Sooo, Droid 4 is coming...anyone having 2nd thoughts?

[rickhamilton620]

The new D4 seems to be what moto should have put out in the first place. *sighs*

I was literally about to transfer money in my bank account to get the stratosphere and now I'm on hold again. :-(

-- Sent from my HP TouchPad using Communities

 

[wewantutopia]

Not with a locked bootloader.

 

[jbmilman]

i hate blur...makes using a droid pointless!

 

[JoeFresco]

1) When? Probably Jan-Feb, but it could be as late as April 2012
2) No removable battery? Seriously?! Battery life better be awesome on LTE
3) How much?

I'm not as worried about the bootloader. It's not like you can't get ROMs for the Droid 3.

I'll probably get the Droid 4 eventually, but I've got to get over that battery. And not seeing anything more concrete on release date, I'm going to keep the Strat for now. The sucky part for me is that I want to drop some coin on batteries/docks, but I was holding off until I had a replacement for the Strat in hand.

 

[rickhamilton620]

Not with a locked bootloader.

That's sadly my reservation on the whole thing. I know there's semi-custom ROM's available but still...:/

i hate blur...makes using a droid pointless!

I've played with the MAP used on the Bionic and it wasn't bad. I'm not a fan of the widget style though...just not my thing..

1) When? Probably Jan-Feb, but it could be as late as April 2012
2) No removable battery? Seriously?! Battery life better be awesome on LTE
3) How much?

I'm not as worried about the bootloader. It's not like you can't get ROMs for the Droid 3.

I'll probably get the Droid 4 eventually, but I've got to get over that battery. And not seeing anything more concrete on release date, I'm going to keep the Strat for now. The sucky part for me is that I want to drop some coin on batteries/docks, but I was holding off until I had a replacement for the Strat in hand.

The removable battery (or lack of) gives me pause too. That battery has got to be massive, or the LTE radio extremely power sipping in order for me to get it. I really would love to get through a full day off the charger: Something, ironically enough, I can barely do on the OG Droid now. (I think my battery's worn too much)

I've read conflicting reports about the release date. Seeing the photos, the phone could be done sooner rather than later. But again, Stratosphere was the same way so you're likely right.

At the end of the day though, the spec's seem killer and right up my alley. I also have to remember that it'll be 299 on contract likely enough....that's kinda hefty for something that's "not a nexus" and featuring a locked bootloader IMO.

The stratosphere's much more affordable and seem's to do well both in terms of battery life and LTE speeds according to reviews I've read. If the D4 didn't come with a locked bootloader, the decision would be a lot easier in the direction of the D4.

Sigh, decisions decisions...

 

[KnightCrusader]

Not with a locked bootloader.

Yeah, this.

I'd rather have a single-core 1/2 GB memory phone that I can do what I want with vs. a dual core 1GB locked-down tight one.

After experiencing the freedom of an unlocked bootloader, I will NEVER go back to a locked one. Sorry Moto, unless you change your tune I'd not going with you anymore. I had enough of that crap on the D2.

Stratosphere all the way!

Anyway, if we get something like the Captivate Glide I would rather have that.

 

[rickhamilton620]

Yeah, this.

I'd rather have a single-core 1/2 GB memory phone that I can do what I want with vs. a dual core 1GB locked-down tight one.

After experiencing the freedom of an unlocked bootloader, I will NEVER go back to a locked one. Sorry Moto, unless you change your tune I'd not going with you anymore. I had enough of that crap on the D2.

Stratosphere all the way!

Anyway, if we get something like the Captivate Glide I would rather have that.

That's what I'm thinking the more I think about it: doing anything that goes a bit further than rooting like installing a ROM is such a pain on the locked Droid handsets.

It's sooooo nice though. I might as well get the stratosphere and be happy. I'm still smitten by the design + if by some odd chance the D4 happens to be unlockable (doubt it) then I'll simply flip it for a nice profit on eBay or Craigslist.

 

[Dubbman]

I'm perfectly happy with my phone. Moto phones are WAY too locked down. No buyer's remorse here.

 

[jdotcarter]

What are you talking about locked down? My Droid Charge has no better roms than my Droid Bionic. It's likely the Bionic will run an AOSP rom before the Charge. I realize that Moto locks the bootloader but Samsung does some wild stuff too to make and source roms tough to install.

Just saying the roms out for the charge are the same as the roms out for Bionic... Won't be much different for the stratosphere... Bloat cut/deodex/GB (ICS) themed/Some random toolbox to add Eclair lockscreen...

 

[KnightCrusader]

What are you talking about locked down? My Droid Charge has no better roms than my Droid Bionic. It's likely the Bionic will run an AOSP rom before the Charge. I realize that Moto locks the bootloader but Samsung does some wild stuff too to make and source roms tough to install.

Just saying the roms out for the charge are the same as the roms out for Bionic... Won't be much different for the stratosphere... Bloat cut/deodex/GB (ICS) themed/Some random toolbox to add Eclair lockscreen...

Actually, if it wasn't for exploits and security holes with Android, the Motorola phones wouldn't be rootable, period. To get AOSP running on them, you have to root the system and then use 2ndinit to hijack the Motorola init and boot something else instead.

However, on the Stratosphere, all I had to do was compile a new kernel. I didn't have to sneak around poking Android in different places trying to get through. This also means that an AOSP kernel can be compiled straight up to work on this phone. The problem with AOSP code and the Charge is the 4G radio hasn't been reverse-engineered yet like it has on the Thunderbolt. They had to do the same thing in order to get CM7 on there. If you look at all of Samsung's 3G phones - Captivate, Fascinate, etc... they support CM7 out of the box without a problem.

I'm not sure what you mean by "wild" things they do. They just use zImage instead of bootimg for the kernel, which packs the root filesystem a little differently... but its a supported way to pack a Linux kernel... just not the 'standard' Android way.

 

[jdotcarter]

Actually, if it wasn't for exploits and security holes with Android, the Motorola phones wouldn't be rootable, period. To get AOSP running on them, you have to root the system and then use 2ndinit to hijack the Motorola init and boot something else instead.

However, on the Stratosphere, all I had to do was compile a new kernel. I didn't have to sneak around poking Android in different places trying to get through. This also means that an AOSP kernel can be compiled straight up to work on this phone. The problem with AOSP code and the Charge is the 4G radio hasn't been reverse-engineered yet like it has on the Thunderbolt. They had to do the same thing in order to get CM7 on there. If you look at all of Samsung's 3G phones - Captivate, Fascinate, etc... they support CM7 out of the box without a problem.

I'm not sure what you mean by "wild" things they do. They just use zImage instead of bootimg for the kernel, which packs the root filesystem a little differently... but its a supported way to pack a Linux kernel... just not the 'standard' Android way.

Right, i was just implying that there are AOSP roms out on motorola phones and samsung phones... just different exploits to get them running. really... it's all based on good dev support i'd say.

 

[KnightCrusader]

Right, i was just implying that there are AOSP roms out on motorola phones and samsung phones... just different exploits to get them running. really... it's all based on good dev support i'd say.

You're right on the money there.

I was afraid we'd never see any dev work on this phone, and that's why I stepped up to learn how it all worked.... its been an experience, for sure.

 

[MofoMan2000]

Yeah, I'm still on my Devour and I'm sick of Motorola's phones. The Stratosphere is one phone I've been looking at getting since the first leaks about it having a keyboard. I'll be getting it in less than a month.

Motorola's phones will only be unlocked if carriers decide to opt in to allowing it, so you can bet your ass Verizon will keep it locked down. I was wondering why the process for root on my phone was so much different from the Stratosphere, it's because on the Devour we exploit some weird security hole when toggling Bluetooth/wifi to run exploid. The Droid X is similar. It's bull crap. Hell no, I don't have any second thoughts. Stratosphere all the way.

 

[Dubbman]

The root system for the Stratosphere is different because we don't have to exploit anything as the phone has an unlocked bootloader stock. KC took the stock Samsung kernel source code, recompiled it as insecure, flashed it through the Samsung stock recovery and used the insecure kernel to remount as root.

The only caveat to this is that the phone knows you're not using a signed Samsung kernel. Even if you flash back to stock it still remembers this and as of right now there's no way to reset it. Sometime in the future perhaps.

Once KC and co get CWM working on this you can expect the first ROM's to likely be de-bloat ROM's as well as Touch Wiz UX removal. It seems that once the CM7 build for the Charge is done we should be able to port that over relatively easily, though CM9 is just around the corner pending the release of the ICS source code.

Honestly, this is a Galaxy S phone so most Galaxy S ROM's are fair game for porting, the only issue with the Verizon Galaxy S phones is the LTE radio. If you're not using the stock kernel (insecure or plain stock) you won't be able to use the LTE '4G' service through Verizon as the radio firmware hasn't been cracked yet. If you don't have LTE in your area or don't really care about it, then this won't concern you. However, if the opposites of those are true, you might wanna wait for the radio to be cracked before using a custom kernel when we get there.

 

[skategeezer]

Two words locked bootloader. Strat is also free from Radio Shack.

 

[JonK]

The root system for the Stratosphere is different because we don't have to exploit anything as the phone has an unlocked bootloader stock. KC took the stock Samsung kernel source code, recompiled it as insecure, flashed it through the Samsung stock recovery and used the insecure kernel to remount as root.

The only caveat to this is that the phone knows you're not using a signed Samsung kernel. Even if you flash back to stock it still remembers this and as of right now there's no way to reset it. Sometime in the future perhaps.

Once KC and co get CWM working on this you can expect the first ROM's to likely be de-bloat ROM's as well as Touch Wiz UX removal. It seems that once the CM7 build for the Charge is done we should be able to port that over relatively easily, though CM9 is just around the corner pending the release of the ICS source code.

Honestly, this is a Galaxy S phone so most Galaxy S ROM's are fair game for porting, the only issue with the Verizon Galaxy S phones is the LTE radio. If you're not using the stock kernel (insecure or plain stock) you won't be able to use the LTE '4G' service through Verizon as the radio firmware hasn't been cracked yet. If you don't have LTE in your area or don't really care about it, then this won't concern you. However, if the opposites of those are true, you might wanna wait for the radio to be cracked before using a custom kernel when we get there.

Who is currently working on the LTE radio and CM7 for charge? Is there a dev thread somewhere? Is there still activity on this front?

 

[KnightCrusader]

Who is currently working on the LTE radio and CM7 for charge? Is there a dev thread somewhere? Is there still activity on this front?

From what I remember reading, its over on RootzWiki. The dev had a set back as his place was broken into and they took the dev phone he was working with. He's trying to get another one. Not sure if anything else has developed since then.

I wonder if the GNex will have the same LTE chip as the Charge/Stratosphere... if it does, you better believe we'll see CM7 cause they will get it on that phone for sure.

 

[Dubbman]

Knowing Samsung's penchant for changing stuff that doesn't need it it'll likely have more mature firmware than what we have.

 

[kelton]

As I'm starting to realize that the Droid 4 probably won't allow an extended battery, I'm pretty much putting my Droid4 dreams to rest.

The Strat is looking more an more interesting....and even though it may not need it, it does have an available OEM extended battery.... AND the darn thing is bargain priced.

I'm wanting to handle a real one (not a mock one) so that I can experience that keyboard properly.

I'm coming from a blackberry (if I make the leap), so that keyboard is a big deal.