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Gadgets Motorola Droid X Screen Failures, Privacy Issue
Mark Kurlyandchik - July 21, 2010 8:21 AM

38 comment(s) - last by SSDMaster.. on Aug 10 at 8:19 AM

Motorola Droid X (Source: Motorola)

Flickering screens and dead pixels reported on Verizon's newest Android device

Just days after launching the Motorola Droid X -- Verizon's non-QWERTY follow-up to the massively successful Motorola Droid -- a few issues have been reported by early adopters, the most serious being a bug with the screen that can render the device useless. Neowin posted videos that demonstrate the issues, which range from flickering screens to vertical stripes of dead pixels.

A commenter on HowardForums stated that Verizon tech support told him that the Android update currently rolling out to the Droid X will fix the problem.

In response to an Engadget inquiry, Verizon released this statement:

Verizon Wireless and Motorola are aware of a very small number of DROID X units that have experienced a flickering or banding display. Motorola has resolved the issue and is continuing to ship the phones. Any consumer who experiences a flickering or banding display should contact a Motorola customer support center or Verizon Wireless.

Another issue, cited by BoyGeniusReport, seems to be tied to the MOTOBLUR overlay that the Droid X runs and has to do with privacy. On the X, and other devices that run BLUR, deleted text messages and call logs still show up under contacts history. It appears that the only way to completely delete unwanted texts and call history is to perform a master reset on the handset.

These types of issues on mobile devices are not uncommon, but have been receiving a great deal of attention lately thanks to a reception problem with a recent high-profile device. The issues plaguing the Droid X come at an unfortunate time for would-be customers who want to get into an Android device before Verizon implements its rumored tiered data plans.

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What would Apple do?

By Mitch101 on 7/21/2010 8:43:37 AM , Rating: 5

What would Apple do?
A) Tell you everyone has display problems - See as he takes a hammer to some competitors phone but requires someone else to swing it because have you seen Steve Jobs arms? He will hurt himself if the hammer is not fisher price even then why chance it.

B) Serve you with a gag order, hold your family hostage, while Vito tells you didn't see nothing if you want a replacement.

C) Blame Microsoft. A Wookie living on Endor well you know Microsoft planted the Wookie there.

D) Claim responsibility for defective screens and allow you to replace the device prior to an earnings report. Who put this option here?

E) Issue a sticker of a simulated display screen and tell you they have tested the screens to be of the highest quality ever and the sticker improves reception.

Again who offered D as an option? Steve wants answers. Dont offer replacements. In fact charge for delivery on the sticker.

RE: What would Apple do?

By judasmachine on 7/21/2010 8:57:07 AM , Rating: 2

Don't forget fire whoever put option D in a public place where someone might pick it up and run with it.

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RE: What would Apple do?

By Mitch101 on 7/21/2010 9:08:30 AM , Rating: 5

You say Fire - Apple says Push off a building/Suicide whats the difference?

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RE: What would Apple do?

By Obujuwami on 7/21/2010 6:13:04 PM , Rating: 2

I think the only difference is "fire" would have to be followed by "FROM A CANNON!" in order for it to be the same...though apple would make a video that shows the person who posted it lighting the fuse themselves.

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RE: What would Apple do?

By sapiens74 on 7/21/2010 9:07:38 AM , Rating: 3

Hows does this help someone who got a defective X phone?

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RE: What would Apple do?

By Mitch101 on 7/21/2010 9:17:10 AM , Rating: 2

Nothing because the company that issued the phone is being a responsible party and resolving the problem for their clients.

Were just pondering what Apple would have done.

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RE: What would Apple do?

By sapiens74 on 7/21/10, Rating: 0

RE: What would Apple do?

By Spivonious on 7/21/2010 9:28:51 AM , Rating: 5

You might want to get your sense of humor checked.

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RE: What would Apple do?

By Mitch101 on 7/21/2010 9:34:10 AM , Rating: 5

You didnt get the Memo?

Blue-Screens and making fun of Microsoft is old and boring because it really doesn't happen since Windows 2000.

Apple has graciously taken center stage openly lying and not taking responsibility for their poor products is now the new generation of humor. They give us so much to work with every new product release.

Its like how every thread about PS3/Wii/XBox 360 leads to open mockery of those other consoles.

Check your junk mail folder I bet the Memo is in there.

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RE: What would Apple do?

By nafhan on 7/21/2010 9:46:48 AM , Rating: 2

Apple did have similar types of problems with the 27 inch iMac screens (flickering mainly).

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RE: What would Apple do?

By Tony Swash on 7/22/2010 12:10:34 AM , Rating: 1

Its no good pointing out the blindingly obvious to many people around here - they live in a sort of parallel universe where Apple makes poor products full of faults that people only buy because they have been conned or are stupid.

Believing such nonsense causes such strains that ultimately the real world just fades away and then almost any tech related story or issue can be presented as a critique of Apple.

The whole sad show is actually tremendously entertaining. If you poke such people with the occasional news bulletin from the real world you can really get them going.

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RE: What would Apple do?

By themaster08 on 7/22/2010 1:49:06 AM , Rating: 2

I guess someone else also didn't get the memo!

Lighten up, dude, and take it for what it is :)

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RE: What would Apple do?

By B3an on 7/22/2010 8:20:21 AM , Rating: 1

Tony is a fanboy prick. He cant lighten up.

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RE: What would Apple do?

By SSDMaster on 8/10/2010 8:19:20 AM , Rating: 2

F) Fire the Head of Screen Design & Manufacturing.

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Blah.

By Motoman on 7/21/10, Rating: 0

RE: Blah.

By DanNeely on 7/21/2010 10:47:41 AM , Rating: 2

If you want a droid with an improved keyboard you probably should wait for the Droid 2 next month.

http://gizmodo.com/5574677/droid-2-launching-with-...

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RE: Blah.

By Motoman on 7/21/2010 11:20:16 AM , Rating: 2

Yeah, it remains to be seen how hard that keyboard is to use. But it has one big knock against it already, which is that it doesn't have a seperate line for numbers at the top - you have to use a "fn" key or something to get to them. That's the way my current Samsung phone works...and it's a pain in the butt. Makes me seriously wish I had my original LG eNv back.

We've had some poor luck with LG product quality, but man do they know how to make a keyboard.

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RE: Blah.

By adiposity on 7/21/2010 11:47:21 AM , Rating: 1

Well, I wish I had numbers, too, but you can't add a number line without severely cramping these keyboards.

Comparing my SCH-i760 (no numbers) to my touch pro (numbers), it's clear why the SCH-i760 is so much easier to type on.

Unfortunately, my Droid, while not having numbers, is still a bitch to type on. Hopefully Droid2 fixes that.

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RE: Blah.

By Motoman on 7/21/2010 12:09:58 PM , Rating: 2

Not true. Look at the keyboard of virtually any relatively recent LG phone, starting with the original eNv. Not cramped at all, and in fact, the best keyboards I have ever seen.

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RE: Blah.

By adiposity on 7/21/2010 4:24:26 PM , Rating: 2

Sorry, should have been clearer. You can't do it on a slide phone. A flip keyboard has more room due to having more exposed face.

But, flip keyboards have their own disadvantages. For one, they tend to make the phone thicker.

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RE: Blah.

By bodar on 7/21/2010 7:20:06 PM , Rating: 2

The Samsung Epic 4G doesn't appear to have a cramped keyboard and it has a dedicated number row.

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RE: Blah.

By Motoman on 7/22/2010 11:38:03 AM , Rating: 2

No it doesn't. Look at, say, an LG eNv Touch. Nice flip-open keyboard, and it's not noticeably thicker than pretty much anything else on the market.

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RE: Blah.

By Orpheus333 on 7/21/2010 12:40:53 PM , Rating: 2

First of all; the droid X is NOT the successor to the original moto droid. That would be the Droid 2 due out next month.

second; the original droid keyboard is not that bad, not perfect but you get used to it. The only people that hate it are people who don't use the phone.

Finally there seems to be comparisons to the iphone 4 saying it and the droid x the best phones out? are you high? the EVO is the best droid phone out there.

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RE: Blah.

By SilthDraeth on 7/21/2010 1:43:11 PM , Rating: 2

Based on this review, and that of the Evo, I would say the X is better than the Evo, though I have Sprint service. I wish the Galaxy S would come to Sprint.

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RE: Blah.

By bodar on 7/21/2010 7:17:35 PM , Rating: 2

You mean this Galaxy S? It's due out next month I think.

http://www.androidcentral.com/sprint-epic-4g-hands...

The Galaxy S is just the family. Each iteration is different depending on which carrier it's on: Epic 4G (Sprint), Captivate (AT&T), Vibrant (T-Mo), Fascinate (VZW). The Epic 4G happens to be the "physical keyboard" model, but at least it's got a camera flash.

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RE: Blah.

By SilthDraeth on 7/21/2010 8:02:05 PM , Rating: 2

hawt, that is what I want. As I want a physical keyboard. I held off and kept my instinct waiting for a new physical keyboard android phone to come into sprint.

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RE: Blah.

By Motoman on 7/21/2010 1:46:25 PM , Rating: 2

quote:
First of all; the droid X is NOT the successor to the original moto droid. That would be the Droid 2 due out next month.

...which has what to do with anything? What does that change about the statement I made?

quote:
second; the original droid keyboard is not that bad, not perfect but you get used to it. The only people that hate it are people who don't use the phone.

...not gonna buy something that I'm going to have to "get used to" because initially I don't like it. If I initially don't like it, I'm not going to buy it. Funny how that works.

quote:
Finally there seems to be comparisons to the iphone 4 saying it and the droid x the best phones out? are you high? the EVO is the best droid phone out there.

At the very best, this is only your opinion. Feel free to have it, but you just sound like a shill for the EVO.

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RE: Blah.

By theapparition on 7/22/2010 1:31:08 PM , Rating: 2

quote:
...not gonna buy something that I'm going to have to "get used to" because initially I don't like it. If I initially don't like it, I'm not going to buy it. Funny how that works.

Would've sucked to be you back in the day when you didn't want to "get used to" driving a car since the horse and buggy were so much more practical.
Or using that new fangled fad called electricity. Stick with oil lamps, FTW.
Or typing with a keyboard when pen and paper are already there.

I could go on.

You mentioned the EnV touch a few posts ago. I say that because I'm a huge fan of physical keyboards, actual keys on remote controls, etc. But after using my wife's EnV touch, I found less and less reliance on using the physical keyboard.

Using these new smartphone devices with full touchscreens sounds like a leap, but take it from me. You won't miss a physical keyboard for one second, especially on a device like the Droid X, which makes typing a breeze.

And yes, I have a Droid X and have had none of the problems that this article mentions.

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RE: Blah.

By bodar on 7/21/2010 7:27:35 PM , Rating: 2

Different phones for different users. Yes, the EVO has 4G (if you are lucky like me), SenseUI and front-facing camera, but the Droid X has far more storage, a much better GPU and can run at > 30 fps. So clearly, the Droid X superior in the games category, but lacks the front camera if that's important to you.

I love my EVO and use it a ton, but let's not be fanboys here. They're both really good phones and have different pros/cons.

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This is how you handle things like this...

By SkullOne on 7/21/2010 8:45:38 AM , Rating: 3

Take notes Apple, as Verizon and Motorola are handling their issue CORRECTLY.

They came right out and said "We have a small problem. We fixed it. If you have the issue call or go to the store and we will fix it." That's good customer service. Those are companies that may actually "love" their customers.

RE: This is how you handle things like this...

By Omega215D on 7/21/2010 11:11:14 AM , Rating: 4

Close... they love their customers' money and would gladly keep them from disappearing even if it means sucking it up and admitting a fault.

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RE: This is how you handle things like this...

By seamonkey79 on 7/21/2010 8:06:00 PM , Rating: 2

...and that's why Apple doesn't need to do such things, because their customers will keep handing them money, to fix the things that should not have been broken. That's how they work.

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Word

By damianrobertjones on 7/21/2010 11:57:51 AM , Rating: 2

...and yet, with apple and Google providing problems via software and hardware, tech sites trashed Windows Mobile 6.5, which, worked just fine.

I have a HD2 next to me that's working as intended with no issues.

Go figure??

RE: Word

By wolrah on 7/21/2010 1:19:06 PM , Rating: 3

How's this Google's fault at all? Seems like a Motorola hardware problem and a Motorola software problem. You don't see these issues with the Nexus One do you? (not an invitation to point out the Nexus One's bugs, I know it's not perfect either, just putting the blame where it is deserved)

WM6.x "worked" to a certain definition of work where it requires third-party addons to even be comparable to the other smartphones of its day, much less modern ones. I've owned or spent decent time using pretty much every smartphone/PDA platform since Palm OS 3, and while WM was the power user's alternative to Palm's minimalism when they were the dominant powers ever since the release of the iPhone OS 3, WebOS, and Android 1.6 it's been a distant fourth place.

We'll see where WM/WP7 takes it, but just because you've gotten used to the flaws of WM6 (granted, many of them fixed by HTC's heavy modification work) doesn't mean you should unfairly bash the current top two platforms over issues that are entirely unrelated to the operating system and can easily be avoided by buying another phone on your platform of choice.

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Can we get phones that just work?

By sapiens74 on 7/21/2010 9:02:36 AM , Rating: 2

Between antennas and blank displays for the two most high end phones available sure is a sad state of affairs.

RE: Can we get phones that just work?

By SpaceRanger on 7/21/2010 9:33:55 AM , Rating: 2

I hate to see things the way they are, but I'm gonna be waiting for the dual-core smartphones that should be released next year. This setback, as well as the iPhone's setbacks aren't affecting my current buying situation.

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We need better perspective

By cochy on 7/21/2010 8:56:58 AM , Rating: 3

In the days of social media, Twitter, and blogs, news travels faster and hits a larger amount of eyes than ever before. It seems to me, that if there were one Droid X that exhibited the problems described here, it would make its way, screenshots, videos and all up to Twitter and then in a matter of hours make the tour of the tech blogsphere. The blogsphere love it because it gets them page hits and we love it because we think this is some huge problem (because we extrapolate in our minds). All over one screenshot of a DOA Droid X.

I'm not saying this is the case here, but I'm saying this type of scenario is highly possible in todays world.

I feel bad for these companies that need to issue press releases over such obscure problems that should be easily resolved by a warranty RMA.

Notice they always write "a small number of devices". This means 100 or 1000 out of 1,000,000. I mean there is no product on Earth that can be produced at 100% quality across all units.

Let's just keep these stories in perspective.