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OSNews: http://www.osnews.com/story/18475/Review_The_Linux-based_Motorola_RAZR2_V8 Exploring the Future of Computing en-us Copyright 2001-2009, David Adams adam+nospam@osnews.com Sun, 08 Nov 2009 21:53:28 GMT http://www.osnews.com/images/osnews.gif OSNews.com http://www.osnews.com Not a smartphone http://osnews.com/thread?264091 http://osnews.com/thread?264091 But... is it intended to BE a smartphone? My general impression is that the RAZR^2 is, like the RAZR, primarily a fashion phone with a little bit of everything in there somewhere. Fri, 17 Aug 2007 06:54:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (DigitalAxis) Comments RE: Not a smartphone http://osnews.com/thread?264092 http://osnews.com/thread?264092 Yes, Motorola's new Linux phones (not the older ones) *are* intended to be smartphones, when the SDK is released next year. The new SDK will support all Linux phones from the V8 and later (again, not their older ones). Fri, 17 Aug 2007 06:57:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Eugenia) Comments wifi http://osnews.com/thread?264097 http://osnews.com/thread?264097 I don't want to be picky but if the phone tends to be a smartphone i would expect it to have wifi. I quite like the slick design though.Edited 2007-08-17 07:44 Fri, 17 Aug 2007 07:42:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (netpython) Comments RE: wifi http://osnews.com/thread?264117 http://osnews.com/thread?264117 I understand that it is your personal opinion and I respect that, but since when does a phone require wifi to be considered a "true" smartphone? My Treo 650 has no wifi and yet I can go online anywhere I get a cellphone signal (which is anywhere I carry the phone) at near-DSL speeds. I don't have to wait until I'm near a hotspot, and while I do pay for that, it's cheap -- US$19.95/month -- and it's unlimited bandwidth.

I do feel that wifi would be a nice addition for the added speed boost at hotspots, but to me it's not worth buying a new phone and it certainly doesn't disqualify mine as a smartphone. Just the fact that I can run any number of palmOS apps qualifies it.

For that matter, I would say the Treos and Windows Mobile PDA/phones out there are more worthy of the title than any RAZR or even the iPhone -- at least until we get third-party app support for those.Edited 2007-08-17 10:32 Fri, 17 Aug 2007 10:31:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Morgan) Comments Any access to Linux internals? http://osnews.com/thread?264123 http://osnews.com/thread?264123 Is there any standart way to access the VT on this device? Fri, 17 Aug 2007 11:21:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (ddc_) Comments What I Plan To Do With My RAZR1 http://osnews.com/thread?264125 http://osnews.com/thread?264125 Think printer scene from Office Space.

I've had the phone for several years, and it has been nothing short of a dismal experience. Bad enough that I would never even consider the RAZR2. Bad enough that I'd never even consider another Motorola period. Form trumped functionality, which is almost never a good thing.

Best of luck to them though w/ this new phone. Fri, 17 Aug 2007 11:53:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (jayson.knight) Comments price tag... http://osnews.com/thread?264151 http://osnews.com/thread?264151 Who is going to pay almost $500 for a phone?Browser: Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU like Mac OS X; en) AppleWebKit/420+ (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/3.0 Mobile/1C25 Safari/419.3 Fri, 17 Aug 2007 14:11:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (codehead78) Comments RE: price tag... http://osnews.com/thread?264161 http://osnews.com/thread?264161 Hahah, I see what you did there. Fri, 17 Aug 2007 14:37:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (smeat) Comments RE: price tag... http://osnews.com/thread?264164 http://osnews.com/thread?264164 You sir, owe me a new keyboard because your post made me snarf my coffee all over my old one! XD Fri, 17 Aug 2007 15:12:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (DeadFishMan) Comments RE: price tag... http://osnews.com/thread?264166 http://osnews.com/thread?264166 I don't care who you are, that's funny! Fri, 17 Aug 2007 15:19:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (TaterSalad) Comments Nice phone http://osnews.com/thread?264167 http://osnews.com/thread?264167 Looks like a nice phone and gets the job done for now but the future trend of phones will include a qwerty keyboard to make it easier for txt messaging and web browsing. Fri, 17 Aug 2007 15:21:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (TaterSalad) Comments RE: price tag... http://osnews.com/thread?264174 http://osnews.com/thread?264174 Exactly. If I'm going to drop that kind of change on a phone, it's NOT going to be a Moto-POS.

Nicely done though. I nearly shot coffee out my nose. Fri, 17 Aug 2007 15:56:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (bryanv) Comments Sorry http://osnews.com/thread?264197 http://osnews.com/thread?264197 But I tend to avoid Motorola phones - the quality, receiption, everything about them is below par when compared to the likes of Samsung, Nokia, Alcatel, LG etc. etc. Fri, 17 Aug 2007 16:40:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (kaiwai) Comments RE: Sorry http://osnews.com/thread?264208 http://osnews.com/thread?264208 I had no problem's with this phone's reception. I had with their older Linux phone, ROKR E2, but not this one. Fri, 17 Aug 2007 17:21:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Eugenia) Comments Prepaid SIM http://osnews.com/thread?264210 http://osnews.com/thread?264210 Does anyone know if this phone supports prepaid plans? I have pay-as-you-go via Cingular (ok fine AT&T) and I want to just be able to take the SIM card out and pop it in this new phone.

I'm just confused because when I shop online for phones they always put prepaid phones in a separate category away from all the others as if there's some technical distinction. Is there a difference? Fri, 17 Aug 2007 17:27:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (ThanhLy) Comments RE: Prepaid SIM http://osnews.com/thread?264212 http://osnews.com/thread?264212 No, there is not a difference. All unlocked GSM phones work with prepaid just fine. Fri, 17 Aug 2007 17:30:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Eugenia) Comments RE[2]: Sorry http://osnews.com/thread?264216 http://osnews.com/thread?264216

I had no problem's with this phone's reception. I had with their older Linux phone, ROKR E2, but not this one.

When I was with Vodafone I had a Motorola - so many problems it wasn't funny; I thought it was just crap reception till I got another phone, an el cheapo Siemens, no problems, 100% perfect reception. Fri, 17 Aug 2007 17:47:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (kaiwai) Comments RE: What I Plan To Do With My RAZR1 http://osnews.com/thread?264220 http://osnews.com/thread?264220 Haha, I know of only 1 person who has a Razr and actually likes it. The rest say it sucks. I don't own one, but if the opinions of the phone are so negative, I don't understand why it is so popular. Fri, 17 Aug 2007 18:14:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (WorknMan) Comments RE[2]: I don't understand why it is so popular http://osnews.com/thread?264226 http://osnews.com/thread?264226 Marketing. Fri, 17 Aug 2007 19:14:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (glarepate) Comments will a unlocked v8 work with at&t? http://osnews.com/thread?264230 http://osnews.com/thread?264230 So, at&t won't be selling the v8 (linux based), but the v9 (old OS based). However, will the unlocked v8 work with their network without issue or at least mostly without issue? Fri, 17 Aug 2007 19:22:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (rhavenn) Comments RE: will a unlocked v8 work with at&t? http://osnews.com/thread?264232 http://osnews.com/thread?264232 Yes, of course. How do you think I used it? Don't you see my screenshot saying "AT&T"?

Fri, 17 Aug 2007 19:26:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Eugenia) Comments need more Nokia E70-styled phones http://osnews.com/thread?264236 http://osnews.com/thread?264236 Nice phone but, I'd rather have something like the Nokia E70:
http://www.thebestpageintheuniverse.net/c.cgi?u=iphone
An open OS would be nice, but usability comes first. Fri, 17 Aug 2007 19:32:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Jondice) Comments RE: price tag... http://osnews.com/thread?264247 http://osnews.com/thread?264247 My Verizon accounts long past the required contract bondage.

A colleague let me test out his iPhone.

I'm waiting until this Fall when the latest Mac Pros are out and then I'm adding that and the iPhone/ATT for work/home. Fri, 17 Aug 2007 20:15:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (tyrione) Comments headset? Wireless? http://osnews.com/thread?264251 http://osnews.com/thread?264251 Was the headset mentioned (rather positively I might add) bluetooth? Wired? Fri, 17 Aug 2007 20:33:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (sbike) Comments T-mobile http://osnews.com/thread?264252 http://osnews.com/thread?264252 Great to hear that t-mobile is getting the 2GB version which as far as I can tell is not available at the moment. Has anyone heard anything on the t-mobile timing? Fri, 17 Aug 2007 20:34:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (sbike) Comments impressive photos http://osnews.com/thread?264254 http://osnews.com/thread?264254 I have to admit, Im rather impressed with the quality of the photos taken with the phone. I was never really interested in cameras in phones but the quality is pretty good.

Also.....Calvin and Hobbes rule! Fri, 17 Aug 2007 20:53:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Calipso) Comments RE[2]: What I Plan To Do With My RAZR1 http://osnews.com/thread?264258 http://osnews.com/thread?264258 Like I said, form defeated functionality. People are more concerned about looking cool. Plus now most companies are giving them away for free. Fri, 17 Aug 2007 21:13:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (jayson.knight) Comments RE[3]: What I Plan To Do With My RAZR1 http://osnews.com/thread?264260 http://osnews.com/thread?264260 And I HATE that. Luckily there are still companies that make items that put functionality over form... Fri, 17 Aug 2007 21:35:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (helf) Comments RE[2]: wifi http://osnews.com/thread?264261 http://osnews.com/thread?264261 I fancy the zaurus pda´s and allways have. Sometimes it´s nice to have anonymous access. And any hotspot in theory can provide just that. Anyway wifi is handy if you want to sync anywhere in the office and at home. I personally don't like bluetooth. You see the mileage may vary. The prize of the phone would held me back from buying though. Fri, 17 Aug 2007 22:00:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (netpython) Comments RE[3]: Sorry http://osnews.com/thread?264262 http://osnews.com/thread?264262

When I was with Vodafone I had a Motorola - so many problems it wasn't funny; I thought it was just crap reception till I got another phone, an el cheapo Siemens, no problems, 100% perfect reception.

That must be because Motorola now has an unbelievable market share of 6% in EMEA (excluding China and India). Fri, 17 Aug 2007 22:18:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (_LH_) Comments RE: T-mobile http://osnews.com/thread?264266 http://osnews.com/thread?264266 The thing about 2GB: originally the V8 was supposed to have 2GB of memory, but becayse Motorola had a surplus of 512MB chips, they released a 512MB version first until those chips run out, then they'll release the 2GB version. Fri, 17 Aug 2007 22:52:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (patrix) Comments The main question http://osnews.com/thread?264267 http://osnews.com/thread?264267 The main question is, after I have read the review. Should I buy this phone? I currently own a blackberry 8800, and I love it. I honestly respect people's opinions, after all, how will I know what's cool? Fri, 17 Aug 2007 23:05:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (tonywob) Comments RE: What I Plan To Do With My RAZR1 http://osnews.com/thread?264270 http://osnews.com/thread?264270 What are your complaints about the RAZR? I'm using mine for over two years now, and the only thing that bothers me is that it's to easy to accidentally change the ring style. Fri, 17 Aug 2007 23:12:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (stew) Comments RE: price tag... http://osnews.com/thread?264271 http://osnews.com/thread?264271 You, my friend, are funny. You gave me the first laugh of the day Fri, 17 Aug 2007 23:13:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (tonywob) Comments RE[4]: Sorry http://osnews.com/thread?264285 http://osnews.com/thread?264285 Pardon, but what has that got to do with the price of fish? nothing.

The fact that Motorola has that amount of marketshare tells more about marketing than quality of product; christ, just look at iPod, a sub par product marketed to buggery and sucked down by the masses as innovative. Sat, 18 Aug 2007 01:37:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (kaiwai) Comments RE[2]: What I Plan To Do With My RAZR1 http://osnews.com/thread?264288 http://osnews.com/thread?264288 "What are your complaints about the RAZR?"

-Been through 4 batteries...they are good for about 6 months then rapidly go downhill, i.e. I'll get maybe 30 minutes of talk time, or a day or 2 of standby.

-The phone randomly "white screens"...I don't know what else to call it. The phone freezes and restarts, usually in the middle of a call. Happens about 1-2 times a month, and has been doing this for about a year (never dropped it, and no water damage).

-More thoughts I had about a year and a half ago: http://jaysonknight.com/blog/archive/2006/04/14/Motorola-RAZR-V3-_2...

Perhaps mine was a lemon, but I think it was more related to the model Cingular was selling (some friends who have the Verizon version are a little happier, plus their phones seem much snappier). I have a work issued blackberry pearl now and could not be happier. Sat, 18 Aug 2007 02:20:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (jayson.knight) Comments Hmmmm http://osnews.com/thread?264289 http://osnews.com/thread?264289 A really hot phone - but the no radio is bad and the no microSD is a definite show-stopper for me. Sat, 18 Aug 2007 02:21:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (flywheel) Comments RE[3]: What I Plan To Do With My RAZR1 http://osnews.com/thread?264291 http://osnews.com/thread?264291 >Perhaps mine was a lemon,

Nah mine does that too ... moto sucks .... Sat, 18 Aug 2007 02:35:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Cass) Comments RE[3]: What I Plan To Do With My RAZR1 http://osnews.com/thread?264298 http://osnews.com/thread?264298 Mine goes white screen too, and it's irritating cuz I can't bring it back easily, I turn it on and off several times until it finally starts to work.

It also has the least intuitive/functional interface among all cellphones that I had before, things that could be done with pressing 2~3 buttons require digging the menus on RAZR and you can't set shortcuts for everything.

RAZR's battery's half-life is 4 months btw.

The fact that I am on Rogers (AKA robbers) although not RAZR's fault, still worsens the experience.

On the plus side it looks good and it did survive couple of falls recently, but that's about it.Edited 2007-08-18 05:12 Sat, 18 Aug 2007 05:09:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (linumax) Comments RE: need more Nokia E70-styled phones http://osnews.com/thread?264302 http://osnews.com/thread?264302 I just read through the review and I too have to say that I would rather choose E70. Atleast Symbian phones can run more than just Java apps. But well, I'm still happily using my Nokia 6630, no need to change yet

Sat, 18 Aug 2007 07:56:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (WereCatf) Comments How about a review of the Openmoko Phone? http://osnews.com/thread?264309 http://osnews.com/thread?264309 Has anyone on here played with one of the openmoko phones? I'm kind of interested in buying one of those.

It's open, and quad-band GSM, if I read it correctly. Sat, 18 Aug 2007 13:17:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Arakon) Comments RE[2]: will a unlocked v8 work with at&t? http://osnews.com/thread?264312 http://osnews.com/thread?264312 I think the question is representative of the ungodly amount of control these companies have over us.

How restricted we are.

You can by a GSM phone unlocked and it will work with any GSM carrier. You do not need to have a phone "supported" in any way.

Pop in the sim. Network compatible with phone? Yes? Then it works?

See all the people that UnLock their iPhone just to use it with a different company... Sat, 18 Aug 2007 14:48:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (ThawkTH) Comments Hmm http://osnews.com/thread?264329 http://osnews.com/thread?264329 Just because it uses Linux doesn't mean I'd be willing to pay anywhere near $500 for it. I might pay $50 after some encouragement.

$500 can buy you a brand new desktop computer with a Core 2 Duo processor or even a fairly decent notebook. Any computer is a million times more useful than any phone and get this... you can even call people on their cell or land line phone from a computer, go figure. Sat, 18 Aug 2007 20:01:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Xaero_Vincent) Comments RE: How about a review of the Openmoko Phone? http://osnews.com/thread?264330 http://osnews.com/thread?264330 Yes, I have a Neo1973. It is very much in development right now. I make calls from the shell. Any review at this point would probably frustrate the reviewer, unless they were also a developer and understood the possibilities of the future. Check back in a few months. Sat, 18 Aug 2007 20:03:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (jaebird) Comments RE[3]: What I Plan To Do With My RAZR1 http://osnews.com/thread?264374 http://osnews.com/thread?264374 Interesting. I have never seen the white screen. Maybe a different firmware version? Mine's one of the earlier ones that don't have video recording functionality. And I'm still on the first battery, after two years. Sat, 18 Aug 2007 23:40:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (stew) Comments Nokia should use FreeBSD ARM arch to rule http://osnews.com/thread?264421 http://osnews.com/thread?264421 Still E90 is better when it comes to features.

Nokia should use FreeBSD ARM for that

Sun, 19 Aug 2007 08:48:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Arabian) Comments RE[4]: What I Plan To Do With My RAZR1 http://osnews.com/thread?264511 http://osnews.com/thread?264511 Wow, yeah, that was worth a 0 rating ! Sun, 19 Aug 2007 22:40:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (helf) Comments RE: What I Plan To Do With My RAZR1 http://osnews.com/thread?264532 http://osnews.com/thread?264532 ..then wouldn't you think replacing the OS would be a positive move?

But I know what you mean. Sony have burnt me a couple of times, so I don't even consider buying their stuff anymore. Mon, 20 Aug 2007 02:42:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (wakeupneo) Comments RE: Hmm http://osnews.com/thread?264534 http://osnews.com/thread?264534 ...or, on the other hand, $500 could buy you several boxes of tin cans and lots and lots of string, then you can make calls without it costing you a cent! Brilliant!! Mon, 20 Aug 2007 02:52:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (wakeupneo) Comments