Any bets on how quickly it will sell out, or how much it will cost on eBay?

The DX wont go past the Motorola boot screen, and will not go into recovery mode either.  Well actually the phone does finish the boot sequence and you can hear email notifications and incoming calls, but the screen keeps displaying the Motorola logo. I can also see the redesigned 2.2. screen lock screen when taking screen shots via USB debug and the SDK (see right).

I called Verizon support, and they let me do the usual reboot routines to no eval. The rep told me that they’ve experienced the same problems with the Froyo update of the original Droid and that about 3% of phones were affected by this. She told me to go to the Verizon store so that they can reapply the update, which should fix it.

Update: I went to the Verizon store during lunch. They tried different things in the back room for about an hour – what a great way to spend a lunch hour   No fix. They are now shipping a new DX to me overnight.  I had to push a little for them to waive the Fedex priority fee.

While waiting I met two other Droid customers who had issues with their phones. One had a Droid Incredible that would not browse the Internet any longer after the latest software update. The tech was going to do a hard reset. The other had a Droid2 stuck in a reboot loop. He received a replacement phone.

Update1: Other people experiencing the same problem. Do you have any problems with the update?

I’m now installing the update, which seems to take unusually long and looks as if its hanging half-way through… hmmm.

Update: The update process is definitely hung. You can get detailed progress when you hit the search key. It’s sitting at “patching system files”. OK. now what – the power button doesn’t work, so remove the battery and hope for the best.

So, I forced a reboot by removing the battery. The phone went right back into the update process and is now moving past the step where it stopped before. Now, finishing up and sitting at reboot.

Update1: Now the reboot is taking forever. All I see is the Motorola logo, and the led is lighting up green every now and then. I updated a number of Android phones, including my Nexus One and Droid Incredible, but the process has never been this painful. WTF – Verizon?

The link to the DX support page still lists the previous software update without any mention of Android 2.2. Stay tuned…!

Update: It looks like the support page has now been updated: http://support.vzw.com/pdf/system_update/droid_x.pdf

All OTA (Over the Air) Updates are staggered to avoid system overload. So it may still take a few days before Froyo actually shows up on your phone. Still no luck on my Droid Incredible, when I checked a few minutes ago.

If you still wonder what all the hubbub is about: This release will bring Adobe Flash, application auto update and improved battery performance, amongst some other general improvements to the Incredible. It will make this cool Droid even better.

I don’t mind paying a little premium for the trusty Verizon network.  What bums me out though is that Verizon always seems to find new ways to pile on extra fees. There used to be the $12.95 VZ-Navigator tax for the privilege to use your phone’s GPS with Google Maps. The BES data tax to connect to your company’s Blackberry Enterprise Server. And now the $20 surcharge for WiFi tethering, an Android 2.2 (Froyo) feature that Verizon conveniently removed from the default build.

But here is yet another strange twist in the Verizon fee structure. There are two data plans currently offered for Android handsets and other smartphones. Which one do you need?The distinction between Corporate and Personal Email seems to be an oxymoron. Are corporate users  getting more emails than private accounts? What if my company uses Google Apps for corporate email? Do I still need the corporate plan? The details for the corporate plan offer the following explanation:Is Verizon restricting access to ActiveSync or other corporate messaging protocols, unless you pay up? I’m using ActiveSync for both MS-Exchange and Lotus Traveler, so my first impression was that I needed the more expensive corporate plan. Yet, I’m syncing with my corporate mail servers just fine on the personal plan. My calls into Verizon yielded conflicting responses. One person suggested that I only need the corporate plan for BES connectivity and that the higher cost is simply a result of Verizon having to pay RIM some sort of access fee. Still, why list this option for Android phones?

Whatever you do, try the cheaper plan first. It works just fine for me. I’m still peeved about the extra $20/month for WiFi tethering…

Did you get your DroidX flaunting package?

DROID 2 is a feature-packed device that helps manage work and social life with an enhanced QWERTY keyboard, ultra high-speed Web browsing, 3G Mobile HotSpot capabilities, full push corporate e-mail, intuitive social messaging and Adobe® Flash® Player 10.1 for access to the full web – all built on Android 2.2.

In addition, they will offer a Limited Edition R2-D2 Droid 2, in September.

R2-D2 DROID 2
In honor of the iconic Astromech Droid from the Star Wars™ Saga, Verizon Wireless will offer a limited-edition R2-D2 version of the DROID 2, available only online in September. The special version of the phone will feature exclusive Star Wars content and external hardware designed to look like the trusty Droid from the film saga. Visitors to the upcoming Star Wars Celebration V in Orlando, Fla., can see a preview of the limited edition phone and sign up to receive alerts when the phone is ready for sale.

The Droid 2 seems almost identical to the original Droid, and this ad spotted in a Florida news paper is touting a NEW advanced keyboard as the main improvement. Overall the Droid 2 feels more evolutionary than revolutionary, without any killer features that will set it apart from Droid Incredible or Droid X, unless you want a physical keyboard of course.

Promotional materials leaked from Best Buy list the phone at $199 with a 2 year contract, and $599 without contract.

via Engadget, droiddog

Is this just the latest marketing fad in showing off the popularity of a product by artificially limiting initial supply, or are component shortages truly to blame? Either way it looks like both phones are sold-out online and in stores.