Another day, another expanded soak test of a Motorola software upgrade. This time, Android 5.1.1 Lollipop for the 1st and 2nd-generation Moto X in a bevy of countries.
No, it wasn’t Moto Maker launching in India – it is another way to potentially get your hands on your own custom-designed Moto X, though.
Yesterday we saw Motorola India’s Twitter account teasing something special to come on June 15th, implying that customers would be able to do some designing themselves with captions like “Artistry is as artistry does. Fancy doing something to show off your arty side? Find out how on the 15th of June.” And while it was easy to assume that these tweets were referencing a launch of the company’s phone customization service Moto Maker, available in several countries allowing customers to customize every aspect of their Moto X from the trim color to onboard storage size, they sadly were not.
Instead what Motorola India announced is My Moto Logo, a contest in which individuals can create their own illustration of the iconic Motorola “Batwing” M logo, with the six best ones being made into real-life bespoke Moto X’s.
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Moto Maker has gradually been expanding its scope since being introduced in 2013. And following the phone customization service launching in China earlier this year (and several other notable countries over the last couple of years), it appears that Motorola is ready to bring it to India—a market favorite due to its emerging economy—as well…
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Today was a bit of a downer for owners of the Motorola DROID Turbo, who learned that contrary to earlier information, there is in fact no set rollout date for the phone’s update to Android 5.1.1 Lollipop. That being said, we did learn that Lollipop is rolling out to the budget-end Moto E on Verizon, and now we’ve got word that testing of Lollipop has begun for the 1st-generation Moto X. If testing goes well and no major problems are identified, rollout should begin in about a week. Owners of the phone have been waiting quite some time for this big update.
David Schuster, a product manager at Motorola who’s quite reliable when it comes to information on Android software deployments, posted the following to his Google+ account this afternoon:
Hey guys, quick update here for Moto X (1st Gen). We have started full soak testing again in the U.S. on the 5.1 Lollipop upgrade for our retail channels. If the data looks good, we’ll move to full deployment in about a week.
In addition, we also initiated a full soak test for Brazil retail and Rogers in Canada yesterday for Moto X (1st Gen).
Please ensure that you have accepted any updates from the Play Store for Motorola Update Services (to version 4 or higher). You will need this to get the upgrade notification.
Motorola earlier in May began TestDrive – a program through which it tests early software with a tiny amount of select device owners who’ve agreed to participate – for the Moto X Lollipop update, and acknowledge frustration with the slow rollout, attributing it to “the lack of support from some of our partners.” We have to believe he was probably referring to carrier partners. But now it looks like things are moving along nicely.
The unlocked 2nd-generation Moto E might have already began receiving Android 5.1 Lollipop straight from Motorola in early May, but Verizon customers rejoice: your over-the-air update is dropping now.
This update brings all the changes we’ve come to expect from the 5.0.2 to 5.1.1 bump as well as a slightly tweaked “Interruptions” control menu and Device Protection, which ensures that a lost or stolen device will remain locked (aka can’t be factory reset) until the original owner signs into it with his or her Google account. Verizon has a handy PDF that covers most of the changes coming with this update.
To check if your Moto E has pulled down the update yet, head into the Settings app and select About Phone > System updates.
A couple weeks ago we saw a Verizon employee take to his Google+ account to share a picture of a DROID Turbo running Android 5.1 Lollipop with a note saying that the update would drop sometime in “mid-June.” Today we have more news but it’s, well, somewhat of a step backwards. David Schuster from Motorola posted the following to his Google+ account:
Hey, I wanted to give a quick update on our progress on the DROID Turbo 5.1 lollipop upgrade since there seems to be A LOT of inaccurate information out there. We are still in the lab test cycle and things are looking good. We have not provided a launch date yet, but I will let you know as soon as the update is available.
The Verizon employee who made that post about the Turbo’s 5.1 update back in May had this to say about why update on Big Red can take a while:
Verizon delays on latest smartphones are due to Nationwide HD Voice. We want to make sure Software updates for HD Voice service is acceptable and does not impact voice quality. Verizon is the only company that has nationwide HD Voice in the USA. AT&T just has most metro cities here and there. T-Mobile and Sprint are way behind.
So now we really aren’t sure when to expect a rollout, unfortunately. We’ll keep you updated and let you know when it does, though.
We recently heard from Motorola Senior Director of Software Development David Schuster that the company was working on testing and rolling out Android 5.1 Lollipop to the Moto X (2nd gen) and Moto E LTE, and sure enough it appears that U.S. Cellular customers should see the update hit their devices pretty soon.
According to an Android software page on U.S. Cellular’s website, the build number for Lollipop on the 2nd generation Moto X is LPE23.32-21 while for the Moto E LTE it is LPI23.29-15. Since this is an over-the-air update you’ll need to be connected to WiFi to download the software update. To check if the update is available for your device yet, open the Settings app, select About Phone, and then System Updates. If it’s rolled out to you then you’ll see information about the update and be able to begin the installation process from this screen.
Moto G (1st gen) users, your time has come – to update to Android Lollipop, that is. And we’re talking about 5.0.2 here, but that’s better than nothing, right? The release notes went up on Motorola’s website today and many individuals in the /r/MotoG subreddit have been reporting over the past few hours that they’re starting to receive the update.
Some might remember that it was as far back as February when Motorola promised the update was coming for first-gen users “really soon.” Better late than never. Let us know if you spot the update yourself.
Lenovo’s first full quarter since it completed the acquisition of Motorola from Google brought good news and bad: smartphone shipments and revenue up, but profits down.
TechCrunch reports that Lenovo shipped a record 18.7M smartphones in the final quarter of 2014, reported now, with year-on-year revenues up 21% – but profits fell 37% …
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A Verizon employee has taken to his Google+ profile to share that the Motorola DROID Turbo (which is exclusive to the red carrier) will be getting its update to Android 5.1 Lollipop at some point in “mid-June.”
He also opened up about why updates to Verizon phones can sometimes take a while:
Verizon delays on latest smartphones are due to Nationwide HD Voice. We want to make sure Software updates for HD Voice service is acceptable and does not impact voice quality. Verizon is the only company that has nationwide HD Voice in the USA. AT&T just has most metro cities here and there. T-Mobile and Sprint are way behind.
Apparently, the fact that Verizon has Nationwide HD voice sets some of the company’s software updates back a bit. Android Lollipop as a whole, though, has been very slowly rolling out to several devices across various carriers for just about 6 months now, so this isn’t exactly surprising.
We’ll let you know when the update is rolling out.
Starting May 28th, Verizon will begin selling the Motorola DROID Turbo in Gray Ballistic Nylon with a new choice of three different metallic accent colors. The accent colors customers will be able to choose from include metallic blue, metallic orange, and metallic violet. The DROID Turbo sports a 5.2″ Quad HD Super AMOLED display with a resolution of 2560 x 1440 and pixel density of 565 ppi, along with a 3900 mAh non-removable battery quoted for up to 48 hours of usage. Verizon’s model includes 32GB of onboard storage and no expandable memory slot.
While the DROID Turbo still runs Android 4.4 KitKat, it’s widely expected to receive a bump to 5.1 Lollipop very soon. The phone with new accent color options will go for $20.83 per month under Verizon Edge, or $99 with a 2-year contract. The retail price for a factory unlocked unit is $499.
According to several users on XDA, Motorola this evening has started rolling out Android 5.1 to the second generation Moto E. The update, since the Moto E is sold off-contract, should hit all users of the phone, on all carriers, at the same time.
In a post on Google+, Motorola this evening announced that the long-awaited Lollipop update for the 2013 Moto X will begin testing this week in both the United States and Latin America. Motorola’s Senior Director of Software Product Management, David Schuster, made the announcement and noted that the after testing via TestDrive is concluded, the update will start full deployment. Schuster anticipates that the full rollout will commence in a “few weeks.”
Update: Motorola has announced that Android 5.1 is officially now rolling out to the second generation Moto X.
It looks as if Motorola is preparing to rollout a wave of Android 5.1 updates. The company has just shared Android 5.1 Lollipop release notes on its website for a handful of its devices. Motorola has posted the changelogs for Android 5.1 on the 2nd gen AT&T Moto X, 2nd gen T-Mobile Moto X, and the U.S. model of the 1st gen Moto X.
Motorola Mobility, the mobile phone company sold by Google to the Chinese company Lenovo last year, has been ordered to pay $10M damages for infringing a Fujifilm patent. The patent concerned a method of converting color smartphone photos to monochrome, reports Reuters.
There’s a certain irony to the case, as Google was widely believed to have acquired Motorola in the first place for its patent portfolio, retaining most of the patents when it sold the company …
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eBay, via seller thegoodblokes, offers the Moto X Developer Edition for $149.99 (Reg. $350) with free shipping. The device is available in both black and white and carries model number XT1060, which supports both Verizon and unlocked GSM networks. For $149.99 you get 32GB of storage, as well. When the device originally launched, it ran for $650 off-contract and we’ve seen it as low as $200 since then.
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Motorola has been running a lot of Moto X promotions lately, and today the company has launched yet another sweet deal: If you head over to the Motorola online store and buy an unlocked Moto X, the company will send you a Moto Hint (worth $149.99) with your order completely free.
Moto Hint lets you ask your Moto X questions, make calls, and send messages — all hands-free. Now through 4/14, when you customize your off-contract Moto X (starting at $499.99), add a Moto Hint wireless earbud to your cart for free, a $149.99 value.*
You can purchase your unlocked Moto X in one of three flavors: “Pure Edition” with a T-Mobile SIM, or as an AT&T or Verizon variant. To take advantage of the deal, add both a Moto X and an Moto Hint to your cart. You should be able to take advantage of this offer through April 14th.
Arguably the best smartwatch to come out of 2014 was the Moto 360. The rounded smartwatch received solid reviews and was relatively popular. Since the device’s launch, however, rumors of a successor to the Moto 360 have been few and far between. Phandroid today reports, however, that Motorola appears to be testing a second-gen Moto 360 near its Chicago-based headquarters.
Google and Motorola this evening have started rolling out Android 5.1 to the Play Edition Moto G. The update carries the build number LMY47M and comes in at 171 MB. The update is rolling out now over-the-air, although as usual, it’s a staged rollout and could take a few days to hit your device (via Android Police).
April Fools’ Day is often one of the more eventual days of the year for Google and other tech companies. This year appears to be no different as a variety of pranks have already appeared around the web. We’ve been analyzing them all, right as they come in, and have listed some of our favorites below. We’ll keep this list updated as more April Fools’ Day gags continue to roll in. We have feeling there will be no shortage of them either…
Android 5.1 was officially announced earlier this month, with rollouts gradually occurring for Nexus devices since then. Today, T-Mobile has joined in and started rolling out Android 5.1 to its Nexus 6 variant. The update carries the build number LMY47M and is unique to devices with T-Mobile SIM cards inside.
An image was supposedly posted today by Lenovo CEO Yang Yuanqing on Chinese microblogging site Weibo (via MyDrivers), showing what looks to be an unreleased prototype of the Moto 360 smartwatch. It’s not clear whether or not this is indeed an upcoming version of the device (it’s almost surely a prototype), but it definitely looks to be a bit different than what’s currently available…
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TRENDnet 200 AV Nano Powerline Adapter Kit $20 shipped (orig. $50)
