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Mobile Motorola

Motorola Motoluxe and Defy Mini Launch Announced

Just a short while after the launch of the RAZR Motorola has announced that two new Android phones are due to be released very soon. The Motoluxe and Defy Mini both run on Android Gingerbread. Neither phone is quite as cutting edge as the RAZR but they are nice additions to Motorola’s burgeoning Android range.

The Motoluxe is a large 4 inch touchscreen phone that will be ideal for web based features and Android apps. The phone runs on quite a slow 800MHz processor but is fairly well endowed in 3G and Wi-Fi connectivity. It also has a pretty decent 8 megapixel camera and a VGA front facing camera.

While the specs may not be amazing the Motoluxe is certainly a stylish phone, and has a unique ‘lanyard slot’ at the bottom right of the screen that will light up when you have a missed call, new message or email. This is a bit like the light indicators that used to be included on the exterior of flip-phones, and it is a wonder why this useful feature has not been included on more touchscreen phones. The lanyard slot allows you to quickly check whether you need to read a new message or check a missed call without actually having to walk across the room to pick up your phone.

The Defy Mini is a smaller version of the earlier Defy released in 2010. The Defy was a rugged phone, a phone designed to withstand the worst that Mother Nature had to throw at it (as well as your own cack-handedness). Being able to endure high volumes of dust, being held under water for extended periods and shrugging off drops to the floor that would leave other phones weeping into a thousand pieces are just some of the reasons that rugged phones have become popular with mountain climbers, divers and fans of other outdoor pursuits.

Until the Defy though, these rugged phones were pretty basic. Probably more basic than a phone you had ten years ago, but Motorola showed it was possible to bring this durability to touchscreen smartphones. The Defy Mini is the same sort of thing, albeit quite a bit smaller, which probably makes it even more ideal for outdoor activities.

The Mini is a little bit slower than the original Defy and the camera isn’t quite as good, but it does come with a more modern version of Android (Gingerbread) and the same decent Wi-Fi and 3G connections. Most importantly though, for when you find yourself lost on a mountaintop somewhere, the Defy Mini has a far superior battery life compared to the original for talk time and standby.

Both phones will feature MotoSwitch, which evolved out of Motorola’s earlier MotoBlur system. MotoSwitch has adopted ideas used on Facebook that will display contacts and app icons more prominently on your phone the more you interact with them. So if you have one contact that you phone ten times a day and another that you sent a single message to 8 months ago, your regular contact will be easier to access from the phone’s homescreen.

The two phones are due to be released in the coming weeks in Europe, China and Latin America, although Motorola has not released any price details just yet. When these phones are finally released you will be able to get them in the UK from mobile phone comparison website Best Mobile Contracts.

Categories
android How To Motorola

Motorola XOOM Unlock Instructions To Flash Custom ROM

The Motorola XOOM which has already started shipping to all its customers who had pre-ordered is now open to the public market from Verizon with a 2 year contract for $599.99 as well as an LTE version for $799.99. This stunning tablet powered by the Android OS may prove to be a threat for the Apple iPad. Motorola is very strict when it comes to unlocking a bootloader, but that’s not the case this time.

All those proud owners of the XOOM tablet who wish to modify it now can happily do so by following this quick guide. Please make a note that by doing this can get your warranty voided.

Step 1 : Download the Motorola USB drivers and the Android SDK first.

  • Download the USB drivers from here. (you will have to register on the website or else you can google it and find it for yourself as well.)
  • Download the Android SDK from here.

Step 2 :

  • Switch off your XOOM tablet.

Step 3 :

  • Press and hold the volume down button while simultaneously pressing the power button.
  • Keep it pressed down even when your XOOM turn on as this will display some starting fastboot protocol text on the top left section of the screen.

Step 4 :

  • Now open a command window in your sdk\tools folder, not the platform tools. You may need to copy some DLL files, that depends on when you get the SDK.

Step 5 :

  • Now type this : fastboot oem unlock

Step 6 :

  • Please read the warning message on your screen, use volume up if you wish to do so.

That’s it, you now have a fully unlocked XOOM and can add in all sorts of applications now.

Categories
Gadgets Motorola

Motorola Xoom Launch On February 17

Motorola Xoom, the highly anticipated Honeycomb tablet computer from Motorola could be launching as early as February 17. This information is courtesy a  leaked screenshot of the Best Buy inventory database that has recently been doing the rounds across the blogosphere. According to this document, Best Buy stores across the United States will begin to stock the tablet starting February 16th. Also, the launch date has been explicitly mentioned as February 17th.

Motorola Xoom tablet launch

This is interesting considering that we received details about the Xoom pricing just days back. Also, you may recall that the initial rumors pointed out to a launch date around April and May of this year. While all of this is speculation at the moment, we would like to assume each of these rumors carry a grain of truth in them. Verizon is expected to come with a Wi-Fi only model to start with followed by the launch of 3G-enabled tablets. We are also likely to see 4G LTE capable Xoom tablets sometime down the line.

If these rumored launch dates are any indication, we could be seeing a Wi-Fi only variant launch in February followed by tablets capable of carrying cellular data sometime around April of this year.

Categories
Gadgets Motorola

Motorola Xoom Price Rumored To Be $799

Motorola Xoom – the Android 3.0 tablet with a dual core 1GHz processor, a 32GB flash storage and 10.1″ screen – is among the most anticipated tech launches this year. The tablet gained huge publicity when it was unveiled at the Consumer Electronics Show earlier this month.

While there has not been any official communication regarding the launch date and price, we have heard from Motorola executives from South America that the tablet will launch in April and May of this year. While the price remains elusive, the Xoom could be priced at $799 if a leaked Verizon document is anything to go by. The document contains a list of  product prices and launch timelines and contains a ‘Minimum Advertised Price‘ of $799 against the Xoom. The price is set for the period between January 21 and July 21 of this year.

If true, Xoom could seem to be priced higher than the equivalent iPad. As you would know already, the 32GB 3G-enabled version of iPad costs $729 in the US market. What do you think? Are you planning to buy one at this price?

Categories
Gadgets Motorola

Motorola Xoom Wi-Fi And 3G Model Launch Dates Revealed?

Xoom – the recently unveiled Honeycomb-based tablet computer from Motorola could launch in April this year. This is according to Motorola Mobility Latin America General Manager Maurizio Angelone who has revealed that the Wi-Fi only version of the device would be available on stores starting April of this year. An Argentinian blog has meanwhile reported that a 3G-enabled Xoom tablet should also launch soon after. The website expects the launch of this variant to happen around May of this year.

The revelations are interesting considering that we were not aware of Wi-Fi only variants of the Xoom until now. The rumored sources have also indicated that the assembly of the 3G enabled and Wi-Fi only devices shall happen in Argentina and Brazil respectively. That is another deviation from the norm where China is usually the place of assembly. We will keep track on how this news pans out.

Categories
Gadgets Motorola

Motorola Xoom Features And Launch Details Revealed

We have heard quite a few things about the Motorola Honeycomb tablet in the past. In fact, Google’s Andy Rubin also carried it to a conference recently. Given the teasers that Motorola had released prior to CES, we were naturally curious to hear more about this upcoming device. And the features definitely do not disappoint.

Firstly, this is a 10.1-inches device that comes with a widescreen HD display with 1280×800 pixel resolution. The Motorola Xoom will run on a dual core processor – each running at 1GHz and will be equipped with two cameras – a rear facing 5-Megapixel camera and another 2-Megapixel front facing camera. There is also support for 1080p HD video and HDMI output. Other details that will be of interest include gyroscope, barometer, e-compass, accelerometer and support for Google Maps 5.0Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connectivity.

Motorola has noted that a 3G/Wi-Fi enabled device will launch in Q1 2011 while a 4G LTE capable device should be available in Q2 2011.

Categories
Mobile Verizon

Motorola Droid 2 R2D2 Price Dropped

The holiday shopping season is in full swing in the United States and that is quite evident in the way Verizon has been cutting down the prices of some of the hottest gadgets that it has released over the past couple of months. After the carrier dropped the prices of Droid 2 and Droid 2 Global, we now hear that the price of Motorola Droid 2 R2-D2 StarWars edition too is seeing a price cut.

According to the new listing on the Verizon website, Droid 2 R2D2 can now be purchased at a price of $199.99. This is of course with a two year contract and requires users to sign up for a monthly data package of at least $15.00.

So what this price drop means is that the Droid 2 R2D2 can now be purchased at the same price as the Droid 2 Global. You will remember that this model with international roaming capability too saw a price drop earlier that brought its price down to $199.99. You can check out the R2D2 from the Verizon website here.

Categories
Gadgets Motorola

Motorola Tablet Features & Pictures Revealed

Andy Rubin, the VP of engineering at Google had last week given us a sneak peek into an upcoming Honeycomb tablet from Motorola. While not too many details were divulged, we did hear that the device will sport a NVIDIA processor along with a dual-core 3D processor and video chatting functionalities.

Now, we are coming to know about more features about this upcoming gadget. First of all, a new picture of the tablet comes with a Verizon logo imprinted which has sort of confirmed speculations about the carrier that this tablet could come partnered with. The tipster has also given us some details about some specifications of this tablet which include

  • 32 GB internal storage
  • NVIDIA Tegra 2 T20 dual-core processor
  • Gyroscope sensor
  • 1280 x 800 display
  • 2-Megapixel front camera
  • 5-Megapixel rear camera
  • 1GHz system processor
  • microSD support
  • 512MB RAM
  • Support for Wi-Fi, 3G, LTE & Bluetooth

Motorola Honeycomb Tablet

Categories
Gadgets Google Motorola

Motorola Honeycomb Tablet Demoed – Launch Early 2011?

Andy Rubin, the VP of Engineering at Google unveiled the Android 2.3 and Nexus S yesterday. As part of his interaction, Rubin also briefly showcased yet another imminent release – a Motorola tablet running Honeycomb – the Android OS that will follow the newly launched Android 2.3 update.

While Rubin did not reveal too many details about the new product, we do know that this tablet computer will include a NVIDIA processor, a dual core 3D processor and video chatting capabilities (means a front facing camera as well). The device could measure anywhere between 7″ and 10″ though there is high chance that Motorola could opt for the higher end.

You can check out the demonstration below. Nothing is known about the launch of this device. However, we expect this to happen in the first quarter of 2011 at the least. That would bring another new Android OS to the already fragmented platform. That’s not a good thing, sadly.

Categories
Mobile Motorola

Buy Droid Pro Cheap At Best Buy With New Discounts

It has not been long since Motorola released the Droid Pro and Droid 2 Global handsets to the market. But it looks like they are already available for quite a deal. American retailer Best Buy has announced an offer on these recently launched devices that will bring Droid Pro to customers at $49 while Droid 2 Global will be available at a price of $149.

This is the latest holiday season discount deals to hit the smartphone segment and if it was apparent already, these deals come with a requirement for customers to sign up a two year contract with Verizon.

Droid Pro was launched back in October this year and was initially available at a price of $299 while Droid 2 Global is a more recent handset that was launched only last month and has been retailing at a price of $199.99. You can get hold of these discounted handsets from the Best Buy store by clicking here and here.