That original Motorola Droid looking long in tooth? Not sure what to do with it once you upgrade to Incredible, X, or even the progenitor’s most direct descendant? Take a cue from Mike Partain, who threw in a Lego NXT Robot kit and some ingenuity to create a rather clever proof of concept. The building blocks serve as the bulk of the structure and motor skills, the phone serves as camera, GPS, and compass. The missing links between these two elements and Partain’s remote controlling are three little pieces of complex software… so maybe it’s not in your immediate future, but having a few dreams and vicariously living through the videos after the break should get you through the weekend, right? And if you really want to fiddle with one yourself, the source code has been provided.
Care for some more specificity on when exactly to expect the Droid X to become even awesomer? Well, according to one “very reliable” source over at Droid Forums, we can look forward to a late August landing for Android 2.2 on the X, which will be preceded by a late July delivery on the venerable Droid. Both dates are caveated with an ominous “currently planned” proviso, so don’t consider them carved in (Mile)stone, but we’re liking the idea of Motorola having both its flagship devices tasting of Froyo by summer’s end. There’s no mention of the Droid 2, however, which may mean nothing or might suggest that handset’s still a fair way away from its release. We shall see.
What, our ultra-special Droid dock‘s not enough for you? There’s now another way to avoid buying Motorola’s official accessories, though this one’s a bit more blasphemous. Thijs Bosschert over in the Netherlands has put together a fully fledged adapter for his Milestone (aka Droid European Edition), which allows it to interface with docks designed for iPods and iPhones. He’s done it using mostly parts he had lying around — and a well-placed magnet, of course — though he had to resort to using the 3.5mm headphone jack to extract audio from the device. The result might not look like a million bucks, but then it didn’t cost that much either. See more pictures and Thijs’ full how-to guide at the source.
Not interested in waiting until the 23rd for Verizon’s big announcement? Don’t worry, we’ve got you covered right now! The Motorola Droid X has probably been one of the worst kept smartphone secrets in recent memory, but after spending two hours with the phone we sort of see why. In short, it’s pretty awesome. Call it a superphone or a mega-smartphone, but the 4.3-inch handset is absolutely Verizon / Motorola’s answer to the HTC EVO 4G, and makes the Droid Incredible look like a bench warmer. What do we mean? We’ll let you see for yourself just after the break in a breakdown of exactly what this phone is all about — and in a video or three of it in action. Oh, and on your way down, make sure to feast your eyes on the gallery, too.
We’ve already gotten a pretty good look at both the Droid 2 and Droid X and some of their purported specs, and it looks like we can now fill in a few more gaps thanks to a set of leaked slides for some new Droid commercials. The most interesting of the lot is the slide / script for a Droid 2 commercial pictured above, which not only confirms an expectedly sci-fi-themed ad for the phone (Gattaca-esque, to be specific), but Exchange support and a 1GHz processor (not 750MHz, as previously rumored). There’s comparatively fewer details in the pair of Droid X commercials, but they do offer yet more confirmation of a 4.3-inch screen, and our first indication of a new EyeCon app that will apparently come pre-loaded on the phone and let you access and control media on your home network — the script for the ad actually mentions a “720 dpi” screen, but we’re going to chalk that up to adspeak rather than Motospeak. Hit up the link below for a closer look at the complete set.
Let’s be honest, we’ve seen moreDroid X / Xtreme / Shadowspyshots than we can keep track of at this point, but for the latest batch, Mr. Blurrycam must’ve forgot his trademark blur filter and delivered us the cleanest images yet — for shame, we know. Here’s what the current owners of the super-secret phone, Gadget University, are claiming: 4.3-inch screen (it seems to jump between 4.3 and 4.1, depending on whom you ask), 1GHz Snapdragon processor, HDMI out, HD video recording, Android 2.1 with a “new version of Motoblur” (Ninjablur, you say?), and hardware navigation buttons. The Verizon logo is again unmistakably clear, and according to the site’s “inside information,” the Droid X (as the Model number says) is coming next month, with training beginning at the end of this month.
[Thanks, Sean]
Update: And here it is alongside some of its contemporaries. Thanks, Jeremey!
In case you’re not yet convinced that video chat is the next big thing phone makers are going to push on us, let Motorola’s Sanjay Jha enlighten you. Having just launched the video-centric Motorola XT720 in Europe (sans a front-facing camera), Jha is promising that his crew will deliver between two and four handsets this year with the equipment necessary to carry out video calls. Funnily enough, Moto’s co-CEO describes himself as someone who’s “never been a great believer” in the functionality, but clearly his company’s seeing a trend it feels the need to be a part of. Speaking of trends, Moto has also fallen afoul of supply shortages similar to those constraining Droid Incredible inventory, with Jha saying about the Moto Droid, “if I could build more, I’d sell more.” And if you could get Android 2.2 on them, you’d have some really happy customers too.
Motorola has just outed a Europe-bound Milestone XT720, a handset intended to grab the attention of camera lovers with an 8 megapixel sensor, 720p / 24fps video and — a first for Android handsets — a xenon flash. Speaking of Android, this will come loaded up with version 2.1 when it launches later this month. Plans for 2.2 upgrades are, as usual, not yet formalized and not under discussion. Other specs include a 3.7-inch, 480 x 854 screen, a 550MHz ARM Cortex A8 CPU, and a promised 9 hours of talk time and 320 hours of standby time. It looks very much like Moto’s selection of Droid-esque handsets that have been prowling the Chinese market, and it seems the company has enjoyed success with the keyboard-less form factor and is pushing it out to Europe. US release plans are also not being discussed — it might happen and it might not, seems to us like it’ll depend on the Euros’ reaction. We’re just getting to grips with the handset right now, and will furnish you with video of it as soon as we can.
P.S. We’re told this handset is closer to the Motoroi than anything else, Motorola describes them as sister devices. We also spotted a network update from Orange on the demo handset, implicating it as a possible carrier for the XT720 in the UK.
Update: We’ve now got Motorola’s full press release plus a promo video after the break, as well as some comparison pics between this new handset and the original Milestone in the second gallery below.
Update 2: And we’ve just added our hands-on impressions and video, you know where to find them.
What shall we call this, Frodroid or Droyo? Either way, an Android 2.2 update has been made available for Motorola’s all-conquering slider, and it awaits eager firmware upgraders at the download link below. Produced by the good folks at My Droid World, this includes almost everything you’ll need to get your Froyo on in style, though it excludes WiFi support at this stage. Such is the way with unofficial upgrades, but if you really need consolation, there’s a whole set of superuser privileges to explore as this bad boy comes pre-rooted. You could of course skip this whole community business and wait for Moto’s official update, but that company’s idea of the “near future” is about as precise as the length of a piece of string.
Because we can’t seem togetenoughMotorolaDroid 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?
