Hugo Barra and Hiroshi Lockheimer sat down this afternoon with Reto Meier to talk a bit about the Android-related happenings around Google I/O this week. They didn’t reveal anything new, like the release date for Android 4.3, but when they were asked what their all-time sentimental pick for favorite device was, we couldn’t help but smile at Hugo’s answer. 

Hiroshi went with the G1, but Hugo picked a phone straight out of our past – the “OG” Motorola DROID. He even dropped a little “DROOOOOID” after mentioning it.

His pick was the DROID because of that was the time we got turn-by-turn navigation, voice search, and “all those cool things,” that helped push the platform in a big way.

We couldn’t agree more, Hugo.

Hugo Barra Picks the Motorola DROID as His All Time Sentimental Device is a post from: Droid Life

The HTC DROID DNA, which could easily be considered Verizon’s best available phone (our review), can be had for free thanks to a new coupon code and referral program that Big Red is running through May 21. All you have to do, is click through on the source link below, type in your email address, and wait for your coupon code to arrive (should take only a couple of minutes). Once you have it, you can print out the code and redeem it inside a Verizon or store, or use it during checkout through their online shop. 

Verizon is currently charging $199 on new 2-year contract for the DNA, so this promo will save you almost $200. In order to receive the phone for free you do need to sign a new contract.

The promo also allows you to refer friends who are not currently Verizon customers. Should you refer them, Verizon will give you $25 per.

Keep in mind that the Samsung Galaxy S4 will be available starting May 23 and that there is still a chance that Verizon carries a version of the HTC One down the road.

Via:  Verizon

Cheers Albert!

[Deal] Verizon Handing Out Free DROID DNA Coupon Codes is a post from: Droid Life

Verizon is currently hosting a “Red Hot Deal Days” event from today through May 12 (this Sunday), so if you were in the market for a new Big Red smartphone, now wouldn’t be a bad time to look. Well, assuming you aren’t interested in the Galaxy S4, since that won’t be out until May 30. But if the GS4 isn’t on your radar, you’ll find deals on the RAZR MAXX HD and regular RAZR HD, RAZR M, Incredible 4G LTE, Blackberry Z10 (hah!), and more.

The DROID line is headlining this show, with the RAZR MAXX HD at $149 on contract, RAZR HD at $49, and RAZR M and Incredible 4G LTE for free. The Samsung Galaxy S3 (16GB model) is also there for $99 on new 2-year contract.

Keep in mind that Amazon will beat almost all of these prices, starting with the RAZR MAXX HD at $99 on contract.

Via:  Verizon

Cheers Adam!

Verizon Hosting “Red Hot Deal Days” – RAZR MAXX HD for $150, RAZR M for Free, Galaxy S3 for $99 and More is a post from: Droid Life

Is the HTC One ever going to arrive on Verizon? We still don’t know for sure. There have been certification sightings of a device with similar specs to the One, along with a couple of reports out of AllThingsD which suggest a One variant is indeed on the way. HTC’s verified Twitter account said the opposite, that it’s not coming to Verizon, though, but quickly deleted that Tweet, causing some controversy. With all that said, HTC still isn’t ready to announce anything, though they did mention this morning during a Q&A with Yahoo that once they do announce a product with Verizon, they’ll be sure to make a big deal out of it. 

Tom Harlin, HTC’s director of public relations, had this to say in response to a commenter who asked if the One is ever coming to Big Red:

There are tons of rumors online but we haven’t made any official announcement about HTC One coming to Verizon. The DROID DNA continues to be the HTC hero smartphone at Verizon. It launched in late 2012, it’s features still compete with products in 2013. When we announce our next product with Verizon, we’ll make a big deal about it so you’re all aware.

While Tom didn’t divulge anything in particular, one could take his comments about making “a big deal” about their next product to mean we won’t see another low-end phone like the Incredible 4G LTE, and will see something a lot closer to the One. I’m still not sure the One will ever arrive on Verizon. If anything, I’d put money on the phone being a follow-up to the DNA, just like HTC did last year with the One X and One X+.

Via:  Yahoo

HTC: When We Announce Our Next Product With Verizon, We’ll Make a Big Deal About It is a post from: Droid Life

The “maintenance” update for the Motorola DROID RAZR M that was approved by Verizon last week as build 98.15.66 started rolling out to users over the weekend. It’s not Android 4.2, but does improve WiFi connectivity, voice volume, camera features, in-call audio while using headsets, video streaming, and more.

The update is 80MB in size.

To try and pull the update yourself, head into Settings>About phone>System updates.

Cheers Rich and Adam!

DROID RAZR M Update to 98.15.66 Available Now is a post from: Droid Life

We’ve heard from a handful of readers this morning who were able to update their DROID Bionic devices to official Jelly Bean. The update itself was approved by Verizon last week as build 98.72.22, so the timing for a rollout seems about right. One of our readers that received the update was not a part of the soak test either, leading us to believe that the update may be live for everyone.

To get yourself into Google Now, head into Settings>About phone>System updates and see if the update is available. The support documents for the update show it as being about 98MB in size.

If you aren’t able to pull it, a manual install is still available.

Cheers March, Josh and everyone else!

DROID Bionic Jelly Bean Update Rolling Out Now! is a post from: Droid Life

If you’re the proud owner of the RAZR M you should be excited to hear that Verizon has officially announced a small update (build 98.15.66) that will squash a few bugs with the device. This looks to be the exact same maintenance release that we saw soak testers get last week.  Not as exciting as a new version of Android, but fixing WiFi connectivity, video streaming and camera improvements are all welcome fixes.

The update is 80MB in size.

To check to see if the update is available, head into Settings>About Phone>Software updates.

More info.

DROID RAZR M Update Approved by Verizon as Build 98.15.66, It’s Just a “Maintenance” Release is a post from: Droid Life

If you own a DROID DNA, you should be receiving a new 32MB update at any moment. According to the wave of emails that populated our inbox moments ago, a number of you have already received and installed it. At 32.9MB, it should only take a few minutes to complete, assuming you are on LTE.

The update has one purpose – to fix the SIM card error that has plagued the phone for some time.

To check to see if the update is available, head into Settings>About>Software updates.

Cheers Zepfloyd, Rick, Jason, dh, Damian and Daniel!

DROID DNA “SIM Card Error” Update is Live is a post from: Droid Life

On Friday, Verizon approved the much-anticipated Jelly Bean (Android 4.1.2) update for the Motorola DROID Bionic. As is typical with Motorola updates, an initial rollout of the new firmware was pushed to members of a test group to make sure that no major issues were hanging around. Thanks to that push to testers, we now have the file for anyone willing to take the plunge and manually update ahead of time. 

In order to flash the update file, you’ll have to be running stock 6.7.246, which is the last update the Bionic received. You can have root prior to updating, but will likely need to utilize the OTA Rootkeeper app in order to keep it afterwards. Reports seem to be mixed thus far on whether or not this is working, though.

In order to flash the update, download the file from below, drop it on your SD card, reboot into recovery, and then install from SD Card.

The full changelog for the update can be found here.

Update:  If the download link below is dead, be sure to head to the XDA thread.

Via:  XDA [Download Link]

Cheers Russel and Justtyn!

DROID Bionic Jelly Bean Update Available for Download and Manual Install is a post from: Droid Life

Verizon has approved another update this morning, only this time it’s for the HTC DROID DNA. The update is incredibly small and only contains improvements to make SIM card detection better. That’s it. The update is 33MB in size.

More info.

DROID DNA Receiving New Update to Improve SIM Card Detection is a post from: Droid Life

The Jelly Bean (Android 4.1.2) update for the DROID Bionic has been approved by Verizon as build number 98.72.22. The update will include a number of important goodies like an immensely improved voice search, smarter notifications with actionable items, a better keyboard, and of course, Google Now. Your device should also run smoother, feature more intuitive graphics, and react quicker to touch responses thanks to Project Butter. 

Outside of new Android features, Motorola has improved voice and data connectivity (hotspot too) and calendar settings. They also removed bloatware.

A soak test of the update to members of Motorola’s Feedback Network will likely start before the mass rollout happens, so stay patient for now. Once that is complete, we’ll be sure to report back.

Update:  Verizon confirms that the update will start to roll out in phases from April 15.

The update is 98.72MB in size.

More info.

DROID Bionic Jelly Bean Update Approved by Verizon as Build 98.72.22 (Updated) is a post from: Droid Life

Edge-to-edge connoisseurs, the DROID RAZR M has a new update on the horizon. According to emails sent out to members of Motorola’s Feedback Network, an early preview of a “new software release” will arrive shortly. If you were hoping for Android 4.2, I have a feeling you’ll be disappointed – the email says specifically that this is nothing more than a “maintenance release.” Still, who doesn’t love new software? Bug squashing is still fun, isn’t it?

Assuming the test kicks off within the next few days, it shouldn’t be long before the public release.

On a semi-related note, we aren’t sure if this will wipe out the bootloader exploit that Dan Rosenberg found or not. Better decide quickly if you wish to be unlocked.

And because I’m always curious, who is rockin’ a RAZR M? I, personally, still love this little phone.

Cheers J, A, and M!

DROID RAZR M Soak Test on the Way, Just a Maintenance Release is a post from: Droid Life

Yesterday, Dan Rosenberg published the first Motorola bootloader unlock method in history. It was an epic moment for the rooting and development community on Android, as no one had been able to accomplish anything close to this for what seems like an eternity on a Motorola device since they started locking them down back in 2010. There was one problem though, the bootloader unlock worked on devices like the DROID RAZR HD, RAZR M, and Atrix HD as long as you were rooted before you updated to Android 4.1.2. For many of you, especially those with a RAZR HD or RAZR MAXX HD who received the most recent 4.1.2 update, you were out of luck. 

Well, Dan has returned again with another present – root for Android 4.1.2 and more. This method not only works on the RAZR HD, RAZR M and Atrix HD, but it should work on a variety of Motorola devices (until Moto patches it). So for those of you who were unable to unlock bootloaders yesterday, you now have the option to.

Keep in mind there is all sorts of risk involved, namely in relation to warranties. If you unlock the bootloader of your phone, your warranty is gone.

The instructions were posted up at DroidRzr.com, but we have included them below for you as well.

Instructions:

1. Download this file to your PC.
2. Extract the entire contents of the zip file.
3. If you are using Windows, ensure you have installed the latest Motorola USB drivers available for your phone.
4. Ensure USB Debugging mode is enabled on your device.
5. If you are using Windows, navigate to the extracted directory and execute “run.bat”. If you are using Linux or OS X, navigate to the extracted directory in a terminal and execute “./run.sh”.

On a related note, Dan has announced that he is done trying to find exploits in Motorola devices as they have become increasingly difficult and time consuming. He urges you to consider your future purchasing decisions based upon the dev-friendliness of phones rather than waiting or expecting methods like his to be released by the community.

Via:  DroidRzr

Root Method Released for DROID RAZR HD Running Android 4.1.2, Other Devices Too is a post from: Droid Life

Our coverage of the HTC One continues on with a comparison of the device to many of the popular phones on the market today. Unfortunately, since the Samsung Galaxy S4 is not yet available, we had to go with the Galaxy S3, Note 2, Nexus 4, RAZR MAXX HD, and ol’ reliable, Galaxy Nexus. In this clip, you’ll see size comparisons, my thoughts on the different build materials, overall feel, and having to deal with carrying around a metal phone after years of plastic in my pocket. 

Click here to view the embedded video.

Video: HTC One vs. Galaxy S3 vs. Nexus 4 vs. RAZR HD vs. Galaxy Note 2 is a post from: Droid Life

Yesterday, news broke that Dan Rosenberg (@djrbliss) had unlocked bootloaders for a handful of Motorola devices including the DROID RAZR HD, RAZR MAXX HD, RAZR M, and Atrix HD, all of which are powered by Qualcomm chipsets. Today, he has released that same unlock tool so that you can free your phone from Motorola and Verizon’s clutches.

We should point out that you cannot re-lock the phone after using this tool (at this point), and it does indeed void your warranty. Also, Motorola can more than likely patch this in a software update, so you may want to weigh your options here before long. It’s risky from a warranty and replacement standpoint to say the least. As always, proceed with caution.

You definitely need to be rooted ahead of time, prior to using this tool. For those with a RAZR HD running Android 4.1.2 (the newest update), root has not been gained yet so you are out of luck for now. I can’t imagine that this won’t ever be rooted, but again as of today, there is no root method.

Update:  Dan released a root method for Android 4.1.2 that can be found here.

As we mentioned yesterday, this method does not work on OMAP powered phones, including the original RAZR, Bionic, and DROID 4. Do not attempt to use this on any of those phones.

Below, we have the basic instructions and notes from Dan. 

A couple of warnings:

1. You understand that using this tool will permanently, irreversibly void your device’s warranty.
2. You understand that it may not be possible to “relock” your device’s bootloader after unlocking using this tool. A side effect of this is that if you lose your device and you are not using disk encryption, a malicious party who acquires your phone may be able to extract all personal data from the device regardless of any lock screen.
3. You agree that I am in no way responsible for any damage to your device as a result of using this tool.

Instructions:

*It requires that your device has been rooted and that the “su” binary has been properly installed.

1. Download this file to your computer.
2. Extract the entire contents of the zip file.
3. If you are using Windows, ensure you have installed the latest Motorola USB drivers available for your phone.
4. Ensure your device has been rooted and you have a working installation of “su”.
5. Ensure USB Debugging mode is enabled on your device.
6. If you are using Windows, navigate to the extracted directory and execute “run.bat”. If you are using Linux or OS X, navigate to the extracted directory in a terminal and execute “./run.sh”.

Note – If you are interested in reading exactly how Dan managed to find this exploit (all of the technical madness), he has written up an entire post about it over at Azimuth Security.

Via:  Vulnfactory

Motorola RAZR HD, RAZR M, and Atrix HD Bootloader Unlock Released (Updated) is a post from: Droid Life