The Motorola Photon Q on Sprint is now getting a maintenance update version Q 7.7.1Q-6_SPR-125_ASA-10, bringing bug fixes and some great new features. This is not the Android 4.1 Jelly Bean update although you will notice an overall improvement to your Photon Q after this update.

Sprint Photon Q Update Q 7.7.1Q-6_SPR-125_ASA-10 Features:

• Improved text messaging when requesting usage and upgradeability through Sprint Zone; seamless international text messaging; Improved MMS functionality
• Enhancements for WiFi hotspot in GSM/UMTS mode and adding new WiFi connections; select number of users to access Wi-Fi hotspot
• Random power cycle when using Wi-Fi Direct
• Manually send or auto-sync emails from outbox
• Faster launch and playback using the YouTube application
• Improved browsing with Google Chrome for Android Mobile Browser
• More easily import contacts from SD card
• Improved music playback, both streaming from Amazon Cloud or Internet Radio services and music saved to the phone – minimizes occasional skips or -repeats
• Now supports 1080p HD video capture, and enhanced video settings for more responsive playback
• Easier creating and accepting calendar meeting notices on the phone

The update has started now but is rolling out in stages, so it could take up to two weeks for it to hits yours. If you haven’t received the update yet be patient, if you have updated already then please let us know your experience via a comment below.

The Motorola Xoom Family Edition is finally getting the update to Android 4.0.4 Ice Cream Sandwich. The update started rolling out in the U.S. a couple days ago and has now made its way through all of the devices we own. This update previously hit the European version of the Family Edition Xoom early last month.

If you haven’t already received the update to your Xoom then you can manually check for the update via “settings -> about tablet -> system updates”. You will get a popup there asking if you want to check and of course you will tap “Check Now”. Once it finds the update be patient as the update is around 130MB and can take a few minutes depending on your WiFi speed. Once completed you will then be asked if you want to install the update, go ahead but at this point you can walk away for a while because it will take a good fifteen minutes to complete.

If you want to see the process before updating or are having issues with the update and want to see what it should look like then watch the video below. The video does however speed through the long waits so expect a longer wait time for your installation to complete.

The Photon Q has an easy one click root method available thanks to XDA member OP. The one click root method is called “motofail2go” and is currently available to use on Windows machines only. If you have a Motorola Photon Q and want to root it to gain access to everything that Android has to offer the instructions are below.

Motorola Photon Q Root Instructions:

1. Install the Drivers for your Photon Q
2. Download and Extract motofail2go (Download Link)
3. Put your Phone in USB Debugging Mode
4. Navigate to your motofail2go extracted earlier
5. Run “”run.bat” as administrator
6. Follow the instructions in the batch file
7. Congrats your Photon Q is rooted!

There has been only one issue that very few users have noticed where the device will give you an error “run-as: Package ‘com.motorola.bug2go’ is unknown”. If you get this error printed by the batch file then you will need to wipe your data and cache then start the process over.

Users of the Motorola Droid Bionic on the Verizon Network are finally able to get the Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich update. The update comes after a year of waiting and wondering but has started the process of pushing out yesterday October 19th. We have already had a few Droid Bionic users report they have received the over the air update and that it came in at around 368MB.

Verizon Droid Bionic Android 4.0 ICS Update Features:

• Easy smooth multitasking – You will notice this in the incredible reduction in the time it takes switching between apps.
• Face Unlock – new feature that has a very low usage rate although a fun feature to have just the same.
• Battery improvements – battery optimization seems to be a key feature in all Android updates although with the Droid Bionic already being a great device on battery this should prove beneficial.
• Direct Access Lock – users can now unlock their device directly to their text message, camera app, keypad or unlock screen. This is by far the one improvement that most will find the most useful and those that like to get the camera out quickly now have no reason to complain.
• Enhanced Notification bar – Swipe to dismiss functionality of the new notification bar is a feature that many devices have and makes for a much easier experience. Also there are many visual changes you will notice.
• Home screen folders – it’s now easier to create folders on your home screen by simply dragging an icon over another to create a folder.

As always when updating your Droid Bionic be sure to have at least a 50% charge and connect to WiFi to be sure the process is not interrupted  Again the download is 368MB so be patient as it could take a bit to get down. If you want to check for the update manually all you need to do is go to “settings -> about phone -> system updates”. If you see the popup “update available” then your good to go otherwise just try again later.

If you are carrying around a Motorola XYBOARD Wifi Edition version 10.1 or 8.2, the update to Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich is now available. Motorola has started rolling out the update today so when you have time go ahead and connect to Wifi (as if you have another way) and get the update. The update seems to be a standard Android 4.0 ICS update although if you want more information read on.

Motorola XYBOARD Android 4.0 ICS Update Features:

• Updated Browser with faster rendering, zoom and pan: Users can also now save pages for offline reading and request desktop versions of websites.
• Swipe to dismiss notifications and recent apps: You can now dismiss individual notifications and apps from the Recent Apps list with a simple swipe of a finger.
• Redesigned app launcher: In All Apps launcher, you can now simply drag an app to get information about it, immediately uninstall it, or disable a pre-installed app.
• New System Font for Improved Readability: An entirely new typeface (called Roboto) optimized for high resolution screens improves readability and brings a polished feel to the user interface.
• Updated “People” Application: Replaces contacts and integrates seamlessly with Google+ and other social networks.
• Improved text input and spell-checking: The keyboard now features improved accuracy to make text input faster. It also now includes an in-line spell checker to make corrections easier.
• Type with your voice: Now you can simply touch the microphone on the keyboard and start talking to write emails, or any other text—more than 20 languages supported. Text appears in real time, so there’s no waiting for server processing.
• Richer and versatile imaging capabilities: For new flexibility and convenience while shooting video, you can now take snapshots at full video resolution just by tapping the screen as video continues to record. For capturing larger scenes, the camera introduces a single motion panorama mode. You can also launch camera directly from the Lockscreen. When you shoot videos, you can now choose from a number of silly faces and other fun effects which recognize individual facial features so you can give your friends big eyes, squeeze heads, make noses bigger, or change the scenery with background replacement.
• Redesigned Gallery app with photo editor: To help pictures look their best, the Gallery now offers a powerful photo editor so you can crop and rotate pictures, set levels, remove red eyes, add effects, and much more.
• Richer, resizable widgets: You can expand widgets to show more content, or shrink them to save space.
• Quicker screen rotation
• A new setting to choose whether the power button immediately locks the device or not: shows up only when you have a pattern, PIN or password lock, it then lets you set a timer for how long it takes to lock after pressing the sleep button.
• Microsoft Exchange improvements with additional EAS policies
• Improved stability
• Face Unlock: Face Unlock is a new screen-lock option that lets you unlock your device with your face. It takes advantage of the device front-facing camera and state-of-the-art facial recognition technology to register a face during setup and then to recognize it again when unlocking the device. Just hold your device in front of your face to unlock, or use back up PIN or pattern.

Along with the enhancements to the 10.1 and 8.2 Wifi versions of the Motorola XYBOARD you should notice quite a few bug fixes on both devices. There is still no date given for the Verizon 4G LTE version of the XYBOARD although if your waiting for it there should be more information soon. If you have received the update to your XYBOARD please let us know what you think via comments below.

Now that Google has full control over their recently acquired Motorola Mobility they are laying off 20% or around 4000 of their staff to refocus and head in a winning direction. Almost one third of those laid off will be US based employees. This is not a new idea within Motorola as they not too long ago laid off 40% of their higher paid presidents and other Executives. This was a decision to effect overall cost of operation to allow Google to get Motorola back on top.

Google has now decided that Motorola should focus less on releasing so many devices and more on high end quality devices. This means that the low budget Motorola devices are a thing of the past and we will likely see only a few here and there ever be released. Now with the release of the Motorola Photon 4G LTE, which is the first Motorola phone with an unlocked bootloader, Motorola will likely see more support in the Android community.

Not only have the reduction in low end devices been mentioned but also the fact that they will be pulling out of their less profitable markets and cleaning up markets like Asia and India. Google has stated while they are removing many of the staff from Motorola’s US staff they will be increasing staffing in the R&D locations in Chicago. We haven’t heard much from Motorola since Google’s acquisition but can see now that Google does have big plans.

We already knew that the middle of July was the time those that own a WiFi-only Motorola Xoom would get a taste of Android 4.1 Jelly Bean.  The time has come where those that are members of the Motorola Feedback Network will start getting the updates.  Soak test emails were just sent out about two to three hours ago and those willing to test Android 4.1 Jelly Bean on their Xoom Wifi’s can get involved now.

Those that aren’t members of the Motorola Feedback Network should be getting the update about a week after soak testing begins.  This being said if all goes well everyone with a Wifi Xoom should have the Android 4.1 Jelly Bean update by the end of the month.

If you own a Motorola MotoActv smart watch you should be getting an update to version 7.10 or 7.11 depending on the device you own. This update to the MotoActv will come with many improvements like more useful notifications, improvements to the fitness measuring while working out, and you will even have a scorecard when playing golf. There are also many fixes associated with force closes when working out and better battery life when using WiFi. If you have the 8GB model without the Golf Course feature you will receive version 7.11. Many users have already reported getting the update when plugging their MotoActv into their computers.

Motorola MotoActv Update Features:

• Improved Scorecard when playing only BACK 9 on a course (**ver 7.10 only)
• Enhance manual PAR information entry (**ver 7.10 only)
• Fix “Application Force Close” in WORKOUT and NOTIFICATIONS.
• NOTIFICATIONS improved to handle Unread Messages.
• Stop Watch START/PAUSE functionality improved.
• Fix battery drain when Wi-Fi is on.
• Improve display of Fit Test BPM average.
• Improve TTS message when the WORKOUT key is double pressed.
• Enhance ANT+/BTLE sensor connections.
• Improve “Pause” functionality during workouts.

If you have a Motorola MotoActv let us know how the update goes and what you notice good or bad. The update from the sounds of it should be a huge improvement to the device.

There has been another update for the Motorola Droid Bionic leaked for build 5.9.905 that will require you to be running version 5.9.902 to use. This is not the long awaited Android 4.0.3 Ice Cream Sandwich update but could prove to improve the Droid Bionic a bit. Those that have already updated using the leaked build have reported much smoother interaction which has been an issue with the device since its release.

This update is a transitional update for the Android 4.0.3 update that the device is expecting and should allow those with the device to breath easy that Motorola is attempting to get the device in flawless working order. The Droid Bionic has since release turned into a pretty solid Android device despite its early mistakes.

You can find the 5.9.905 update file here (http://www.droidforums.net/forum/motorola-droid-bionic/208780-5-9-905-anyone-pulled-cheesecake-server-your-pleasure.html) although you will need to be sure your running .902 before you flash to be sure its a smooth process. To flash back to .902 follow this link (http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1417116).

Source: Droid Life

The Motorola Atrix 4G is still a very fast quality Android phone, the only issue is the fact that it bogs down bad after heavy use. After you have had an Atrix 4G for about six months to a year it would benefit you to do a factory reset. You can easily format internal storage but to actually get the Atrix 4G back to the condition it was the day you bought it you need to do a hard factory reset.

NOTE: This will completely wipe the entire device including all apps, photos, videos, etc. Backup anything you don’t want to lose before doing the factory reset.

How to Completely Reset your Motorola Atrix 4G:

1. Turn off your Atrix 4G
2. Turn on the Atrix holding the Vol down button
3. When you see fastboot at the top of the screen release the vol down button
4. Press vol down until you get to “Android Recovery”
5. Press power button to select “Android Recovery”
6. Once you see a yellow triangle press both vol up and vol down
7. Use Vol down to navigate to Factory Data Reset
8. Press Power to select then select Yes to confirm the same way
9. Wait for the process to complete and go back to the menu
10. Press power to select “Reboot Device”
11. Congrats once it reboots you will come to the MotoBlur screen!

If you have any issues please refer to the video above as well as leaving comments and questions below. I have completed this process more times than I can count and have never had an issue so its as safe as it gets.

Last year Motorola offered up Sprint’s first flagship Android phone the Motorola Photon 4G. The Photon 4G was Sprint’s version of AT&T’s Motorola Atrix 4G with its dual-core processor and qHD display. We have heard about a sequel to the Photon 4G that may be released soon on Sprint’s Now Network. With Sprint’s new implementation of their LTE Network Motorola is rumored to have a new Photon 4G for the network calling it the Motorola Photon Q 4G LTE.

While we don’t have much information on the new device as its currently still rumored with only bits and pieces of information on it. We can already assume it will at least have a dual-core processor but more likely a quad-core with a 720p HD display and the same look and feel as the original Photon. We will let you know when we get a price and release date but for the time being we will just wait for more information.

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