Bionic's still coming, is defintely new hardware - XT875

[Winston25]

Concerning the Sprint Photon, I agree it probably is the Etna version of the Bionic but it's just Motorola's effort to cut their losses.

No, Etna and Sunfire (Photon's program name) are completely different programs done by different engineering teams.
Etna was completely cancelled and the engineering teams were moved to new phones.

 

[Winston25]

Unless they release this device with totally new specs it's already behind. A different processor doesn't make this handset any different from the Atrix in my opinion.

If I was waiting for this phone and missed tiered pricing I wouldn't blow an upgrade on the Bionic. I'd wait. It's "old" tech wrapped up in a different package.

I have to 100% disagree with this statement. A different processor makes it completely different than the Atrix. I am assuming this is a tech blog though.
To an everyman the phones might be the same, you know large touch screen device with a small bezel (and no fruit logo). Is that you?


Remember, Bionic is just the name assigned to a different phone now. The Bionic that will be released was always coming out (with an unknown name) and was meant to replace Bionic.
To clear that up, Etna (the Bionic at CES) was to come out than be replaced by Targa. Targa was always an upgrade of Etna, enough to convinced people it was an upgrade.
You will now buy Targa under the name Bionic after the cancellation.

 

[Winston25]

People think LG and Samsung are a joke but I'm telling you they are soon to be MAJOR players in the market.

Isn't Samsung the number 2 phone manufacturer in the world? And they will most likely be number 1 in the next 6-12 months? I think that would make them major players already.

 

[Castor Troy]

Isn't Samsung the number 2 phone manufacturer in the world? And they will most likely be number 1 in the next 6-12 months? I think that would make them major players already.

Android market.....

Sent from my Droid

 

[robwilldominate]

i love it how winston can come in here and reject some opinions to half court

 

[Castor Troy]

I have to 100% disagree with this statement. A different processor makes it completely different than the Atrix. I am assuming this is a tech blog though.
To an everyman the phones might be the same, you know large touch screen device with a small bezel (and no fruit logo). Is that you?

See now I have to 100% disagree

The processor doesn't make it an entirely different phone UNLESS we are talking about going from single to dual or dual to quad. I like the TI OMAP actually prefer it but its not a radical departure from the Tegra 2. Now if they throw a different screen on it then we are going somewhere but as it stands now its essentially the Atrix with a bigger screen.

My opinion of course.


Sent from my Droid

 

[rattler21]

Thanks Winston for succinctly clearing up much of what has been alluded to and speculated for the last while. It made my reading of the last ten pages all worth it.

 

[Oxn]

Then i guess the HTC Sensation is barely different from a Thunderbolt then....
based on CK logic

 

[tdizzel]

I have to 100% disagree with this statement. A different processor makes it completely different than the Atrix. I am assuming this is a tech blog though.
To an everyman the phones might be the same, you know large touch screen device with a small bezel (and no fruit logo). Is that you?


Remember, Bionic is just the name assigned to a different phone now. The Bionic that will be released was always coming out (with an unknown name) and was meant to replace Bionic.
To clear that up, Etna (the Bionic at CES) was to come out than be replaced by Targa. Targa was always an upgrade of Etna, enough to convinced people it was an upgrade.
You will now buy Targa under the name Bionic after the cancellation.

Isn't Samsung the number 2 phone manufacturer in the world? And they will most likely be number 1 in the next 6-12 months? I think that would make them major players already.

Winston my friend, I owe you a beer or two. Thank you sir

 

[Castor Troy]

Then i guess the HTC Sensation is barely different from a Thunderbolt then....
based on CK logic

Lol you never cease to amaze me.....

Sent from my Droid

 

[huskerkate]

Then i guess the HTC Sensation is barely different from a Thunderbolt then....
based on CK logic

sheesh - troll much, trolly troller troll??

 

[Castor Troy]

sheesh - troll much, trolly troller troll??

Lol right? At least choose something that shows the flaw in my logic rather than substantiate it

This is why I like Oxn he never fails to deliver fodder.

Sent from my Droid

 

[huskerkate]

I have to 100% disagree with this statement. A different processor makes it completely different than the Atrix. I am assuming this is a tech blog though.
To an everyman the phones might be the same, you know large touch screen device with a small bezel (and no fruit logo). Is that you?


Remember, Bionic is just the name assigned to a different phone now. The Bionic that will be released was always coming out (with an unknown name) and was meant to replace Bionic.
To clear that up, Etna (the Bionic at CES) was to come out than be replaced by Targa. Targa was always an upgrade of Etna, enough to convinced people it was an upgrade.
You will now buy Targa under the name Bionic after the cancellation.

Thanks Winston for succinctly clearing up much of what has been alluded to and speculated for the last while. It made my reading of the last ten pages all worth it.

i'm not sure i understand what has been cleared up...?? i am not in any way trying to pick a fight with Winston, as I (and everyone) appreciate the info he supplies. but, how does the change in processors make the Targa "completely different" from the Atrix??

going from a Tegra chip to OMAP is believed to help the 4G phone actually be able to function as a 4G phone. but, i don't really see that as an "upgrade". it is also rumored that the OMAP may be 1.2 ghz, as opposed to 1.0 - a slight upgrade, but not necessarily significant. they both have the same ram, webtop, same screen type (just different size), about the same camera (apparently), Blur, ffc, etc. the Atrix has the fingerprint security feature, and i haven't seen that mentioned for the Targa.

so, that brings me back to my question: what is it about the change in processors that makes the Targa different from the Atrix? is it speed, durability, battery usage, or....?? again, not trying to be a smartass - i just want to understand...

 

[Cruiserdude]

Finally we know that it has the awesome feature of tiered data pricing! And here I was worried the Atrix would still have it beat in that department...

 

[XDCX]

No, Etna and Sunfire (Photon's program name) are completely different programs done by different engineering teams.
Etna was completely cancelled and the engineering teams were moved to new phones.

Thanks for correcting my assumption.

I'm somewhat surprised Motorola wasn't able to recoup some of their R&D expenditures on the Etna - that must have been a big hit to write off all that expense without generating any revenue. I wonder if the true cost of the Etna disaster will show-up as a memo item in a 10-Q report some day?

In some ways it's too bad Motorola didn't drop the LTE functionality from the Etna and sell it as the replacement to the Droid X. I liked the form factor of the Bionic that was at CES and I think it would have been a better 3G phone than the Droid X2.

 

[f150fan]

@ XDCX

I agree. The Etna version minus the LTE would have been a great 3G device. It would have been interesting to see just how well it could have sold if done that way. Then again, it may not have sold many either. Interesting thought though.

 

[Cruiserdude]

In some ways it's too bad Motorola didn't drop the LTE functionality from the Etna and sell it as the replacement to the Droid X. I liked the form factor of the Bionic that was at CES and I think it would have been a better 3G phone than the Droid X2.

That's exactly what they did.

Etna hardware - LTE + Droid X shell = Droid X2

They couldn't use the exact Etna form factor for a 3g phone or something for another carrier, since they had already designed and marketed it for Verizon's Bionic. Its too bad they didn't repackage the Targa into that shell, but it probably has something to do with that shell being advertised as having an NVidia processor, while the Targa has a TI.

Not to mention that the Targa was already a separate project with its current form-factor already in place. They already admitted that all they did was fast-track the Targa's development, rather than actually redesign the Etna, so a major change like that would likely not be possible with a shortened development schedule.

 

[Droid800]

Benchmarks that I've seen have the OMAP performing better than the Tegra2 in most areas (although not all). But, they were quite close. While I'd say the OMAP is better, I wouldn't say it's in another league.

It is. Dual channel DDR2 ram alone makes it better than Tegra 2.

 

[Droid800]

That's exactly what they did.

Etna hardware - LTE + Droid X shell = Droid X2

They couldn't use the exact Etna form factor for a 3g phone or something for another carrier, since they had already designed and marketed it for Verizon's Bionic. Its too bad they didn't repackage the Targa into that shell, but it probably has something to do with that shell being advertised as having an NVidia processor, while the Targa has a TI.

Not to mention that the Targa was already a separate project with its current form-factor already in place. They already admitted that all they did was fast-track the Targa's development, rather than actually redesign the Etna, so a major change like that would likely not be possible with a shortened development schedule.

That's not how it works. You can't just 'drop' internals meant for one phone into the frame of another. In all likelihood, the X2 was designed from the beginning to be a mechanical 'twin' of the Etna to spread costs between the two.

 

[Preach2k]

With the Droid 3 scoring pretty high on the Benchmarks. I can only Imagine how well The Bionic would do..

DROID3 Pops Up in New GLBenchmark: Still an OMAP Processor, Wipes Floor with Most Devices - Droid Life: A Droid Community Blog