Motorola DROID 2 Pre-Release Thread

[pmagent2013]

http://www.fonearena.com/blog/18454/...la-droid2.html

At this link there are pics and a new video of it powering up.

This must mean it will release soon

[egut125]

http://www.fonearena.com/blog/18454/...la-droid2.html

At this link there are pics and a new video of it powering up.

This must mean it will release soon

Yeah those were posted on DroidLife http://www.droid-life.com/2010/06/10...orola-droid-2/ yesterday

[pmagent2013]

Yeah those were posted on DroidLife http://www.droid-life.com/2010/06/10...orola-droid-2/ yesterday

I saw that they weren't on this site so I put them on.

[PJnc284]

Pictures and link are on the previous page.

[wowcoolman]

http://www.boygeniusreport.com/2010/...d-2-in-august/ droid is getting plain 2.2

[sdotmiles]

i really do not see any compelling reason for vzw to release this phone. they may as well scrap it and revamp it with more substantial hardware changes for a nov release, and put the droid 1 owners on a 1 year cycle.

[Skyys]

i really do not see any compelling reason for vzw to release this phone. they may as well scrap it and revamp it with more substantial hardware changes for a nov release, and put the droid 1 owners on a 1 year cycle.

Why? Just because people buy something doesn't mean they shouldnt put out improved versions in a time frame that suits every single customer. Like TVs or cars, they make a model or upgrade features every year. That doesn't mean you have to buy one every year to keep up with the improvements and features. So you bought Droid 1. Who cares if the Droid 2 is coming out before you eligible to upgrade to it. For all you know, there can be another upgrade in a year that fits your 2 yr contract schedule (for example). But guess what? All those that get the Droid 2 will be crying the same song that the Droid 1 owners are. Not everyone's contracts fall on the same time cycles. Not everyone's contracts end at the same point of the year. Not everyone bought the Droid 1 at the same time. I say let companies develop new phones as they wish and let the consumers decide what phone they want to buy or upgrade to.

You see no compelling reason for VZ to release this phone? I'll show you one reason.... look at all the people on tech sites and forums who are waiting to buy this phone when it comes out. Why should they release it? Because a lot of people will buy it!

[Flowah]

i really do not see any compelling reason for vzw to release this phone. they may as well scrap it and revamp it with more substantial hardware changes for a nov release, and put the droid 1 owners on a 1 year cycle.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lQQM3w8atsM
http://alienbabeltech.com/main/?p=18798
We were told that the Shadow's guts were largely the same as that of the Droid2. Let's say this means they have the same processor.

Look at those benchmarks. The Shadow (Droid X) is right behind the 1ghz Snapdragon in the Nexus One, WHILE the N1 was using 2.2 and the Shadow was using 2.1. Look at how the 2.1 Shadow compares to the 2.1 Nexus. About twice the benchmark score. The new processor in there is a leap and bound over the Droid1 processor. It's a pretty major hardware revision based on these standards.

Now imagine the score if the Shadow was running 2.2. You starting to see why it's a considerable update now?

This is forgetting the improved keyboard and internal storage as well as any other changes they may have made.

[sdotmiles]

Why? Just because people buy something doesn't mean they shouldnt put out improved versions in a time frame that suits every single customer. Like TVs or cars, they make a model or upgrade features every year. That doesn't mean you have to buy one every year to keep up with the improvements and features. So you bought Droid 1. Who cares if the Droid 2 is coming out before you eligible to upgrade to it. For all you know, there can be another upgrade in a year that fits your 2 yr contract schedule (for example). But guess what? All those that get the Droid 2 will be crying the same song that the Droid 1 owners are. Not everyone's contracts fall on the same time cycles. Not everyone's contracts end at the same point of the year. Not everyone bought the Droid 1 at the same time. I say let companies develop new phones as they wish and let the consumers decide what phone they want to buy or upgrade to.

You see no compelling reason for VZ to release this phone? I'll show you one reason.... look at all the people on tech sites and forums who are waiting to buy this phone when it comes out. Why should they release it? Because a lot of people will buy it!

none of what you typed is what i am referring to. i see no compelling reason because the droid 2 hardware and spec wise does not appear to be different enough to sway the average joe consumer into buying it when the droid 1 can be had for free on contract from places like wirefly. vzw does not make money off of people like you and i who are on tech sites and blogs, they make it off of the average consumers who have no idea what the droid2 is, and for them they will not notice enough of a difference between the two.

think about it as if you were a vzw salesperson: you have the droid 1 and droid 2 sitting on the shelf next to each other. lets say the droid 1 priced at $100 and the droid 2 at $199. how are you going to get a soccer mom to buy the droid 2 for $100 more when they have basically the same hardware and software?

with 1 year cycle i was referring to how the iphone (or cars etc) has people expecting that they need a new model on a yearly basis (even though contracts are 2 years). for people who have a droid 1 its just an easier sell to release the new one a year later, and any earlier would be pointless imo. this situation is very similar to the blackberry tour/tour2.

[Flowah]

think about it as if you were a vzw salesperson: you have the droid 1 and droid 2 sitting on the shelf next to each other. lets say the droid 1 priced at $100 and the droid 2 at $199. how are you going to get a soccer mom to buy the droid 2 for $100 more when they have basically the same hardware and software?.

Because you're wrong in saying they have the same hardware. We know at least 3 ways in which the hardware has been improved. Substantially even.

[sdotmiles]

Because you're wrong in saying they have the same hardware. We know at least 3 ways in which the hardware has been improved. Substantially even.

please tell me what the "substantial" differences are?

1-screen size is supposed to be the same with the same res
2-same camera
3-newer/faster processor; this is great for nerds like me but 98% of people who walk into a vzw store have no idea what processor their phone has let alone what it is clocked at
4-improved keyboard; this is also great except for the fact that most droid owners that ive talked to do not even use their keyboards after a few months b/c they actually learn to use the virtual efficiently.
5-more internal ram/storage; nice, but see point 3
6-same os (or may have blur which would be a negative for most people)

[Natty_lite]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lQQM3w8atsM
http://alienbabeltech.com/main/?p=18798
We were told that the Shadow's guts were largely the same as that of the Droid2. Let's say this means they have the same processor.

Look at those benchmarks. The Shadow (Droid X) is right behind the 1ghz Snapdragon in the Nexus One, WHILE the N1 was using 2.2 and the Shadow was using 2.1. Look at how the 2.1 Shadow compares to the 2.1 Nexus. About twice the benchmark score. The new processor in there is a leap and bound over the Droid1 processor. It's a pretty major hardware revision based on these standards.

Now imagine the score if the Shadow was running 2.2. You starting to see why it's a considerable update now?

This is forgetting the improved keyboard and internal storage as well as any other changes they may have made.

My Droid, albeit hacked, smokes everyl phone on that list, Froyo powered N1 included. I wouldn't mind having more RAM, but its not like my phone feels memory deficient with its current 256 profile.

i really do not see any compelling reason for vzw to release this phone. they may as well scrap it and revamp it with more substantial hardware changes for a nov release, and put the droid 1 owners on a 1 year cycle.

I'm sorta in the same boat. However, I think VZW is pushing out this "upgraded" version of the Droid as a stopgap between now and the "Droid Pro" that is to be released Q1 next year. That will probably be the substantial hardware upgrade you're looking for, and potentially be the device Google uses to show off their latest OS revision. I'm actually sorta pleased that I'm with a carrier that can aggressively push out several high end devices within a short period of time. Where as the other carriers like AT&T or Sprint pretty much begin and end with one Flagship device per year, ie: Pre, and now the EVO or iPhone, the iPhone, the iPhone, and the iPhone again, lol.

[Flowah]

please tell me what the "substantial" differences are?

1-screen size is supposed to be the same with the same res
2-same camera
3-newer/faster processor; this is great for nerds like me but 98% of people who walk into a vzw store have no idea what processor their phone has let alone what it is clocked at
4-improved keyboard; this is also great except for the fact that most droid owners that ive talked to do not even use their keyboards after a few months b/c they actually learn to use the virtual efficiently.
5-more internal ram/storage; nice, but see point 3
6-same os (or may have blur which would be a negative for most people)

The definition of substantial does not ride on whether or not the average consumer can explain or appreciate the difference. Although I think very much that the average consumer can understand, going from 512MB of internal storage for apps/whatever, to 8GB is a marked improvement. And when attempting to watch higher-res videos, play more complex games, decode flash, that 3x improved processing power will also be noticeable. Their typing experience on the keyboard should also be improved. Just because they can't tell you that the processor is an OMAP3630, doesn't mean that they wouldn't be able to appreciate the bump in power available to them.

My Droid, albeit hacked, smokes everyl phone on that list, Froyo powered N1 included. I wouldn't mind having more RAM, but its not like my phone feels memory deficient with its current 256 profile.

Your Droid does not "smoke" every phone on the list. I've seen the upper bounds of the Droid benchmarks with optimized 2.2 and 1.25ghz overclocked kernels. It is only marginally above the 2.2 Froyo. Even then, you are comparing an overclocked + 2.2 machine, to the Shadow/Droid2 processor, which has neither been overclocked and is running 2.1.

How bout a fair benchmark? Give them both 2.2. give them both stock speeds.

Look at the stock Droid, compare to the Shadow. See the difference? Now imagine that difference being consistent with the changes of 2.2 and overclocking.

I just don't see how this bump in processor is such a yawner for some people. It's a pretty big step up. You act like we went from the N270 to the N280 Atom processor. Not only that, Keyboard! a Major gripe for many Droid owners, has been improved!

[Natty_lite]

Attachment 66696

Your Droid does not "smoke" every phone on the list. I've seen the upper bounds of the Droid benchmarks with optimized 2.2 and 1.25ghz overclocked kernels. It is only marginally above the 2.2 Froyo. Even then, you are comparing an overclocked + 2.2 machine, to the Shadow/Droid2 processor, which has neither been overclocked and is running 2.1.

How bout a fair benchmark? Give them both 2.2. give them both stock speeds.

Look at the stock Droid, compare to the Shadow. See the difference? Now imagine that difference being consistent with the changes of 2.2 and overclocking.

I just don't see how this bump in processor is such a yawner for some people. It's a pretty big step up. You act like we went from the N270 to the N280 Atom processor. Not only that, Keyboard! a Major gripe for many Droid owners, has been improved!

I'm aware its not a very fair fight. but I was defending my position, which is that the added performance isn't exactly something I'm fawning over, since my phone is already faster. I added a pic that was without taking any measures such as rebooting, or shutting down background services. Hell, I was still getting gtalk notifications while the test was running. My score is about 300 points higher, so yes, "smokes" is the word I choose to use

sdotmiles does have a valid argument IMO. It will be a tough sell to the average consumer when the Droid 1 has came down so much in price. Its why companies go out of their way to put "Snapdragon" processors in their phone. Their clocked at 1GHZ, and have "Dragon" in the name. Its very marketable. Note the latest wave of Droid Incredible commercials. Now I know they're overrated, you know that too, but the average consumer does not. TI OMAP3630 doesn't sound as sexy as Snapdragon. Then the camera, screen size, the overall look, and potentially the OS will be the same.

With all that being said, I've pretty much came to the conclusion that if that phone launches with 2.2, I WILL buy it.

[wonsae]

I really do hope people aren't buying the Droid Incredible because of the processer name