AP: (android press)
Last night while everyone slept, covert Google operatives snuck into the homes, apartments, workplaces, and some cars, of Droid owners afflicted with bad focusing phones. This problem frustrated Droid when looking to snap good quality pictures of meaningless things like dogs, plants, keys, coke bottles and for a lucky few girlfriends. Luckily, the operatives were able to secretly fix the focusing problem which now has Droid owners seeing green.
Last edited by johnnybirdman; November 17th, 2009 at 08:48 AM.
AP: (androidforum press)
Last night while everyone slept, covert Google operatives snuck into the homes, apartments, workplaces, and some cars, of Droid owners afflicted with bad focusing phones. This problem frustrated Droid when looking to snap good quality pictures of meaningless things like dogs, plants, keys, coke bottles and for a lucky few... girlfriends. Luckily, the operatives were able to secretly fix the focusing problem which now has Droid owners seeing green.
Last edited by johnnybirdman; November 17th, 2009 at 08:57 AM.
Wow, works great now! Thanks for the heads up, i would have never noticed since I set my zoom to infinity and turned the flash off. Now it just works. Fast too.
So now that we've pretty much confirmed that there was a silent update, I have a concern and a question.
Concern: Is there any evidence that the update occurred? Has the Kernel version changed? I'm glad they fixed the camera, but it would be nice to know when someone is changing my phone.
Question: Anyone noticed any other changes? Has anything else from the Dec 11 update been resolved?
This is kind of unrelated but since we are talking about cameras... Is the camera suppose to make a clicking sound when you use it? I just got my Droid last night and just want to make sure it's normal.
This is kind of unrelated but since we are talking about cameras... Is the camera suppose to make a clicking sound when you use it? I just got my Droid last night and just want to make sure it's normal.
Wow... Well something happened. I wipe mine down every night since I got it on the 6th, and the camera always sucked. I DO NOT have ShopSavy installed.
I just tried it after reading this just now and I'll be damned the autofocus works now. I will have to play around w the camera later and take some pics to see if the quality is up to par, but so far it looks much better. I wasn't even using the camera much because the pics were so bad compared to my BB Storm.
I wonder what happened???? I also would like to know if we can see the update and what else was fixed if anything??
So now that we've pretty much confirmed that there was a silent update, I have a concern and a question.
Concern: Is there any evidence that the update occurred? Has the Kernel version changed? I'm glad they fixed the camera, but it would be nice to know when someone is changing my phone.
I'm glad this is working! However, are you guys noticing an increase in quality of the pictures (i.e. 5MP quality pix), or just that it focuses right away now?
Stupidest reasoning ever. Would you like Microsoft to be able to install silent updates without your consent/knowledge? Any company? I appreciate that Motorola fixed something that never should have been broken in the first place, but I want more control over my device that was touted as being more customizable and controllable by the user as opposed to being chained and handcuffed by the carrier.
That definitely includes not being forced to take updates.
That in THIS instance it was a beneficial update means nothing. Maybe in the future they will decide they don't like rooted phones and shut you down. I want control. They can release the update for people who want it, but don't install it secretly and not even notice anyone about it.
So now that we've pretty much confirmed that there was a silent update, I have a concern and a question.
Concern: Is there any evidence that the update occurred? Has the Kernel version changed? I'm glad they fixed the camera, but it would be nice to know when someone is changing my phone.
Question: Anyone noticed any other changes? Has anything else from the Dec 11 update been resolved?
I don't think that anyone actually "confirmed" there was a silent update. I wouldn't jump to any conclusions just yet.
Someone floated a theory that this has something to do with the date/time on the phone. As weird as it sounds, it may actually be the source of all the "magic".
This is certainly good news that they were able to do this quick fix sort of under the radar. I hope that other issues with the Droid get fixed as well. Nice to see that at least someone at Verizon or Motorola actually picked up a production unit and said.. hey this camera is having a problem..
We’re not convinced it improved our camera performance as we never had an issue focusing. Our issue was even though the boxes went green to signal a “lock” our pictures still came out blurry. But we’re curious; how many of our readers with a DROID have experienced a tremendous improvement in camera performance?
First, I'm not convinced anything has improved in terms of overall picture quality...the green bars may look nice, but my pics are still quite average/unimpressive (indoors, good diffused morning ambient lighting). If someone had some before/after in the same conditions (Time of day, angle, lighting, etc.) that would be great to see.
I'm quite convinced Shop Savvy has nothing to do with it...
Also, if this was a software issue fixed by a silent push, why were some of us already getting green corners prior to today and others not? Yesterday in the VZW store, two display Droids had green bars and the other two didn't. All w/the same software, so what's the variable?
I had a 42/09 that picked up on Nov. 6 that had consistent green bars, had two 43/09s from late last week and this week that always had red bars, and now have a 43/09 picked up yesterday that had green bars when I got it.
Doesn't make sense if this is/was a software issue that was fixed by a secret push overnight, does it?
Seems another case of "Damned if you do, Damned if you don't". If it's a silent push, thank you for that. And please feel free to improve my phone every day if you wish, Motorola.
Wow, I hate to come off as rude, but users like you are what gives "users" a bad name. Flowah is the only person I have seen in this thread, or most of the Internet that is discussing this update that has even addressed the problems associated with a service provider or manufacturer an update without alerting the users. It would be a stretch to think that anything malicious was included in this update, but look back to this past summer at the damage that was done to Etisalat in the UAE. They pushed out an update that was supposed to address significant network latency issues. Turns out they teamed up with an American company that specializes in mobile spyware and included the ability to remotely enable email monitoring on all of their BlackBerry users.
Wake up people, your personal information is all over these devices. Quit allowing people to just walk into your bedroom at night and take whatever they want...
Probably should have read the TOS before buying the phone.
It means something to me. It means stop complaining. If there were any negative ramifications... go ahead and complain.
TOS TOS. Companies often put things in the TOS that in court are found to be totally unenforceable. Either way, if you're selling the phone and marketing it as "open" and under control of the consumer, then silent forced updates are not consistent with that. Also, where in the TOS does it say I cannot disagree with their policies? You're one of those apologists for products you are a fan of. Every excuse out of your mouth is "Then don't buy it" "TOS" "They are a business". If people didn't complain, Verizon would still be handcuffing their phones and we wouldn't have the Droid.
I suppose you are one of those people who would be okay with people doing illegal things as long as there are no negative ramifications, even if they lead to a dangerous place.
Redflea:http://www.howardforums.com/showpost.php?p=13239557&postcount=112
The focusing has DEFINITELY, improved and so has the picture quality. There is no doubt about it. I did my own test as well. If yours is still having problems, I think the weight of anecdotal evidence is saying that you have a problem specific to you, no longer to the phone. Get it replaced/checked out.
Last edited by Flowah; November 17th, 2009 at 10:18 AM.
BTW, I actually called Verizon to discuss the update. The tier 1 rep had no knowledge of an OTA update so they passed me to their technical team who had no knowledge either. The technical team guy then called Motorola who would neither confirm or deny that an update was pushed or what else was included in the update..or why they didn't alert the users that an update was occurring.
I totally get the marketing aspect of this update. Look at all of the buzz it's created. "Motorola is so great, they fixed my camera almost a month before they said they would...wow, I'm so happy...yippee...woohoo".
But..at what cost? What else was in the update? Was there spyware? Did they fix problem that would allow users to gain root? Imagine the possibilities...
Probably should have read the TOS before buying the phone.
It means something to me. It means stop complaining. If there were any negative ramifications... go ahead and complain.
How is anyone supposed to know if anything bad was included in the update when they don't tell us what in it? I dare you to find one person out there that even knows what was pushed down to their phone last night, with the exception of the autofocus working now. Doesn't that bother you??? I'm not even a Droid user, I'm on the myTouch and I love it. Much sexier than the clunky looking Droid. But, the outrage is genuine. This is a dangerously slippery slope people.
I guess users like you guarantee me job security...and I'm ok with that.
For God sakes people, calm down. Not everything is a conspiracy. Should they have informed people that they were pushing an update? Perhaps. Did someone slip up and send it out and is now finding a pink slip on his desk? Perhaps. I find it hilarious that so many people are up in arms about this after buying a Google phone. Hello! Google! They already know everything about you. Now THAT, is mind numbing.
For God sakes people, calm down. Not everything is a conspiracy. Should they have informed people that they were pushing an update? Perhaps. Did someone slip up and send it out and is now finding a pink slip on his desk? Perhaps. I find it hilarious that so many people are up in arms about this after buying a Google phone. Hello! Google! They already know everything about you. Now THAT, is mind numbing.
Hahahaha... totally agree.
And dont worry, its actually just one guy using multiple accounts to express his dislike.
Wishes that Flowah/myAndroid/Virtus would stop making seperate accounts to flame... just use one hahaha.
Tools. Amazing. Head in the sand, nothing to see here. Nothing going on. Then crap, man, I wish I had payed attention months ago when a few sane voices were screaming at the top of their lungs. Slipper slope people...it's all around us and we're sliding fast...
And dont worry, its actually just one guy using multiple accounts to express his dislike.
Pretty typical of uninformed, uneducated people. Can't address the issue, so you need to attack. As a matter of fact, I just created this account because I didn't have one before and never saw a need to post in here, until today. But, you'll believe what you'll believe. 99% of the people in here don't have the slightest idea what is going on under their handset anyway. Just take your automagically fixed auto-focused pictures. I'll keep doing the work I've been doing for the last 12 years and tracking down/researching and protecting fools from malware and other threats. Every time you click on the dancing bear, just hope that the signatures I've created for the mobile security product you (hopefully) installed have been updated.
While I'm glad my camera works now and I can actually scan bar codes, I've got to agree with the camp that doesn't like silent updates on any device I own. Forget the possibility of something nefarious being installed, I can't wait to see all the flame threads that pop up when the next silent update bricks people's phones. Speaking for myself, I always review the change log of any update before I apply it to any of my devices (of which there are many).
For God sakes people, calm down. Not everything is a conspiracy. Should they have informed people that they were pushing an update? Perhaps. Did someone slip up and send it out and is now finding a pink slip on his desk? Perhaps. I find it hilarious that so many people are up in arms about this after buying a Google phone. Hello! Google! They already know everything about you. Now THAT, is mind numbing.
I don't know what Android is complaining about. I just want control. I'm not alleging any conspiracy. I urge any mod to do an IP check on me and myAndroid to show DoYouDroid that he's a moron for thinking we're the same person.
Besides, it's not like companies haven't done this before. Don't you remember Sony and rootkitting?
I can't believe the number of people who think that my wanting to have control over what updates I receive means I am a conspiracy theorist. Ohnoezzz, I want control over the device I bought. TINFOIIIIIIIL.
A silent update might explain why my phone was on but unresponsive this morning. I had to pull the battery. This is the first time this has happened this I got the phone on Nov 6th. The phone was connected to Wifi and not to 3G if that matters
The camera seems much better now. Silent update=SUCCESS!
I don't know what Android is complaining about. I just want control. I'm not alleging any conspiracy. I urge any mod to do an IP check on me and myAndroid to show DoYouDroid that he's a moron for thinking we're the same person.
Besides, it's not like companies haven't done this before. Don't you remember Sony and rootkitting?
I can't believe the number of people who think that my wanting to have control over what updates I receive means I am a conspiracy theorist. Ohnoezzz, I want control over the device I bought. TINFOIIIIIIIL.
i would definitely like to see logs of updates on my phone afterward. just to know what had been updated.
I don't know what Android is complaining about. I just want control. I'm not alleging any conspiracy. I urge any mod to do an IP check on me and myAndroid to show DoYouDroid that he's a moron for thinking we're the same person.
Besides, it's not like companies haven't done this before. Don't you remember Sony and rootkitting?
I can't believe the number of people who think that my wanting to have control over what updates I receive means I am a conspiracy theorist. Ohnoezzz, I want control over the device I bought. TINFOIIIIIIIL.
I'm complaining about the fact that if one of these unannounced updates happens that does include something that the community doesn't like or does brick the device, the community will have no ground to stand on when they get all up in arms because they rolled over and took every successful update before the bad one. If you change the policy after the first one, there will be oversight and accountability. That's all I'm saying. Well, that and that its very disturbing that people are still considering these devices to be simple phones..not computers in your pocket..in which most people store all manner of personal private information that attackers are dying to get their hands on.
Pretty typical of uninformed, uneducated people. Can't address the issue, so you need to attack. As a matter of fact, I just created this account because I didn't have one before and never saw a need to post in here, until today. But, you'll believe what you'll believe. 99% of the people in here don't have the slightest idea what is going on under their handset anyway. Just take your automagically fixed auto-focused pictures. I'll keep doing the work I've been doing for the last 12 years and tracking down/researching and protecting fools from malware and other threats. Every time you click on the dancing bear, just hope that the signatures I've created for the mobile security product you (hopefully) installed have been updated.
Uneducated?... I have my masters from Boston College.
Uninformed?... I have worked for Verizon (Previously Bell Atlantic, Nynex, New England Telephone... etc etc) for 30 years... in the wireless division for 6. I am the definition of informed
The Motorola Droid - the first ever Verizon Android Phone - exploded onto the mobile market with an incredibly successful ad campaign that brough Android to the masses. With a huge and vibrant touchscreen, solid metal body, full QWERTY keyboard, 5M... Read More
