Motorola Droid A855 (aka Tao/Sholes/Shules/Flash) Pre-Release Thread

[Quickster357]

kbman, i believe that the Sholes will not be quad band since Moto wants to make a seperate GSM version. Although, again, this is all speculation via thislink

[Ark6]

Well, if this device really won't have Blur, then this list is essentially incorrect. And if that one aspect is incorrect, there is no reason to believe any of the others are entirely correct, either.

Just to clarify, the Sholes WILL have multitouch correct? If it doesn't have multitouch it'll be a HUGE letdown to me...

One of the key features of Android 2.0 is Multitouch. All the software features will more than likely be there, though.

And I'm reeeealy hoping for a quad-band phone!

[xbernaut]

[QUOTE=Quickster357]True, but who knows which Android handset will hit first. It could be one of the HTC models and if that is the case I'm sure VZW will be marketing them harder than the Sholes. However, the Sholes will be a bigger hit if people notice the differences in hardware and the form factor. Unfortunately, if that will be the case then Moto's extremely hard work might go unnoticed on Big Red and they'll lose out on another phone. I'm surprised that Moto is not already fed up with VZW being the extremists that they are/have been with pushing LGs and not their brand.

this is such a true statement. vzw can be very hard to deal with.we cater to there every need and there are many times they just bail last minute on a project.

i remember the napoleon project was put to work 3 times and still never made it. it was called maximus previously.and then before that i forget its code name.

[wnrussell]

True, but who knows which Android handset will hit first. It could be one of the HTC models and if that is the case I'm sure VZW will be marketing them harder than the Sholes.

Do you think that if HTC gets the first Android on for Verizon then the Sholes with Android 2.0 might still miss the limelight? I hope that is not the case, but I guess the same reasons which kept your Napoleon off the market could apply here. I was reading last night that AT&T is waiting in the wings for a GSM model of Sholes.

[Quickster357]

^^^^ I'm not a BoyGenius, wnrussel.

I do, however, believe that Moto will get the short end of the stick like they always have with Verizon.

VZW does need to start advertising NOW for their Android devices instead we see those stupid "F&F" and "Can you Hear Me Now?" commercials. It would be wise to get the word out about every new upcoming smart phone whether it be WinMo, Linux, WebOS or S60 for people to gain interest and get ready to either port or finally upgrade to their new NW plans.

OTOH, I know Moto can't advertise yet about the Sholes due to their agreement with VZW, but I can't help to think that their flagship phone will miss the limelight if they don't do something soon.

[Sailorcancer]

kbman, i believe that the Sholes will not be quad band since Moto wants to make a seperate GSM version. Although, again, this is all speculation via thislink

They can still make a GSM version of it and make the Sholes a world phone. All world phones on vzw are programmed to only work on CDMA networks in America then GSM overseas. You cannot say buy a vzw sholes and then use it on AT&Ts/T Mobiles network. Test devices and unreleased world phones (like the Nap) are the exception I think.

[sonya523]

I can't wait for the next rebate sheet. I'll expect one of the 3/4 we've heard about to be on it.

[Ark6]

They can still make a GSM version of it and make the Sholes a world phone. All world phones on vzw are programmed to only work on CDMA networks in America then GSM overseas. You cannot say buy a vzw sholes and then use it on AT&Ts/T Mobiles network. Test devices and unreleased world phones (like the Nap) are the exception I think.

I think that T-Mobile works on the same band as it's German counterpart...

[Sailorcancer]

I think that T-Mobile works on the same band as it's German counterpart...

I think any GSM phone would as long as the bands were the same.

I don't know much about international bands and what not. Like you I'm getting ready for a study abroad program that I'm doing this summer. Verizon's site is SUPER confusing for what you have to do for international stuff

[red014]

They can still make a GSM version of it and make the Sholes a world phone. All world phones on vzw are programmed to only work on CDMA networks in America then GSM overseas. You cannot say buy a vzw sholes and then use it on AT&Ts/T Mobiles network. Test devices and unreleased world phones (like the Nap) are the exception I think.

Up until the past year they weren't even capable. They never even had NAM GSM frequency capabilities. All recent world phones however, (Escapade, Storm, Ozone, Renown, Tour, Saga, TP2) have been quad-band GSM (only lacking NAM 3G/UMTS), so all you have to do is unlock them and insert a US SIM card. While still programmed out of the box to work only on CDMA, at least it's possible now. VZW will even unlock them for free if you ask nicely. I'd imagine if the Sholes were to be a world phone that this would be the case also. But we haven't heard even the slightest thing about this being a world phone. Let's hope that's one of the secrets!

[wnrussell]

^^^^ I'm not a BoyGenius, wnrussell.

I was messin' with bill23 if you wanna match up the reply Looks like his HTML error got me in trouble

[ParthG]

They can still make a GSM version of it and make the Sholes a world phone. All world phones on vzw are programmed to only work on CDMA networks in America then GSM overseas. You cannot say buy a vzw sholes and then use it on AT&Ts/T Mobiles network. Test devices and unreleased world phones (like the Nap) are the exception I think.

All you would need to do is unlock the SIM slot (with the unlock code you can easily get from VZW) and then you can use AT&T or T-Mobile granted that the phone has the GSM NAM frequencies, which most do except for early VZW global phones.

[Sailorcancer]

Up until the past year they weren't even capable. They never even had NAM GSM frequency capabilities. All recent world phones however, (Escapade, Storm, Ozone, Renown, Tour, Saga, TP2) have been quad-band GSM (only lacking NAM 3G/UMTS), so all you have to do is unlock them and insert a US SIM card. While still programmed out of the box to work only on CDMA, at least it's possible now. VZW will even unlock them for free if you ask nicely. I'd imagine if the Sholes were to be a world phone that this would be the case also. But we haven't heard even the slightest thing about this being a world phone. Let's hope that's one of the secrets!

So you could buy say the Escapade and then use it on AT&T's network? And vzw is ok with it?

All you would need to do is unlock the SIM slot (with the unlock code you can easily get from VZW) and then you can use AT&T or T-Mobile granted that the phone has the GSM NAM frequencies, which most do except for early VZW global phones.

Well you learn something new everyday

[ParthG]

So you could buy say the Escapade and then use it on AT&T's network? And vzw is ok with it?

Well they provide the unlock code so I'm sure they're okay with it.

[Sailorcancer]

Well they provide the unlock code so I'm sure they're okay with it.

Interesting. I always thought that the world phones on vzw would only work on CDMA networks over here in the states.

So say I had the Escapade and decided to go to leave vzw and go to AT&T. I could use the Escapade as my phone then on AT&T and not have to bother getting a new one.

Neat!