why is motorola devour running android 1.6

**borgey401** · 03-25-2010, 04:03 PM

i was just wondering does anyone have any clue why it has android 1.6 in this phone? shouldn't it have 2.0 atleast? it's basically the same price as the droid and came out after it but not the same OS this makes no sense to me at all. anyone shine any light onto this situation as to why the hell they would do this?

**diverbelow** · 03-25-2010, 04:45 PM

Maybe Motorola does not have MOTOBlur working with 2.x.

**tallgrl45** · 03-26-2010, 12:01 AM

Exactly. Integrating 2.1 with MOTOblur has probably presented a problem. It is cheaper than the Droid at third party dealers, it is also aimed at a different clientele.

**borgey401** · 03-27-2010, 03:13 PM

if it had eclair it would be a great phone. lets face it 1.5 is outdated

**bduschel** · 03-29-2010, 11:20 AM

We mainly sell it to people who are traditionally rough on phones!!

**Dapke36** · 03-29-2010, 12:37 PM

Because its a manufacturer skin of Android, they must take time and resources to update their skin to the newest release. It has taken HTC a year minimum to get Sense mostly working with 2.1, and that's with an advanced release of 2.1 for them to play with.

Morotola just got MotoBlur working with 1.6, so it will be awhile until they update it to 2.0 or 2.1. I bet they are not really worried about it, however, because the Devour and BLUR are focused at a different market than the Droid; one that cares more about social networking and less about having the fastest/snappiest phone on the market.

**jasonvancouver** · 03-29-2010, 08:59 PM

Originally Posted by tallgrl45

Exactly. Integrating 2.1 with MOTOblur has probably presented a problem. It is cheaper than the Droid at third party dealers, it is also aimed at a different clientele.

What is the Devour aimed at. I have heard is is for younger users who place a large importance on social networking, FB, etc. Is that true ?

Would a businessness person ever want to chose a devour over a droid ?

What about a Android HTC phone over the Droid ? ( Is the only difference the lack of a qwerty keyboard - I have heard many Droid users say that they don't use the qwerty keyboard.

**tallgrl45** · 03-29-2010, 09:22 PM

The phone most likely is aimed at the non-tech elite. The phone has facebook, twitter and picasa integration on a widget on the home screen with MOTOblur, which is similar to the Sense UI on some of the newer HTC phones.

I don't see why a business person wouldn't choose a devour over a droid, if they liked the look and feel of it better. It definitely is more attractive than the droid. Many people have said, and I agree, that the keyboard is better on the devour. Whether you would opt for one of the HTC touchscreen-only phones is really a matter of preference. There are some exciting HTCs in the pipeline right now, but I jumped on the devour and have been happy with it. My only gripe is that Verizon hasn't done a thing to market it.

**YourMobileGuru** · 03-31-2010, 12:45 AM

Originally Posted by jasonvancouver

What is the Devour aimed at. I have heard is is for younger users who place a large importance on social networking, FB, etc. Is that true ?

Would a businessness person ever want to chose a devour over a droid ?

What about a Android HTC phone over the Droid ? ( Is the only difference the lack of a qwerty keyboard - I have heard many Droid users say that they don't use the qwerty keyboard.

Think of it as an Android Sidekick. Yes it is marketed at the younger crowd bit I can see a business person choosing it over the Droid for two reasons: 1. The keyboard is a lot easier to type on 2. the phone itself feels more durable.

**borgey401** · 04-04-2010, 10:03 PM

i could never see a real business man choosing the devour over the droid. that's just my opinion tho. but you are absolutely right about the phone being durable. i was holding one yesterday at my local verizon store n it was like holding a damn brick in my hands.

**borgey401** · 04-29-2010, 07:50 PM

the devour is like a sidekick to me....... peice of ****

**mwirtz** · 04-29-2010, 10:45 PM

I think all of the phones' drawbacks could be fixed if someone could gain root and port a 2.1sense ui... i have absolutely no idea how to do it, and im sure its hard but for me i would love the phone.

**psiu** · 04-30-2010, 12:06 PM

2 things they could change that I would love:

the camera (it's a friggin "smartphone" Motorola) give us AF/flash for it;
the reception is weaker than any other Moto I've ever used.

If they wanted to make the screen a bit bigger that would be fine but really the 2 above changes would satisfy me. Oh and invent a new "magical" kind of battery to give us more than 10-12 hours of heavy use.

**zakth** · 05-01-2010, 01:18 AM

Originally Posted by psiu

If they wanted to make the screen a bit bigger that would be fine but really the 2 above changes would satisfy me. Oh and invent a new "magical" kind of battery to give us more than 10-12 hours of heavy use.

Like a Direct-methanol fuel cell battery?

**YourMobileGuru** · 05-01-2010, 02:16 AM

Originally Posted by psiu

2 things they could change that I would love:

the camera (it's a friggin "smartphone" Motorola) give us AF/flash for it;
the reception is weaker than any other Moto I've ever used.

If they wanted to make the screen a bit bigger that would be fine but really the 2 above changes would satisfy me. Oh and invent a new "magical" kind of battery to give us more than 10-12 hours of heavy use.

Glad I'm not the only one with reception issues. The thing seems to drip 3g for no reason whatsoever and as stated the connection is MUCH slower than the droid. Battery life is pitiful (and I can't seem to find replacement batteries anywhere). I was hoping that software upgrade would help but alas it really hasn't. :-(

**YourMobileGuru** · 05-01-2010, 02:20 AM

Originally Posted by borgey401

if it had eclair it would be a great phone. lets face it 1.5 is outdated

1.6 actually ;-)

But yeah it is outdated and limited. The 1 Google account for the phone really sucks.

And yes the problem is that when work on the device was started last fall 1.6 was the current OS. We now have to wait for them to upgrade Motoblur to work on 2.1 (2.2?)...

**GivenToFly** · 05-05-2010, 10:16 PM

Motoblur is what's holding it back. Anytime you put a custom UI on top of the OS it will take longer to upgrade.

I think though that the target market for the devour is also what's holding it back. Motorola is obviously more concerned by getting the Droid updated first, then going back to work on the the motoblur phones. I would be that most devour owners, (except for the savvy ones who frequent sites like this) couldn't care less what OS version the phone has, let alone the OS at all. It's just a social networking phone, not a poweruser phone, or a techy phone, or an enterprise phone. It's aimed at young people who like to let all their friends know that they found a lonely duck on their farm. At least that's what my wife uses it for

**psiu** · 05-06-2010, 11:25 PM

Of course with the camera on this thing she won't be taking a pic of said duck. Man this camera is terrible...I think the rest of the phone being so nice and fancy-schmancy makes it stand out even more how terrible it is.

**GivenToFly** · 05-07-2010, 11:08 PM

It's kinda sad, because it is a really cool form factor. I like how the main body is on peice of metal. I would bet 2.1 by end of summer though. At this point though, I'm just more anxious for someone to root the thing instead so my wife can stop complaining about my phone having cool roms and hers having Motoblur.

**Tuvst_Mesd** · 10-16-2010, 12:12 PM

A motorola devour is for everyone. and yes tech elites use it too.
th3ere is many secrets behind the motorola devour that newbies dont know about.

**BellyDancing Mama** · 10-16-2010, 12:31 PM

My son has the devour and loves it, I like the keyboard better then my droid but I am more the techie type. It a great teenager phone that like to keep up on social networking it built well.

I was disappointed when I couldn't get Angry Birds to play on it.

Tuvst_Mesd Do tell about the secrets behind the Motorola Devour I would love to help my son discover them.

**MofoMan2000** · 11-30-2010, 03:36 AM

Originally Posted by 707BellyDancer

I was disappointed when I couldn't get Angry Birds to play on it.

What? Me and my girlfriend LOVE Angry Birds, we play it on my Devour all the time. Granted it's a bit laggy, but still fun.

That said, this is still a good question. Why is the Devour still on Android 1.6? According to Motorola it is staying on 1.6 indefinitely, so it is up to the hacking/ROM crowd to port a version of Froyo or Gingerbread to it. If anyone knows of anyone who has done this, please let me know. I'm itching to try to get 2.2 on my Devour, if not just for the benefits of having it then to stick it to Moto and VZW for leaving the Devour users in the dust.