Droid X: The next Moto Droid phone for Verizon

[thescreensavers]

Is Moto's legal BS, all their C&D letters, irritating anyone else? Combined with their anti-community attitudes, they've pretty much effectively ruled themselves out for being my next phone purchase.

Samsung and HTC better bring some good products to the table when my Droid 1 contract runs dry.

They just given C&D orders to the files, they are not C&D work to crack it.

The files are still up for too long for the C&D to do anything, its all over the web. yes it sucks they are locking down the new phones but w/e.

 

[foghorn67]

Those leaks were stolen property. Motorola has the right to protect their proprietary software. Nothing is stopping them from cracking the boot loader.

 

[dguy6789]

Those leaks were stolen property. Motorola has the right to protect their proprietary software. Nothing is stopping them from cracking the boot loader.

This. All the anti-Motorola stuff I've been hearing lately has been nothing more than baseless whining.

 

[Bateluer]

Everybody turns a blind eye this time around, and next generation it'll get worse. And worse.

 

[dguy6789]

I don't think a company trying to keep their stuff locked down is anything new or special or worth worrying about. Motorola said that the original Droid was an exception and to expect all of their future phones to be locked. Doesn't seem to be hurting their sales any.

Most companies lock their stuff down(Motorola, Apple, Microsoft, Sony, Nintendo, virtually all game companies, etc..), Motorola is in the norm, they aren't doing something they should be demonized for.

 

[Bateluer]

they aren't doing something they should be demonized for.

Just because everyone is doing it, doesn't make it right. Companies that do this should be demonized and boycotted to whatever degree it takes to get them to change their ways.

The original Droid may be the exception, but it was all the mods and ROMs for it that made it great. A greatness that will likely forever elude the X, the Droid 2, and other phones locked down in the same manner.

 

[Suspicious-Teach8788]

Just because everyone is doing it, doesn't make it right. Companies that do this should be demonized and boycotted to whatever degree it takes to get them to change their ways.

The original Droid may be the exception, but it was all the mods and ROMs for it that made it great. A greatness that will likely forever elude the X, the Droid 2, and other phones locked down in the same manner.

And? Most phones have been locked down to begin with. HTC just doesn't really lock it down. Is it locked? Yeah, but they just don't bolt it down with some heavy duty locks.

Everyone wants to tweak, but the companies have every right to lock it down. Sorry too many people want an OS that's easy to get under the hood for. You had your shot with Windows Mobile, but too bad the adoption rate was a joke.

 

[Bateluer]

And? Most phones have been locked down to begin with. HTC just doesn't really lock it down. Is it locked? Yeah, but they just don't bolt it down with some heavy duty locks.

Everyone wants to tweak, but the companies have every right to lock it down. Sorry too many people want an OS that's easy to get under the hood for. You had your shot with Windows Mobile, but too bad the adoption rate was a joke.

WinMo had its problems, and was mostly proprietary code. With Android, the OS is open source. Its designed to be be easy to tweak, configure, and get under the hood. It really bugs me when manufacturers try to prevent me from doing what I wish with the hardware I paid for.

I realize I may be in the minority in this. Under Google's own rules, locked boot loaders and the unremove-able pre-installed junk from carriers is classified as malicious. It both shocks and sickens me that people so readily buy up these devices, claiming its no big deal. Its like buying a car with the hood welded shut, and then having Ford sue you because you tried to install a custom dash. You take a baby step now, a baby step tomorrow, a baby step next week, and the next thing you know, you've lost all rights to the device and can't install any software not approved by the carrier/manufacturer.

I must be jaded in my old age, I swear.

 

[funks]

I'm pretty sure Motorola wants to keep people from updating their own phones - otherwise planned obsolescence won't work.

The way it works now, Motorola can easily deprecate a phone after year. Can pretty much guarantee the the Droid X won't be getting any versions better than Froyo - 2.2 even though the hardware is more than capable six months, to a year from now.

The boot loader needs to be cracked. Even though Motorola released the sources for the Droid X (2.1) - a bunch of important bits were basically redacted.

 

[Pliablemoose]

I'm not happy with the way Moto has locked things up at all, the hackers and modders had a lot to do with the Droid's success in the marketplace, now that it's gained a foothold, they sort of screwed the Moto loyal...

 

[Bateluer]

I'm not happy with the way Moto has locked things up at all, the hackers and modders had a lot to do with the Droid's success in the marketplace, now that it's gained a foothold, they sort of screwed the Moto loyal...

Part of what I've been saying. The community really made the Droid great, and no other android phone, except perhaps the original G1, has such a vibrant and active development community around it. To have Moto figuratively spit our faces now is disheartening, and I'm very disappointed.

 

[foghorn67]

Part of what I've been saying. The community really made the Droid great, and no other android phone, except perhaps the original G1, has such a vibrant and active development community around it. To have Moto figuratively spit our faces now is disheartening, and I'm very disappointed.

It's silly you take this personally. You are starting to use some lame victimization stuff that doesn't make sense. Yeah, I agree the signed boot loaders suck.
But it seems like you think it's your right to distribute stolen property, and you rationalize it in emotional way.
What is your beef with the cease and desist letters?

 

[Pliablemoose]

It's silly you take this personally. You are starting to use some lame victimization stuff that doesn't make sense. Yeah, I agree the signed boot loaders suck.
But it seems like you think it's your right to distribute stolen property, and you rationalize it in emotional way.
What is your beef with the cease and desist letters?

Pliablemoose sings the "But Android is open" song...

 

[dguy6789]

Android is an operating system, not a device. If one doesn't like the way a manufacturer locks down their products, he should not buy them.

Android is destined to go the way of Windows on the PC, not the way of Linux on the PC.

 

[Bateluer]

What is your beef with the cease and desist letters?

Moto has every right to protect their property, but the fact that they fill their builds with proprietary software, while at the same time locking everyone out from removing those items from the builds through the use of the locked boot loader. I bought the device, I have full rights to it. If I want to custom compile an open source OS on a product that I purchased, that's my right. By disallowing me from doing that, Moto isn't taking the ethical high road. Its perfectly legal, but its a business tactic that should be shunned en mass by consumers. Unless you want to rent phones, slog through carrier installed bloat, wrestle with manufacture induced bugs that never get fixed, and deal with all sorts of privacy and security issues.

 

[PlatinumGold]

WinMo had its problems, and was mostly proprietary code. With Android, the OS is open source. Its designed to be be easy to tweak, configure, and get under the hood. It really bugs me when manufacturers try to prevent me from doing what I wish with the hardware I paid for.

I realize I may be in the minority in this. Under Google's own rules, locked boot loaders and the unremove-able pre-installed junk from carriers is classified as malicious. It both shocks and sickens me that people so readily buy up these devices, claiming its no big deal. Its like buying a car with the hood welded shut, and then having Ford sue you because you tried to install a custom dash. You take a baby step now, a baby step tomorrow, a baby step next week, and the next thing you know, you've lost all rights to the device and can't install any software not approved by the carrier/manufacturer.

I must be jaded in my old age, I swear.

Well Toyota did as much when they encrypted their "black boxes" and is probably one of the reasons why it took so long to diagnose the unintended acceleration, and yet there are a lot of people at anandtech that love toyota's.

 

[dguy6789]

You're legally allowed to do virtually anything you want to your device. Motorola can not and will not take you to court over any modifications you do to your phone. That is the extent of user rights. That doesn't in any way mean that Motorola isn't allowed to try and sell a device configured to their liking or that they aren't allowed to try and make their software harder to crack.

Motorola, HTC, and the like do not want to be seen as generic manufacturers like HP and Dell have become. They want Apple status. They want people to know what an HTC or a Motorola is. They want people to desire the brand specifically because buying the brand means a certain experience. They don't want to be thrown in with the no name armada of devices. They have a specific user experience in mind when they sell their devices, they want to stand out, they don't want to be "just another Android phone".

 

[Bateluer]

They have a specific user experience in mind when they sell their devices, they want to stand out, they don't want to be "just another Android phone".

If Blur is what Motorola is creating for their unique user experience, they'll be back in bankruptcy proceedings in a year.

I seek a specific user experience too. That of the most powerful, well constructed Android phone on the market, that allows me to customize and tweak in any way I wish. Heaven forbid we actually expect manufacturers to actually compete on things that matter.

 

[JD50]

WinMo had its problems, and was mostly proprietary code. With Android, the OS is open source. Its designed to be be easy to tweak, configure, and get under the hood. It really bugs me when manufacturers try to prevent me from doing what I wish with the hardware I paid for.

I realize I may be in the minority in this. Under Google's own rules, locked boot loaders and the unremove-able pre-installed junk from carriers is classified as malicious. It both shocks and sickens me that people so readily buy up these devices, claiming its no big deal. Its like buying a car with the hood welded shut, and then having Ford sue you because you tried to install a custom dash. You take a baby step now, a baby step tomorrow, a baby step next week, and the next thing you know, you've lost all rights to the device and can't install any software not approved by the carrier/manufacturer.

I must be jaded in my old age, I swear.

+1

 

[foghorn67]

If Blur is what Motorola is creating for their unique user experience, they'll be back in bankruptcy proceedings in a year.

Lol. It has no issues selling now. This is a nerd's point of view, not the mass consumers.

 

[MrChad]

Thanks for the post. That does make it simple.

On that note, wouldn't it be possible/likely that someone will get the official Verizon 2.2 OTA update and we'd be able to install it manually the same way we installed this?

Just went ahead and did the SBF flash back to 2.1. The process is straightforward once you have the drivers and software installed. You have to do a factory reset, which is annoying, but I was back up and running in about 30 minutes or so.

I think I'll wait for the final Froyo update. The laggy unlock screen really bugged me; hopefully it's fixed for final 2.2 release. On the other hand, Froyo did appear to fix Exchange notifications, which is nice.

 

[CurseTheSky]

Woot. I ordered on the 17th, and the phone was sold out everywhere, so it was estimated to ship sometime after the 31st. I just got the shipping notice email today.

Should be here by Friday. I'm a little late to the club, but IMO it's still the best phone out there at the moment.

 

[Jules]

Woot. I ordered on the 17th, and the phone was sold out everywhere, so it was estimated to ship sometime after the 31st. I just got the shipping notice email today.

Should be here by Friday. I'm a little late to the club, but IMO it's still the best phone out there at the moment.

Yeah i just ordered one on the 21st and everyone is sold out. Mine is back ordered and might ship on the 29th.

 

[dguy6789]

Just went ahead and did the SBF flash back to 2.1. The process is straightforward once you have the drivers and software installed. You have to do a factory reset, which is annoying, but I was back up and running in about 30 minutes or so.

I think I'll wait for the final Froyo update. The laggy unlock screen really bugged me; hopefully it's fixed for final 2.2 release. On the other hand, Froyo did appear to fix Exchange notifications, which is nice.

I went back to 2.1 as well. Shouldn't be too long for the official 2.2 update I hope.

 

[Jules]

damn, letstalk just updated me and they said it wont be instock till 09/23/2010. Not sure what to do. Im only paid $137 for it. So i don't know if i should wait or get something else.