Pair of mysterious Motorola Android handsets espied in the wild
By Ross Miller 
posted April 20th 2010 1:11AM
posted April 20th 2010 1:11AM
Update: As iTech News Net points out, it looks like these phones are one in the same -- namely the China-bound Ming.
Looks interesting :)
@HellFlyer
looks crappy to me.
At least a german-beer-drinking engineer didn't lose these ones. Not that anyone cares ;-)
@HellFlyer
Never buying Moto Androids again. Not unless they wiseup and unlock the bootloader on the Milestone (they tried to lock the Droid too but someone found a way around it, but Milestone came after and they fixed their 'mistake'). Moto even says that if you want an unlocked Android, buy an HTC. Sorry Moto, but your repreive from bankruptcy is over. If you aren't going to listen to what your customers want, then I hope you never have another customer again...
@HellFlyer
I think moto is seeing how much attention the leaked iPhone got and all the Android handsets leaked so their trying to get some attention too, who knows fersure
@Howell very crappy, motorolla didnt change, made the one good phone and died.
@Howell although, the second moto phone that caught my interest was the supposed moto shadow. what ever happened to that
@arsshaw
Well, thanks for the unnecessary name calling, but I'm afraid you are incorrect. The Droid can be hacked to open the Bootloader, the Milestone cannot. It's a huge problem and a quick look on the interweb will show you that there are quite a few people upset that Moto would do this.
From Motorola:
“We understand there is a community of developers interested in going beyond Android application development and experimenting with Android system development and re-flashing phones. For these developers, we highly recommend obtaining either a Google ADP1 developer phone or a Nexus One, both of which are intended for these purposes. At this time, Motorola Android-based handsets are intended for use by consumers and Android application developers, and we have currently chosen not to go into the business of providing fully unlocked developer phones.
"Securing the software on our handsets, thereby preventing a non-Motorola ROM image from being loaded, has been our common practice for many years. This practice is driven by a number of different business factors. When we do deviate from our normal practice, such as we did with the DROID, there is a specific business reason for doing so. We understand this can result in some confusion, and apologize for any frustration.”
So, why can you mod a Droid and not a Milestone?
"They didn’t “decide to release the Droid without locking down”, they did believe the device was properly secured. The Droid was rooted via a software exploit, just like the G1 and most other phones. So, there was no “business decision”, unless they made the exploit on purpose, which I find unlikely. Since the Milestone came several weeks later, they had the time to fix that hole."
So in short, you and your uncle can stuff it.
I will second this motion. I sell phones all day as a manager and refuse to sell logo unless I have to because every handset comes back with manufacture issues. It makes more work for me and very unhappy customers.
@shogunmaster did they ever run that story
http://community.developer.motorola.com/t5/MOTODEV-Blog/Custom-ROMs-and-Motorola-s-Android-Handsets/bc-p/4290#
@HellFlyer
at least it's not an apple phone...
In the picture on the right, it looks like Motorola is adopting a launcher layout similar to that of HelixLauncher (with the main applications menu button in the middle surrounded by two launchers on each side). Pretty cool and a good move in my opinion.
@thevoiceless
This is exactly what I came here to say. I really hope they stick with this for future devices; the 4 "perma-icons" is a great idea and HelixLauncher has done it quite well.
@thevoiceless
Judging from the contact, phone, and app tray icons... I would say t's 2.1 BLUR.
What is it with all the leaks?
@facethefire It's that time of the month.
@einhanderkiller lmao nice one
@einhanderkiller bahaha
@einhanderkiller
You sir win the interwebs for the day.
another day, another few generic looking android devices. zomg lets all get excited
/s
3% marketshare, no apps.
@VanillaSperm
probably android 2.7.1.4 just to keep the trend of fragmentation and confusion
@googkiller
Since when did Nokia make an Android handset?
@googkiller
It's just WM7S back again from a ban. Hates Apple and Google. Makes up facts. Is about 14 and has a father who works at MS.
Please ignore.
@VanillaSperm
What is your preference then, to have 1 device for everyone to use in the world, no matter their specific needs, or wants?
I want a keyboard, I don't. I want a small light phone, I want a big screen, like 5" slate big, I just want a 4.3", I'm OK with a 3.7".
In our would its about you, not Steve
@normanb20
anything that doesnt have hemroid
@googkiller
Is a hemroid the little trackball?
Because some android phones don't have that, like I said it's about you, not Steve
@googkiller
I always wonder if people like googkiller are the same in real life as they are on forums like this. I've never met anyone this crazy in real life, except for a few schizophrenic hobos here and there.
@KennyR
reported for posting another site that has viruses.
Is it just me or is MOTO making the weirdest android phones?
@newjaruz is it me or the phone on the right is the one that was shown yesterday on phandroid?
Um..it looks a lot like the Motorola Krave ZN4 (same model number?) that was for Verizon I believe last year or the year prior..
http://www.itechnews.net/wp-content/uploads/2008/10/motorola-krave-zn4-verizon.jpg
..except with Android.
Atleast it dosen't look as bad as the cube
I was thinking the one on the right looked like Android 1.6. Bummer.
That picture is actually just one phone in two diff shots...
Actually, what I was reading on other android blogs is that the clear cover like the other moto touch phone from a while back, is going to make the phone 3D when the flap is closed. check out the link
http://androidandme.com/2010/04/news/will-motorolas-next-android-phone-offer-3d/
what's the fuss about?
Did these show up in a bar in redwood city too?
Did they find them in a bar?
@miles4000 No they were being used as calculators in school :D
Where they found it this time. rubbish bin?
Ugly.
Motorola, what the hell are you guys doing??
Don't care really much. Moto devices have been sub-par since Razr days. Even razr was a total crap with buggy software. Droid had success only because it was the first Android on vzw with os 2.0.
With other manufacturers catching up (i.e. HTC and the uber EVO 4G and Incredible) and new iphone coming in, I will sell MOTO all the way to $0.
Kraving some info. I'm pretty sure I'm correct too. Looks like another uniquely designed android.
I returned my Droid today because I was having several problems with it.
-Music skips or pops when I slide the keyboard open, change the orientation, or do just about anything
-The phone randomly rebooted on me 3 times in 3 weeks. My old phone never rebooted, despite its many bugs and overall crappynes.
-The touch screen seemed inaccurate for vertical position in landscape mode. Touches would always register on whatever was below what I was touching
-The button placement is awkward. It is hard to lock/unlock the phone without pressing the volume buttons.
-The slide mechanism is scratching up the back of the display.
Motorola needs to fix these issues.
In addition, I don't like vanilla Android.
-The interface is kind of ugly.
-The menu/back/search soft button functionality is inconsistent between apps.
-The built-in apps do not have good interfaces (music player and phone are almost painful to use)
-It seems generally buggy and a bit unstable.
I'm going to try a HTC Incredible with Sense when it comes out. Hopefully that will be better.
@m854 I haven't had nay issue with the majority of what you listed, though i agree that the native apps are horrid. I've heard stuff like this from a bunch of people, I guess I got lucky
@m854 Mmmmmm the only issue I can say i share with you is the scratched back because of the slider, but that doesn't really affect anything just rubs paint off. Can't say the phone is buggy I think you got a bad one or something because when mine was stock it ran pretty well, the music player is just a music player its not hard to use, neither is the phone, I just wish it had a dedicated phone button and end button that is my biggest gripe with the phone, I always tell the other person to hang up! because the screen always goes black and makes it beyond a pain in the ass to hang up. On another note I dont see how you hit the volume when unlocking it? Unless your hands are beyond the size of the average basketball players.
@patp
If I hold it in my right hand to unlock it, my index finger goes on the unlock button, and my thumb naturally ends up near the volume buttons and my pinky finger holds the other side. When I press the unlock button with my index finger, my thumb and pinky finger hold the phone, causing my thumb to change the volume setting.
This better have a higher resolution screen and a better processor than the Droid. There is no excuse for Motorola to make anything subpar to the Droid unless they are intentionally aiming to fail. Sorry, the devour sucks.
@larciel
I found some interesting bugs in the Verizon Razr software for example:
-If I get a call and a text at the same time, the phone will ring even if if it is set to vibrate only. It rings with the default ringtone even though I have set a different ringtone
-After changing to daylight savings time, the alarm does not go off that morning
found CDMA2000 and EV-DO icons. guess it's more likely for carrier only in China(like China Mobile's android powered OPhone, you can't expect much), not for global users.
i like the left more looks smooth:)