The Android Site

Although it doesn’t offer a whole lot in the way of looks or specs, the Motorola Defy offers something other Android devices don’t have. IP67 water and dust resistance rating means it’s fully protected from dust, anyone that’s had many smartphones knows that some models love to get dust under the screen. And the defy is also water resistant up to 1 meter of water for up to 30 minutes, almost unheard of in any phone really. Other specs include:

• TI OMAP3610 @ 800 MHz
• Quadband GSM
• 59 x 107 x 13.4mm / 2.3 x 4.2 x .53in
• 118g / 4.2oz
• 5 Megapixel AF Camera With Flash
• Swype Keyboard
• 3.7 inch touchscreen
• Android 2.1 (but supposed to get 2.2 upgrade)

No word on pricing or availability, but if you need a rugged phone, and don’t want to carry an outdated Nextel, then this midrange Android phone is one to look out for. Anyone looking forward to this?

[via MobileBurn]

If you took the Motorola CLIQ formfactor, and slapped a CLIQ XT on the face of it, then added Android 2.1, you would have roughly was we have here. This is the Motorola SAGE, finally posing for some clear shots and said to be coming to AT&T, but of course with no time frame. We have a feeling the QWERTY sliding keyboard will sell a bit better than the BACKFLIP weird flip style, but that’s just us. Definitely not a high end device, but in AT&T’s current lineup, it kinda fits right in.

Look for more pictures and specs to come out of the woodwork soon, but for now, head over to Engadget for the rest of the shots.

[via Phandroid]

Don’t feel like waiting around for Verizon to push you the Android 2.2 update? Great, let’s show you how to upgrade manually. The process is fairly straight forward, and not very risky like rooting your phone. Also, this is the official update, so it will not harm your phone or void your warranty. Thanks to Android Forums for this great guide! Let’s get started:

What You’ll Need:
- A MicroSD Card inserted into your Droid
- An Internet Connection

1. Install Astro File Manager:
Install Astro File Manager for free from the Android Market if you don’t already have it.

(Scanning this QR code will take you to the Android Market listing for Astro File Manager.)

2. Download the update.zip file to your phone:
Download the update.zip file from one of the following locations directly from the internet to your phone:

Location 1 | My Droid Does [Tested and Verified!]

Location 2 | Dev-Mob [Tested and Verified!]

(Scanning the QR codes from above will automatically begin the download from its respective location.)

3. Move the update.zip file to the root of your SD card:
To move the update.zip to the root of your SD card, do the following:
- Open Astro File Manager
- Enter the Downloads folder
- Press and hold on the update.zip file
- Select “Edit” and then “Copy”
- Now press the “Astro Up” button once which will take the root directory
- Press the “Astro Edit” button followed by “Paste”
The update.zip file should now be in the root directory.

4. Prepare for the Update:
Once you have unmounted the phone, it is now time to prepare the Droid to perform the update. You will be accessing Recovery Mode to do this. Start by powering down the phone completely.

While holding “X” on the physical keyboard, hold the power button to turn on the phone. You may let go of the power button, but do not let go of X.

After a few seconds, an Exclamation Mark icon will appear. You may now let go of X. To access Recovery Mode from the exclamation mark icon, hold the volume up button and then press the camera button.

5. Perform the Update:
You will then open a text menu with four options. Using the directional pad, navigate to “apply sdcard:update.zip” and push the gold, center button to select it.

The update process will begin immediately and should take no longer than a minute or two. It will let you know when the process is complete.

You might get this error:
Code:
E:Can’t open /cache/recovery/command
DON’T worry about it… it just blows right past it and installs fine.

From here, navigate to “reboot system now” and select it. Your phone will shut off and reboot.

Some users are reporting a longer than usual boot time after installing this, be patient and do not be alarmed, this is normal.

6. Congratulations!
Your Droid has now been updated to the official Android 2.2 Froyo release! If you have any questions, comments, or concerns what so ever, please post them to this thread. I will be closely monitoring this thread to provide assistance to those who need it.

ENJOY!

[via Phandroid]

Verizon is still out of stock via their online store, and not shipping till August 3rd. Amazon says they will ship orders in 2-3 weeks, but is a bit cheaper than Verizon at $179.99. And most Verizon stores do not have any in stock. Wirefly claims to have them in stock, and at a the slightly discounted price of $179 for new contracts and upgrades. Not signing a new contract or upgrading, there’s more than a few on Ebay, but you will pay a hefty premium to have the latest and greatest Android powerhouse. And finally LetsTalk.com has it available for $149 and they say they’re shipping by 7/31.

Already got your hands on a Droid X? Tell us where you got it from and how long you had to wait.

In continuing with its trash-talking campaign, Apple has added the Motorola Droid X to it’s Smartphone Antenna Performance page, trying to salvage themselves from the iPhone 4 antenna issues by dragging others through the mud. I’ve spoken with iPhone users with mixed answers, and done my own tests on various phones with mixed results. Personally I’ve never had a problem with any of my Android phones dropping calls based on the way I hold them. In the long run, the biggest thing that affects dropped calls is coverage area.

TmoNews got their hands on an actual photo of the Motorola Charm, which we’ve heard maybe be available on T-Mobile perhaps by the end of this month. While this isn’t going to be the killer Android handset or anything, one obvious thing that it does offer that’s unique is the monoblock QWERTY form factor, similar to many Blackberrys. Featuring a screen of “about 3 inches” and Android 2.1, the Charm has also been spotted in promo posters for back-to-school for the low low price of free with new 2 year contract.

Enough to pay $1,200 for it? Because if you don’t want to wait another 2 weeks for it to come out, there’s one on Ebay right now that you can dish out almost a grand and a half for. Sure, this may be one of the most hyped and desired Android phones yet, but I don’t see how anyone could justify that price just to get it a little early. The bad part is, you can be almost certain it will sell. How about you, what’s the most you would pay for a pre-release phone?

Guess it’s a good thing I just upgraded to the MyTouch Slide and got rid of the Motorola Cliq. Looks like Motorola decided to delay the release of 2.1 for the Cliq. It was scheduled for release in Q2 of 2010, and there is no current estimated release ETA. Apparently they are “working hard to optimize it”. Sorry Cliq owners, no Eclair love for a while, I really feel for you having to rock 1.5 for so long.

[Motorola Support via Android Community]

You may have never heard of Cellular South, but they could really give the big boys a run for their money. With a smartphone unlimited plan for $59/month and a summer promo to pay your ETF if you switch carriers, they can make a switch sound enticing. Now you have one more reason to think about passing over on the Big Four, Cellular South announced plans today to carry the Motorola Milestone. You should be familiar with the Motorola Droid carried by Verizon, and the Milestone is essentially the exact same phone for GSM networks, already carried by many carriers in Canada and Europe.

Specs on the Milestone include:

• 3.7” high resolution (16:9 widescreen) screen display with 854 pixel width and more than 400,000 total pixels so you can see more of the web, e-mail, and more
• Access to thousands of apps available through Android Market. Navigate seamlessly back and forth and keep up to six applications open and running at a time. Android Market currently has over 50,000 applications available for download and about 65 percent of them are free of charge.
• Powered by Android 2.1 mobile operating system from Google with pinch to zoom, Live Wallpapers and a full HTML web browser
• Superior call quality with CrystalTalk Plus that filters out background noise and enhances voice quality.
• Full suite of Google applications including: Google Maps, Gmail, Google Talk, and YouTube
• Google Maps Navigation BETA, which provides turn-by-turn voice directions as a free feature of Google Maps along with live traffic, Street View and satellite imagery.
• 5 megapixel digital camera with dual-LED flash, AutoFocus and image stabilization and DVD-broadcast quality advanced video record and playback (30 fps) in 16 million colors with easy 3G or Wi-Fi YouTube uploads
• An 8 GB memory card included (up to 32 GB capable) for storage of your favorite music, pictures and video

No word on exactly when the Milestone will be available or the pricing, but expect it to be on par or cheaper than the $199 w/ contract price it is on Verizon now. Currently the only Android phone Cellular South carries is the HTC Hero, which they have since November.

There’s currently no schedule for when the Motorola Droid will actually get the Froyo 2.2 update, but if your phone is rooted, and you’re feeling frisky, you can upgrade now to the latest version of Android. The only thing that isn’t working is the wifi, which seems like a small price to pay for all the new features. This was done to protect the source of the leak, as it is likely someone that works closely with Google or Motorola. Head on over to MyDroidWorld for full instructions and download links.

[via Android Guys]