TechCrunch » Motorola http://www.techcrunch.com Startup and Technology News Fri, 27 Nov 2009 02:17:31 +0000 en hourly 1 Mystery Of Droid Autofocus Conspiracy Solved (For Reals This Time) http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/11/17/mystery-of-droid-autofocus-conspiracy-solved-for-reals-this-time/ http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/11/17/mystery-of-droid-autofocus-conspiracy-solved-for-reals-this-time/#comments Tue, 17 Nov 2009 21:33:32 +0000 Michael Arrington http://www.techcrunch.com/?p=120790 The problem: users have complained about the autofocus feature on the Droid since day one. As in, it didn't work (video). Last night I wrote that some users found a fix - clean the lens. It turns out that probably didn't do a darn thing. But there were even better conspiracy theories out there, such as Engadget's idea of a secret software update, which quickly spread around the Internet. It turns out that wasn't true, either. And we've confirmed that there's no such thing as a secret software update on Android phones anyway, at least according to people at Google. Updates, even security updates, must be approved for installation by the user. So what was the real reason for the problem, and the fix? Well, it fixed itself. The problem, as MobileCrunch duly noted, was an issue with the phone's timestamp: "According to Google Engineer Dan Morrill, there is an unfortunate bug in the Droid’s autofocus routine. It improperly rounds a timestamp used in the calculations, which somehow throws the entire focusing process off. Today it works, and tomorrow it will work…but 24.5 days from now, the bug will be back." But by the time the problem cycles back again, Verizon will have pushed out a fix for the problem. As we say around the office, Android is freedom from the iPhone. But sometimes that freedom feels a little bit like this:]]> The problem: users have complained about the autofocus feature on the Droid since day one. As in, it didn’t work (video). Last night I wrote that some users found a fix – clean the lens. It turns out that probably didn’t do a darn thing.

But there were even better conspiracy theories out there, such as Engadget’s idea of a secret software update, which quickly spread around the Internet.

It turns out that wasn’t true, either. And we’ve confirmed that there’s no such thing as a secret software update on Android phones anyway, at least according to people at Google. Updates, even security updates, must be approved for installation by the user.

So what was the real reason for the problem, and the fix? Well, it fixed itself. The problem, as MobileCrunch duly noted, was an issue with the phone’s timestamp: “According to Google Engineer Dan Morrill, there is an unfortunate bug in the Droid’s autofocus routine. It improperly rounds a timestamp used in the calculations, which somehow throws the entire focusing process off. Today it works, and tomorrow it will work…but 24.5 days from now, the bug will be back.”

But by the time the problem cycles back again, Verizon will have pushed out a fix for the problem.

As we say around the office, Android is freedom from the iPhone. But sometimes that freedom feels a little bit like this:

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]]> http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/11/17/mystery-of-droid-autofocus-conspiracy-solved-for-reals-this-time/feed/ 53 Think The Droid Launch Was A Let Down? Not So Fast. http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/11/07/think-the-droid-launch-was-a-let-down-not-so-fast/ http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/11/07/think-the-droid-launch-was-a-let-down-not-so-fast/#comments Sun, 08 Nov 2009 00:13:01 +0000 Jason Kincaid http://www.techcrunch.com/?p=117788 Yesterday I detailed my quest to find the throngs of Droid fans who had woken up at the crack of dawn to grab a place in line before Verizon unleashed the phone to the masses. Yet despite reports of lines elsewhere, I failed — the Verizon store in Palo Alto was a ghost town, as was the Best Buy down the street. Some commenters took my story and similar reports as an indication that the Droid's launch had bombed, doomed to play out the same fate of the numerous supposed 'iPhone killers' before it. It looks like they may be wrong — that store sold over 70 Droids yesterday, according to one of its employees. Today I returned to the Verizon store where yesterday's quest began, looking to get my hands on one of the nifty docking stations that turns your Droid into a desktop clock/multimedia station. And while I expected a handful of other customers to be in the store, I was taken aback by just how crowded it was — each of the registers was busy ringing up a customer while others waited their turn, four people were standing in line just to touch the demo Droid unit, and I had to put my name on the list to talk to someone.]]> Yesterday I detailed my quest to find the throngs of Droid fans who had woken up at the crack of dawn to grab a place in line before Verizon unleashed the phone to the masses. Yet despite reports of lines elsewhere, I failed — the Verizon store in Palo Alto was a ghost town, as was the Best Buy down the street. Some commenters took my story and similar reports as an indication that the Droid’s launch had bombed, doomed to play out the same fate of the numerous supposed ‘iPhone killers’ before it. It looks like they may be wrong — that store sold over 70 Droids yesterday, according to one of its employees.

Today I returned to the Verizon store where yesterday’s quest began, looking to get my hands on one of the nifty docking stations that turns your Droid into a desktop clock/multimedia station. And while I expected a handful of other customers to be in the store, I was taken aback by just how crowded it was — each of the registers was busy ringing up a customer while others waited their turn, three people were standing in line just to touch the demo Droid unit, and I had to put my name on the list to talk to someone. When I asked one of the employees if they were selling a lot of Droids, his somewhat breathless response was “Yeah, a lot. Over 70 yesterday, we got a shipment of another 100 in today.” Oh, and they were out of both the dock I had come for and spare batteries. Maybe the lack of an early morning line wasn’t so damning after all.

Obviously this store represents a single data point, but so did my story yesterday. Here’s some more evidence that Droid might be doing pretty well, after all: last night Pandora CTO Tom Conrad tweeted,

“Just saw Pandora’s Android install numbers for the day. Wow! There may not be lines, but Droids are very much among us – and running Pandora”.

We followed up for more details, and while Conrad declined to give any exact stats for now, he did say that Pandora’s download rate tripled, going on to say “We were doing well on Android before though, so the increase is pretty amazing.”

If you’re an Android dev, let us know in the comments if you’ve seen a boost too. And if you’ve passed your local Verizon store, let us know how busy it was.

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]]> http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/11/07/think-the-droid-launch-was-a-let-down-not-so-fast/feed/ 182 My Not-So-Epic Quest To Find The Elusive Verizon Droid Line http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/11/06/my-not-so-epic-quest-to-find-the-elusive-verizon-droid-line/ http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/11/06/my-not-so-epic-quest-to-find-the-elusive-verizon-droid-line/#comments Fri, 06 Nov 2009 22:06:52 +0000 Jason Kincaid http://www.techcrunch.com/?p=117494 Today is Droid day — an event that I, like many tech bloggers, have been looking forward to for quite some time. Unlike some people, I wasn't graced with a test Droid last week, so I was forced to go out and get one the old fashioned way: by getting to the store as early as possible, before the precious devices sold out. And while I was concerned about falling prey to a supply shortage, a part of me still hoped there would be many others like me, helping justify my early morning rise. These are my notes as I searched for the unexpectedly elusive Verizon Droid line. 5:30 AM. I woke up this morning to the soothing chimes of my over-priced alarm clock, took a look at the ungodly hour, and immediately sank back into my pillow. It wasn't until my second alarm (strategically positioned far out of arm's reach) kicked in that I remembered the task at hand: Droid day.]]> Today is Droid day — an event that I, like many tech bloggers, have been looking forward to for quite some time. Unlike some people, I wasn’t graced with a test Droid last week, so I was forced to go out and get one the old fashioned way: by getting to the store as early as possible, before the precious devices sold out. And while I was concerned about falling prey to a supply shortage, a part of me still hoped there would be many others like me, helping justify my early morning rise. These are my notes as I searched for the unexpectedly elusive Verizon Droid line.

5:30 AM. I woke up this morning to the soothing chimes of my over-priced alarm clock, took a look at the ungodly hour, and immediately sank back into my pillow. It wasn’t until my second alarm (strategically positioned far out of arm’s reach) kicked in that I remembered the task at hand: Droid day.

Ah yes, the phone that seemingly came out of nowhere — at least to those who haven’t had their ear to the ground on Android phone news, which until now has largely been a steady stream of mediocracy, fueled by underpowered CPUs and generic UIs. But Droid has something special. Mostly, it’s the phone’s heavy duty processor, but there’s also its brilliant screen, much-improved operating system, and the fact that it runs on a network that doesn’t leave people screaming profanities (at least until they get their monthly bill).

So I embarked this morning to the Palo Alto Verizon store, hoping to use a Qik live stream to capture the festive line of Droid fans sure to be present. After all, Verizon customers have plenty to celebrate — though they’re on the nation’s best network, they’ve long been burdened with an underwhelming selection of phones. This is the first time they’ve had a chance to pick up a device that’s a viable alternative to the iPhone. And with Verizon’s marketing onslaught over the last few weeks, not to mention the generally very positive reviews, I expected the turnout to be good. Not Apple good mind you — no marketing push can match Steve Jobs’ mystical mind control over a rabid fanbase of millions. But this was the heart of Silicon Valley, where gadget geeks flourish.

Alas, it seems that my expectations were unwarranted. I walked up to the Verizon store no later than 6:20 AM, forty minutes before the 7:00 AM opening time (three hours earlier than usual in light of the big day). But no sooner had I arrived than I began to question my still-groggy mental state. The Verizon sign was directly above my head. There were five or six employees buzzing around the well-lit store, two of whom were decked out in bizarre Droid-branded outfits, complete with black leather vests. But the street could not have been more empty.

The door cracked open. One of the employees, perhaps concerned by my confused expression or excited that someone had actually shown up, had come to talk to me. Yes, I was in the right place. Yes, they were due to open in a little more than half an hour. And yes, they too had expected more than one person to be standing in front of the store at this point. The door closed again.

A few minutes later I was joined by two new Droid fans. Unfortunately, my excitement over my new friends was rather shortlived — the newcomers turned down my offer of free TechCrunch T-shirts, and informed me that they weren’t actually waiting in line, but had come to witness it for themselves too. As it turned out, they were members of the Android team, who were also apparently let down by the sad turn out. But, as they quickly pointed out, the line was not actually as empty as it seemed! For I had neglected to take into account the three cars parked at the side of the road, each of which was occupied by one future Droid customer. And we were also joined by one other person, who was officially the first person in line, a mere 30 minutes before the store opened. You can relive this moment in the poorly shot video below.



Over the course of the next half hour we were joined by perhaps four more people. I was cheered up by the fact that many of them accepted my offers of free TechCrunch T-shirts (the Android team members eventually caved and asked for some too). But the atmosphere was oddly solemn as we tried to brainstorm where everyone else could possibly be. We eventually arrived at the conclusion that people may have decided to head to the nearby Best Buy, which actually offers a better deal because they take care of the Droid’s $100 mail-in rebate for you (Verizon makes you go through rebate hell). It was time to look elsewhere for a line. You can see our heartfelt goodbyes in the video below.



Thus, I set out on part two of my journey, which was even more boring than part one. I’ll spare you the details, but suffice to say, there wasn’t a single person in front of the Best Buy. Not even an Android team member. My quest was a failure. There are lines being reported in places — dozens of them —  across the country, and I was unable to find one.



All of this would bother me more, were it not for the fact that I now have a Droid sitting on my desk. Over the course of the last few hours, I’ve gradually come to the conclusion that this thing rocks, plain and simple. I’ll always have a soft spot for the iPhone, but for this generation of smart phones, at least, I’ve made my choice.

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]]> http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/11/06/my-not-so-epic-quest-to-find-the-elusive-verizon-droid-line/feed/ 122 Fever Pitch: It’s Droid Day, Enjoy The Moment. http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/11/06/fever-pitch-its-droid-day-enjoy-the-moment/ http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/11/06/fever-pitch-its-droid-day-enjoy-the-moment/#comments Fri, 06 Nov 2009 11:54:37 +0000 Michael Arrington http://www.techcrunch.com/?p=117413 If you are a tech lover, there is nothing quite like the launch day of a much hyped new gadget. Expectations run high. And since those expectations are rarely satisfied once you have the special little device in hand, it's a moment to savor. In the hours before you own it, that device is perfect in every way. It will make you happier, a better person. There are no bugs, there are only features. It is whatever you want it to be. Launch day of a new cool gadget is the closest thing to being a kid again on Christmas day (or whatever your winter solstice holiday of choice). You've anticipated the day. You've called in sick to work. And you are standing out in the freezing cold at 7 in the morning, hoping your place in line assures you a device before the carefully-planned sell out occurs. You've worked yourself into...a Fever Pitch. I've always been let down with the real world gadget after that high of anticipation. But that's ok. It's part of the cycle of tech. Today is Droid day. In just a few hours Verizon stores will open and the first customers will get their hands on their very own Droid. And I promise you, if you are one of the people waiting in line, you will have a much lower than average amount of letdown. That's because, in my humble opinion, the Droid is the coolest mobile phone to exist to date. It is as close as we've come to the Platonic ideal of a smartphone. It's very existence ensures that the next iPhone will be even better than it otherwise would have been. Competition is good. Yes, this is an unabashed love letter to the Droid. If you want the dispassionate reviews, we've got em. And then some. That isn't what this post is about.]]> If you are a tech lover, there is nothing quite like the launch day of a much hyped new gadget. Expectations run high. And since those expectations are rarely satisfied once you have the special little device in hand, it’s a moment to savor. In the hours before you own it, that device is perfect in every way. It will make you happier, a better person. There are no bugs, there are only features. It is whatever you want it to be.

Launch day of a new cool gadget is the closest thing to being a kid again on Christmas day (or whatever your winter solstice holiday of choice). You’ve anticipated the day. You’ve called in sick to work. And you are standing out in the freezing cold at 7 in the morning, hoping your place in line assures you a device before the carefully-planned sell out occurs. You’ve worked yourself into…a Fever Pitch.

I’ve always been let down with the real world gadget after that high of anticipation. But that’s ok. It’s part of the cycle of tech.

Today is Droid day. In just a few hours Verizon stores will open and the first customers will get their hands on their very own Droid.

And I promise you, if you are one of the people waiting in line, you will have a much lower than average amount of letdown. That’s because, in my humble opinion, the Droid is the coolest mobile phone to exist to date. It is as close as we’ve come to the Platonic ideal of a smartphone. Its very existence ensures that the next iPhone will be even better than it otherwise would have been. Competition is good.

Yes, this is an unabashed love letter to the Droid. If you want the dispassionate reviews, we’ve got em. And then some. That isn’t what this post is about.

This post is about love of technology.

I’ve had one of the devices, a free loaner that I wasn’t ashamed to beg for, for a week now. I’ve assigned it to my Google Voice account and have used it and only it since it arrived.

I have placed it in the car doc and have used Google Navigator to get around, shunning my expensive but suddenly dated in-car navigation system. I talk to my Droid. And it talks back to me, guiding me to my destination.

I have installed a dozen apps on my Droid, and all run smoothly in the background. Skype, Yammer, Twitdroid and Google Voice all let me know when something is happening that I need to be aware of. There is no lag when I open these apps. Even when most of them are running at once.

And when I respond, I can choose between the quick virtual keyboard or the slider real keyboard. And I notice how slim the device is, about the same as the iPhone, even though it has a physical keyboard.

I make calls from my home via the robust Verizon network, something I had to forgo in my AT&T/iPhone days. My voicemails are transcribed automatically by Google Voice and delivered via email, along with my text messages. Not one call has been dropped in a week’s use.

I view web pages in the gorgeous 3.7″ WVGA (480 x 854 pixels); 16:9 widescreen. And the scrolling speed on web pages is faster than even my desktop computer.

Droid is the Alpha phone. And I will love it and only it. Until something better comes along.

Happy Droid Day. Let me know what you think of yours.

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]]> http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/11/06/fever-pitch-its-droid-day-enjoy-the-moment/feed/ 163 Smartphone Showdown: iPhone 3GS vs Motorola Droid http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/10/30/smartphone-showdown-iphone-3gs-vs-motorola-droid/ http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/10/30/smartphone-showdown-iphone-3gs-vs-motorola-droid/#comments Sat, 31 Oct 2009 02:48:36 +0000 Greg Kumparak http://www.techcrunch.com/?p=115620 If hype were to be believed, the Motorola DROID is the pièce de résistance of the mobile world; the conclusive creation sent down by the Great Smartphone in the sky to rid us of our woes. It would prepare your breakfast promptly each morning, tuck you in at night, and, maybe -- just maybe -- knock the iPhone down a notch or two. Beginning about a week before its launch (largely due to Verizon's incredibly intense marketing campaign) I began getting calls and tweets from friends and colleagues asking about the Droid. They always had two questions: the first would be something like "What do you think of the Droid?", followed by "Would you recommend it over the iPhone?" Same questions, each.. and.. every.. time. I've been using the Droid as my primary phone for a few days now, and I think I'm finally ready to answer them.]]> If hype were to be believed, the Motorola DROID is the pièce de résistance of the mobile world; the conclusive creation sent down by the Great Smartphone in the sky to rid us of our woes. It would prepare your breakfast promptly each morning, tuck you in at night, and, maybe -- just maybe -- knock the iPhone down a notch or two. Beginning about a week before its launch (largely due to Verizon's incredibly intense marketing campaign) I began getting calls and tweets from friends and colleagues asking about the Droid. They always had two questions: the first would be something like "What do you think of the Droid?", followed by "Would you recommend it over the iPhone?" Same questions, each.. and.. every.. time. I've been using the Droid as my primary phone for a few days now, and I think I'm finally ready to answer them.]]> http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/10/30/smartphone-showdown-iphone-3gs-vs-motorola-droid/feed/ 0 Consumer Review: The Best Smartphones On The Market http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/10/27/consumer-review-the-best-smartphones-on-the-market/ http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/10/27/consumer-review-the-best-smartphones-on-the-market/#comments Tue, 27 Oct 2009 21:35:43 +0000 David Diaz http://www.techcrunch.com/?p=113494 With the Holiday Season nearly upon us, we at TechCrunch thought it would behoove us to share with everyone a definitive list of the best smartphones currently available (or launching shortly), so as to help with any possible purchasing decisions which may occur in the upcoming months. In making our decisions, we looked at these phones from the standpoint of the consumer. Thus, developer struggles, business security, and other such problems were not taken into account. Instead, functionality, price, and the overall usefulness of various smartphones made up the criteria which we adhered to during our reviews. These phones can be found on a multitude of carriers, operating systems, and continents. ]]>
(c) Oliver Widder

(c) Oliver Widder

With the Holiday Season nearly upon us, we at TechCrunch thought it would behoove us to share with everyone a definitive list of the best smartphones currently available (or launching shortly), so as to help with any possible purchasing decisions which may occur in the upcoming months.

In making our decisions, we looked at these phones from the standpoint of the consumer. Thus, developer struggles, business security, and other such problems were not taken into account. Instead, functionality, price, and the overall usefulness of various smartphones made up the criteria which we adhered to during our reviews. These phones can be found on a multitude of carriers, operating systems, and continents.

Feel free to comment below on the merits of this list of the best smart phones currently available.

iPhone 3GS

You know you’re on top when phone manufacturers are constantly struggling to produce an “iPhone killer”. The iPhone 3GS boasts a massive App Store (with nearly 100,000 apps now), the largest developer base, and is simply put, the best phone on the market.

3gsStatus: Launched June 19th, 2009 on ATT
Screen: 3.5-inch 480 x 320-pixel resolution at 163 ppi widescreen Multi-Touch display
Dimensions: 115.5 x 62.1 x 12.3 mm; 135 grams
Camera: 3 megapixels w/ AutoFocus, No flash
Battery: 1150 mAh Li-Ion
Standby Time: 300 hours
Talk Time: Up to 12 hours on 2G; Up to 5 hours on 3G
Processor: Samsung S5PC100; 600 MHz
Internal/External Memory: 16GB or 32GB
Extras: 3.5mm Headset jack, accelerometer, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and GPS enabled
Operating System: iPhone OS
Price: $199 for 16 GB; $299 for 32GB

Motorola Droid

If any phone is going to challenge the iPhone’s supremacy, it will be the Verizon Droid. The Droid is on a superior network than the iPhone, and will be running Android 2.0 which has a much improved user interface over previous versions of Android.

motorola-sholesStatus: Rumored to be announced October 28th; Verizon Wireless.
Screen: 3.7-inch/480×854 Full Touchscreen with Full QWERTY Slider
Dimensions: 60 x 115.8 x 13.7 mm; 169 grams
Camera: 5.0 Megapixels with AutoFocus
Battery: Li-ion 1400mAh
Standby Time: 450 Hours
Talk Time:7 Hours
Processor: Texas Instruments OMAP 3430 processor; 600MHz
Internal/External Memory: 512MB Flash, 256MB RAM/MicroSD (16GB capacity)
Extras: 3.5mm Headset jack, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and GPS enabled
Operating System: Android 2.0
Price: Unknown

Palm Pre

The Palm Pre signaled the resurrection of Palm. It is well-designed, and has a very promising OS, which if tweaked and improved slightly, can challenge any OS on the market.

palmpreStatus: Available June 6th on Sprint. Available October 13 in Germany and October 16 in UK and Ireland
Screen: 3.1-inch touch screen with 24-bit color 320×480 resolution HVGA display and full QWERTY keyboard
Dimensions: 100.5 x 59.5 x 16.95 mm; 135 grams
Camera: 3 megapixel camera with LED flash and AutoFocus
Battery: 1150 mAh
Standby Time: 250 Hours
Talk Time: 5 Hours
Processor: Texas Instruments OMAP 3430 processor; 600MHz
Internal/External Memory: 8 GB
Extras: 3.5mm Headset jack, accelerometer, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and GPS enabled
Operating System: Palm webOS
Price: $149.99

HTC Hero/T-Mobile G2 Touch/Sprint HTC Hero

The inclusion of HTC Sense makes the Hero the best Android phone currently on the market. It is fast, stylish, and easy to use.

htcheroStatus: HTC Hero Launched July 24th for Orange UK. T-Mobile G2 Touch Launched July 29th.
Screen: 3.2-inch/ 320×480 HVGA resolution; Full Touchscreen/TFT-LCD touch-sensitive screen
Dimensions: 112 x 56.2 x 14.35 mm ; 135 grams
Camera: 5 Megapixels with AutoFocus
Battery: 1350 mAh Lithium-ion battery
Standby Time: Up to 750 hours for WCDMA, Up to 440 hours for GSM
Talk Time:Up to 420 minutes for WCDMA, Up to 470 minutes for GSM
Processor: Qualcomm® MSM7200A™, 528 MHz
Internal/External Memory:288MB/MicroSD 2.0
Extras: 3.5mm Headset jack, Wi-Fi, accelerometer, Bluetooth and GPS enabled
Operating System: Android
Price: $179.99

BlackBerry Bold

The BlackBerry Bold is RIM’s crowning achievement thus far and the impending Bold 9700 should see widespread adoption.

bberryboldStatus: Available on AT&T; Bold 9700 available November 2nd, 2009
Screen: 2.6 inch Half VGA resolution Dispay Screen; 480 x 320 pixels; 65,000 colors
Dimensions: 114 x 66 x 15; 136 grams
Camera: 2.0 MP w/ AutoFocus
Battery: Li – Ion, 1500 mAh
Standby Time: 324 hours
Talk Time: 4.5 hours
Processor: 624 MHz
Internal/External Memory: 1 GB
Extras: 3.5mm Headset jack, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and GPS capable with extended ephemeris
Operating System: BlackBerry OS
Price: $199.99

HTC Magic/T-Mobile MyTouch 3G

The MyTouch 3G is an easy to use, stylish Android phone. The absence of a standard 3.5mm headset jack is a bit of a disappointment, but otherwise this phone is quite powerful and useful. Furthermore, Mike quit the iPhone for the MyTouch, and that has to mean something.

mytouch3gStatus: HTC Magic Launched May 1, 2009 and July 10th, 2009 in Japan; MyTouch 3G launched July 8, 2009. Available through T-Mobile, Vodafone, and Docomo
Screen:3.2″ /320 x 480 HVGA Touchscreen/TFT, TFD, LCD 262k
Dimensions: 113 x 55 x 13 mm; 118.5 grams
Camera: 3.2 Megapixels with AutoFocus (MyTouch has a 5MP camera)
Battery: 1340 mAh Lithium-ion battery
Standby Time: 420 hours
Talk Time: 7.5 Hours
Processor: Qualcomm® MSM7201a™, 528 MHz
Internal/External Memory:192/288 MB (Underclocked)/ MicroSD up to 32GB
Extras: HTC ExtUSB Headset Jack, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and GPS enabled
Operating System: Android
Price: $99.99 (T-Mobile MyTouch $149.99)

BlackBerry Storm 2

The BlackBerry Storm 2, while an improvement over its predecessor, still lacks the “wow” factor necessary to push it higher up on this list.

bbstorm2Status: Available on Verizon Wireless October 28th, 2009
Screen: 3.25 inch 360 x 480 pixel touchscreen; 65k colors
Dimensions: 112.5 x 62.2 x 13.9 mm; 160 grams
Camera: 3.2 Megapixels w/ LED flash and AutoFocus
Battery: 1400 mAh Li-Ion
Standby Time: 270 hours
Talk Time: 5.5 hours
Processor: 528 MHz Qualcomm processor
Internal/External Memory: 2 GB/16 GB microSD
Extras: 3.5 mm headset, GPS, bluetooth, and wi-fi enabled
Operating System: BlackBerry OS
Price: $179.99

BlackBerry Tour

Our biggest qualm with the BlackBerry Tour is its lack of Wi-Fi. Other than that however, the Tour is a great phone if you’re a chronic email user or if you text message a lot.

bberrytourStatus: Available on July 12, 2009 through Verizon and Sprint.
Screen: 2.4 inch 480×360 pixel display screen; 65,000 colors
Dimensions: 112 x 62 x 14.2 mm; 130 grams
Camera: 3.2 Megapixels with AutoFocus
Battery: 1400 mAHr removable/rechargeable cryptographic lithium cell
Standby Time: 336 Hours
Talk Time: 5 Hours
Processor: 528 MHz Qualcomm processor
Internal/External Memory: 256 MB RAM
Extras: 3.5mm Headset jack, Bluetooth and GPS enabled. No Wi-Fi nor accelerometer
Operating System: BlackBerry OS
Price: $149.99

Nokia E71x

The Nokia E71x is a sleek and stylish phone, but like the Magic, lacks a 3.5mm headset jack. Nonetheless, this phone is just right for those on a budget, given its $99.99 price tag.

nokiae71xStatus: Available on AT&T
Screen: 2.4″ LCD (Color TFT/TFD) display screen; 320 x 240 pixels (QVGA); 16.7 million (24-bit)
Dimensions:114 x 57 x 10 mm; 126g
Camera: 3.2MP w/ Autofocus and Flash
Battery: BP-4L 1500 mAh Li-Po standard battery
Standby Time: 480 hours
Talk Time: 4.5 hours
Processor: ARM 11, 369 MHz
Internal/External Memory: 110MB/ MicroSD
Extras: 2.5mm Headset jack, bluetooth, wi-fi, and GPS enabled
Operating System: Symbian OS
Price: $99.00

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]]> http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/10/27/consumer-review-the-best-smartphones-on-the-market/feed/ 91 The Problem With iPhone Killers… http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/10/26/the-problem-with-iphone-killers/ http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/10/26/the-problem-with-iphone-killers/#comments Mon, 26 Oct 2009 10:04:12 +0000 MG Siegler http://www.techcrunch.com/?p=113870 Here we are again. The hype leading up to a new mobile device is reaching a fever pitch. Motorola's Droid sounds, looks, and by some accounts, is impressive. As such, everyone's favorite superlative is being thrown out there once again: "iPhone killer." Of course, we've heard this before — maybe a dozen times. The BlackBerry Storm was the iPhone killer, the Palm Pre was the iPhone killer, the G2, etc. Not only does the iPhone still survive, it thrives. Why? The answer is easy, but requires some explanation. Fundamentally, the problem with most iPhone killers is that they're not actually trying to kill the iPhone. They, as devices, may think they are, but most of them are playing a different game because of the OSes they run, and the companies behind them. One way to think about it is to compare smartphones and more precisely, their OSes, to religion (which we've done before). This is especially apt since the nickname for the iPhone is the "Jesus Phone."]]> Screen shot 2009-10-26 at 2.35.34 AMHere we are again. The hype leading up to a new mobile device is reaching a fever pitch. Motorola’s Droid sounds, looks, and by some accounts, is impressive. As such, everyone’s favorite superlative is being thrown out there once again: “iPhone killer.” Of course, we’ve heard this before — maybe a dozen times. The BlackBerry Storm was the iPhone killer, the Palm Pre was the iPhone killer, the G2, etc. Not only does the iPhone still survive, it thrives. Why?

The answer is easy, but requires some explanation. Fundamentally, the problem with most iPhone killers is that they’re not actually trying to kill the iPhone. They, as devices, may think they are, but most of them are playing a different game because of the OSes they run, and the companies behind them. One way to think about it is to compare smartphones and more precisely, their OSes, to religion (which we’ve done before). This is especially apt since the nickname for the iPhone is the “Jesus Phone.”

In a religious sense, the iPhone is a monotheistic religion. Basically, its OS believes in one device. Yes, I know there is the iPod touch, as well as variations of the iPhone (original, 3G, 3GS), but these are essentially all the same device with essentially the same hardware, just boosted specs. Meanwhile, Android, Windows Mobile, BlackBerry, Symbian, etc. are all polytheists. But “pagans,” while perhaps not exactly right, is a cooler term, so let’s go with that. All of these other mobile OSes are pagans. They answer to many devices, their “gods.”

Now, I’m not saying that the pagan approach is a bad one, I’m simply saying that trying to kill a monotheist device with a pagan OS is going to be very hard. The problem is that none of these pagan OSes have that one, single device that they can use to help spread their doctrine to the masses. They may put more faith in one device at any given time (which Android is already doing with Droid), but ultimately, their allegiance lies with the many other devices under their OS umbrella as well. The pagan church (in the Android case, Google), would be unwise to play favorites because it would undermine the ultimate goal: To be on as many devices as possible.

3126452629_a71b1c9209And I think Google realizes that. While they apparently have had quite a large hand in helping with Droid, it’s Motorola and Verizon that are hyping it big time. But I think Google knows that the Droid isn’t an iPhone killer. Instead, it’s likely the best device they have so far to kill their real competitors: Symbian and especially Windows Mobile. Repeat after me: Android is trying to kill Windows Mobile, not the iPhone.

Another popular way to think about this is the PC (Windows) versus Mac history. Essentially, early on in the history of personal computing, the Mac was king. But then Microsoft came along with an OS that could run on devices from multiple manufacturers, quantity ruled the day, and the rest is history. Android, Windows Mobile, etc are often associated with taking this approach in the mobile battleground.

But things are different now. One could argue that there was a lot of other things going on inside Apple in the 1980s that led to the rise of Microsoft (and, of course, the ouster of Steve Jobs). Since then, Apple, for lack of a better phrase, has gotten its shit together (and brought Jobs back). With the iPhone — meaning the combination of the hardware, the software, and maybe most importantly, the App Store — Apple has created an ecosystem that is fueling itself.

Microsoft, meanwhile, has been trying the same “quantity” approach in the mobile space with Windows Mobile for years now. For a while, it was working fairly well, but that was mostly due to a lack of competition in what was still a very small market. Now, they’re bleeding market share in the space, and the future looks grim. Again, not so much because of the iPhone (which is hurting it short term), but because of Windows Mobile’s true competitor: Android.

Not only is Android open source, but it’s free. Windows Mobile, on the other hand, is still ridiculously charging manufacturers upwards of $25 to use their sub-par OS. Their strategy seems two pronged at this point: 1) Try to leverage the Windows PC brand as much as possible and convince users that Windows Mobile tied to Windows itself create the best environment for mobile. 2) Get out Windows Mobile 7, an entirely new OS, as quickly as possible.

The problem for Microsoft (again, for Microsoft, not Apple) is that Android now has real traction with manufacturers and a massive amount of devices about to hit (including Droid) should push Windows Mobile behind Android in the hearts and minds of the public. And while it’s still smaller in market share, that could change as well much sooner than Microsoft would like to admit.

jobs-apple-2Let me be clear: I think it’s pretty likely that eventually Android will be bigger than the iPhone worldwide. Again, it’s a different game. It’s monotheist versus the pagans. It’s Mac versus PC. Even if and when Apple breaks its AT&T exclusivity in the U.S. there will still basically be only one device. Android will have dozens of devices. And even more in other parts of the world. But the iPhone will continue to survive and even thrive, just like the Mac is right now.

By offering one device, Apple is accepting a trade-off: They’re sacrificing quantity for quality. Apple has complete control over its device (and probably too much with regard to the App Store), and because of that, it can build something that melds software and hardware like none of its pagan counterparts can.

In fact, the closest one to doing this is Palm with the Pre. But the Pre is not in the iPhone’s class yet (it’s too slow), and Palm is already getting ready to release another device. And they’re talking about more after that. It’s a more confined pagan religion, but its still pagan. Developers won’t be sure which device they’re developing for, etc.

Apple could go that way too someday. Since the iPhone’s launch, there have been whispers of an “iPhone mini,” but that hasn’t happened yet. More likely in the short term is that Apple’s tablet device may run some variation of the iPhone OS, which would obviously require some changes. But in the smartphone space, there will still be the one device.

And while on the face of it, it may not seem like it, that’s compelling to a lot of people. (Keep It Simple, Stupid and all that.) When you’re forced to choose between dozens of devices with dozens of different specs, it can be daunting for a consumer. With the iPhone, they know what they’re getting. And developers know what they’re getting too. They know they apps will run great on the iPhone because they were able to test it on the device rather than having to buy and test it on dozens of devices.

It’s about controlling the user experience. Whether you agree or disagree with that approach, you have to admit that Apple is very good at it.

2-billion-iphone-apps_1Speaking of developers, lest you think any of the pagan smartphone makers will be able to convert iPhone users en masse, there’s a huge point of faith for sticking with the iPhone: Nearly 100,000 applications and 2 billion app downloads. While many people talk about the former being a lure for new users (which it obviously, absolutely is) the 2 billion number is the key for users staying around. Plenty of people have already invested hundreds of dollars in apps which only work on the iPhone. Convincing those people to switch to a Droid or a BlackBerry is going to be difficult. Instead, when they upgrade, they’re likely to pick a device that those apps still work with: A new iPhone.

That’s why this is not about killing the iPhone. Whispers are starting again about a “Google Phone” — that is, hardware developed (or at least entirely dictated) by Google. During the Web 2.0 Summit, Google co-founder Sergey Brin admitted that Google works more closely on some hardware for Android than others, but that’s not enough to make an iPhone killer. If Google (or Microsoft, for that matter) decides to put all of its support (and marketing support) behind one phone, let me know, then we can talk.

But supposedly, even Droid will be a series of phones. Again, the first one looks great. And it could be a real killer. But only because it runs Android, which could be a Windows Mobile killer.

[photos: Miramax, flickr/flywood, Apple]

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]]> http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/10/26/the-problem-with-iphone-killers/feed/ 215 Verizon Droid Is The Real Deal http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/10/18/verizon-droid-is-the-real-deal/ http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/10/18/verizon-droid-is-the-real-deal/#comments Sun, 18 Oct 2009 08:07:44 +0000 Michael Arrington http://www.techcrunch.com/?p=111449 Verizon and Motorola finally lifted the curtain on their new Droid Android phone yesterday. Make no mistake, this is Android's flagship product, and the first phone that will pose a significant threat to Apple's iPhone. And it will be available very soon, possibly as early as the end of this month. MobileCrunch has been tracking the phone, which has also been called the Tao or Sholes, for some time. Just about anyone who has come in contact with the phone can't stop talking about it. And from what we hear, they have good reason. The phone is a three-way effort between Motorola, Verizon and Google. It looks a lot like the iPhone, and may even be as thin or thinner than the iPhone 3GS. It also has two key advantages over the iPhone - a slide out physical keyboard, and use of the Verizon network. Unlike previous Android phones, the Droid is rumored to be powered by the TI OMAP3430, the same core that the iPhone and Palm Pre use, and which significantly outperforms Qualcomm 528MHz ARM11 based Android phones that exist today (Engadget has a great overview article on mobile CPUs).]]> Verizon and Motorola finally lifted the curtain on their new Droid Android phone yesterday. Make no mistake, this is Android’s flagship product, and the first phone that will pose a significant threat to Apple’s iPhone. And it will be available very soon, possibly as early as the end of this month.

MobileCrunch has been tracking the phone, which has also been called the Tao or Sholes, for some time. Just about anyone who has come in contact with the phone can’t stop talking about it. And from what we hear, they have good reason.

The phone is a three-way effort between Motorola, Verizon and Google. It looks a lot like the iPhone, and may even be as thin or thinner than the iPhone 3GS. It also has two key advantages over the iPhone – a slide out physical keyboard, and use of the Verizon network.

Unlike previous Android phones, the Droid is rumored to be powered by the TI OMAP3430, the same core that the iPhone and Palm Pre use, and which significantly outperforms Qualcomm 528MHz ARM11 based Android phones that exist today (Engadget has a great overview article on mobile CPUs).

Droid will also be running v.2.0 of Android, with a significantly upgraded user interface.

The Droid poses a different and more significant challenge to the iPhone than any other phone to date. The Palm Pre could have been that challenger, but it lacked the Verizon network, and users were unimpressed with the hardware. According to people who’ve handled the device, the Droid is the most sophisticated mobile device to hit the market to date from a hardware standpoint. When you combine that with the Verizon network, you’ve got something that is most definitely a challenger to the Jesus phone.

And the scary thing for Apple is, it may only be a few months before something even better than the Droid comes out. With the flood of Android devices that are hitting the market, a few are bound to be hits. No wonder Google CEO Eric Schmidt is so bullish on Android right now. Things are about to get very, very interesting.

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]]> http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/10/18/verizon-droid-is-the-real-deal/feed/ 278 Verizon Launches Direct Attack Against The iPhone With Ads For The Motorola Droid http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/10/17/verizon-launches-direct-attack-against-the-iphone-with-ads-for-the-motorola-droid/ http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/10/17/verizon-launches-direct-attack-against-the-iphone-with-ads-for-the-motorola-droid/#comments Sun, 18 Oct 2009 01:21:11 +0000 Jason Kincaid http://www.techcrunch.com/?p=111347 Over the last few weeks there has been an increasing amount of buzz about an unannounced Motorola smartphone due to come out some time between late October and early December. Rumored specs include a powerful OMAP3430 processor, 5 megapixel camera, slideout QWERTY keyboard and touch screen, all housed in a super-compact package and running Android 2.0. A handful of potential names have swirled around, included the Sholes and the Tao, but tonight Verizon has made it perfectly clear what the upcoming phone will be called: Droid. And Verizon is positioning it to be a direct threat to the iPhone in a new advertising campaign it launched at the site DroidDoes.com. Verizon isn't holding any punches: it calls out basically every major weakness on the iPhone, from its inability to run background applications to the App Store's walled garden. The site kicks off with a stream of things that the iPhone can't do, mimicking the black text-on-white background commonly seen in Apple ads but replacing it with statements like iDon't run simultaneous apps. ]]>
Over the last few weeks there has been an increasing amount of buzz about an unannounced Motorola smartphone due to come out some time between late October and early December. Rumored specs include a powerful OMAP3430 processor, 5 megapixel camera, slideout QWERTY keyboard and touch screen, all housed in a super-compact package and running Android 2.0. A handful of potential names have swirled around, included the Sholes and the Tao, but tonight Verizon has made it perfectly clear what the upcoming phone will be called: Droid. And Verizon is positioning it to be a direct threat to the iPhone in a new advertising campaign it launched at the site DroidDoes.com.

Verizon isn’t pulling any punches: it calls out basically every major weakness on the iPhone, from its inability to run background applications to the App Store’s walled garden. The site kicks off with a stream of things that the iPhone can’t do, mimicking the black text-on-white background commonly seen in Apple ads but replacing it with statements like iDon’t run simultaneous apps. After a handful of these, the site kicks you to a page with the heading “DroidDoes”, with a banner rotating through a number of the Droid’s features that include Android 2.0, background tasks, and video recording support. Some of the differences mentioned, like the Droid’s inclusion of a physical keyboard, are really a matter of personal preference. Others, aren’t. For one, Droid can claim to run on “The Network”, which runs circles around AT&T.

The phone hasn’t been officially announced yet, and the release date is vague (the rumor is that it will launch at midnight on October 31). But we’ve heard from some people who have had the chance to briefly test it out, and they were very impressed (one response was that it was “totally awesome”). I’m not going to be foolish enough to call this an iPhone killer for the simple fact that the iPhone’s developer community is still miles ahead of Android’s regardless of how good Droid turns out to be. But don’t be surprised if you start hearing about people who quit the iPhone in favor of the Droid. After all, even if the phone doesn’t turn out to be quite as polished as the iPhone, it will be running on a network that will actually let them connect their calls consistently.

One final thing to note: given how direct an attack Verizon is making on the iPhone, it sure doesn’t sound like the iPhone will be making the leap to Verizon any time soon.

Commenter Christopher Daggett has tried to work out the exact timing of the countdown, revealing the (possible) launch date to be 10/30/09 at 1:00AM EST.

Video via BGR’s Twitter feed.



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]]> http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/10/17/verizon-launches-direct-attack-against-the-iphone-with-ads-for-the-motorola-droid/feed/ 331 Review: Motorola CLIQ http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/10/14/review-motorola-cliq/ http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/10/14/review-motorola-cliq/#comments Thu, 15 Oct 2009 03:10:26 +0000 John Biggs http://www.techcrunch.com/?p=110344 The Short Version Motorola has released the phone it should have released a few years ago to compete with phones like the Helio Ocean and feature phones from LG and Samsung. Android brings this phone into the 21st century and the QWERTY keyboard and BLUR UI tweaks will please those looking for a keyboard Android phone with social networking features. ]]> The Short Version Motorola has released the phone it should have released a few years ago to compete with phones like the Helio Ocean and feature phones from LG and Samsung. Android brings this phone into the 21st century and the QWERTY keyboard and BLUR UI tweaks will please those looking for a keyboard Android phone with social networking features. ]]> http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/10/14/review-motorola-cliq/feed/ 0 Cable Boxes And Their Fisher Price Remotes Are Junk. Demand Better. http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/10/08/cable-boxes-and-their-fisher-price-remotes-are-junk-demand-better/ http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/10/08/cable-boxes-and-their-fisher-price-remotes-are-junk-demand-better/#comments Thu, 08 Oct 2009 09:59:48 +0000 MG Siegler http://www.techcrunch.com/?p=107953 About a year ago, I had enough. I was so sick of putting up with Comcast's ridiculous rates for terrible service that I decided to cancel everything but the Internet. Truth be told, I kept basic cable only because it was cheaper to keep it with my Internet package then to not keep it. But I never watched it. For all intents and purposes I was cable-free. Most importantly, that meant removing the cable box from my life as the filter between me and content on my television. I thought I would miss it. I did not. At all. Fast forward to now: I recently moved, and luckily enough my apartment isn't held captive under Comcast's dominion. So I decided to try cable once again, just to see if it was as bad as I remembered it. My new service is substantially cheaper, so that's nice, but all in all, the song remains the same. It's absolute crap from an end user perspective. And yet we put up with it.]]> 41501151-300x300-0-0_Fisher+Price+Sesame+Street+Silly+Sounds+RemoteAbout a year ago, I had enough. I was so sick of putting up with Comcast’s ridiculous rates for terrible service that I decided to cancel everything but the Internet. Truth be told, I kept basic cable only because it was cheaper to keep it with my Internet package then to not keep it. But I never watched it. For all intents and purposes I was cable-free. Most importantly, that meant removing the cable box from my life as the filter between me and content on my television. I thought I would miss it. I did not. At all.

Fast forward to now: I recently moved, and luckily enough my apartment isn’t held captive under Comcast’s dominion. So I decided to try cable once again, just to see if it was as bad as I remembered it. My new service is substantially cheaper, so that’s nice, but all in all, the song remains the same. It’s absolute crap from an end user perspective. And yet we put up with it.

The Box

Almost all of us likely have a cable box. Turn it on. Just look at that user interface. Yes, it’s probably more or less the same one you’ve been looking at for the past 10 years, if not longer. It probably has some blue in there, probably some green, maybe a little red if they’re rebellious. The icons look like crap and the text is often hard to read.

I would make a joke about our phones having nicer UIs, except that our phones now have UIs that must be a thousand times nicer. Maybe a million.

dvr_motorola_dct6412_medIn fact, I can’t think of any digital device today that has a worse UI. And this is probably many peoples’ most-used device. And it’s not just that it looks awful, it’s slow. There are delays that simply shouldn’t be there when moving between channels or navigating the menus. We’re talking half-seconds to multiple seconds, but all of that time adds up and severely hampers the experience.

I don’t think I’m going to get much disagreement in saying that Motorola, which makes many of these boxes that cable companies use, should have been fired a long, long time ago for these miserable things. But of course, the cable companies don’t care. Most of them have strangleholds (shhh don’t say “monopoly”) over their communities, and know that consumers have very little choice, and so the cable companies go for these cheapest option boxes.

The Remote

As bad as the cable boxes are, their remotes may be worse.

Most TVs nowadays are slick pieces of hardware, and their accompanying remotes are also pretty slick. I’d love to use one someday, unfortunately they’re all pretty useless because the cable company forces their cable box on you and then makes you use their awful remotes. I’ve seen a lot of cable boxes in my time, and I don’t think I’ve ever seen a remote for one of them that doesn’t look like it was developed by Fisher Price.

Those huge, ugly, rubbery buttons. The cable company branding. The absurd number of extra buttons. These things are nightmares. And while there are some nice universal remote solutions, let’s be honest, most people are never going to get those. Others will say, “Get a TiVo.” It does have a great remote, but again, why would people get yet another box for the living room when the DVR through the cable company is cheaper (though much, much worse)? So they are stuck using the Fisher Price variety. Like I am. Look mom, I can use TV too!

DigitalCableBoxRemote2

The Offerings

I’m not going to go into the various aspects of why cable companies overall content offering are bad. That could be a number of posts all by itself. I will say that it’s an absolutely joke that we still have no a-la-carte options. That is to say, no way to pick just the channels you want to get without being forced to have literally hundreds now that you could care less about.

The Catalysts

If the cable companies had their way, none of this would ever change. Just look at Comcast. We’re in the midst of a horrible recession and yet Comcast’s profits increased by an amazing 53% last quarter. Why? Well a small sliver may be attributed to the fact that in tough times people turn to entertainment to get away, but the real story is that Comcast jacked up prices. Again, because they could.

But I’m going hold out hope that services like Verizon FIOS and others can continue spreading, and put pressure on these cable companies to actually work towards improving their offerings, rather than improving their bottom-lines.

apple-tv-2While Apple’s iPhone is not everyone’s cup of tea, there is no denying that it significantly changed the wireless landscape in this country. Just a couple of years ago I was using a RAZR phone, and that was considered fairly high tech for the U.S. Today, that would be considered laughable.

The iPhone and the subsequent smartphones that followed have forced change to improve the state of the industry from an end-user perspective. Before it, the carriers ruled with an iron fist. Now, companies like Apple and Google are starting to have a say.

I hope the same thing is possible in the cable industry. It will be harder to initiate this change because various providers do have many areas on lockdown. In wireless, most consumers had a choice of which provider to go with. In cable, most don’t have that choice. Sure, some opt for satellite, but again, that’s not an option for a lot of people.

The Compromise

But forget the service, let’s even just improve the cable boxes. It’s no secret that the Apple TV hasn’t exactly been a big success for Apple. Maybe it’s time for them to stray from the go-it-alone approach and instead talk with cable providers about making boxes for them. Do I believe that will actually ever happen? No, but it’s not out of the realm of possibility as it is a similar idea to what they’ve done with the iPhone in wireless.

Apple could use its box to get a foot into the cable business. The box could have a DVR, full access to a cable company’s content, but also access to iTunes. Would the cable companies ever go for that and give up their pay-per-view business? Probably not, but maybe a smaller one would be willing to take a gamble on it. An maybe that in turn would force others to at the very least improve their rubbish hardware.

slingbox-7It’s a pipe dream, but it’s one that I’m going to keep on dreaming every time I turn on my TV. I look at my cable box’s UI versus the UI on my Apple TV or my Xbox 360 and I just shake my head. Two of them look like modern, sexy services, the other looks like it was designed in the 70s or 80s — probably because it was.

And why on Earth do cable boxes have to be so big? There is technology now to use CableCARD (even though no one suspiciously seems to be using them), and yet we need these gigantic boxes?

Myself and others have ranted about this topic before, with elaborate plans to bring about change, but nothing ever seems to change. That’s why I think now a very simple goal is important — Cable companies: Get decent cable boxes with non-Fischer Price remotes, or get out of my living room, again.

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]]> http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/10/08/cable-boxes-and-their-fisher-price-remotes-are-junk-demand-better/feed/ 109 Live From Motorola’s Android Announcement http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/09/10/live-from-motorolas-android-announcement/ http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/09/10/live-from-motorolas-android-announcement/#comments Thu, 10 Sep 2009 17:15:41 +0000 Greg Kumparak http://www.techcrunch.com/?p=100436 We're live from Motorola's Android announcement at the Mobilize conference, where the company is expected to announce at least two new handsets running Google's mobile operating system. This is a big day for Motorola - nearly one year ago, the flailing company switched up their game by dedicating a 350-person team to this new endeavor. Have their efforts been worthwhile? Find out in our minute-to-minute coverage.]]> We're live from Motorola's Android announcement at the Mobilize conference, where the company is expected to announce at least two new handsets running Google's mobile operating system. This is a big day for Motorola - nearly one year ago, the flailing company switched up their game by dedicating a 350-person team to this new endeavor. Have their efforts been worthwhile? Find out in our minute-to-minute coverage.]]> http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/09/10/live-from-motorolas-android-announcement/feed/ 0 Cell Phone Shipments No Longer Growing http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/01/26/cell-phone-shipments-no-longer-growing/ http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/01/26/cell-phone-shipments-no-longer-growing/#comments Mon, 26 Jan 2009 16:34:30 +0000 Erick Schonfeld http://www.techcrunch.com/?p=39454 Are cell phones no longer a growth business? At least in the fourth quarter, cell phone shipments actually declined. According to Deutsche Bank analyst Brian Modoff, shipments from the top five cell phone manufacturers (Nokia, Samsung, LG, Sony Ericsson, and Motorola) dropped 13 percent year-over-year in the fourth quarter of 2008. Unit shipments decelerated from 14 percent growth in the second quarter to 2 percent growth in the third quarter, and then finally went into negative territory in the fourth quarter. Even Apple saw a 36 percent quarterly decline in sales of iPhones (4.4 million in the December quarter versus 6.9 million in the September quarter). And RIM's Blackberry Storm sold only 500,000 units its first month, despite a $100 million marketing campaign. ]]> Are cell phones no longer a growth business? At least in the fourth quarter, cell phone shipments actually declined. According to Deutsche Bank analyst Brian Modoff, shipments from the top five cell phone manufacturers (Nokia, Samsung, LG, Sony Ericsson, and Motorola) dropped 13 percent year-over-year in the fourth quarter of 2008. Unit shipments decelerated from 14 percent growth in the second quarter to 2 percent growth in the third quarter, and then finally went into negative territory in the fourth quarter. Even Apple saw a 36 percent quarterly decline in sales of iPhones (4.4 million in the December quarter versus 6.9 million in the September quarter). And RIM's Blackberry Storm sold only 500,000 units its first month, despite a $100 million marketing campaign. ]]> http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/01/26/cell-phone-shipments-no-longer-growing/feed/ 0 You’re Doing It Wrong: Motorola Astroturfs Everyone http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/11/26/youre-doing-it-wrong-motorola-astroturfs-everyone/ http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/11/26/youre-doing-it-wrong-motorola-astroturfs-everyone/#comments Wed, 26 Nov 2008 12:43:13 +0000 John Biggs http://www.techcrunch.com/?p=30584 Joel at BBG has found a bunch of threads from MGOODE08, apparently a shill for Motorola who posts comments to gadget sites about the Motorola Krave.
I'm so glad my boss isn't like that! I'm working with Motorola right now, and became a huge fan of the Krave (motorola.com/krave). I especially like the full touch screen display and html web browser. It's awesome!
And before that:
Oh man this looks awesome! I hope they release a version for the Krave by Motorola. Ever since I started working with Motorola I have became a huge fan of the phone (motorola.com/krave). With a full list of features, like a full touch screen, I can't stop obsessing over it.
UPDATE - I found that MGoode is now appearing on CrunchGear as well. Read on.]]> Joel at BBG has found a bunch of threads from MGOODE08, apparently a shill for Motorola who posts comments to gadget sites about the Motorola Krave.
I'm so glad my boss isn't like that! I'm working with Motorola right now, and became a huge fan of the Krave (motorola.com/krave). I especially like the full touch screen display and html web browser. It's awesome!
And before that:
Oh man this looks awesome! I hope they release a version for the Krave by Motorola. Ever since I started working with Motorola I have became a huge fan of the phone (motorola.com/krave). With a full list of features, like a full touch screen, I can't stop obsessing over it.
UPDATE - I found that MGoode is now appearing on CrunchGear as well. Read on.]]> http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/11/26/youre-doing-it-wrong-motorola-astroturfs-everyone/feed/ 0 The iPhone Is Now the Best Selling Phone In the U.S. http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/11/10/he-iphone-is-now-the-best-selling-phone-in-the-us/ http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/11/10/he-iphone-is-now-the-best-selling-phone-in-the-us/#comments Mon, 10 Nov 2008 17:05:18 +0000 Erick Schonfeld http://www.techcrunch.com/?p=27224 When the economy takes a hit, so do cell phone sales. Last quarter, mobile phone sales in the U.S. dropped 15 percent to 32 million units, according to market research firm NPD Group. But in hard times, the strongest brands also take share. And that is exactly what Apple did. The 6.9 million iPhones it sold last quarter catapulted the $200 device into the top spot among all cell phones, even beating out the much cheaper and still-popular Motorola Razr. (Yes, they still sell that thing. They just don't make any money off of it.)]]> When the economy takes a hit, so do cell phone sales. Last quarter, mobile phone sales in the U.S. dropped 15 percent to 32 million units, according to market research firm NPD Group. But in hard times, the strongest brands also take share. And that is exactly what Apple did. The 6.9 million iPhones it sold last quarter catapulted the $200 device into the top spot among all cell phones, even beating out the much cheaper and still-popular Motorola Razr. (Yes, they still sell that thing. They just don't make any money off of it.)]]> http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/11/10/he-iphone-is-now-the-best-selling-phone-in-the-us/feed/ 1 Will Motorola Go All-In On Android? It Has No Other Choice. http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/10/29/will-motorola-go-all-in-on-android-it-has-no-other-choice/ http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/10/29/will-motorola-go-all-in-on-android-it-has-no-other-choice/#comments Wed, 29 Oct 2008 15:40:18 +0000 Erick Schonfeld http://www.techcrunch.com/?p=25186 Motorola's new co-CEO Sanjay Jha has a plan to save the beleaguered mobile handset maker: go all-in on Google's Android mobile operating system. According to a report in the Wall Street Journal (behind the pay wall): The rumor is that Motorola will focus all of its efforts around three core operating systems for its phones, with Android becoming the central platform for "mid-tier" phones with Internet capability. The other two operating systems it will support will be Windows Mobile on the high end and its own P2K on the low end. In other words, Android phones will become its bread and butter.]]>

Motorola’s new co-CEO Sanjay Jha has a plan to save the beleaguered mobile handset maker: go all-in on Google’s Android mobile operating system. According to a report in the Wall Street Journal (behind the pay wall):

Sanjay Jha, who also became Motorola’s co-chief executive in August, has decided to focus on Google Inc.’s Android operating system as the software platform for Motorola’s showcase phones, according to people familiar with the matter.

Mr. Jha is expected to detail his plans — which will likely include thousands of layoffs — as early as Thursday when the company reports earnings, these people said.

The rumor is that Motorola will focus all of its efforts around three core operating systems for its phones, with Android becoming the central platform for “mid-tier” phones with Internet capability. The other two operating systems it will support will be Windows Mobile on the high end and its own P2K on the low end. In other words, Android phones will become its bread and butter.

Given this potential strategy, the 350-person Android team that Motorola is recruiting while it considers another massive round of layoffs elsewhere makes more sense. It’s Android-powered social networking phone looks like it will be the first of a long line of Internet-capable phones.

Betting the farm on Android would be a gutsy move, as it is still an unproven operating system. And, as Om points out, it could be too little, too late for Motorola’s cell phone business, which has not turned a profit since late 2006.

But really, what other choice does Motorola have? It is much better off piggybacking on an open-source operating system that rivals the iPhone’s than to try to create its own modern mobile OS that nobody else will care about. And for Android, this would be a major vote of confidence. It could become the equivalent of IBM’s embrace of Linux for enterprise servers during the past decade. Not only does it signal to the rest of teh mobile industry that Android is the OS to beat, but Motorola will no doubt put some major resources behind Android to bring it up to snuff, just as IBM has been a major contributor to Linux and other open-source projects.

This is the smartest thing Motorola has done in a long time.

Update 10/30/2008: Going with Android is indeed Motorola’s plan. But its first Android phones won’t be out until next Christmas. That is way too long to wait. I guess investors can just expect mounting losses until then.

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]]> http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/10/29/will-motorola-go-all-in-on-android-it-has-no-other-choice/feed/ 47 Motorola is Really Getting Jazzed About That Android Social Networking Phone http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/10/19/motorola-is-really-getting-jazzed-about-that-android-social-networking-phone/ http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/10/19/motorola-is-really-getting-jazzed-about-that-android-social-networking-phone/#comments Mon, 20 Oct 2008 05:05:33 +0000 Erick Schonfeld http://www.techcrunch.com/?p=23517 Motorola, which is recruiting as many as 350 people to work on Android phones, is gearing up to make its first one:the Android Social Smart Phone. Last week, Android Guys spotted a job posting for the project, and now BusinessWeek has more details, including a mention of the Motorola job posting pictured at left on Monster looking for an Android application developer. If the people pictured in the ad to represent Motorola employees are any indication, embarrassing dance moves are a plus, but not required. According to BusinessWeek, Motorola is putting $50 million into its Android project, which is being run by a team from Good Technology, a mobile e-mail company that Motorola bought in 2006. The first phone won't come out until the second quarter of next year, it will have a touch screen like the iPhone and a slide-out keyboard like the HTC T-Mobile G1 launching on Wednesday, but will look more like the Motorola Krave. It is also expected to be cheaper than the G1's $180 price.]]>

Motorola, which is recruiting as many as 350 people to work on Android phones, is gearing up to make its first one:the Android Social Smart Phone. Last week, Android Guys spotted a job posting for the project, and now BusinessWeek has more details, including a mention of the Motorola job posting pictured at left on Monster looking for an Android application developer. If the people pictured in the ad to represent Motorola employees are any indication, embarrassing dance moves are a plus, but not required.

According to BusinessWeek, Motorola is putting $50 million into its Android project, which is being run by a team from Good Technology, a mobile e-mail company that Motorola bought in 2006. The first phone won’t come out until the second quarter of next year, it will have a touch screen like the iPhone and a slide-out keyboard like the HTC T-Mobile G1 launching on Wednesday, but will look more like the Motorola Krave. It is also expected to be cheaper than the G1’s $180 price.

But how will it tie into existing social networks? Already, the G1 imports your contacts from Gmail into the phone. It wouldn’t be too hard for the Motorola Android to import your friends’ list from Facebook or MySpace directly into the phone’s address book, and let you IM them and see their status updates and activity streams on your phone. Kind of like the Facebook app on the iPhone lets you do already, except that you wouldn’t necessarily need to launch a separate app.

Is the idea of a Facebook phone or a MySpace phone interesting enough in and of itself for people to want to buy it? And, more importantly, can Android save Motorola?

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]]> http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/10/19/motorola-is-really-getting-jazzed-about-that-android-social-networking-phone/feed/ 29 Motorola Building Up 350-Person Android Team. Nokia Also Sniffing Around. http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/09/28/motorola-building-up-350-person-android-team-nokia-also-sniffing-around/ http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/09/28/motorola-building-up-350-person-android-team-nokia-also-sniffing-around/#comments Sun, 28 Sep 2008 20:29:01 +0000 Erick Schonfeld http://www.techcrunch.com/?p=22737 The iPhone may be the only game in town for serious mobile Web developers right now, but that won't last long. Next year, the iPhone will see some serious competition from Google's Android platform. Of course, T-Mobile will start selling the first Android phone, the G1 made by HTC, on October 22. But other cell phone manufacturers are gearing up for a major Android push. The most significant of these may come from Motorola. One of the original partners in the Open Handset Alliance behind the open-source mobile OS, Motorola already has 50 people on its Android team and is growing that to 350, according to an Android developer approached by a headhunter to join the team. That is a huge commitment that shows how big a bet Motorola is making on Android. This same source has also seen people from Nokia and Verizon at a recent Android developer conference.]]>

The iPhone may be the only game in town for serious mobile Web developers right now, but that won’t last long. Next year, the iPhone will see some serious competition from Google’s Android platform. Of course, T-Mobile will start selling the first Android phone, the G1 made by HTC, on October 22. But other cell phone manufacturers are gearing up for a major Android push.

The most significant of these may come from Motorola. One of the original partners in the Open Handset Alliance behind the open-source mobile OS, Motorola already has 50 people on its Android team and is growing that to 350, according to an Android developer approached by a headhunter to join the team. That is a huge commitment that shows how big a bet Motorola is making on Android.

This same source has also seen people from Nokia and Verizon at a recent Android developer conference. The conference was put on by Google last week for developers who had not yet seen the G1 to help prepare them for its launch. In general, in order to be an attendee, you had to have an Android app. Neither Nokia nor Verizon are official members of the Open Handset Alliance.

Nokia recently acquired the rest of Symbian it didn’t already own, and is determined to keep that OS as long as possible, since it powers all of its S60 phones. But Nokia may have an Android team sniffing around, which is smart even if it is for nothing other than to gain competitive intelligence. And if Android takes off, Nokia could decide to hedge its bets and launch its own Android phone.

There is a certain inexorable logic behind all the interest in Android.

1. It is a more capable mobile Web computer than anything other than the iPhone.
2. It is a very appealing development environment for app creators—and just like on the PC, apps will drive adoption.
3. Most importantly, as an open-source OS, manufacturers don’t have to pay a licensing fee to whoever controls the OS. Given the razor-thin margins in the cell phone business, that alone is reason for manufacturers to embrace Android (with the exception of Nokia, which owns Symbian). But you can see why Motorola might see Android as the key to its recovery.

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]]> http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/09/28/motorola-building-up-350-person-android-team-nokia-also-sniffing-around/feed/ 221 Motorola’s Loss Is Apple’s Gain: That $2.1 Billion Sucking Sound Is Coming From The iPhone http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/04/24/motorolas-loss-is-apples-gain-that-21-billion-sucking-sound-is-coming-from-the-iphone/ http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/04/24/motorolas-loss-is-apples-gain-that-21-billion-sucking-sound-is-coming-from-the-iphone/#comments Thu, 24 Apr 2008 16:36:55 +0000 Erick Schonfeld http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/04/24/motorolas-loss-is-apples-gain-that-21-billion-sucking-sound-is-coming-from-the-iphone/ mot-razrs.pngRazr anyone? Motorola can’t even give those things away anymore. The once-proud company reported horrible earnings today, with sales down 21 percent and a net loss of $194 million. But the big takeaway was the 39 percent collapse in its mobile phone business. Mobile device revenues in the quarter dropped $2.1 billion compared to last year.

Coincidentally enough, that is almost exactly how much Apple made last quarter over the past three quarters on iPhone sales. That figure comes to $2.3 billion (including lumped-in sales of Apple TVs, which likely made up a very small portion of that total). During yesterday’s earnings call, Apple CFO Peter Oppenheimer spelled this out:

We sold 1.7 million iPhones during the March quarter . . .. Total revenue recognized during the quarter from sales of iPhone, iPhone accessories, and payments from carriers was $378 million. Total deferred revenue from iPhone and Apple TV was $1.93 billion at the end of the March quarter.

Add those together and you get $2.3 billion. That deferred revenue he is talking about is what Apple collects from its share of monthly subscription fees from AT&T and other carriers partners—an arrangement that Motorola has never been able to negotiate for its phones. So not only has the iPhone replaced Motorola-class phones as the mobile device of choice among consumers, but Apple is also replacing Motorola’s business model by tapping into that rich vein of monthly subscription fees: An arrangement, by the way, that has been as good for AT&T as it has been for Apple. [Clarification: The deferred revenue is a cumulative figure since Apple started selling iPhones in mid-2007. Last quarter, Apple added about $500 million to that cookie jar).

Here is the segment revenue line for Motorola’s mobile business:

motorola-mobile.png

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]]> http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/04/24/motorolas-loss-is-apples-gain-that-21-billion-sucking-sound-is-coming-from-the-iphone/feed/ 31 CG News: Motorola splits http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/03/26/cg-news-motorola-splits/ http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/03/26/cg-news-motorola-splits/#comments Wed, 26 Mar 2008 13:09:11 +0000 John Biggs http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/03/26/cg-news-motorola-splits/ In a clear move to keep Motorola’s flagging mobile phone sales from pulling down its lucrative broadband and switching enterprise services the company is splitting into two publicly-traded organizations. The Mobile Devices company will focus on mobile handsets while the Broadband and Mobility solutions sector will work on secure voice and data communication along with broadband for enterprises and government.

Motorola shareholders will receive shares in each of the companies once the process is completed.

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]]> http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/03/26/cg-news-motorola-splits/feed/ 22 Motorola May Spin Off Mobile Devices Unit: iPhone’s First Casualty? http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/01/31/motorola-may-spin-off-mobile-devices-unit-iphones-first-casualty/ http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/01/31/motorola-may-spin-off-mobile-devices-unit-iphones-first-casualty/#comments Thu, 31 Jan 2008 23:55:36 +0000 Duncan Riley http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/01/31/motorola-may-spin-off-mobile-devices-unit-iphones-first-casualty/ moto.jpgMotorola is exploring spinning off its mobile devices unit “to recapture global market leadership and to enhance shareholder value.”

The move comes in an ever increasingly tight market which has seen Apple capture 19.5% of the smartphone market in its first twelve months, a new iPhone style device announced by GPS provider Garmin, and a slew of Android powered phones coming later this year, including at least one mobile phone from computer maker Dell.

Motorola’s mobile phone market share has continued to slide in the face of existing competition with the handset unit recording a $1.2 billion loss in the 4th quarter of 2007.

Although mobile phones are still perhaps the public face of Motorola, the company is also an enterprise provider of communications tools to business, Government and the military.

We’re placing Motorola’s handset unit on Deadpool watch. Motorola has had a mixed track record of spinning off companies, having success with Freescale Semiconductor, however Iridium saw what was once the worlds leading commercial satellite network file for bankruptcy in 1999. A new company based around a business unit with a $1.2 billion loss is going to take some serious work in turning around under normal circumstances, but in a market that will see a slew of new competitors and where a new comer such as Apple can take such a big slice of the market in such a short time, it will be harder again, if not near on impossible.

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]]> http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/01/31/motorola-may-spin-off-mobile-devices-unit-iphones-first-casualty/feed/ 24 Motorola Acquires Online Music Store Soundbuzz http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/01/07/motorola-acquires-online-music-store-soundbuzz/ http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/01/07/motorola-acquires-online-music-store-soundbuzz/#comments Mon, 07 Jan 2008 12:40:59 +0000 Duncan Riley http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/01/07/motorola-acquires-online-music-store-soundbuzz/ soundbuzz.jpgMotorola has acquired Singapore based music downloads site Soundbuzz.

Soundbuzz offers online music purchases throughout the South East Asia and Oceania region and currently has partnerships with Hutchison 3, Motorola, Airtel, SingTel, M1, Optus Zoo, Telstra/ BigPond Music, Microsoft (Windows Media Player 10), Creative Technology and Sony BMG. Downloads from the Soundbuzz retail store sell in Australia for $1.69 AUD ($1.47) per single.

Motorola said it would use Soundbuzz to expland its MOTOMUSIC service into India, Southeast Asia, Australia and New Zealand.

The terms of the acquisition were not disclosed.

One word of warning though, if you do wish to check out Soundbuzz, don’t try it with anything other than Internet Explorer.

(via Fox Business)

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]]> http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/01/07/motorola-acquires-online-music-store-soundbuzz/feed/ 10 Motorola to Announce iPhone Competitor http://www.techcrunch.com/2007/05/10/motorola-to-announce-iphone-competitor/ http://www.techcrunch.com/2007/05/10/motorola-to-announce-iphone-competitor/#comments Fri, 11 May 2007 00:24:03 +0000 Duncan Riley http://www.techcrunch.com/2007/05/10/motorola-to-announce-iphone-competitor/ moto.jpgMotorola CEO Ed Zander has given notice that Motorola is set to announce a direct competitor to Apple’s iPhone.

Speaking at the Software 2007 conference, Zander gave the audience a brief overview of the phone. Due to be formally announced next Tuesday, he described it as a “media monster”.

The new phone will support 30 frames-a-second, full-motion video and will incorporate incorporate support for SD cards.

“We are working with another company to deliver movies on SD cards. You can start watching unbelievable quality movies,” Zander reportedly said.

Unlike the iPhone, the new Motorola device will initially be targeted at the European market: the phone will work on the 3G platform that despite having a broad global presence, still lacks coverage in the United States.

He was surprisingly upbeat though on Apples iPhone, saying that the iPhone will stimulate the overall market for feature-rich mobile devices, including Motorola’s. “I think it’s [the iPohne is] going to, in some cases, reinforce what we have been trying to do and are doing with the mobile internet. Applications such as multimedia and video and photos and music are going to be done on these devices”.

Previous TechCrunch coverage of Apple’s iPhone here.

in part via smh.com.au Coverage at CrunchGear here.

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]]> http://www.techcrunch.com/2007/05/10/motorola-to-announce-iphone-competitor/feed/ 31 45% of Europeans watch TV online http://www.techcrunch.com/2007/05/03/45-of-europeans-watch-tv-online/ http://www.techcrunch.com/2007/05/03/45-of-europeans-watch-tv-online/#comments Thu, 03 May 2007 10:49:51 +0000 Duncan Riley http://www.techcrunch.com/2007/05/03/45-of-europeans-watch-tv-online/ motorola.jpgA new study from Motorola has found that an amazing 45% of European broadband users now watch at least some television online.

The survey covering the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy and Spain found that the French lead Europe in terms of online television consumption with 59% of people choosing to watch previews and episodes of their favorite shows via the web with the Germans trailing at 33%.

The survey did not ask where the respondents obtained the content, ignoring the reality that many were possibly downloading television shows from BitTorrent or similar services.

The results further strengthen the business models of startups such as Joost, that seek to target a massive potential audience through the use of streamed content over a P2P network, but with the safeguards of DRM and imposed advertising delivery built in.

The survey also found that 45% of Europeans expect to be making video calls via their home TV’s by 2012.

“Viewers across Europe are no longer satisfied with fitting into schedules dictated by broadcasters and are turning to the choice and flexibility offered by TV over the internet,” Motorola’s Karl Elliott told the BBC.

“We are witnessing a nation of citizen schedulers who are in control of their entertainment, allowing them to watch what they want, how and when they want it.”

The convergance of Television and the Internet, despite recent false starts with products such as Microsoft’s Windows Media Center, looks set to continue.

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]]> http://www.techcrunch.com/2007/05/03/45-of-europeans-watch-tv-online/feed/ 99