Motorola Round-up: The DROID 4 VS The Razr Maxx

All Motorola Droids are the same right? Well we beg to differ! They may be based on the same technology and made around a similar pattern, but each phone responds to different user needs and preferences. So is the Droid 4 just the same copy of the previous ones with some cooler features, and is the Razr Maxx just a fatter version of the previous one? It is understandable why people would think this, and in some way they are right! But this doesn’t mean these two devices aren’t a great choice and powerful, competitive smartphones on the market.

 The Droid 4 Overview

The latest Motorola Droid reminds us a lot of the older ones, but do not mistaken it for something “old” as the technology is quite new and good. The Droid 4 works on Android 2.3.5 (Gingerbread) and features a great push-out physical keyboard that you can use. The battery is criticized for having a stand-by time of 205 hours which isn’t the greatest on the Market. It’s a 4G phone with WiFi, Web Access, GPS and Bluetooth technology. The camera is quite standard with 8 MP and 1080p video capture, but isn’t one of the best out there.

The Razr Maxx Overview

This is your taste of the Ice Cream Sandwich! Many say that this is just the Motorola Razr, but with a big bulky battery attached to it, and in many senses than one this is true! The Motorola Droid Razr was one of  the thinnest phones on the market, but had to be charged every night! For another $50 extra you can get the Razr Maxx which has a very powerful 3300 mAh battery that offers up to 380 hours of stand-by time. You can go for about two days of using the phone normally before you notice the need to charge it! The camera is very similar to the Droid 4, and this phone also comes with all the standard features.

Comparison of The Droid 4 with the Razr Maxx

The Display

When compering the display there is no question about it that the Razr Maxx is much sharper and cleaner thanks to the super AMOLED technology. However, bot phones perform quite well when it comes to the graphics and the details are really sharp and clean and give you their money’s worth. Still, the Maxx has that polarizing glow that gives it this trump card.

Processor Power

Another important field, but it doesn’t bring us such important data to analyse, as both phones use the exact same processor - 1.2GHz dual-core TI OMAP 4430.  They perform well, as this dual-core offers performance and speed most users will quite enjoy and feeling is like a dream.

Camera and Media

As mentioned before both have a 8 MP camera that is rather standard for today’s preferences. While both video recordings are done in 1080p, users report that the Razr Maxx has a sharper and cleaner image. But most people don’t pay too much attention to these details. As for the media, you will find the same interface and the same music player on both phones, as could be expected.

 

So what is your thought on the matter? The Razr Maxx has quite a few trump cards and is worth the extra price, but if you want that physical keyboard then the Droid 4 is probably for you!

 

The Sony Xperia Ion vs Samsung Galaxy S2

The Sony Xperia Ion is a new phone that was announced in January 2012 and is expected to hit the stores this spring. Like any competitive new Android smartphone its goal is to be one of the best, and so far the phones that have held this title are Galaxy S2, Droid Razr Maxx and HTC Desire. Since it is new phone it should have the specs of a superior phone when compared to the Galaxy S2 and it may be able to take the title. However, it is unlikely the Xperia Ion can hold such a tittle as sooner or later the Galaxy S3 will come to the stores. We saw how the Sony Xperia S fought against the Galaxy S2 (link to post), so now let us see how the Xperia Ion will do!

 A General Look On Both Phones

The Galaxy S2 is the thinner and lighter of the the two phones  with 116 grams of weight while the Xperia Ion has 144 grams. The new phone from Sony, however, has a bigger display screen of 4.6 inches wiht a screen resolution of 1280 x 720 pixels, compared to Samsung’s 4.3 with a 800 x 480 pixels resolution. Both phones run on the Android 2.3 user interface and have very similar features. Since the Xperia Ion is still a brand new name on the market, the reviews for it aren’t in yet and it’s Smart rating is lower than the Galaxy S2 that has a rating of 87 compared to Sony’s score of 65 (comparison link).

Overview of the Cameras

When buying for a new phone people always look for a good camera with high quality, big resolution and interesting additional options. When the Samsung Galaxy S2 came out, its 8 MP camera was one of the better ones on the market, but it’s normal to expect that Xperia Ion has a better one as it is a latest 12 MP. While both contain some of the standard and interesting options such as LED flash, image stabilization, smile detection and touch focus, the Xperia Ion seems more advanced. Both phones have 108op video capture that looks really nice.

Processors  And Storage

Both phones are sharp and have a dual core processor, but the Ion’s Snapdragon has 1.5 GHz  CPU speed which gives is trump card over the Galaxy S2 that has 1.2 GHz. Both phones come with 1 GB of RAM memory, and as far as storage is concerned both are very good. Apart from the 16 or 32 GB you can get with the phone, you can get another 16 or 32 GB via a SDcard which is really a lot and enough for just about all your needs.

The Battery

While both batteries are lithium ion batteries, the Xperia Ion has a 1,900 mAh battery which is better than the S2′s 1650 mAh, however, Samsungs technology gives their phone the S2 a better maximum standby time than all other Sony phones which is something to also be considered.

What are your thoughts on the matter? Share your comments bellow!

 

How to Update Google Nexus S 4G (CDMA) to Android 4.0.4 ICS Firmware

Everybody wants the taste of the Ice Cream Sandwich and Android 4.0.4, but for some of the Google Nexus S users it may be a long wait for the official update to come out for the upgrade of the devices firmware. If you happen to own a Google Nexus S 4G CDMA however, you can install Android 4.0.4 ICS Firmware manually without too much hard work.

If this is not your device that this tutorial and updating to Android 4.0.4 will not work for you. What we are going to do is show you how to easily install/flash the leaked firmware to your device in a step-by-step tutorial.

Please Take Note

This tutorial requires that you use a rooted Nexus S 4G CDMA device and Clockwork Recovery mod installed. Because this isn’t an official update there is no costumer support you can turn to if something goes wrong. Also, please remember to do the following:

1. Make a back-up of your contact using Google Sync
2.  Back up files such as music, images and folders on another external device or the SD card.
3. Turn on the USB Debugging feature. Go to Settings > Applications > Development.
4.  Deactivate  firewalls  and anti-viruses on your phone and computer before continuing as it may cause the insulation process to cancel.
5. Have at least 60% of battery power.

Download the Necessary Files

There are two downloads you will have to get by downloading and saving them to you computer. These two files are:

 

1. IMM26 Firmware Zip Package
2. ICS 4.0.4 Zip Package

Once you downloaded the phone connect your CDMA Google Nexus S 4G to your computer using a normal USB cable and copy these into the root directory of the device’s SD card. One this is done you may disconnect the device.

The Installation Process

1. Reboot your phone and enter recovery mode. To boot here  just press the Volume Up key while holding the Power button active for a while. Repeat this step until you get into Recovery mode.
2. Now that you reached the menu you will how to delete all the phone data. Sselect ‘wipe data / factory reset’ then choose ‘wipe cache’ and ‘wipe dalvik cache’.
3. Once all of the above have been done choose the option ‘install zip from sd card’ then select ‘choose zip from sd card’. First locate the file “Unofficial-IMM26-deodexed-interactive” and then repeat this  for the file called “IMM26.7z” as well. These files are the ones you downloaded and moved previously. The process of installing them may last up to 5 minuets each.
4. After this just choose  ‘++++ Go Back ++++’  and select the option ‘reboot system now’ and now you will reboot your phone into Android 4.0.4 ICS Firmware . Congrats!

Install Rooted Android 4.0.3 ICS Official Leak For Galaxy S II I9100

If you are like most advanced users who don’t want to wait for the official Samsung Android 4.0.3 update (and the fabulous Ice Cream Sandwich) for the Galaxy S2 I9100 then we will use this tutorial to show you how to install the unofficial leaked ROM that is supremely stable compared to most you can find on private online development boards. The ROM is ready to be used on daily basis and has received some great fixes last month. Performance has been improved drastically and some new features have been included. The bugs have also been fixed and some problems concerning the battery have been fixed and dealt with. The helpful folk over at  XDA-Developers forums have been keeping track of the ROM and its performance and the installing is now really easy if your device is rooted and has Clockwork Recovery Mod installed. We will guide your through the process step by step so read carefully before doing it on your own.

The Requirements:

Before we start there are a few things you need to get and do to be fully ready for the flash process.

• You need your device to be rooted. This will be beneficial to you in many different aspects and not just for this instillation process.
• ClockworkMod recovery has to be installed! If you already rooted your phone then you probably had it already. If not, get it via ROM Manager from the Market.
• Download XXLPB ROM – rooted and deodexed.
• Have at least 70% battery and back-up your files on an external device just in case.

Instructions:

1. So start of download the ROM and  save it to your computer After this, copy the downloaded file it to the root of the device’s SD card. You can now disconnect your phone and power it down.
2. Boot yourself into recovery mod.
3. You will now wipe all the phone data so we hope you have back-up ! Select the options wipe data/factory reset, wipe cache and wipe dalvick cache.
4. Next, all you have to do is go for install zip from sdcard > choose zip from sdcard and select the ROM which you downloaded and copied to your SD card.
5. Once you have selected the ROM the flashing will start and it may take up to 5 to 10 minuets.
6. When the ROM is installed the process is completed. Congratulations, just restart your device and enjoy the new power of Android 4.0.3 ICS !

How to Install Android 4.0.4 ICS (IMM30B) On Verizon Galaxy Nexus

It seems that owners of Google devices are the first to get a leaked version of a new update for Android OS. If you use Verizon Galaxy Nexus that is running on Android 4.0.2 this piratical guide will show you how how to flash / install Android 4.0.4 ICS on this device. The tutorial is very short and easy to follow, but make sure you read it trough once before doing it yourself.

What you can get with this update: better user experience and better overall speed, shorter boot time, more radio stations with better signal, switching from 3G to 4G (and the other way around) is now made simple and there are some fixes of the battery bugs.

Before Installing Android 4.0.4 On Verizon Galaxy Nexus

This is not an official update so what you will be doing isn’t supported by Google and there will be no costumer support and you warranty will be void if something goes wrong and trashes your device. While this is unlikely to happen, you should still make a back-up of all your files and contacts before moving forward. Your device must also be rooted and be running Android 4.0.2 (ICL53F). You must also have ClockWork Mod Recovery installed.

 

Installing Android 4.0.4 On Verizon Galaxy Nexus

So let us get started

1.  You must download the Android 4.0.4 file [link for download] for the Verizon Galaxy Nexus  and save it your computer. Rename this file (right click> rename or ctrl+R  while the file is selected) to “update.zip” . Next connect your device to your computer and copy this file to the root of the SD card.
2.  Power your device down and enter it into Clockwork Recovery Mod.
3. Perform a NANDROID backup. To do this, while in Recovery mode select the option “ backup and restore > backup ” and then transfer these files to your computer once the process is done. If you manually did a back-up already then skip this step.
4.  In the Recovery Mod menu choose the option “install zip from sdcard > apply /sdcard/update.zip”. The flashing process will begin shortly and last up to 5 minuets.
5.  Once the ROM finished with the installation/flashing process you may choose reboot system now to restart your phone normally and complete the update.