Newsletter
So the Motorola DROID 2 has been out for about a week, and it’s time for a “minor update.” Verizon is started pushing a firmware update to DROID 2s. Engadget reports that text and picture messages can now scroll, but the “severe signal strength issues” they addressed in their review are still very much present. Given that the review is over 3000 words, I’ll give you the skinny:
Perhaps our biggest hardware concern, actually, is entirely internal: signal strength was a major issue for all four Engadget editors who’ve been able to spend time with four different Droid 2s in different parts of the country this week. Symptoms include a wildly fluctuating meter while the phone’s sitting still, weak or no reception in places where you’re usually fine on Verizon, and a complete lack of data service (which was actually how we noticed the problem the first time). We’re used to seeing 3G drop to EDGE, GPRS, or disappear completely on our iPhones on AT&T, but it’s a rarity on Verizon — so to see our Droid 2’s data indicator flip-flop from EV-DO to 1xRTT and then disappear entirely was really alarming. We’re hoping this is something Motorola can fix with a software update alone, because it was nearly a showstopper for us; Ross, for example, sent an email Thursday afternoon that didn’t actually depart his phone until 5AM the following morning, presumably because data was acting wonky.
The update gives DROID 2 owners baseband version BP_C_01.09.05P, and software version 2.2.20.A955.Verizon.en.US. IntoMobile lists the stated improvements for this release:
- Enabled text and picture message scrolling.
- Streamlined set up of Visual Voice Mail feature.
- Improved contact sync with Corporate Exchange categories and groups.
- View accurate contact pictures when reviewing Recent Call Log.
Nope, nothing at all about signal strength.
If you haven’t gotten the update yet, you can go to Settings, choose About Phone, then System Updates.
Sources: Engadget (also the image), IntoMobile, PhoneScoop