Motorola DROID Bionic Launch Date Slips, Rumored Battery Issues

It’s deja vu all over again.  Just as the HTC Thunderbolt had rumored release dates on Verizon come and go while rumors swirled around the troubled LTE-equipped smartphone, the Motorola DROID Bionic is also dealing with failure to launch.  But this time Motorola seems to have learned from the Thunderbolt debacle, and has officially announced that the Bionic will not be available until summer.

Enhancements to DROID Bionic.  That means it doesn’t work now?

Speaking to The Wall Street Journal, a Moto spokeswoman explained,

“Based on compelling feedback since the show [CES], we are incorporating several enhancements to make this an even better consumer experience,” a Motorola spokeswoman said.

Speculation that the troubled device will end up being canceled outright in favor of the Motorola Targa has been swirling around the mobile and Android blogosphere.  At least Motorola is admitting there is a problem with the troubled device and that they are taking steps to ensure it operates as intended.  Just don’t expect to purchase one on May 12th as Verizon originally intended, and for that matter, don’t expect that what they do release will be quite what they had originally planned.

Bionic is an Atrix with LTE, So What’s Wrong with the LTE?

One question for our rumor mill: this device is essentially an LTE/CDMA version of the Motorola Atrix 4G.  LTE is Verizon’s implementation of 4G, which should offer much faster performance than AT&T’s HSPA+.  So what about LTE is causing it such difficult when the Atrix 4G had a relatively smooth release… oh, wait, did somebody say HSUPA?

And getting back to the Thunderbolt, that was Verizon’s very first LTE phone.  Meanwhile, the Samsung DROID Charge, Verizon’s second LTE smartphone, is due to be released on April 28th.

Source: The Wall Street Journal