FRG83D Just Installed

[Hola91]

The only difference I have noticed is in the Gmail. When scrolling through an email, the bar with the sender and reply button stays at the top of the screen. I don't remember it doing that before. Other than that I haven't noticed any difference.

 

[allanlaw]

It seems like the heat detection when on a call has become a lot more sensitive. I was on a call, took the phone away from my face for a couple seconds and tried to get to the home screen while on the call. No go - every time my finger got close to the screen it went blank. I used to be able to do that all the time - to activate bluetooth while on a call, for example.

 

[BigRedGonzo]

I was one of the chosen testers for the final product. I didn't notice much difference at all.

There are some changes (I'm told) to the Amazon App, but there is no Amazon Widget. Several comments were made about calling it a widget, but I guess they decided to go with that terminology anyway. I don't use it so I really couldn't do much evaluation.

The News and Weather Widget now has better connectivity and the previews in the news contain thumbnails. I have played with this in the past, but do not use it so it really didn't matter to me.

As for the Twitter App, I don't tweet, so I didn't even open it.

I have had my Droid since mid-January and have never had any screen lag with the built-in launcher, but I can say I also saw no lag with the update.

There are supposed to be some tweaks to help battery life and some testers claimed they were seeing better battery life, but we only tested for about three days, so who knows how good that info is.

One thing that was almost unanimous, the phone seemed a bit snappier. Nothing to alert the media over, but a little.

I don't use exchange, but those testers that did seemed to be impressed.

We were told that there were other tweaks under the hood, but that wasn't elaborated upon.

Overall, a good update for stock folks and a move in the right direction. After spending the time to unroot, reinstall everything and test for three days, I immediately reloaded LFY 1.95 and the Tangerine theme and went back to my rooted and overclocked phone that works great.

If asked to test again, I'll do it again. It was an interesting experience and, who knows, maybe one day I'll get to test something revolutionary.

BigRedGonzo

 

[Lock-N-Load]

The only difference I have noticed is in the Gmail. When scrolling through an email, the bar with the sender and reply button stays at the top of the screen. I don't remember it doing that before. Other than that I haven't noticed any difference.

that function was/is in the stand alone versions last released in the Market

FRG83D = woopie

anyone who used the News & Weather app notice anything worth noticing? If so, can I get the .apk for that as that is about the only thing I kind of care about a little bit partially

 

[BigRedGonzo]

It seems like the heat detection when on a call has become a lot more sensitive. I was on a call, took the phone away from my face for a couple seconds and tried to get to the home screen while on the call. No go - every time my finger got close to the screen it went blank. I used to be able to do that all the time - to activate bluetooth while on a call, for example.

Well, its not a heat detector it is a light sensor, but if you cast a shadow on the phone while on a call, it will definitely turn the screen off. You sorta have to "sneak" up on the phone to touch it while on a call. I tend to do things like you mentioned with one hand and, while on a call, the screen always goes off if I use one hand. I have tried to train myself to use the other hand and be careful not to cast a shadow on the top half of the screen, but quite frequently I fail.

BigRedGonzo

 

[allanlaw]

Well, its not a heat detector it is a light sensor, but if you cast a shadow on the phone while on a call, it will definitely turn the screen off. You sorta have to "sneak" up on the phone to touch it while on a call.

To be accurate, it's an infrared proximity detector which is located above and to the left side of the screen, so if you sneak your finger from the bottom, it could work. Supposedly it has a very short range. Anyway, it seemed to me a bit more aggressive after last night's update.

 

[BigRedGonzo]

To be accurate, it's an infrared proximity detector which is located above and to the left side of the screen, so if you sneak your finger from the bottom, it could work. Supposedly it has a very short range. Anyway, it seemed to me a bit more aggressive after last night's update.

You, Sir, are correct. It is an infrared proximity detector. I should have been more specific. On several occasions, I have had someone on the phone and they needed a bit of information that, of course, I had on my phone. While trying to retrieve the info, I have gotten quite frustrated with the prox switch blanking my screen. I vote that they add a button to the phone display that allows disabling the prox switch for that phone call. It will, however, need to be placed where you can "sneak up" on it. I trashed my original droid and had to get a replacement about two weeks ago and I have noticed that this one's prox switch isn't any where near as sensitive as the old phone. It works as designed, but when you pull the phone away from your face and try to do something, it doesn't blank the screen. This current handset is the one that I tested FRG83D on and I didn't notice any difference with that particular feature, but I'm not sure I did anything thing during the testing period that would have caused it. I have observed while reading these forums, that, although the Droid is the best phone ever (IMO,) they tend to have hardware from one phone to another that operate very differently.

 

[mcentreville]

anyone who used the News & Weather app notice anything worth noticing? If so, can I get the .apk for that as that is about the only thing I kind of care about a little bit partially

The wind speed is now given in MPH instead of kilometers. A small but appreciated change

 

[mike114]

After just 1 day, I have noticed a big improvement in my battery usage. I hope it doesn't change.

 

[Dubbin1]

I just got the update and so far the phone is much faster. I didn't even realize that it had slowed down until now.

 

[Chuck1906]

Why would Verizon or whoever that puts out the updates lie and say its version 3.4 if our phones still say version 2.2.1? When I got the message on my screen it said a new system update 3.4 is ready to be installed on your phone.

 

[windraver]

I just got the update message as well. Trying to decide whether to update or stick with bugless beast.

I read through the other post about blocking the OTA
http://androidforums.com/droid-all-things-root/179578-how-do-i-prevent-ota-updates.html#post1609305

but its kinda out of date...

 

[kratos]

I just got the update message as well. Trying to decide whether to update or stick with bugless beast.

I read through the other post about blocking the OTA
http://androidforums.com/droid-all-things-root/179578-how-do-i-prevent-ota-updates.html#post1609305

but its kinda out of date...

I'm currently on mu mobile for the time being and haven't had a chance to create the new thread. I am going to create the thread sometime today with the correct info.

Until then, please refer to this post for the correct numbers to use: http://androidforums.com/motorola-d...update-motorola-droid-frg83d.html#post1974771

Kratos

 

[az_r2d1]

The exchange part is fixed now. I had issues with exchange before. it would not work with my work which is on exchange 2007 and uses the pin feature. It now works fine, no need to touchdown anymore.

 

[cirelle]

sorry folks, just notices a garbage update, nothing mind shaking here, except it unrooted my phone

 

[mtskullz]

All I have noticed that is negative is some facebook games have thier counters and pull down menus broken, but battery life does seem better initially.

 

[Dubbin1]

Why would Verizon or whoever that puts out the updates lie and say its version 3.4 if our phones still say version 2.2.1? When I got the message on my screen it said a new system update 3.4 is ready to be installed on your phone.

I keep seeing people say that but on both my wifes and mine the only thing that said 3.4 was the file size of 3.4mb. Are you people SURE that not what you were seeing???

 

[az_r2d1]

One more thing I just noticed is usb tethering is enabled ?
anyone else noticed ?

 

[kratos]

One more thing I just noticed is usb tethering is enabled ?
anyone else noticed ?

USB Tethering had been "enabled" since FRG01. However, I believe that if you do not have a tethering plan, you are forced to subscribe to one before you are allowed access. Though, I am not 100% on this as I am using Wireless Tether for Root Users.

Kratos

 

[az_r2d1]

USB Tethering had been "enabled" since FRG01. However, I believe that if you do not have a tethering plan, you are forced to subscribe to one before you are allowed access. Though, I am not 100% on this as I am using Wireless Tether for Root Users.

Kratos

I don't have a tethering plan and the phone is stock. I know it's been there but was always grayed out. Not anymore.

 

[kratos]

I don't have a tethering plan and the phone is stock. I know it's been there but was always grayed out. Not anymore.

It is grayed out if you are not connected to your computer via USB. Once you connect, then it becomes selectable. This may have changed, but I doubt it. I have been running 2.2.1 via Ultimate Droid for a while now and the option is always grayed out until I connect a USB cord to it.

Kratos

 

[az_r2d1]

It is grayed out if you are not connected to your computer via USB. Once you connect, then it becomes selectable. This may have changed, but I doubt it. I have been running 2.2.1 via Ultimate Droid for a while now and the option is always grayed out until I connect a USB cord to it.

Kratos

Actually, it is not grayed out when no cable is connected. It says nothing is connected when I try to set the checkmark with no cable attached. When the cable is attached it connects and windows 7 sees an internet sharing device.
I thought you always needed pdanet to tether on droid (if you don't have a tethering plan).


edit: correction, it IS grayed out with no cable. It ungrays as soon as I plug in a usb cable to my pc.
Can someone else with a stock droid check the tethering thing ?

 

[kratos]

Actually, it is not grayed out when no cable is connected. It says nothing is connected when I try to set the checkmark with no cable attached. When the cable is attached it connects and windows 7 sees an internet sharing device.
I thought you always needed pdanet to tether on droid (if you don't have a tethering plan).


edit: correction, it IS grayed out with no cable. It ungrays as soon as I plug in a usb cable to my pc.
Can someone else with a stock droid check the tethering thing ?

I know that BD hasn't touched the stock tethering, since you confirm the exact same thing that happens with me.

There are a few apps that will allow you to tether without a plan. PDANet is just one of them (and the one I always used before I rooted). If you search "tether" in the market, you will find them. PDANet said that it would block https:// sites after the trial period, but I used it for 4-6 months and never paid for the full version and was never blocked.

Just some info for you.

Kratos