It’s real now — and so far it seems to be… pretty much the same as the Droid RAZR, save for extra storage space and claims of a super long battery life.
While Motorola benchmarked the original Droid RAZR at around 12 hours of talk time, they claim the new RAZR MAXX variant can pull an almost ridiculous 21 hours of chatter on a single charge. Meanwhile, the internal storage has been bumped from 16GB to 32GB. On the outside, however, they’re essentially identical — even with the bigger battery, the new MAXX maintains the Droid RAZR’s 8.99 mm thick profile.
The new RAZR MAXX will go for $299 on a two-year contract, while the two-month old Droid RAZR will slip down to $199. The latter will also now come in purple, which is.. unique?
Just two weeks after Verizon’s 4G data network most recently went on the fritz, it looks like customers are once again being forced to live their lives without data. Scores of Verizon users across the country will be waking up without without so much as a 3G connection in sight until a fix is in place.
A quick look at Verizon’s support forums illustrates the extent of the data outage: the data outage has struck New York, California, Illinois, Washington D.C., New Jersey, Florida, North Carolina, and Ohio (among others).
Now the outage doesn’t seem to be affecting everyone (much like last time), and some users are reporting that their data service has been restored. I’d take those reports with a grain of salt for the time being: my Verizon Galaxy Nexus manages to pick up a 1X or 3G connection sporadically, but it never lasts for long. That said, anyone who has an LTE smartphone may want to switch into the CDMA-only mode, as that’s where I’ve had most of my (limited) success with data.
While I’m sure that it won’t be too long before Verizon sorts out this mess, it may not be the most comforting situation for customers looking to re-up their contracts with Big Red. They’ve had pretty consistent 4G service for the year that the network has been live, but now customers have had to deal with two major data snafus in one month. C’mon Verizon, I expect these sorts of data issues from RIM, not you.
Verizon has yet to acknowledge the issue via a release, although their @VZWSupport Twitter account has just started fielding customer complaints about the outage. We’ll keep you posted on any further developments.
Because the name “Verizon DROID RAZR by Motorola” seemingly isn’t long enough, it looks like Verizon’s already planning another RAZR with even more words in the name. I kid, of course (does the name even matter? Everyone outside of the tech scene just calls every Android phone “the Droid” anyway), but I pick on the name because it’s pretty much the only thing we know at this point.
Spotted lurking in VZW’s inventory system by the guys at Droid-Life, it looks like the next handset in the DROID RAZR series will be the DROID RAZR MAXX.
Motorola just launched a phone (the HD XT928) in China last week that could pass as the RAZR’s twin, save for two big differences: it has a 720p screen (1280×720, while the original DROID RAZR comes in at 960×540), and a 13 megapixel camera (vs 8.) The current thought is that the HD XT928 and the Droid Razr Maxx are one in the same, though it’s all conjecture at this point.
Keep an eye out and let us know if you spot anything, won’t you?
When Verizon officially revealed the Galaxy Nexus last night, some of you were surprised to see it sport such a high price tag. Thanks to Verizon’s apparent change in pricing policy, all of their new flagship 4G phones are hovering at around $299. Now if you absolutely have to have a Galaxy Nexus today (something I’m currently debating myself), Verizon stores are likely to be your first thought, but chances are you won’t be alone in your quest.
However, there are bargains to be found if you’re willing to dig a little, and are a few that may make buying a Nexus easier to swallow.
Fry’s Electronics: East Coast Galaxy fans need not apply, but you can snag a Galaxy Nexus from Fry’s for $219 with a new contract, and $249 for an upgrade/contract extension. Not shabby at all, and assuming you live near one, you may be able to enjoy a taste of Ice Cream Sandwich today.
Wirefly: These guys sport the same deal as Fry’s (not a surprise since their online wireless storefronts are powered by the same company), but the units themselves will apparently ship in a few days. Not a bad choice if you live in the middle of nowhere.
AmazonWireless: They’re offering a pretty solid discount on the Nexus for new customers looking to ink a Verizon contract – the device itself will set you back $199. Upgraders will need to shell out an extra $50, but the addition of free two-day shipping should offset the pain a bit. The Nexii are currently backordered, but with any luck that’ll clear up soon.
Let’s Talk: If you’re willing to head off the beaten path, these guys have the Galaxy Nexus for $229 with a new contract and $249 with an upgrade. However, Vlad at The Verge points out that there’s an additional $75 coupon code that can be thrown into the mix, bringing prices down to $154 and $174, respectively. The code (which is “$75VZN” by the way) combined with free overnight shipping makes this the deal to beat.
Once you’ve nabbed your Nexus (and hopefully saved a little money in the process) you can finally play with Ice Cream Sandwich proper — and by that, I mean sing Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody” with attractive women.
The Galaxy Nexus, while something we’ve been super excited about, is turning out to be a real pain. Why? Because we can’t seem to figure out when the bleep this thing is supposed to launch. We heard it was supposed to be around today, and then we heard it wasn’t, and then we heard so many different dates it started to get stupid.
Now, however, Droid-Life is claiming to have found the needle in this incredibly annoying haystack. Apparently a “dozen” different sources have said that Verizon is finally letting its employees in on the launch date: December 15. Now, Verizon does enjoy a nice Thursday launch, if we’re to learn anything from history.
Still, this is the Galaxy Nexus we’re talking about, so you can never really be sure about when you’ll see it until we get some sort of official word. Even then, things are looking a little murky.
