WSJ Confirms Droid Bionic Delay

[Suuperflie]

They could make up for all of this just by simply unlocking it.

 

[kodiak799]

I don't get the love affair with Webtop, at all. It's a great showcase for the potential and direction, but IMO pretty useless at this point and I'd just assume not have what mostly qualifies as "the mother of all bloatware". Although, admittedly, with HDMI out the potential to run it on my flat screen or laptop is interesting, but the price of that lapdock is a non-starter.

On a related note, I see where some start-up looking for funding finally has brought us a 3-in-1 device with a tablet dock and attachable keyboard. THAT is the future. And that is perhaps where OEM's can really differentiate (as opposed to custom UI's), just judging from the comments about how the phone should attach and perhaps be integrated (use it as the trackpad, for instance). But for that to truly be practical phones have to get a fair bit more powerful and the OS has a ways to go, too (dual booting is a good compromise but far from optimal).

 

[BackSeatSuicide]

If Moto was smart, they'd own up to their issues with the Atrix's lackluster sales by making the Bionic the same (spec-wise) as the Atrix. Throw in some extra RAM for good measure. The biggest difference here will be pricing (web-top) and MARKETING.

Keep the high resolution (8mp) camera. No, the camera will not replace ANY halfway decent point and shoot, so don't start jumping for joy at 8mp. The pixel density will be terrible which will induce "ultra-noise" in low light and high contrast situations. However, extra resolution will be good for the well lit situations (i.e. daytime nature). HOWEVER!!! If this comes at a performance sacrifice for writing speed (data to SD)... stick with 5mp. The OG Droid has a mediocre camera (albeit great for it's time), but it's biggest failure was writing speed and shutter lag. I used and iPhone 4 recently and the thing takes pictures SUPER fast. Not to mention, under good lighting... wow... nice camera.... Any new phone coming out should sport comparable camera performance to the iP4 or better. That's LOGICAL.

Next: Laptop dock or whatever the heck they want to call it from the Atrix should and MUST be available to the Bionic. CEO seems to agree. Perhaps use some better marketing for it. BE SMART MOTOROLA!!! Use something clever like "Landing Pad", "Launch Pad" or "Droid Base", that would be cool. Creativity counts!

MOST IMPORTANTLY: Marketing.

Motorola BLEW it with the XOOM ads during the Super Bowl. Why? The mocked the competition and didn't do anything to highlight it's features. It was a bad sequel to the (epic) OG Droid :motdroidvert: ads. Why did it work the first time? It was clever, *NEW* and made people curious. The world knows what Android is now, so now say what it does well without mocking the others (iOS). Even Apple has "been there done that" with mock-ads, they're abrasive and silly.

The most plated AT&T ads for the Atrix (guy at the airport) is just confusing and silly. It doesn't show it's usefulness AT ALL. If anything, it shows how you will have problems going through airport security. They get an "F" on that ad. There are FAR better advertisements (more review-like) that could have been used to highlight and showcase this revolutionary "web-top" concept.


And finally, agree with me or not on this, but there is some truth to this:

People on AT&T don't care about Android as much as they do the iPhone, they just don't know any better. "If it ain't broke, don't fix it!" The Droid was successful on Big Red because it was the only alternative available that was even remotely comparable. Let's face it, the iPhone is GREAT and if it wasn't for the iPhone and it's innovations, the Droid and all other Android handsets we love and use today wouldn't likely exist the way they do.

People I know that have switched from iOS to Android are amazed at what it can do, "it's like a breath of fresh air" a coworker said to me the other day. The marketing shouldn't polarize people, rather show what the device can do. Hold their hand has they cross the threshold, don't tell them "you're wrong", because they're not.

In summation:

Bionic should be an Atrix in Bionic clothing. Beef the specs a bit. "Make it new". Stay as vanilla as possible. Keep the cool biometric finger scanner, webtop, RAM... etc, give us a high resolution (bright) screen, fast camera, good radio, good battery life, and gingerbread 2.3. Just do a better job marketing for cryin' out loud! We know what Android is! Just make sure you show those that don't know what's new! Not everyone reads these forums as religiously as we do...

If they get this right, the Bionic will stay on my list and, with little doubt in my mind, be another home run for Moto and Big Red. dancedroid

+1 I agree totally. They should do what you said with the atrix, but we all no how good moto is at admitting their mistakes lol and I also agree with what you said regarding the Bionic. But at the same time, if the Targa becomes the new bionic then I'm down with that, cause its even better the the atrix. The iphone is a great phone and they did pave the way for all the smartphones out today, like you said. But android is better, in so many ways. And they definitely need better advertising. The xoom is the most amazing tab out their IMO, but the mass public doesn't know it. They need to step it up or its only gonna be people like us, who live and breathe android, that are gonna buy it. I myself plan on buying one as soon as I get got up on bills and the gf and I get a new place. I also agree with what you said about the iPhones camera, I have the new 4th Gen iPod touch, which has the same camera and I was amazed with it. But I love my Droid x camera better. It has a good balance between speed and quality for both the camera and camcorder. I love my Droid x and its camera. Best phone ive ever owned for sure.....I really hope the Targa, whether or not its comes out under the bionic moniker or not, hit shelves by the end of the summer. Even tho I still have a while to go on my updgrade, I will definitely be getting it as soon as I'm able. Especially if all the petitions and polls and other means, work to get moto to unlock their bootloader. That will be the only thing that may make me pass on the targa and switch to HTC, but HTC needs to step up a lil. The TB is great but the only thing I feel that is significantly Better tthen the Droid X, is the 4G and the OLED screen. I really really want that tegra 2 chip. Althought I did hear that by the end of this summer they will be announcing a Triple Core chip, and the tegra 2 made my mouth water thinking about it, but a triple core tegra 3 make me wanna do backflips lol

Sent using my Droid X, Powered by Rubix Focused 2.0.1

 

[Boxster986]

I don't get the love affair with Webtop, at all. It's a great showcase for the potential and direction, but IMO pretty useless at this point and I'd just assume not have what mostly qualifies as "the mother of all bloatware". Although, admittedly, with HDMI out the potential to run it on my flat screen or laptop is interesting, but the price of that lapdock is a non-starter.

On a related note, I see where some start-up looking for funding finally has brought us a 3-in-1 device with a tablet dock and attachable keyboard. THAT is the future. And that is perhaps where OEM's can really differentiate (as opposed to custom UI's), just judging from the comments about how the phone should attach and perhaps be integrated (use it as the trackpad, for instance). But for that to truly be practical phones have to get a fair bit more powerful and the OS has a ways to go, too (dual booting is a good compromise but far from optimal).

Right on!

Agree with you.

The webtop is really handy if you use google docs etc... I rely heavily on that and can't utilize it on my phone. There are lot's of other good used for it, but I mostly agree with you on the price.

I was thinking the same thing with a tablet dock. I'm surprised the concept is taking so long. Phone + Tablet Dock + Keyboard dock... awesomeness dancedroid

Why not?

 

[kodiak799]

I was thinking the same thing with a tablet dock. I'm surprised the concept is taking so long.

Good question. I suppose we are just overly anxious. To be fair, Android tablets were mostly a no-go until Honeycomb, which just came out a few months ago. And while something like Webtop has potential, at least as a netbook replacement, it's still pretty rough around the edges and has a ways to go.

I don't use Google Docs, but at least a suped-up version of QuickOffice would be nice. Also, just being able to run something like Thunderbird would be a big addition. I guess, outside of MS Office, running a full browser is about 80% of the average person's use. Within probably 6 months we'll probably see some fairly powerful Honeycomb apps to take care of most of the rest. Next year's CES should be very interesting.

 

[Boxster986]

I was thinking the same thing with a tablet dock. I'm surprised the concept is taking so long.

Good question. I suppose we are just overly anxious. To be fair, Android tablets were mostly a no-go until Honeycomb, which just came out a few months ago. And while something like Webtop has potential, at least as a netbook replacement, it's still pretty rough around the edges and has a ways to go.

I don't use Google Docs, but at least a suped-up version of QuickOffice would be nice. Also, just being able to run something like Thunderbird would be a big addition. I guess, outside of MS Office, running a full browser is about 80% of the average person's use. Within probably 6 months we'll probably see some fairly powerful Honeycomb apps to take care of most of the rest. Next year's CES should be very interesting.

Agree, browsing environment would be way better with a "tab dock" IMO. Also, just to add, I think an HDMI out for presentations with an Office type program would be really slick for the work I do. You just can't get a lot out of a less-than-4"-screen. It would be much easier to control from a larger screen sans the bloat of a laptop.

By the way, are you the Kodiak from the Archos forums and DPreview??? I remember a Kodiak from both places... If so, small ... internet?

 

[kodiak799]

By the way, are you the Kodiak from the Archos forums and DPreview??? I remember a Kodiak from both places... If so, small ... internet?

Nope. Never heard of those sites. I'm not real creative with my user names (not that I ripped it off), that's one that just seemed half-way decent.

 

[obxsalvo]

Nuts ! Just Nuts !

 

[phxslayer]

Kinda disappointed in the late release.

Seems like ATT always gets the cool toys first. Verizon needs to step up and get some dual core phones out with the quickness. Until then the D1 lives on. Will probably still hold out for Bionic.

 

[Preach2k]

I don't get the love affair with Webtop, at all. It's a great showcase for the potential and direction, but IMO pretty useless at this point and I'd just assume not have what mostly qualifies as "the mother of all bloatware". Although, admittedly, with HDMI out the potential to run it on my flat screen or laptop is interesting, but the price of that lapdock is a non-starter.

On a related note, I see where some start-up looking for funding finally has brought us a 3-in-1 device with a tablet dock and attachable keyboard. THAT is the future. And that is perhaps where OEM's can really differentiate (as opposed to custom UI's), just judging from the comments about how the phone should attach and perhaps be integrated (use it as the trackpad, for instance). But for that to truly be practical phones have to get a fair bit more powerful and the OS has a ways to go, too (dual booting is a good compromise but far from optimal).

I agree... It is a gimmick to get people excited about the Atrix.. To me it is a waste. The phone is great by it self. It is not better then a laptop then why use it.

 

[BlacknTan]

But don't get me wrong, I totally agree with you, getting delay after delay is friggin annoying and then they try to talk to us like were idiots by releasing some statement that's is full of crap, instead of just being honest and telling us he real reasons. We as consumer respond better to the truth, and I myseld love my moto phone and would have a lot more respect for the company themselves if they would just be honest about the reasons for delays.

Agree 100%. That was the point of my rant. I don't mind waiting a few more months if they change to the Targa. There's a lot of things I like about that phone and it would be worth the wait.... especially if the camera is as good as it looks to be. I like moto products, especially their build quality. But ffs don't talk down to me like i'm an idiot.

 

[WVOz1970]

Well, I'm due for my next upgrade in September, I believe. So for me, this makes the delay a good thing, as I'll probably hold out and not upgrade early. I always end up losing one discount or another because I never wait the full two years.

I look forward to the dual-core option. they operate much more efficiently... I just hope they are able to slap a lot of RAM in there. That's always been my biggest gripe on the D1.

 

[BigMcGuire]

I can't believe how even phones today have less than 1GB of ram. I think the Thunderbolt is the highest right now with 756MB of usable ram. Yeah sure Motorola's dualcore Atrix has the same but only 512MB of usable ram from what I hear. It can't be that expensive to get 1-2GB.... :/

 

[elvis_marmaduke]

It's not a price issue, it's a power issue, they're the farthest behind right now IMO

You have just been post-pwned.

 

[BlacknTan]

Well, I'm due for my next upgrade in September, I believe. So for me, this makes the delay a good thing, as I'll probably hold out and not upgrade early. I always end up losing one discount or another because I never wait the full two years.

I look forward to the dual-core option. they operate much more efficiently... I just hope they are able to slap a lot of RAM in there. That's always been my biggest gripe on the D1.

Yeah, you can overclock the D1 to 1ghz, but you can't do much about the memory. Compcache never worked right for me... it always ended up slowing down my phone.

After playing around with my wife's droid x, i'm really jealous of how fast it is compared to my phone, and how much better the battery life is. It's been hard not to jump ship to the thunderbolt, but I was able to hold out until may because that's when my new every 2 discount kicked in. It just seems agonizing that i have to wait a few more months. I know there will always be better phones on the horizon, but since i'll be stuck with my next phone for two years I want, at minimum, a dual-core phone with 4g.