Droid: Jailbroken and Beats iPhone in Time Mag List!

It's been a long time since I wrote about the Motorola Droid. The last time I did was when it launched, after that there was nothing. A lot of people praised the Motorola Droid as the one to beat Apple's iPhone 3GS and if Time's correct, it already did. However, with such a high profile phone, there's bound to be people who want to break it like they did the iPhone, and they just did.

Droid is Jailbroken!

There have been reports going around that the Motorola Droid has been finally "rooted" or for those not technically inclined--the Operating System has been opened up and anyone can muck around with it. The one who announced it was Cyanogen who tweeted it. However the one who hacked it was a person named Zinx Verituse.

So what does this mean for current Droid owners who wants to root their phone?

A rooted Droid means the user will have administrative rights and the ability to control every aspect of the phone, not just those that Motorola or Verizon have provided access to. A person will be able to download widgets that allow them to overclock their processor or install themes that dramatically change the appearance of their phone. Cyanogen offers custom builds that truly customize a device and provides easy access to hidden features.

Just remember that rooting your phone has also a great chance of totally bricking it.

Droid Beats iPhone in Time List!

According to Time Magazine, the Motorola Droid is the number one gadget of 2009, beating the iPhone (who sits at a lowly four).

"The Droid is a hefty beast, a metal behemoth without the gloss and finish of the iPhone, but you don’t miss it. The Droid’s touchscreen is phenomenally sharp and vivid, it has an actual physical (not great, but good enough) keyboard, and best of all, the Droid is on Verizon’s best-of-breed 3G network. It’s Android’s first credible challenge to the iPhone."

Congrats to Motorola for beating the iPhone on this list!

Jailbreaken Droid Source
Time Magazine Top 10 Gadgets of 2009

Rumors: iPhone 3GS 8GB by Xmas and XBox 360 New Adapter

Welcome to the part of the tech blogging life where we take a look at leaks and rumors. We've got two excellent of each with the Xbox 360 802.11n adapter and the Apple iPhone 3GS 8GB.

AT&T releasing an iPhone 3GS 8GB before Christmas?

It seems that Verizon's Motorola Droid special have a lot of people in AT & T quaking in their digital boots. Although I never thought that Motorola's Droid would make such an effect on the mobile phone landscape, but I'm willing to bet it's no the hardware rather it's the Android 2.0 that's really moving and grooving the hype on this phone.

This has obviously gotten attention from AT& T, the official carrier for Apple's iPhone 3GS and as early as now, they're already making moves to make sure that people go for their phone over Verizon's. The move? As reported by BGR:

"Definitely not confirmed, but rather interesting nonetheless. We’ve heard now from two sources that AT&T, and we guess Apple, are contemplating launching an 8GB iPhone 3GS at the $99 price point before Christmas. One source said this was AT&T’s way of combating the DROID madness."

If this is true, they'll likely get a lot of people go for their phone over Verizon's. That is, until Verizon matches their pricing and service; then it would be a very interesting Christmas indeed.

Peek a boo, I see an Xbox 360 802.11n adapter!

We're not really sure if this one is a leak, a misprint, or the real deal but it sure is interesting: an Xbox360 802.11n was put up at Costco's site for a few minutes then eventually pulled down. Reason? No one's sure.

"After discretely showing up on US retail sites and subsequently managing to drop off into internet obscurity, the 802.11n-compliant peripheral has returned to the scene via Costco's site, this time with a November 10th shipping date and a more attractive than before $88 price tag."

We'll see on November 10 what this whole thing is really about.

iPhone 3GS 8GB Source
XBox 360 Adapter source

Motorola Droid: Out in the Open

Besides being named from some Star War characters (remember C3PO and R2D2?), Motorola's Droid has finally been unveiled unto the world. We're not sure if the accidental posting of the specs to the previously brought down page (meaning: it's up now) will make any impact on it's sales coming this Holiday.

Here's what it has to offer:

The web is richer. Photos are sharper. Videos pop. It has the most advanced Google browser and Android 2.0 software with a blazing-fast processor and 3G speed for faster search. It has the world's thinnest QWERTY slider at 13.7mm. It can help you navigate turn-by-turn. It has a 5MP camera with a flash, plus loads of great camera features and a DVD-quality recorder to capture all the richer, bigger, wider experiences you're going to have. It's the phone with the "Hi" IQ.

Features seem to be above average compared to its other Android sisters. The one thing that most techies will be looking at will be the "DVD quality" video as most mobile phones have been known to have high megapixels for shooting pictures but have crappy video quality. Supposedly it'll provide you with flash 10 on your mobile phone, possibly allowing you to do things with your phone that you only thought was possible on a desktop, laptop, or notebook.

The next question is: will this be the one o put the iPhone down for the count? The iPhone design, quality, and craftsmanship is still heads above anything right now. However this may have a bit of an edge over its Android apps as it is open sourced, while Apple's is pretty much a tough nut to crack.

Available for pre-orders, priced at $ 199, two year lock (Verizon), and to be shipped out November 6.

Source

Leaked! Motorola Droid and HTC Desire

Leakages and accidental releases seems to be the main marketing weapon nowadays as it's been extremely rampant going into the Holidays. It's not that we don't appreciate them, it's just that it's just so obvious. Nevertheless, they create a lot of news about the product and provides it with hype before the actual announcement. Here are a couple of mobile phones that were "accidental" in its marketing.

Motorola Droid specs accidentally posted online!

Motorola's pretty keen on accidentally showing their moblie phone's specs then suddenly pulling it back. It's no surprise that another soon to be released Motorola mobile phone, tentatively called Droid, has been "carelessly" uploaded to Motorola's US site. It's got the complete specs as well...

"Uh… so much for an announcement event? Or Motorola just doesn’t know what the hell is going on (most likely the reason), because the Motorola Droid makes an official appearance on Moto’s U.S. site. It just might be that we were sent this direct link which isn’t mean to be public, but… you know how that’s going to work out."

The site has since been pulled down. No word on the pricing and release date yet.

HTC Desire caught on camera!

HTC's Android phones have been such a hit that they've decided to create another one. A leaked picture of the HTC Desire has been seen in the wild and it looks pretty.

Too bad it didn't have any news on the specs, release dates, and pricing. We're keeping our fingers crossed that it'll be out before the Holidays.

Motorola Droid Source
HTC Desire Source

The Cliq: Motorola's First Android

With all the name changing around here, I wasn't surprised at all that the Motorola Morrison has turned up to be the Motorola Cliq. Touted as one of the more affordable Android OS powered mobile phone out there, the Cliq sure has a tough act to follow with the HTC Tattoo (curiously used to be known as the HTC Click) also known for it's Android OS and wallet saving properties.

We presented you with the leaked specs last time and it seems to be the same, but the really weird news here is the mobile phone's name! At first, we all thought it was going to be the Motorola Morrison, then it became the Motorola Blur (as mentioned in the hastily made keynote), then it became the Cliq. Were they worried that having a phone named Blur would be a bad thing? It was so bad it got a lot of flack from both Gizmodo and PC Mag

Considered as "The first phone with social skills", it does really seem to focus more on how you connect to social network services like Twitter, Facebook, etc.

The social networking is very deeply integrated into the phone. For example, if you click on a contact anywhere under any social network, it'll give you the full contact information for every social network that guy belongs to. From there, you communicate with him through any network.

So here's to Motorola's first Android phone, the Morrison, er..the Blur...ok the Cliq.

Source for quote
Source of Motorola Cliq image

Leaked: Motorola on Android and Experia X3

There's been a lot of leaks lately and like our friends from New Consumers, we're really doubting whether this is a new marketing strategy by the makers rather than a secret document secretly emailed to the tech bloggers. Nevertheless, it's good for the makers.

Motorola going Android confirmed!

Motorola has been in the dumps lately and they need to overhaul their OS. It was then rumored that they seem to be taking on Android as a possible substitution, but all of it were just heresay--until now:

Until this fine morn, rumors that Motorola's hazily-leaked Morrison handset would run Android were just that: Rumors. A second set of shots now gives us a clearer view of the kid-colored piece, including a clear confirmation of its alleged Google-ness.

Yes, it's now been confirmed that it will run on android and will be going up against the likes of HTC and the lot. Bad or good thing? If it's more affordable than HTC, I think this just may win.

Experia X3 leaked on retailer site

As was reported in New Consumers, the Sony Ericsson Experia X3 has been spotted, not in the wild nor in the hands of tech bloggers, but on an online retail site. Yes, Expansys: the one who were supposed to sell the as of yet unreleased mobile phone, was the one who "accidentally" leaked it.

Leak sources can come from everywhere within the process, one of them is through the retailers. In this case, online retailer Expansys seems to have not gotten the memo not to show the specs for the new Sony Ericsson XPERIA X3 Android. Not only did it show the pictures, but also specs

Display:

• 800 x 400 pixels/4″
• Touch Sensitive

Network:

• 2G 850/900/1800/1900 (Quad-Band)
• 3G: 900/2100 (Dual-Band)
• HSDPA (10Mbps)
• HSUPA (2Mbps)

Camera:

• 8 mega-pixels (auto-focus)
• 8 x Digital Zoom
• LED Flash
• Image Stabilization
• Smile Shutter
• Face Detection

Video:

• VGA Video Recording

Music:

• Supported formats: MP3, AAC, eAAC+

Ringtones:

• Monophonic
• Polyphonic (64)
• MP3
• AAC

Messaging:

• SMS
• MMS (with video)
• E-mail (POP3, SMTP, IMAP4, MS Exchange)

Memory:

• Phone Book
• Dialled Calls
• Missed Calls
• Received Calls
• microSDHC (external)

Call Features:

• Hands Free
• Caller ID
• Voice Dialling

Connectivity:

• miniUSB
• 3.5mm AV connector
• Bluetooth (2.1)
• Wi-Fi (IEEE 802.11g)

Navigation:

• AGPS

Source for Motorola on Android

Source for Experia X3 leak