Droid Bionic gets sign-up screen, but no release date
The Droid Bionic! Well, it's on the horizon at least. We know this for two reasons: First there was the Best Buy promo advertisement, published by the folks at This Is My Next, which promised an "all-powerful, unstoppable machine," fueled by the "ferocious force of Verizon 4G LTE." (LTE being the next-generation network expected to be rolled out to 175 cities by the end of the year.)
Then late last week, Verizon published a Droid Bionic sign-up page, short on details, but liberally emblazoned with that familiar black and red design. Still no concrete release date, but then again, such is the way of the Droid Bionic, which weathered a seriously herky-jerk start. The phone was first unveiled way back in January, at the Consumer Electronics Show.
It looked like a real powerhouse, from the 1GHz Nvidia Tegra 2 dual-core processor to the 4.3-inch HD screen. But in April, Motorola announced it was delaying the release of the Bionic until this summer. "Based on compelling feedback since the show, we are incorporating several enhancements to make this an even better consumer experience," Motorola reps said in a statement. "This includes expanded features, functionality and an improved form factor."
So what was behind the delay? At the time, Clint Boulton of eWeek speculated that it may have had something to do with the HTC Thunderbolt, the first to run on the Verizon LTE. "Possibly, HTC's Thunderbolt... gave Motorola some pause, or perhaps the Droid Bionic was too similar to the existing Motorola Atrix 4G on AT&T, which also runs Android 2.2 and offers a qHD screen," Boulton wrote.
In related news, Motorola this month quietly launched the Droid 3, which gets 3G but not 4G LTE capability. The handset has recently middling to mildly positive reviews. "All considered, the Droid 3 easily takes a spot toward the top of Verizon's current smartphone lineup," JR Raphael writes over at Computerworld. "If you want a phone with a keyboard and don't mind missing 4G, the Droid 3 is a strong option to consider."
Or you could just wait for the Bionic.
