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Unless things change dramatically under Google ownship, I suspect that the Droid… 3

This entry was posted in Uncategorized and tagged android Google+ ics motorola on by (updated 4584 days ago)

Unless things change dramatically under Google ownship, I suspect that the Droid 3 I'm running right now will probably be the last +Motorola Mobility phone I ever buy. Motorola has reneged on their promise last year to unlock bootloaders on phones, and to provide operating system updates for at least 18 months.

They published an updated list today of devices that will get official upgrades to Android 4 and confirmed that the Droid 3 and X2 will stay on 2.3 Gingerbread forever despite having debuted less than 12 months ago.

What really annoys me is that D3 and every Moto phone since runs on the same TI OMAP4 platform as the Galaxy Nexus so it seems like this should be a no-brainer.

Frankly this is bullshit and the only saving grace is that there are now several very good independently developed ICS ROMs for the D3. I just flashed the May 16 build of AOKP last night and its running great. Still a couple of minor issues with bluetooth and the camera but very stable and faster than the stock rom ever was. At the very least Motorola should release all of the drivers for the D3 and X2 so that devs can get the final remaining issues worked out.

#motorola #android #ics

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Even though I've been using a Droid 3 since July, I still use OG Droid that I… 10

This entry was posted in Uncategorized and tagged android Google+ ics ogdroid on by (updated 4723 days ago)

Even though I've been using a Droid 3 since July, I still use OG Droid that I ordered on day one more than two years ago as a streaming media player. Since early this year, the old Droid has been running on various Gingerbread builds from either +Peter Alfonso or Cyanogenmod. After the success I had loading an early Ice Cream Sandwich ROM onto my son's Samsung Fascinate last week, I decided to try it on the OG Droid.

I found an early build based on Android 4.0.3 on the XDA-Developers forum and installed it last night. It's far from complete but it is remarkably functional for what I currently use the device for. The phone apparently works although I wouldn't know for sure since the OG isn't activated at the moment. The WiFi works and apps like stitcher, pandora, google music and reader are all functional. GPS doesn't work right now so no maps. Skype does work for voice calls so the phone could be used over WiFi.

I'll keep playing with it and flashing updated builds, but so far I really like what I see of ICS. Unlike crazed Apple design nerds like John Gruber, I actually really like the way the new Roboto screen font looks on the phone. I also like the new browser, the GMail app and the new UI as a whole. I can't wait until an ICS ROM is available for the Droid 3.

For now though a vanilla ICS build works remarkably smoothly even on this old phone with just 256 MB of ram and rom proving again that Samsung's excuses for not updating the Galaxy S phones is cop out.

Update: You can find the rom files in this forum, http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1393632 Go through the thread for updated versions.

#ogdroid #ics #android

In album OG Droid Ice Cream Sandwich (4 photos)

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As much as I love Android, this sort of bullshit from manufacturers is just so aggravating…. 4

This entry was posted in Uncategorized and tagged android Google+ icecreamsandwich ics samsung on by (updated 4724 days ago)

As much as I love Android, this sort of bullshit from manufacturers is just so aggravating.

If Touchwiz (or Sense or Blur) is so wonderful, don't bake it into the OS, build it as an app that can be installed just like other launchers such as Launcher Pro and ADW. If users actually like it, they can install and use it. This way, base OS can be upgraded almost as soon as Google posts it.

For Samsung to claim that the original Galaxy S can't have Android 4 because it doesn't have enough memory to support their proprietary Touchwiz interface is totally disingenuous.

My 16 year old son has a Samsung Fascinate (the Verizon branded version of the Galaxy S) and wanted Android 4. I did a bit of searching on the forums and found a fresh build of Ice Cream Sandwich that is pretty much fully functional and built from the open source code. I backed up the original firmware and flashed ICS and it works great. Battery life is better than before and the new ICS user interface runs smooth as silk.

Please Samsung, just offer a vanilla version of ICS for Fascinate owners as an option. Since this phone has already been superceded, it won't lose any sales and loyal customers will be rewarded. Those that prefer Touchwiz, don't have to upgrade or they can buy a Galaxy S2 when it gets an ICS build with touchwiz.

#android #icecreamsandwich #ics #samsung

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Samsung: no ICS upgrade for Galaxy S and Galaxy Tab because of TouchWiz
Samsung has just distributed the worst news of this Ice Cream Sandwich upgrade cycle: the popular Galaxy S smartphone that sold 10 million units last year and the 7-inch Galaxy Tab tablet won't be upgraded to Android 4.0. The company's argument is that they lack sufficient RAM and ROM to run the new OS alongside TouchWiz and other "experience-enhancing" software. This will come as a massive blow to the great many users of the Galaxy S, who would have rightly expected the 1GHz Hummingbird proc…

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