Motorola Droid getting 2.0.1 now, Verizon posts details
By Chris Ziegler 
posted December 7th 2009 3:39PM
posted December 7th 2009 3:39PM
The "coming weeks" timeframe that Verizon had promised for 2.0.1 to start pushing to Droids has been mercifully condensed down to just a few days, because a number of folks are starting to report that they're receiving the update on their retail units today -- and we've been able to confirm with the company that it's going down. That's great news for a Monday, we'd say, and if you haven't gotten the update just yet, Big Red has now posted update instructions and details on the Droid's support site that should be enough to tide you over for a few minutes. In brief, this looks like bug-fix nirvana with improved stability and battery life, better camera and call quality, faster visual voicemail, and a host of other goodies -- anyone hoping for new features is probably primed for disappointment, but we'll take what we can get. Keep an eye on your Droid today, owners, and let us know how the experience treats you.[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
I'm so angry because I have full battery, I hope I get it in the next batch!
Theyre doing the right thing by not doing a "big bang" software rollout. Even if the changelog footprint seems small, the seemingly aggressive update/build schedule and relative youth of the platform calls for caution here. Last thing vzw/moto/google need is to push out faulty updates that hamper functionality, or worse, brick devices (hmm, wd tv live?) when they're trying to establish a distinguished, competitive handset and platform. Keep in mind this in no way sanctions their misleading activesync/exchange support, hilarious camera bug, or the numerous lockups and force closes I've had on my droid over the past month when trying to answer a call, send a text, or pull down contacts from the default messaging app.
this is a joke..you have to wait up to 10 minutes to get this update and your phone is unusable ...yet another major flaw compared to the iphone. I guess you droids will have to stay up late when nobody calls you to get this update. I can't wait for apple or at&t to exploit this one.
@pjgchicago
Are you FREAKING kidding me!! I have many family members with I-phone and your right it does not take 10 minutes it takes like 20 and YOU CAN NOT USE YOUR PHONE while it updates. Get off this site with your ignorant apple fan boy bull crap!!!
@pjgchicago
gonna have to agree with above... think before you speak and maybe you wont look like an idiot
depends on the size of the software update, as with Verizon, however the phone iPhone is useable...it's sad how Verizon has to lie in its commercials (calling their horribly slow speeds "3G" is a marketing ploy since those speeds are slower than AT&T's Edge speeds) and now guys on here trying to justify your purchase..quite amusing..and by the way, do Verizon users even know that you need one Droid to talk on and another to search the internet if needed - and it is often needed? Maybe that's why the big V always has a buy one get one sale on their blackberries? haha
@pjgchicago - You're a moron!
@pjgchicago
Though you may be able to talk and surf at the same that that is only in areas with 3G and Verizon has shown that those are kinda limited. Also if you keep up on your reading I'm not sure who did it but somebody a while ago did a speed test and it showed that AT&T was only faster than Verizon in a couple of metro markets, on the whole Verizon kicked their asses I believe.
@pjgchicago You're an idiot. The iPhone can't be used during an update either...it restarts and sits at an updating screen until it's done, then does ANOTHER restart that takes for-freaking-ever. Learn your facts, do some research, stop being a dumbass. Thanks.
@pjgchicago Also, their speeds are 3G, in many cases, faster than AT&T's http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2009/07/3g-speed-test
Got my Google Maps update, but the system update isn't here yet. Google maps was a great program, even when I used it on my old Palm 755p (without VZW's extra cost navigation gouge, thank you very much). I was able to get around an unfamiliar town once with G/M; and it's been my desktop trip mapping choice for a while now... Map Quest long forgotten. So yeah, I'll stop gushing now :-P .
My poor Droid is crying out for an update.
@AloDC
HAH! No kidding! I keep looking at my droid like every 5 minutes to see if the update has come in yet. Then I find myself talking to it saying. "....please update for me. Come on, I know we've been in this relationship for only a few weeks but I know you want to."
wheres my update!
There are only 9000 updates being pushed out by 12 pm tonight, if you don't get it you have to wait until jan 3rd, that's what the vz rep told me
@joejoesmith
damn, I hope you are wrong
@joejoesmith the rep you're talking to smokes pot does he not?
@joejoesmith - I was told different by a VZ rep. I was told that the update would not go out until the 8th. Approval, whatever that means was today, but S/W would go out tomorrow.
@joejoesmith
WHAT!? 9,000?! THAT'S IMPOSSIBLE!
@joejoesmith Here are the real deets. Pulled from BGR.
http://www.boygeniusreport.com/2009/12/07/motorola-droid-ota-schedule/
Looks like we will be seeing this on the 10th.
Is it just me who finds this whole rolling OTA update kinda stupid... we should at least have the option of getting it if we want, I will even go into one of the stores to get it rather then wait till friday... I am that impatient.... oh well hope everyone gets it soon.
Hmmm.... I want my update now! No notification yet... haven't been chosen by big red!
I want my update !!
i got the update a couple hours ago
:)
greeeeeeeeeeat, when will my phone be updated
Well it looks like I wasn't one of the lucky few to get this update. I got my Droid about a week or so after launch so I may have to wait a little bit.
I'm not too worried about it, besides battery life not too much in this update will help me.
Today is the 8th so if your right we will see today, all I have is what the rep said moto was doing, maybe if a third or fourth person calls we can get this straightened out, but if you don't have the update vz can't push it to you :(
via Twitter: http:twitter.com/htc
HTC: Droid Eris is getting an update to a newer version of Android early next year. Google Navigation support is coming your way ;)
joejoesmith what's the scanner say about his update level?
No update yet in Augusta, GA.
I hope they release 2.1 next year
The latest from VZ is that on the 7th, a few thousand went out, on the 8th, a few more thousand went out and that tomorrow @ 11:59pm eastern, 200K more updates will go out. That's the 2nd conflicting answer if gotten, but that's all I have.
http://www.howardforums.com/showpost.php?p=13311487&postcount=186
Get your updates :) 2.0.1 available for download
Their instructions say this:
Copy the file to the ROOT directory of the SD card
* Power off the device
* Open the keyboard and press and hold the X key, then turn the device on, while still holding the X key
* Continue holding the X key until you get a screen with an exclamation mark in a triangle and a phone lying next to it.
* Release the X key, then press Volume Up and Camera simultaneously.
* Turn the screen vertical, choose the option that allows you to apply an update from the appropriate file.
I received my 2.0.1 update last night 12/10 at 12:20am. The only obvious UI change was that the slide to unlock is now a line instead a curve. The system definitely seems snappier now.
I forgot to mention that I was prompted that I had an update available on the Droid and received it via OTA download.
Mine updated last night as I was abt to go to bed. All was seamless. Not really noticing anything different other than the clock when you wake the phone up from sleep.
Did notice an odd thing when i had it docked to the desktop stand today. the colon in the middle of the clock was blinking twice per second instead of the normal once per second. That seems to have stopped after re-docking tho.
@mikeinsf - I take that back... The OS does seem considerably more responsive. Interested to untether from a power source for longer periods to see how the battery holds up.
The stock widgets for the music player and power contol (wifi, bt, gps, brightness) have had their look updated.
anyone else's contacts get messed up with the update?
@CJ100570
It's certainly highly unlikely that a given firmware update will harm the network, but it's not impossible.
For the CDMA-based technologies in particular, the network and handset exchange power control messages and adjust transmit power accordingly. The network won't waste a huge amount of transmit power on a handset that is getting a really strong signal. This is what allows CDMA to pack more users onto a tower at the same time than a simple time-division scheme (like GSM). This is why CDMA cells "breathe", which means the serviceable area is affected by the number and proximity of handsets talking to the tower at a given point in time.
If you have a rogue handset that is not complying with the power control protocol, then it can hog network resources, and negatively affect service for other users. As I said before, it's highly unlikely that a given firmware update will affect compliance with the power control protocol. That sort of thing is tested very early in development, and doesn't change much.
I think the real reason is that the support burden falls onto Verizon, plus a tendency towards controlling everything.