CONFIRMED: Droid OTA Update Underway [UPDATE]
| by Rob Jackson on December 7th, 2009 |
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Depending on whether or not you want to believe two three (and counting) different members on Android Forums, the Motorola Droid is now receiving OTA updates to firmware version 2.01:
New unlock sliders. New unlock screen. Better camera. Black widgets. Internet seems faster. I like!
Just got my update notification. Took maybe 2 min but running 2.0.1 now
UPDATE: And look what Jef just found:
http://learning.verizonwireless.com/learning/Droid_Motorola_Software_Update.pdf
Enjoy improved performance with these OS enhancements.
Verizon Wireless is pleased to announce new software enhancements for your DROID by Motorola smartphone. The Droid by Motorola software
version AP:ESD56/BP:C_01.3E.01P update includes numerous improvements.The following enhancements to the Droid by Motorola have been made:
xx OS stability is improved.
xx Battery life is improved.
xx Camera auto focus functionality is improved, and time between
shots is reduced.
xx Enhancements for three-way calling.
xx Audio for incoming calls is improved.
xx When receiving a call on call waiting, the speakerphone now
remains on.
xx Bluetooth® functionality is improved; background echo is eliminated.
xx Improved Bluetooth phone book transfer of contacts to in-vehicle
Bluetooth solutions.
xx After closing a GPS application, the GPS icon will now automatically
be removed from the notification panel.
xx Users can now receive SMS and MMS messages after an EMS
message is received.
xx SMS and MMS may now be sent to seven-digit addresses.
xx Google® contact merging has been updated to accommodate
seven-digit numbers.
xx Visual Voice Mail notices now arrive instantaneously.
• The corporate calendar widget user interface is updated.
Head on over to the Motorold Droid 2.01 OTA Update Thread to share your experiences and follow the news/reports as they happen!
The picture is my cute lil way of saying Droid Over-The-Air. Or stupid lil way… depends how you look at it I suppose.
Update 2: A member of droidforums.net posted a picture of the new home screen:
I’m unsure how I feel about that. It would be nice if if were optional.
Update 3: “Here’s what we’ve got: a clear explanation from a VZW connect that outlines how the OTA updates work for the Motorola DROID. At noon today, approximately 1,000 people received the notification to update their handset. At around midnight this evening, 9,000 more will receive it. After the initial 10,000, there is a 48-hour waiting period. No one after that receives anything until December 10th at 12AM, which will be 200,000 people. It will continue at 200,000 devices a day until everyone is updated.” -BGR
1. B.Rose wrote on December 7, 2009
Nice. Those will all be welcome changes. I was hoping for some improvements in the Gmail app, too, but I guess I’m going to have to wait for that… hopefully not for forever.
2. CJ wrote on December 7, 2009
I’ll believe it when someone posts a screenshot!
3. Tovachea Nealy wrote on December 7, 2009
man all these updates sound awesome if i only i had a droid instead of a an old G1 well i guess i’ll just have to get 1 and get that update. p.s. can’t wait to see the new unlock screen to see if it makes iphone owners envious =)
4. Jef wrote on December 7, 2009
I’ll post screenshots as soon as I get my update here:
Details of the Verizon Droid OTA Update: http://jeftek.com/583/verizon-releases-ota-update-for-the-motorola-droid/
5. mR.KEnNY wrote on December 7, 2009
i want fw 2.0 update for my HERO T_T HTC very long for update….sad >”<
6. dab5ph wrote on December 7, 2009
do the home screen and/or unlock screens rotate without taking the keyboard out??????
7. Darren wrote on December 7, 2009
@ Jef
Loved to see some screenies.
What’s the situation with us Milestone users will we be able to given this?
8. Powderhound wrote on December 7, 2009
Black Widgets? What are those?
9. Chris Snyder wrote on December 7, 2009
If anyone gets the update notification, please follow these directions:
http://www.alldroid.org/viewtopic.php?f=210&t=560
It will help the root effort greatly.
10. Aaron wrote on December 7, 2009
For those wanted the DROID rooted, please follow these instructions to help before you update your phone:
http://alldroid.org/viewtopic.php?f=210&t=560
11. Aaron wrote on December 7, 2009
This just in:
http://alldroid.org/viewtopic.php?f=210&t=431&start=310
“The update.zip is downloaded to the cache directory, which is conveniently not readable by us.
It would be a really, really big help though if someone could get a hold of it. Supposedly they do allow downloading the update over wifi – unless it is downloaded over an encrypted connection, it would be possible for someone to cache it at their router. Anyone feel like trying?”
12. Chris wrote on December 7, 2009
My Droid has not been updated. Any idea how they send the OTA out?
13. Talton "Phases" Pettigrew wrote on December 7, 2009
Updated post with schedule
14. rick wrote on December 7, 2009
When will I get my update its the seventh now
15. Santamoose wrote on December 7, 2009
Thanks Talton. That kinda sucks! Here’s to hoping..
16. Gunner wrote on December 7, 2009
I’m pretty sure the updates are being delivered at random in this manner:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o9fXYQjwR0w
17. Largan wrote on December 7, 2009
Kinda Off Topic. But does that mean that The HTC hero (Sprint) will be getting the 2.01 ( or 2.0) update soon? since they already got 2.01 rolling out on the droid.
18. Double_K wrote on December 7, 2009
I don’t think that new home screen – I hope it’s optional
19. Andrew Zarian wrote on December 7, 2009
Got my update . I made a video reviewing it. from the start i can see that its much faster then before and smooth
http://www.guysfromqueens.com/?p=824
20. Marley wrote on December 7, 2009
Black widgets image
http://www.droidforums.net/forum/droid-news/7217-ota-updates-possible-before-11th-21.html#post57112
21. snorkel wrote on December 8, 2009
So has anyone that has the updated tested voice quality and if the 1x signal strength has improved? I went though 2 droids that simply could not hold a decent 1x voice signal.
22. BurN wrote on December 8, 2009
lmao gunner.
23. Eric wrote on December 8, 2009
Got the update this morning. Got to say I don’t like the new sliders. The old one was way easier to unlock. It felt more natural. This feels like a step backwards.
24. kappy79 wrote on December 8, 2009
I got the update around midnight and it works great. The new widgets look awesome (personal calender widget is more square also, not sure if that update was mentioned). The home screen has no lag what so ever (I seldom had any unless I just ran several apps) and all lag on the notification pannel is gone too. The new unlock screen slides strait across instead of in a half circle. I like the old slider better, and I was not able to find a setting to change it back. Other than that, great update!
25. mcbowflex wrote on December 8, 2009
I love how the rest of the Android devices that got everything started are stuck at 1.6, and some at 1.5, but yet the droid comes out at 2.0 and is already being updated to 2.0.1. Kinda bullshit if you ask me. The people that bought the original G1 are the people that allowed Android to get where its at now. If no one would of bought a G1, Android would have just died off. Now not only the original consumers but also the original carrier is stuck with an outdated version of the OS. Google if you see this we all want 2.0!!
26. Morten wrote on December 8, 2009
I wonder when my Milestone will get the update…
27. Morten wrote on December 8, 2009
@mcbowflex Android 2.1 is on the way to you HTC people isn’t it?
28. Ren wrote on December 8, 2009
@mcbowflex: cry me a river, build a bridge and get over it. Newsflash:Computer hardware ages FAST ! What you buy today is outdated tomorrow. Just wait 6 months to a year and the Droid will be where the G1 is now. That’s the price you pay for technology advances. It’s not like the G1 is useless. They got the maps update. The fixes for droid were just higher priority.
29. Daniel wrote on December 8, 2009
@mcbowflex:
The Droid is also run by Motorola, which is really betting the survival of their cell phone industry on Android. Ren is right though, technology ages fast. You can not expect to have the latest and greatest at all times and not fork over a ton of money for it. I had the G1 and wanted the Droid. The Droid cost me $950, including T-Mobile cancellation fees and the $400 deposit for Verizon since I’m barely 19 and haven’t built up any credit yet. Crazy? Yeah, but I like gadgets. People just don’t understand how fast technology dates, especially something that comes from Google, the company that usually keeps everything in Beta because they are constantly improving it.
30. DLCAMACHO wrote on December 8, 2009
Will the update make the bluetooth completely hands-free?
Also – I’m hoping for an update to allow seperate notifications for email and for text.
31. Steven wrote on December 8, 2009
Can’t wait for the update. I love my droid but as you all know there is lots of room for improvement. I am just glad that google, motorola, and verizon are all working together to make this phone perfect. As for the complaining about being stuck with 1.5 and 1.6, you can partially blame HTC for that but as someone else said, HTC is talking about working on an update to 2.1 for the hero at least so maybe their other phones as well? I dunno. But yeah, I can’t wait for the update lol
32. MarvinAndroid wrote on December 8, 2009
@mcbowflex – I was also a G1 owner and I honestly don’t think we have the right to complain to much. The G1 is still a great phone and runs most of the same applications the Droid does. Over the course of owning the G1 (essentially since the day it was released) the phone was updated to 1.5 and 1.6. And with those updates came things like: widgets, onscreen keyboard, auto-rotating screen, graphical transitions etc… Over the course of a year the G1 became a MUCH better phone than the day I bought it. Now the G1 can also do Maps Navigation which was one of the key selling points for the Droid. It’s still an excellent phone which can do almost everything the Droid can. There really is no need to be grumpy about owning a G1. (I own a Droid now.. and I honestly miss the G1 keyboard and how smooth the phone operated when switching between home screens.. my Droid is choppy as hell in comparison).
33. Wendell wrote on December 8, 2009
Impatient? Update manually…
http://www.droidforums.net/forum/droid-news/7522-manually-update-2-0-1-a.html
34. Aaron wrote on December 9, 2009
Did the manual update without a hitch!
35. Jack wrote on December 9, 2009
manual update worked for me also. Is there anyway to get the old lockscreen back?
36. rbush wrote on December 9, 2009
Just updated mine. Worked like a charm!
37. Matt wrote on December 10, 2009
Did anyone get the 12/10 round of updates? Is that midnight CST or EST?
38. Justin wrote on December 10, 2009
I haven’t received it yet and I’m EST time, getting pretty impatient and don’t want to install manually…
39. Aaryn wrote on December 10, 2009
Still waiting for my Droid to tell me it needs the update… looks like I will be waiting at least another day nothing on my phone at 12 even pacific time. Ohh well my Droid is awesome but would like to be up to date though
40. Mike wrote on December 10, 2009
Update was waiting for me this morning when I woke up. Seems to be working well so far. I like the new font on the unlock screen but am still a bit skeptical of the unlock slider still… Black widgets are nice, and transitions between screens seem to be a bit better as well.
41. Corby wrote on December 10, 2009
Got my update this morning. I don’t care for the new unlock feature but that is a minor annoyance which i am sure I will get used to. As for the battery life, it doesn’t seem to be much improved, I will give it a few days.
42. jpar63 wrote on December 10, 2009
Anyone know if this update fixes the SMS character counter issue? I can not stand it that when I use the virtual keypad in landscape mode, there is absolutly NO CHARACTER COUNTER. I text alot of people outside the Verizon network and having texts cut off at 160 (which I know is a general SMS system limitation) without knowing how many you have typed is totally annoying. I have had $20 phones that have a counter, it is mind-blowing that the Droid doesn’t (pun intended).
43. Greg wrote on December 10, 2009
Hello all,
I recently had my droid updated this morning. A message on my screen appeared stating that an update was available, and if I would like to continue. After the update was completed I noticed the new slider like the picture above. The big news for me was that after the update; My bluetooth audio now works in my 2009 Mazda 6. This was a huge deal breaker for me. Although I am still considering the eris due to form factor. I love the droid (switched from a BB Tour), but the idea of using the Sense UI, will bring me back to the feel of the Blackberry I love. The only thing preventing me from this is the lack of 2.1 OS.
44. Aaryn wrote on December 10, 2009
Still nothing on mine… Hopefully sometime today or tomorrow but my lick it will be sometime this weekend
45. Sketchee wrote on December 10, 2009
Greg wrote “My bluetooth audio now works in my 2009 Mazda 6. This was a huge deal breaker for me.”
Why was this a huge deal breaker? I would think that it would better now that it works.
46. David B wrote on December 10, 2009
Update waiting for me also this morning when I woke up. Snappy and solid overall, but it killed several apps I haven’t had time to reload yet like Mother Ted, NYTimes, and Labyrinth Lite.
47. Greg wrote on December 10, 2009
Sketchee,
It was a deal breaker before the update. now that it works,I am reconsidering my outlook, although I still believe the eris is great, I think the moto droid, as of now, has too many feature to make me cross over to the eris
48. Sambosis wrote on December 11, 2009
Midnight came and went… no update! So I started looking at detailed instructions on how to update manually… but wait! When I was ready to start the manual update around 1AM I look at my phone and I have been alerted MY OTA UPDATE is here!!! In progress now!
49. Lonny B. wrote on December 11, 2009
Make sure that you have the WiFi enabled. My wife and I got our Droids at the same time. My update was done on the morning of 12/10 and I had my WiFi enabled at home. That evening we enabled her WiFi at home and in the morning 12/11 hers said the update was available. I have also read about this in a couple other forums. Good Luck all.
50. Yom wrote on December 11, 2009
Update was waiting for me this morning when I woke up. Looks good. Faster. Haven’t had time to play around with it any deeper yet.
51. Gary wrote on December 11, 2009
Received the update this AM. I was hoping that Google got the word that their highest priority isse, which btw they feel is an enhancement for blue tooth total hands free dialing, would have been with this round of fixes! NOT! Wake up Google and Motorola and listen to your customers!
52. Chad wrote on December 11, 2009
I just got the update… A few icons had to be deleted form my home screen and replaced from the app tray (gallery and some games). I’m hoping this will fix the bugs that my hotmail POP account had. I was always getting phantom alerts that new messages were waiting, but nothing was there. I’ll report back.
53. Adam wrote on December 11, 2009
I only see 3 of my contacts!!! Any ideas why? Help please!!!
Adam
54. Yom wrote on December 11, 2009
Uh-oh…anyone else getting lots of network error messages post update? I think I may have gotten this message once or twice in the month I’ve had the Droid This morning, since the update, I’ve gotten it about 10 times – particularly when in the market. Let us know if you’re experiencing this (and if you have any guesses as to why) please.
Thx!
55. Gary wrote on December 11, 2009
Is anyone else seeing a problem when sliding across the touchscreen with PW pattern before complete and screen goes black? Then you have to turn it back on by hitting the button again at the top to wake it back up? Only started after the 2.01 update. Am I missing something or is this a bug?
56. Chad wrote on December 11, 2009
Nope, the hotmail problems persist…
57. ScottP wrote on December 11, 2009
Got my update as a wake-up present! I can not believe this thing.
It:
- Had breakfast ready w/ coffee
- Started my truck
- I got to work – it was ALL done.
I love this phone update!
58. Scott wrote on December 12, 2009
Got my updates this morning as well;
-Black widgets like someone else mentinoned
-It killed a shortcut: Gallery
-It killed two widget picture frames (not a biggie)
-Did not fix issue with auto power on when plugging in to charger when already in off state (annoying)
-Auto focus does seem to work much better
59. bw wrote on December 12, 2009
Really miss the old unlock slider. It was much more natural and worked everytime. Now I seem to have to do it multiple times before the phone unlocks. Please give us a choice to go back.
60. joe wrote on December 20, 2009
I have problems with the droids mms and sms. they dont move {for example i get a lot of cartoon jokes that are supposed to be moving but when they get to my phone its just a still picture} and i cant download and watch a movie on the droid. it will download but it says cannot play video. any help on this would be appreciated
61. rktecct wrote on December 24, 2009
I love the update. Email still needs work. Does anyone know if the Droid will get the 2.1 update like HTC?
62. joe wrote on December 25, 2009
they need to make the droid play avi files
63. joe wrote on December 25, 2009
I want to know why the blackberry storm does more and is faster than the droid
64. brian wrote on January 28, 2010
Someone sent me a multimedia message and when I open it its just a still shot and won’t play on my droid. Help please!
65. blade wrote on February 15, 2010
I bought the htc droid eris because the salesman said It would have 2.0 or higher by mid Jan or so….I need my GPS, for work…so now I am stuck for now using old ways to find new addresses.
WHEN IS THE UPDATE TO 2.01 HAPPENING FOR THE DROID ERIS?