The complete feature set of the Rock includes a 2.0 megapixel camera with video recorder, stereo Bluetooth, touch-sensitive media player controls on the outer display, microSDHC expansion slot and a button that opens the phone. The Rock also offers push-to-talk inline with previous G’zOne models.

Pricing is set at $199.99 after new 2 year agreement and availability is set for Friday.

Motorola Droid Autofocus Bug Discovered and Addressed

Humberto Saabedra — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 18:52:58 +0000

Amongst all of the uproar over a “silent update” that “fixed” the recently released Motorola Droid’s camera autofocus issues this morning, Android developer Dan Morrill has given an even simpler explanation for the seemingly rectified nature of the issue:

“There’s a rounding-error bug in the camera driver’s autofocus routine (which uses a timestamp) that causes autofocus to behave poorly on a 24.5-day cycle. That is, it’ll work for 24.5 days, then have poor performance for 24.5 days, then work again.”

This explains the seemingly inconsistent reviews of the camera functionality across the board before the commercial launch of the device, with the launch resulting in near universal complaints over the camera’s performance.

Verizon is currently working with Motorola on a permanent fix as part of a larger firmware update scheduled for December 11th according to internal documentation.

Verizon Releases Advanced Device List Under New $350 Early Termination Fee

Humberto Saabedra — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 20:12:42 +0000

As expected Verizon has begun its new ETF policy on what it considers “advanced devices” which not only includes all smart devices as first thought but some high-end non-smartphones and the discountinued Verizon Hub as well.

Motorola DROID Experiencing Main Speaker Issues

Humberto Saabedra — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 18:51:04 +0000

The Motorola Support forums have been busy with reports of the recently released Motorola DROID having intermittent main speaker issues whereby the device’s speaker will not function spontaneously, with notifications as well as ringtones only being heard through the earpiece, causing inconvenience for some using the device as an alarm clock or using the device normally.

The current solution given by other affected users is to powercycle the device to correct the bug, confirming it to be a software issue. Verizon is also exchanging devices for customers after being notified of the issue and Android support tickets have been opened up on Google Code’s dedicated Android page with no specific solution given yet.

Verizon does have a software update in the pipeline for the Motorola DROID for rollout next month, but it is not known at this time if it will address the above issue on the device.

Our Take on the AT&T vs Verizon 3G Ad Wars

Christopher Price — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 20:35:00 +0000

Readers of PhoneNews.com are too smart to listen to advertising from either side, and come here for the real facts anyways. And, because of that, we think two sentences is all the time we should waste on the matter.

Verizon Launches HTC DROID Eris

Humberto Saabedra — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 19:35:14 +0000

Following up the launch of the Motorola DROID, Verizon has also launched the HTC DROID Eris.

As previously reported, the DROID Eris is functionally identical to the Sprint Hero with pricing set at $469.99 Retail/Month-to-Month, $269.99 after a new 1 year agreement and $199.99 after a 2 year, with the $100 mail-in rebate bringing the totals to $169.99 and $99.99 respectively, undercutting the Sprint Hero by $80.

Buy the HTC Droid Eris from Verizon Wireless

Verizon Launches Motorola DROID Online Ahead of Early Opening

Humberto Saabedra — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 09:05:36 +0000

Verizon has launched the long-awaited Motorola DROID Android smart device after weeks of anticipation.

The complete featureset consists of the 3.7 inch WVGA resolution capacitive touch display, QWERTY keyboard, 550 MHz application processor, microSDHC expansion slot with included 16GB card, 5.0 megapixel camera with dual LED flash, autofocus and DVD resolution video recorder.

Secondary specifications include Bluetooth with stereo audio support, Wi-Fi radio, light sensor accelorometer, proximity sensor, GPS support with transceiver, WebKit based browser with HTML5 and future Flash support scheduled for 2010 along with speakerphone.

The device is now available for $499.99 Retail/Month-to-Month, 269.99 on a 1 year agreement or $299.99 after new 2 year agreement before an additional $100 mail-in rebate, bringing the totals to 269.99 and $199.99 respectively.

Buy the Motorola DROID from Verizon Wireless