Motorola DROID 4 XT894 Release Thread

[TC_Mits]

I have an observation somewhat more on topic: Does anyone else see the possibility of the RAZR HD getting a keyboard maybe in Q4 and becoming a D4 MAXX HD (or equivalent) -- more or less the same way the og RAZR became the D4?



Perspective instantiates reality.
[From DX by HoFo app.]

[seoword]

Muchos gracias.

Well, I am very much enjoying the recent ICS builds on the D4 and I think, given the Razor 6.16.211 build went live, it is possible that the 6.16.213 build for D4 may become the official OTA version. There were two versions back to back in the days after the Razor soak was announced and there have been none since .213 for more than a week now.

You may return to the random rant now...

[Zappy]

Since iPhone5 is not available on VZW

There is little doubt that the iPhone 5 will be available on VZW later this year.

We have every right to discuss other handsets that are not yet available in the US (which might be on VZW in the future).

I have my doubts that we'll ever see the Sony on VZW but I hope so!

I've been bouncing back and forth between the D2 and D4. The D2 just fits better in my hand and pocket. A suped up D2 with LTE would be a winner but I don't think it will happen. Maybe I'll get used to the D4 size before the new gen LTE small form factor phones are available. Time will tell.

[WaltA]

Has anyone checked out the new MOTOROLA PHOTON Q 4G LTE ? Sprint is suppose to get it.

[BitMaestro]

Yup. Looks to me like they bumped up the CPU to 1.5 GHz, but left everything else pretty much the same--i.e. non-removable battery, 960x540 screen res., 1 GB RAM, etc. If/when the D4 gets ICS--which, last I heard, was supposed to be sometime this quarter--I don't see why anyone would switch from VZW to Sprint for the Q (especially if you're grandfathered unlimited on VZW).

My 2¢ - Mark

[OmegaWolf747]

It's pretty much just Sprint's version of the Droid 4. Nothing new here, folks!

[HardBall]

It's pretty much just Sprint's version of the Droid 4. Nothing new here, folks!

The main thing is that the screen is 4.3 " and the bezels r smaller; of course, the freq of the cpu go updated 2...

Sent from my DROID3 using Tapatalk 2

[WaltA]

The main thing is that the screen is 4.3 " ...

Though, the Android function buttons get moved onto the screen itself. So that extra 0.3" gets dedicated to those buttons. The only advantage I see to that, is that the icons for the Android functions can rotate too when in landscape (you can see that in the pic I posted above). In other words, the usable/effective size of the screen remains the same.

Does anyone know that the extra side buttons are for? There is the expected volume up/down but there is also a large black button in the center, and smaller button near the bottom. They moved the power button???

[AlexKidd1977]

Looks like Pantech is bringing a nice sliding QWERTY to Verizon with the same Qualcomm S4 used in the Galaxy S3, just lower res screen than the Droid or S3. Also, camera clearly not a real centerpiece, but plenty good enough for what I do on my phone. Given the lower res, maybe we can have one that's not pentile matrix.

Looking forward to more details on this Pantech Star Q:
http://www.phonedog.com/2012/07/27/p...leaked-images/

--Kidd

[HardBall]

Though, the Android function buttons get moved onto the screen itself. So that extra 0.3" gets dedicated to those buttons. The only advantage I see to that, is that the icons for the Android functions can rotate too when in landscape (you can see that in the pic I posted above). In other words, the usable/effective size of the screen remains the same.

Does anyone know that the extra side buttons are for? There is the expected volume up/down but there is also a large black button in the center, and smaller button near the bottom. They moved the power button???

For some apps, that will b true, but 4 many things like video players, etc, there will b no on screen button. So in the cases where u really need the realestate, there will b more space than on the D4....

Sent from my DROID3 using Tapatalk 2

[AlexKidd1977]

For some apps, that will b true, but 4 many things like video players, etc, there will b no on screen button. So in the cases where u really need the realestate, there will b more space than on the D4....

Are you sure about that? On my Xoom tablet which runs Ice Cream Sandwich, if I'm watching videos, Youtube, etc then the icons are "dimmed" to little dots so as not to distract from the video playback, but are still there so you know where to press if you decide to exit the video before it's finished. Thus meaning there's no additional real estate for content. Can you confirm the buttons do disappear entirely on smartphones?

--Kidd

[TC_Mits]

Looks like Pantech is bringing a nice sliding QWERTY to Verizon with the same Qualcomm S4 used in the Galaxy S3, just lower res screen than the Droid or S3. Also, camera clearly not a real centerpiece, but plenty good enough for what I do on my phone. Given the lower res, maybe we can have one that's not pentile matrix.

Looking forward to more details on this Pantech Star Q...

--Kidd

I'm desperate for a QWERTY -- but not *that* desperate; adequate, functional, and blah -- clearly a tier 2 device.

If that 4.3" new Moto - Sprint offering had been the D4 back in November when it should have dropped, I'd very possibly be keying my HoFo posts on it now. Eight months later is too late. Now, it's a -- throw the dog a bone -- Stratosphere, in reverse. Good phone, but... why?
And I still don't get the 'cap lock' key or the quote-key placement.


Perspective instantiates reality.
[From DX by HoFo app.]

[HardBall]

Are you sure about that? On my Xoom tablet which runs Ice Cream Sandwich, if I'm watching videos, Youtube, etc then the icons are "dimmed" to little dots so as not to distract from the video playback, but are still there so you know where to press if you decide to exit the video before it's finished. Thus meaning there's no additional real estate for content. Can you confirm the buttons do disappear entirely on smartphones?

--Kidd

Yes, u see the dots because ther video aspect ratio is different than that of the scrren. In those cases, the extra screen space can b used for basic controls. In the cases where the app actually has the same apsect ratio as the screen, then it fills up the screen entirely.

Sent from my DROID3 using Tapatalk 2

[TC_Mits]

It's widely understood that for viewing video the on-screen buttons hide. But for most other purposes they reduce the effective size of they screen. Also, I've seen nothing to indicate there is any user-option auto-hide function available at the level of the Android OS..

For example, in a browser or a messaging app, a launcher or an 'óffice' app, etc. does Android itself provide a means for getting the buttons out of the way until you need them?

I haven't seen anyone post that this is always possible. What I have seen seems to imply that Android relies on each developer to fix his own apps independently. We'll be munching Oatmeal Cookies before that process is complete!

Without a quick and convenient user-switchable universal on-screen button auto-hide function -- integrated into the Android operatiing system UI itself -- any handset with on-screen buttons will have its effective screen size significantly reduced for most purposes. That includes, of course, purposes of comparison with other devices -- like the D4 and the SGSIII -- which have physical navigation buttons. As an example, for most uses now, the GNex display at 4.65" but with on-screen navigation is not appreciably larger that the 4.3" screen on my DX.


Perspective instantiates reality.
[From DX by HoFo app.]

[AlexKidd1977]

I'm desperate for a QWERTY -- but not *that* desperate; adequate, functional, and blah -- clearly a tier 2 device.

If that 4.3" new Moto - Sprint offering had been the D4 back in November when it should have dropped, I'd very possibly be keying my HoFo posts on it now. Eight months later is too late. Now, it's a -- throw the dog a bone -- Stratosphere, in reverse. Good phone, but... why?
And I still don't get the 'cap lock' key or the quote-key placement.

I had the Stratosphere, and would have kept it had it not had abysmal battery and signal performance. Aweful. I don't need the absolute highest spec phone out there, just a few key requirements that are less popular right now: 1) A good physical QWERTY keyboard, 2) Either totally decent battery performance, or a way to add an extended battery, 3) Solid/reliable radio performance and 4) 4G LTE. My current Droid Pro actually fills all of those except the 4G requirement. An upgrade would require all 4, otherwise I'm sticking with the Droid Pro until it's broken.

Yes, u see the dots because ther video aspect ratio is different than that of the scrren. In those cases, the extra screen space can b used for basic controls. In the cases where the app actually has the same apsect ratio as the screen, then it fills up the screen entirely.

That's good to hear. I've not seen ICS or JB on a phone, much less with a perfect aspect ratio video that can fill the screen to see one way or the other. I've never seen the bar disappear a single time on my Xoom, but it seems the native res is 16:10 because my 16:9 videos still fill the full width without needing the area where the nav bar is.

--Kidd