By Motorola has just announced that most of their smartphones released in 2011 — and likely all the ones released in 2012 — will be receiving Jelly Bean by the end of this year. That’s great! Seriously, it is.
While all the other folks are banking on using Ice Cream Sandwich as an intermediate update to hold folks over, Motorola will instead be funneling all of their assets for update development into Jelly Bean.
Waiting for Ice Cream Sandwich before going over to Jelly Bean could have meant a wait well into 2013. But unfortunately a couple of Motorola’s devices released that year are technically unable to handle Jelly Bean.
For those users, they’re offering a $100 credit to anyone who trades their incapable 2011 Motorola smartphone in toward an upgrade to some of Motorola’s newest offerings. It’s a lot more than we could have asked for, and for that we thank Motorola for giving users a way to enjoy the latest and greatest without having to pay for it themselves entirely.
Finally, Motorola has made a commitment to bringing out developer devices for those who wish to tinker with Android.
While its bootloader unlock tool should be available for select smartphones coming out this year and beyond, developer edition devices will be ideal for those who want a certain phone that a carrier is blocking bootloader unlocks for.
These devices tend to be offered off-contract, but Motorola hasn’t released anymore details as to how they’re going to handle this program.
And those were just a few of the many exciting announcements Motorola made in New York City this week. Don’t forget that they also announced the Motorola DROID RAZR HD and its MAXX variant, as well as the Motorola DROID M.
Hit those links for more detailed information on those announcements, and let us know if you’d be willing to take advantage of the device trade-in offer if your Motorola devices ends up being left out of the loop.
Developer phone = Standard edition Phones on Verizon will still have locked bootloaders.
so much hate for verizons locked bootloaders lol
Not really. I’m not on Verizon so I could care less. BUT for people who are and who like to tinker with their phones this isn’t good.
Yeah, I lament the locked bootloader as samsung phones just don’t have good enough reception for me, so the galaxy nexus on verizon doesn’t work, but motorola locks their phones and they are the only ones with a sort of comparable option. HTC’s only option is the rezound which is insanely thick and has a small screen by modern standards. Luckily I think they found ways around the locking on the razr, so hopefully they can work something usable out on the razr hd lineup as well.
People make a big deal out of the bootloader.
Is this like their bootloader promise? a year later and still only partially what they promised….sorry motorola, start fulfilling your promises THEN i MAY believe you again
Yeah but google is now in charge
but google also said they would leave the company run as its own entity
Yeah but they have a new CEO from Google
True…. would be great but I remain skeptical
If Google was actually in charge they wouldn’t be releasing a developer phone. They would just release the phone with an unlocked bootloader….like every other OEM
So the Razr M will be the first Verizon phone to officially run Jelly Bean, and not the Galaxy Nexus??…… wtf…
The new Razr phones won’t launch with JB. They will be upgraded by the end of the year.
The race is still on.
Ok, so they are offering a $100 credit if your device is not going to recieve JellyBean if launced in 2011. Is there a list of those devices that will get Jelly Bean? Is the Bionic on this list? Details, details details…………..
Nice stall they’re way behind on the ics so they can stall even longer in jb thanks motorola thanks
let’s see if that’s even possible on the Motorola Triumph. Worse phone I’ve ever had.
How about some GSM devices? Any news on some phones for a carrier other than Verizon?
Jelly bean for most phones in 2011. Google is in charge.
let’s get this party started!
think that $100 could be put towards a developer edition phone? Might just be worth using in that case. Although the screen still has me disappointed. Hoping for some sweet new Nexus action this fall…
The developer phone might be Motorola’s AOSP phone. This could be the start of multiple manufacturer “Nexus” phones. Next up, Sony.
ok