The Nuvifone range of Garmin-designed smartphones never really took off. While said company makes a killing in stand alone GPS devices, their smartphones were never all that great. Complicating matters were things such as being released with old Android 1.6 into a time when 2.0 was the norm. On top of that, updates have been extremely slow. A perfect example of this can be seen in how we’re just now getting the Android 2.1 update for installation — Android 2.2 is old, old news and Android 3.0 is just around the corner. But something is better than nothing I guess.
The last palm-to-forehead moment revolves around a no-OTA availability, meaning you’ll have to do it the old way. Point your browsers over here to download the update. **At the time of writing, the link is broken. Though digging around on Garmin’s site might fare you better. Of course, you can always check back with T-Mobile later to see if they fixed their little issue.
For those that already have updated, how’s it going?
We knew it was coming — Twitter for Android. Well, “official” Twitter that is. From the initial looks of it and after 15 minutes of playing around with it, I give it a 3.7 out of 5 (absolutely no scientific reasoning behind that…). I mean, it seems a little plain to me. Not that I want a cluttered, heavy, slow app of course. It just seems like it’s missing something.
The features are as one would expect from your typical Android Twitter app these days: Replies, retweets, address book/camera integration, location aware, etc. etc. Will it replace Seesmic in my day to day Twitter usage? Ehhh, that’s a bit of a stretch. I’ll have to give it a little more play time before I make that decision.
The only truly terrible thing I can think of is the fact that it requires Android 2.1 or above. Ya, that sucks for pretty much…1/2 of the Android population. Sorry guys, look but don’t touch…
I think I’ve finally figured out my favorite type of phone — slide-out qwerty + touchscreen. It’s the best of both worlds. You can be touchy or physical whenever the mode strikes you. I guess that’s why I love the form factor of the DROID. (Wish I could say the same about Motorola’s build quality though)
The phone you see above you is one of those “magical” concoctions that get’s me going. The only sad part is that there isn’t any current plans for a stateside release. Major bummer.
It would do well here too — 1GHz processor, 3.5″ WVGA display, 3G/WiFi/GPS, 5mp camera, DivX support, DMB tuner, and Android 2.1. Clearly it’s a winner on paper and at least in pictures, looks like it would sit well in my hand. For typing nuts, the keyboard looks nice and spacious with properly spaced keys featuring plenty of travel.
Ugh, I better stop now. Can’t miss what you’ve never had, huh? Somehow that just doesn’t seem too true right now…
The Samsung Moment is pretty much your only Android choice on Sprint if you’re the type who digs a full qwerty *physical* keyboard. Overall, it’s a pretty sweet phone (and I actually prefer it’s styling to the DROID’s I might add). Though, being stuck on Android 1.6 is certainly a party killer. Thankfully Android 2.1 is slated to make it’s way to the Moment in the near future.
That phone is barely 6-months old (debuting in September 2009) and already a leaked image of a new replacement — the Samsung Moment 2 — is fresh out of the blurry cam factory. For now, there isn’t really anything to go by spec-wise save for physical observations. In that case, the keyboard looks like it got a tick bigger which should make typing a tad more pleasant. Two things we do “know” however are that TouchWiz 3.0 will come as the standard skin atop Android and that the super sexy Super-AMOLED display won’t be coming to the Moment 2. A bit disheartening but not something I’d call a deal breaker myself.
If this is the type of thing that gets your inner geek all hot and bothered, best stick around as we’ll follow up this post once we get some more solid information on the core specs that every Android nut cares so deeply for.
Remember the big hubbub last time when upgrading from 2.0 –> 2.01? Everyone wanted it much faster than Verizon was rolling it out. This time with 2.1 it’s not any different. But that’s my job — to make your tech filled life easier. Verizon’s rollout schedule is nice as it is one final test of stability before a “mass” rollout like we’ll see within the next day or so. Even still, some just can’t wait *raises hand* and that’s ok. So without further adieu, the Moto DROID 2.1 update.
Instructions for install
**It’s pretty much dammed near impossible to brick your phone with a manual update.zip such as this unless the update package itself were somehow corrupt. Even the less experienced should be able to get this done relatively painlessly.
Download official ESE81 — Moto DROID 2.1 update from here (Official), here, or here.
**rename download to “update.zip” (without parenthesis)
Connect DROID to computer and enable mass storage mode.
Copy over update.zip to the root of your SD card (don’t move it inside any folders)
Restart phone holding the power button and “x” at the same time, not letting go until you see an /!\ symbol.
Select “apply sdcard:update.zip” by navigating with either the volume buttons on the side of the phone or the D-pad on the slide out keyboard. Use either the camera button or center D-pad button to select menu items.
reboot and enjoy!
**Forgot one thing (Thanks Carlos): If you get stuck at the /x\ screen, click the camera or volume up/down to jump into the screen with the option to install update.zip
See, it’s not really that difficult is it? The whole process (sans actual download) takes all of 30-60 seconds so it doesn’t really take that long. Let us know how the update goes for you!
Those crazy ninjas of the VZW underground…. Somehow BGR always gets the low down dirt. Today’s edition of ultra secret news could potentially hit Moto DROID users pretty hard. A new rumor now confirmed development has the Moto DROID 2.1 update that was scheduled to start rolling out day, delayed. According to the source, a last minute bug that wasn’t discovered until late last night/wee hours of the morning is the culprit. I’d be interested to know exactly what the cause for the hold up was. Though in the end, it doesn’t really matter.
Some interesting info can be gleaned when skimming through the comments on BGR however. One comment in particular by a Jason Grier puts the blame not on VZW or Google but on the company who owns the systems that actually “push” out the update. Call me crazy, but I thought VZW would handle something like that? Anyone care to shed some light?
Those waiting rather impatiently for the legit 2.1 upgrade may have another sleepless night or two in store.
For the sake of not rehashing on already beaten story topic, we’ll just simply state that no one is cool with Android 1.5/1.6 still being the feature OS on new phones. With that off our chest, we can look past our curtains of hostility and cynicism to a brighter future if one SE spokesperson is correct. In conversation with Cnet ASIA, the SE spokesperson mentioned that the often talked about (though still MIA with no date of US arrival) Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 will in fact get some form of 2.x software. That’s all fine and dandy, but someone needs to tell Sony they actually need to *release* the phone first.
With the blazing speed (/sarcasm) at which the X10 is making it’s way to market, I wouldn’t be surprised if the X10 was blessed with Android 2.0 or 2.1 when everyone is anxiously anticipating Android 2.2. For the sake of geeks and Android lovers everywhere however, the latest and most current OS should be the only option. The real bummer to turn over and over in your head surpasses everything above still — we won’t see any such X10 updates until late this year. So Sony is effectively killing any chance of success this phone will have. Awesome.
Moto DROID owners who aren’t necessarily into the “underground” world of modding, hacking, and custom ROM’s were no doubt a bit disgruntled when finding out the 2.1 update would not be as nifty super cool as the Nexus One’s special flavor of Flan (2.1). Adding to the anger, Motorola missed the February-ish time frame that 2.1 for the DROID was supposed to drop. On the subject of Live Wallpapers, the general consensus was that the DROID simply lacked the needed muscle to get the job done smoothly. The hacking community disproved that however as Live Wallpapers have been running on the DROID in custom ROMs pretty much sense the N1 was released.
While we DROID owners have been through quite a bit the last few weeks, hope is on the way. The latest “official” DROID ROM that’s been leaked and spread like wildfire features the code name: ESE53. It is this (from Moto) build that is even faster than the previous leaked DROID 2.1 ROM and has Live Wallpapers to boot. Yes folks, Live Wallpapers are going to be included in the final DROID 2.1 ROM.
As far as the delay goes, retooling Live Wallpapers to make the most of the DROID’s lesser hardware was obviously needed (and adding a few challenges I might add). So all is well in DROID land again, huh? Of course, you can always root and enjoy this and plenty more long before anyone else…
The oft forgotten about Droid Eris may be the slightly less pretty (read: ugly as sin), fat ugly step sister, but that doesn’t mean someone out there doesn’t have some love for it. (Everyone needs some lovin’, right?) While the bigger and more powerful DROID sucks up most of the attention with it’s egotistic male machismo-like attitude, any and all good news about the “lesser” CDMA Android device for VZW goes to deaf ears. Well folks, if you happen to contain one of those red headed step children in the palm of your hand, today is your day.
Some of the ever talented folks at XDA got there mitts on a unofficial official Android 2.1 firmware for the Eris. Mind you, it isn’t perfect and is lacking a few things — namely Live Wallpapers — that other 2.1 builds contain. But really, it’s not worth getting all upset about — it’s XDA for crying out loud. Just about anything you could ever want done with the coded word has been done by these people before. With that said, all you want is that precious Eris 2.1 firmware, am I right?
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The Nuvifone range of Garmin-designed smartphones never really took off. While said company makes a killing in stand alone GPS devices, their smartphones were never all that great. Complicating matters were things such as being released with old Android 1.6 into a time when 2.0 was the norm. On top of that, updates have been extremely slow. A perfect example of this can be seen in how we’re just now getting the Android 2.1 update for installation — Android 2.2 is old, old news and Android 3.0 is just around the corner. But something is better than nothing I guess.
