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Ricardo Bilton & Gloria Sin

Antennagate could start up again...this time on the Motorola Droid 2

By | August 16, 2010, 4:39pm PDT

Summary: The iPhone 4 isn’t the only hyped smartphone this summer to attract attention for its faulty antenna. The Droid 2 is next on the chopping block.

The iPhone 4 isn’t the only hyped smartphone this summer to attract attention for its faulty antenna. The Motorola Droid 2 is next on the chopping block.

According to MobileCrunch, “a good number of reports” have poured in that initial Droid 2 units have some significant issues with keeping a signal open. Compounded with some mixed reviews, it appears both Motorola and Verizon Wireless have a growing issue on their hands.

One of the problems with this situation is that it’s unclear what the source of the bug actually is. A death grip answer doesn’t seem likely, and a software patch is almost inevitable - at least as an initial way of making peace with customers.

Extra technical problems can be typical with the first batch of smartphones…or maybe consumers are just paying more attention than usual these days following the iPhone 4 madness.

If you’re a Droid 2 owner, have you noticed any signal fluctuation issues yet?

[Thanks, CowLauncher.]

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Rachel King is a staff writer for ZDNet based in San Francisco.

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Rachel King

Rachel King has no business relationships, affiliations, investments, or other potential conflicts of interest relating to the content posted in this blog.

Biography

Rachel King

Rachel King is a staff writer for CBS Interactive in San Francisco. Before serving as a contributing editor at ZDNet in New York City for two years, she previously worked for The Business Insider, FastCompany.com, CNN's San Francisco bureau and the U.S. Department of State. Rachel has also written for MainStreet.com, Irish America Magazine and the New York Daily News, among others. Rachel has a B.A. in Mass Communications and History from the University of California, Berkeley and a M.S. in Journalism from Columbia University, where she served as art director for the student magazine, Plated.

Talkback Most Recent of 15 Talkback(s)

  • RE: Antennagate could start up again...this time on the Motorola Droid 2
    really? wow. A freelance journalist sells her story to zdnet throwing stones at a new Android phone. Brilliant. I guess you get to eat today. Good job.
    ZDNet Gravatar
    linuxdood
    16th Aug 2010
  • RE: Antennagate could start up again...this time on the Motorola Droid 2
    @linuxdood
    Well, it was Motorola that said "No Jacket Required." Maybe they shouldn't have cast that stone.
    ZDNet Gravatar
    A Grain of Salt
    16th Aug 2010
  • RE: Antennagate could start up again...this time on the Motorola Droid 2
    Hey news is news! Alot of "journalists" feasted on the iPhone story. I'm sure Google bought a lot of meals for that publicity. Why shouldn't they throw stones at Android phones? If it's an issue, now matter how crushing to the gentle Linux ego, the people should know. Just duck if the stones frighten you.
    ZDNet Gravatar
    ocynic
    16th Aug 2010
  • RE: Antennagate could start up again...this time on the Motorola Droid 2
    chirr chirr, nobody cares about your phony antennagate
    ZDNet Gravatar
    nomorebs
    16th Aug 2010
  • I can tell you one difference...
    Greg Brown won't have the audacity to tell users "don't hold it that way", and "everybody else's phone does it, so this isn't really an issue"

    However, if he did (does), history has shown us that he would get away with it.
    ZDNet Gravatar
    SonofaSailor
    16th Aug 2010
  • RE: Antennagate could start up again...this time on the Motorola Droid 2
    @SonofaSailor
    Steve Jobs does have the audacity, and DOES get away with it. (Like how I used DOES?) They create art, that works. Unlike some who try to copy what Apple does. This is Deja Vu of the MS vs Apple. Apple prospered in the midst of all the garbage being slung around with a horrible OS being all things on all things. We've all seen how well that worked.
    ZDNet Gravatar
    ocynic
    16th Aug 2010
  • Sloppy journalism?
    "A death grip answer doesn?t seem likely" but it is still antennagate?
    ZDNet Gravatar
    Economister
    16th Aug 2010
  • I just returned my Droid X because of reception issues
    I thought it was only me, but this news confirmed it. I returned my Droid X without hesitation. I will head back to AT&T to buy iPhone 4.
    ZDNet Gravatar
    SurferDude123
    16th Aug 2010
  • I didnt notice a signal problem
    Though I returned mine for the crapware that Verizon littered this iteration of Droid with. Why they baked in Caller id, blockbuster app, and their VCast services I'll never know - it SHOULD be users choice to download it from the market (or at least let us uninstall it). Though they force you into a free trial of City ID that solicits you repetatedly for a $1.99 subscription fee. This action is reprehensible on high end smartphones.
    ZDNet Gravatar
    JT82
    16th Aug 2010
  • RE: Antennagate could start up again...this time on the Motorola Droid 2
    @JT82 I had Verizon for a decade before my iPhone. Give me Jobs' over V any day. At least the burned in apps on the iPhone are useful utilities.
    ZDNet Gravatar
    dheady@...
    17th Aug 2010
  • RE: Antennagate could start up again...this time on the Motorola Droid 2
    @JT82

    Why didn't you just root it? Then you could have any ROM on it. Or you could at least go to the /system/app/ folder and delete those factory installed apps you don't want.
    ZDNet Gravatar
    samsonite801
    17th Aug 2010
  • RE: Antennagate could start up again...this time on the Motorola Droid 2
    The construction of the Droid 2 is very similar to that of the Droid 1. While the internal components and the physical keyboard have been modified slightly it is highly doubtable that those changes would result in the Droid 2 losing reception in the same manner that the iPhone 4 does especially since the Droid 1 doesn't. So, unless Motorola put the antenna components on the outside of the phone like Apple did with the iPhone 4, which is highly unlikely, the chances of seeing the same drastic decrease in reception as the iPhone 4 exhibits is dubious.
    ZDNet Gravatar
    xsylus
    17th Aug 2010
  • denial
    @xsylus
    and yet ALL of the test units engadget has for instance have these issues.

    where is consumer report now? does motorola have a bumper ready?
    ZDNet Gravatar
    banned from zdnet
    17th Aug 2010
  • RE: Antennagate could start up again...this time on the Motorola Droid 2
    @xsylus all cells have this issue. Apple got stoned because they are at the top of the heap and actually exposed the antennae so you could precisely demonstrate attenuation. Droid is now getting kicked because consumers are aware of the issue due to the press that the iPhone had. No one thought anything of reduced signal or the occasional dropped call as both have been simply a part of the cell phone experience from day one. Now we have a reason to believe we should be expecting more.
    ZDNet Gravatar
    dheady@...
    17th Aug 2010
  • hysteria
    Stop the presses! Run this story on all the news stations and network news shows! Blog about it! Have late-night comedy sketches about it!

    Wait, it's not an iPhone, so it's not important. no one outside the apple hating blogosphere actually cares about android.

    in related news more than half of verizon's smartphone customers would buy an iphone. http://www.morpace.com/Omnibus-Reports/Morpace%20Omnibus%20Report-iPhone.pdf

    people buy android phones because there is no iphone on their carrier.
    the short run of android in the us will soon be over. the moment iphone hits the other carriers this patent infringing blatant copy of java and iOS will implode.
    ZDNet Gravatar
    banned from zdnet
    17th Aug 2010

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