Year: 2010

wait what?  yeah, not surprised there are we?

after the motorola tweet from this morning confirming that they were not releasing an OTA update, engadget mobile threw some weight around and hammered their verizon connections…

First, Motorola’s official MotoMobile Twitter account hit the world with the knowledge, then we followed up directly with Verizon to confirm, and we’re being told from all sides that the new Droid firmware is a total fabrication.

“firmware is a total fabrication.”  i’m having a hard time believing that the thousands of people that have confirmed a 61MB file over the last week onto their motorola droid devices were all a part of some big conspiracy.

to continue to follow our constantly updating coverage of this mysterious droid 2.1 update, check out our rolling post.

can you just feel the anger in the air yet?

for those of you not following along with our motorola droid OTA update to android 2.1 running post, then you may have missed this news we dropped from motorola via twitter…

take that statement however you want.  they aren’t saying that they don’t have one ready, but they are definitely not confirming any sort of date.

maybe monday?

this will serve as our running post for updates as we come closer to the 1/22 deadline which we’ve all been led to believe is the update day for our motorola droid devices.  as you have info, news or if you phone is actually seeing changes, leave us a comment with your details and we’ll add them to this post!

let’s do our best to keep everyone up-to-date and informed…

update 9:19PM (1/21):

users reporting slowness in the android market with full 3g coverage.

I just tried to DL an app from the store and it downloaded EXTREMELY slowly with full 3G, sign that they are preping update OTA?

not sure this means anything and i just download an app and had 2 updates on wi-fi and noticed no slowness.

update 9:37PM (1/21): 

random commenter on slashgear reporting complete update to his eris…

Looks like my Eris was already updated…I am not sure if I like this though and all of my customizations were wiped out -_-

this guy would be the only one one the planet and as the ghost adventure crew would say, debunked?

update 9:51PM (1/21):

in a semi-related note, i found this post from earlier today on the droid eris update that was promised as well.

While at the Verizon store yesterday, I was told by two of their technicians that the Eris upgrade to 2.1 will be released on Jan. 20.

well obviously that was a day or two ago and no one with an eris has seen an update.  i’m wondering if they meant 1/22?

update 10:28PM (1/21):

rebooted my phone and check for updates…nothing happened.

many users are also reporting on slowness with apps, internet disconnects, and weird overall behavior with their android devices.

since i’m on the west coast, i’ll likely be up for a while updating away. so stay tuned!

update 10:43PM (1/21):

a moderator (miami) over at droidforums.net claims to have insider info with news on the 2.1 release…

Well the wait is almost over for us Droid users. This is the official 2.1 issues thread. I have received some inside information that we may see an official 2.1 release as early as Monday. I still don’t have all the details on the how, but for now I will assume a staggerd release will happen. As always please try to keep it on topic!

i hope he is correct with the staggered release so that at least a few users will start to see updates within the next few hours.

update 7:04AM (1/22):

just checked my phone and posts around the blogging world…no updates confirmed at this time.

update 9:13AM (1/22):

bad news starting to pile up.  the latest via motorola’s twitter account…

for those of you remaining skeptical and accusing everyone of making up the ota update date of 1/22, let us remind you that the 1/22 date all started back in november on an official verizon release.

there are also rumors sizzling for a monday release with a slow rollout of the update starting this weekend.  it’s still early on 1/22, so everyone just relax!

update 11:07AM:

motorola representative via chat had the following response when asked about the update…

Valeria: Please note that at this moment we cannot confirm when an upgrade will be available. However the phone is ready to receive software upgrades, therefore upgrades are being planned, but we don’t have a release schedule, or confirmation up to which Android version it’s going to upgrade.

update 11:34AM:

response from verizon customer service that i just received…

Thank you for contacting Verizon Wireless. My name is Jared, and I apologize for the confusion regarding the software update to the 2.1. I have not heard, nor can I find anything, about the upgrade happening today. When the update happens it should be automatically pushed to the device.

boo.

update 1:59PM (1/22):

engadget mobile has some interesting quotes from their verizon connections on the update we are waiting impatiently for…

First, Motorola’s official MotoMobile Twitter account hit the world with the knowledge, then we followed up directly with Verizon to confirm, and we’re being told from all sides that the new Droid firmware is a total fabrication.

maybe it’s time for an official statement from these companies?  the interwebs are officially irritated.

earlier today, we reported on speaking with a verizon rep who confirmed that they were also expecting motorola droid devices to be updated to android 2.1 tomorrow.  well, now that it’s 9:00PM here in portland, and after speaking with a dozen or so reps, i’ve got to say that i’m starting to question the validity of our original source.

i’m sorry to get hopes up or down with this post, but it’s hard to believe that if android 2.1 were really coming to our droid devices tomorrow, that we wouldn’t have heard something by now.  nothing has been leaked, no major sites are reporting on it, and everyone seems to just be waiting in an eerie silence for something to happen.

if you remember, during the 2.0.1 update, there was a slow rollout a few days before the confirmed date that verizon had set.  this week, we’ve been seeing an OTA update appearing on droid’s sporadically and similarly to that original fix.  that 1/22 date was really only meant to fix minor bugs that the december date wasn’t ready for.  and aren’t most users with this OTA update reporting nothing new except being able to download facebook via the market?  seems like a lot of “behind the scenes” bug fixing to me.

so will tomorrow prove to be a complete clunker?  possibly.  either way, i’ll still be keeping hopes up for a magical present in the morning…

while google is battling with china over android freedom, motorola is teaming up with them by launching a new android app store called shop4apps.  it looks like a new market for developers to submit, market and distribute their apps into one of the largest mobile empires on the planet.

fortunately for US users, we likely won’t have access to this store which means we also won’t have to keep track of new apps in 2 different markets.  should be quite the battle in china though.

shop4apps directions…

How to Submit Your App to SHOP4APPS

To submit your Android apps early for distribution in SHOP4APPS, launching soon in China, please follow these simple steps.

   1. Log into MOTODEV and apply for MOTODEV’s App Accelerator Program.
   2. Your App Accelerator Program application will be reviewed and you will be notified of your acceptance within 1-5 days.
   3. Once you have been granted access to the App Accelerator Program, you may submit your application to SHOP4APPS from the “Distribution” section of your App Accelerator Program Benefits page.

We look forward to working with you to develop and distribute great Android apps for Motorola handsets!

what really matters to me with this announcement though, is seeing the continued support from motorola on the android front.  yay!

spoke with a verizon rep just a few minutes ago that confirmed what many have been saying for weeks.  they are, as most of us, under the impression that the android os 2.1 update will start rolling out to motorola droids on friday, 1/22.  (yes, tomorrow.)

while that comes as great news, there is also some sour news in the mix.  when asked if flash 10 would be included in that update, they said they were still not expecting flash support until mid-2010.  damn!

and if this rep is wrong on the timing of the update, i’ll give everyone the store number so we can set it on fire.

update 1/28:

to tide us all over while we wait impatiently, check out our list of android 2.1 applications that have been ported over to our motorola droid devices.

suck on that news iphone.

oh, and if you just need to upgrade to a droid, it’s only $159.99.  not bad, not bad.

in related wireless upgrading news…

if you aren’t currently ordering your phones through amazon.com let me just tell you right now, that you need to change your phone buying practice.  they offer the cheapest prices on the newest phones and i completely trust them.  (not that my voice means all that much) but seriously, you should check them out if you are starting new service or even upgrading your current phone.

in fact, before i got my droid, i had purchased a blackberry tour from them when it was brand new as my upgrade date was active.  at the time, the tour was selling at verizon stores for $149 i believe and i snagged it for $75.  and on top of that, amazon didn’t notify verizon that i had used my upgrade after the purchase.  yes you just read that right.  and 2 months later, the lovely little motorola droid was released, and here we are today!

purchasing new phones via internet wireless services is definitely something you should start considering.  although, be wary of wirefly.  (we’ll save that story for another day)

(via androinica)