The Android Site

So you got your new Motorola Backflip then found out that AT&T locked it down so you can’t install apps from the SD card? Or maybe you knew that and went ahead and got it in hopes of rooting very soon. Well, rooting hasn’t happened yet for the Backflip, but we still have the solution for you.

1. First you will need to install the Android SDK, which you can download here.
2. Then download and install the Motorola USB drivers for 32-bit or 64-bit, depending on your OS.
3. Once everything is installed, on your phone go to Settings > Applications > Development > Enable USB Debugging.
4. Back on your PC, with the phone plugged into USB, copy the .apk files to the /tools folder where you extracted the SDK.
5. Then from a command prompt, navigate to the /tools folder and type adb install application.apk where application.apk is the file you want to install.
6. Congrats, the application should now be installed.

For more information on Android Debug Bridge and other cool stuff you can do, check out this guide at xda-developers.

Ben Marvin AT&T, How-To, Motorola adb, AT&T, BackFlip, How-To, Motorola

Here’s a juicy little tidbit courtesy of Boy Genius. Take it for what it’s worth, but don’t complain if the info’s not accurate. But the Motorola CLIQ, still running the now antiquated 1.5 should be getting the 2.1 treatment sometime next month. Hopefully we’ll hear something official from T-Mobile in the next couple of weeks, our fingers are crossed. Thoughts?

Ben Marvin Motorola, Rumors, T-Mobile 1.5, 2.1, CLIQ, Motorla, Rumors, Update, Upgrade

Android version 2.1 for the Motorola Droid is in testing phases over at Verizon, with a rollout coming soon, but no defined date. Here’s the details on the upgrade from Engadget:

• It’s based on Android 2.1. The build currently being circulated is identified as 2.1 version 1, mirroring the update just pushed to the Nexus One last week.
• Google Goggles is now pre-installed (no matter how unhelpful it may be).
• The browser’s now multitouch enabled, just like Google Maps 3.4. Huzzah! No Flash, but then again, we weren’t really expecting that.
• Interestingly, the home screen’s still got the same look as 2.0.1, meaning it doesn’t adopt the Nexus One’s rotating 3D grid of app icons — it’s still got the pull-up drawer tab at the bottom.
• No active wallpapers. Bummer!
• The news and weather widgets introduced on the Nexus One are included. Maybe certain capabilities of 2.1 are going to be restricted to devices with minimum performance benchmarks?

Ben Marvin Motorola, Rumors, Software, Verizon 2.1, Droid, Motorola, News, Software, Update, Upgrade, Verizon

A recent PowerPoint slide (shown below) revealed that the Motorola Zeppelin (shown above), named the CLIQ XT should be coming to T-Mobile USA launching on March 10th. It’s been described as a “CLIQ without a keyboard”, and should appeal to users that want MotoBLUR, but in a much slimmer design. Specs include MOTOBLUR running on 1.5 (why oh why?), a 3.2-inch HVGA screen, GPS, 5 MP camera with flash, and touch sensitive trackpad and navigational buttons. The price point is rumored to be at or below the current CLIQ, making it an attractive option for new smartphone buyers that don’t need to the high end specs of more expensive models.

[via PPCGeeks]

Ben Marvin Hardware, Motorola, News, T-Mobile 1.5, CLIQ XT, Hardware, leaks, MOTOBLUR, Motorola Zeppelin, News, Photos, Rumors, T-Mobile

You’re looking at a chat transcription between a Cliq owner and what appears to be a Motorola rep about 1.6 coming to the Cliq. The rumor seems that it’s in development and should be released next month. Of course, with no official announcement, it’s still in the rumors section. Seems about time for an update, or is Motorola hoping everyone forgot about the Cliq when the Droid came out?

Thanks Rezzenonne for the tip!

Ben Marvin Motorola, Rumors, Software, T-Mobile CLIQ, donut, Motorola, OTA, Rumors, Software, T-Mobile, updates

Hungry for the new Motorola CLIQ and don’t wanna wait for it to actually be on sale? Well, it isn’t your lucky day, because one lucky person already scored their new Moto CLIQ from Ebay. And they had to dish out $799 for that honor, well over the retail price. What do you guys think? Is it worth the hundreds of dollars over retail just to be able to say you were the first person to get one?

Personally, I can wait. Maybe if I was told the phone wouldn’t come out till next year sometime it might be worth it, but a few more weeks isn’t going to make much of a difference.

[Ebay] [via TmoNews]

Ben Marvin Hardware, Motorola, T-Mobile ebay, Hardware, Motorola CLIQ, presale

BGR got their hands on a supposed Verizon marketing/merchandising calendar that shows a Oct 30th being a potentially important date for the first Android powered phone coming to Verizon. Not sure the difference between the “marketing” and “merchandising” dates, but we’ll keep an eye out for the Verizon Blackberry Storm 2 on October 14th and the HTC Imagio on the 20th to see what happens. But this is still in the rumors section for now. What do you think? Is the announcement coming this soon? Are we still believing the supposed December release date?

Ben Marvin Hardware, Motorola, Rumors, Verizon Droid, Hardware, Motorola, Rumors, sholes, Tao, Verizon

It’s been a heck of a week for Motorola lovers and Verizon customers. Let’s see, first the Motorola Sholes/Tao gets approved by the FCC, then we started seeing pictures emerging and hear about the name possibly being Tao instead of Sholes. And now today BGR and AndroidAndMe got their hands on loads of new info. And another possible name change to the Motorola Droid. I’m sure most people anticipating this handset don’t care about the name, they just wanna get their hands on it. Here’s most of the specs and info so far (from both sources):

• 3.7″ screen
• 854×480 WVGA capacitive screen
• Thinnest qwerty slider on the market at 13.7mm
• 5 megapixel camera, with dual LED flash
• Li-ion 1400 mAh battery
• ARM Cortex 500 OR 600MHz CPU (there’s a little confusion here)
• Facial recognition using the built-in camera (apparently you take a photo of someone and Google will pull in search results based on the image)
• Runs Android 2.0 with a custom Motorola Interface/UI (not MOTOBLUR or Verizon UI)
• Available in black and titanium colors
• Possibly a keyboard-less version that’s planned for 2010
• Built-in Adobe Flash support
• Potential release date: Dec 1st 2009
• There’s also mentions of some sort of docking station. Perhaps like something Archos has? (this certainly explains the slightly odd placement of the USB port)

And as always, none of this is solid confirmed, but most of it seems pretty believable. We’re hearing the official announcement may come next week or the week after. I’m gonna procede with caution and guess the 2nd week of October for something official. Overall this is shaping up to be one of the nicest Android phones you can buy, but only on the Verizon network. What do you guys think? Anyone considering a switch to Verizon for this?

[via BGR and AndroidAndMe]

Ben Marvin Hardware, Motorola, Rumors, Verizon android 2.0, Droid, Eclair, Motorola, release dates, Rumors, sholes, Tao, Verizon, VZW

Looks like I might have to start hanging out at HowardForums again. A member has posted several photos of the Motorola Tao, formerly known as the Sholes. Real life, in the flesh photos, not the prototypes or renders we’ve been seeing forever. Mostly it’s screenshots, but the shot you see above is about the best we have of the actual hardware right now. Pretty much the same as what we’ve been seeing before. I know you Verizon kids are anxious for this to come out so you can put your Blackberry Storm up on eBay.

Click through for more shots and tidbits of info on the Motorola Tao.

[HowardForums via PhoneArena]

Ben Marvin Hardware, Motorola, Pictures, Rumors, Verizon Hardware, leaks, Motorola, sholes, spyshots, Tao, Verizon, VZW

Yeah, so what we’re a little late on this announcement. But the T-Mobile website is live with a countdown to the preorder date of October 19th, just over 18 days left. Pricing is $199 when signing a new 2 year contract, so it looks like Boy Genius called this one first, when every other blog was shouting it was going to be free on contract. The CLIQ will be available in stores starting November 2nd. As an added bonus, T-Mobile is running a little contest where you can win a free CLIQ and some sort of vacation, I’d almost rather have the phone.

T-Mobile customers and potential buyers, are you excited? Is this your next smart phone?

And in case you’ve been under a rock, here’s some gratuitous shots and a spec sheet:

- Networks: GSM Quad-band phone capable of global roaming (850/900/1800/1900 MHz); UMTS tri-band global 3G (900/1700/2100 MHz); GPRS/EDGE/UMTS/HSDPA 1.8 Mbit/s/HSDPA 3.6 Mbit/s/HSDPA 7.2 Mbit/s
- Display: 3.10 inches HVGA screen, 320 x 480 pixels, Color, TFT
- Camera: 5 megapixels with AF
- Operating system: Google Android MOTOBLUR
- Input: 5-way navigation, Capacitive touch screen, QWERTY keyboard, Virtual keyboard
- CPU: 528MHz MSM7201A
- Memory: 256MB
- Memory card: microSD/microSDHC
- Connectivity: Wi-Fi, GPS, Bluetooth 2.0, 3.5mm HeadPhone Jack
- Misc: MP3, AAC, AAC+, eAAC+, WAV, AMR
- Media: MPEG4, 3GP, H.263, H.264
- Form factor: Slide-out
- Battery: 1400mAh
- Talk Time: 6 hours (360 mins)
- Standby Time: 324 hours (14 days)
- Dimensions: 4.49 x 2.28 x 0.62 inches (114 x 58 x 16 mm)
- Weight: 5.75 oz (163 g)

[T-Mobile]

Ben Marvin Hardware, Motorola, News, T-Mobile CLIQ, Motorola, preorder, T-Mobile