Can we just start referring to Dan Rosenberg (@djrbliss) as Mr. Root? The man that seems to have rooted every single Motorola device over the last couple of years has done it again, only this time with the original DROID RAZR and RAZR MAXX running the latest OTA update of Jelly Bean (Android 4.1.2). That would be the update that was mistakenly pushed to your device on X-mas Eve.

According to a number of readers with the original RAZR and RAZR MAXX, a massive update weighing in at 331MB and build number 98.72.8 is pushing out. There are no signs of an official update going out from any of the regular spots, so we aren’t sure if this is Jelly Bean, and someone at Motorola accidentally flipped the “Go!” switch or what. The build number starting with a 9 certainly resembles previous Jelly Bean updates on other Motorola phones. The RAZR HD’s update dropped in at 9.1.41.

As we have more, we’ll update this post. 

In 2012, we saw the Android smartphone world reach heights that I don’t imagine many predicted. On a spec front, 2012 was the year of quad-core processors, 2GB of RAM, HD displays, longer battery lives, and incredibly thin bodies. It seems like just yesterday that we were asking DL readers if they had a dual-core or single-core phone, yet here we are, with dual-core phones already becoming a thing of the past.

On a manufacturer front, 2012 was the year that Samsung proved that it really was the only big fish in a bowl full of minnows. We saw Motorola kick off its life as a Google-owned company, HTC struggle to make money even while releasing amazing phones, and LG take its turn as the face of the Nexus phone program.

In this post, I thought we’d talk a bit about all of that by listing out my top 10 phones of the year. 

Sometimes you just got to have long battery life on your device, no matter what the cost. For uber power users of the new Samsung Galaxy Note 2, Mugen has a battery that will keep you going for days on end. Their new battery clocks in at 6,400mAh, which is almost double the RAZR MAXX’s 3,300mAh battery.

It may look ridiculous, but Mugen is promising double the battery life of the stock battery and even that is probably a conservative projection. All this juice doesn’t come cheap though, the regular price of this monster is $105, but is on a deal of sorts for early adopters. Hit the source link below if you’re ready to carry this battery around in your pocket.

Update:  Reader Steve sent over a link to a Hyperion 6200mAh extended battery for the Note 2 that runs only $14.99 or $19.99 through Amazon. It sort of seems too good to be true to me, but others have had great luck with Hyperion batteries for other devices. There are versions that come with either a grey or white back, so you can match the color of your device. It doesn’t necessarily say that it is NFC-ready, but other batteries of theirs are. At that price, why not give it a shot?

Amazon Links:  Grey 6200mAh battery ($14.99) | White 6200mAh battery ($19.99 w/ Prime shipping)

Via:  Mugen | Yahoo

Cheers Doug!

I love the holidays. It seems that all of my favorite things go on sale, including smartphones. For a limited time, naturally, AmazonWireless is hosting a deal on select Verizon devices that should make for some happy buyers.

The original DROID RAZR and RAZR MAXX are both on sale for only a penny, while upgrading and new customers can get the Galaxy S3 16GB for just $79.99. If you’re looking for one of Verizon’s new phones, you can grab the RAZR M for one cent as well, or grab the slightly aged HTC Rezound for the same price. 

When Motorola first unveiled the new RAZR family at the beginning of September, they told us that they wouldn’t be able to update all of their previously released devices to Jelly Bean (Android 4.1). Since they had too large of a portfolio and would need to leave some out of the fun, they mentioned that owners of these devices would be able to buy a new Motorola phone and then trade in their old phone for $100. They posted the list of devices, this afternoon, which we have below. 

The Jelly Bean update situation on Verizon is a tricky one. I say that because most Android phone manufacturers have yet to even update most of their phones to Ice Cream Sandwich. So how can we start talking about Jelly Bean updates? Well, we know that many of you are always looking for the most current information on this subject and thought we may as well create the official page for it just like we did with Android 4.0. Once word starts trickling out from Motorola, Samsung and the rest of the major players, we will update this post. I’d say that this is definitely one that you should bookmark. You will also find a shortcut to it in the sidebar. 

When Motorola announced their new family of RAZRs – RAZR M, RAZR HD, and RAZR MAXX HD – we were a bit disappointed to learn that the HD variants wouldn’t be available for a while. In fact, Motorola and Verizon would only say that we would see the RAZR HD and MAXX HD some time “before the holidays.” That could mean the day before Thanksgiving for all we know. Actually, that probably is the week they’ll launch them, being the busiest shopping weekend of the year and all.