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Motorola Droid Bionic Now a Year Old, Still Without Ice Cream Sandwich

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Over the weekend, the Motorola Droid Bionic hit a milestone. It turned a year old. However, it’s birthday celebration was marred by the fact that a year later, it’s still running the same Android 2.3 Gingerbread software, with the addition of some fixes, it was running when it launched all the way back in September of 2011.

On September 8th, 2011, Verizon finally launched the Motorola Droid Bionic. The launch came after a lengthy delay that saw the device, which was originally announced at CES 2012, change from its original design. Finally, after months of waiting, the Droid Bionic launched amidst lots of excitement as the device not only featured a dual-core processor and 4G LTE data speeds, but Android 2.3 Gingerbread, the most current Android operating system at the time.

Droid Bionic owners bought the phone knowing that Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich was on the way. Google had announced the software at Google I/O 2011 and promised it sometime later in the year.

Read: Droid Bionic Ice Cream Sandwich Update Embarrasses Motorola Again.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=TaJ4BlthS44

Google kept its word and announced the software alongside the Galaxy Nexus in late 2011 and released the software and the device in the U.S. shortly thereafter.

Droid Bionic owners, who had just been blindsided by the launch of the Droid RAZR, probably thought that their device might soon see the upgrade to Ice Cream Sandwich and all of the features and improvements it had to offer.

It’s now September 10th, 2012 and the Droid Bionic is not only a year older but it still is without Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich, an update that many of its Droid brethren including the Droid 4, Droid RAZR MAXX and, you guessed it, the Droid RAZR have already received.

And while Motorola originally promised Ice Cream Sandwich in early Q3 of this year, we now know that the update is likely going to be rolling out sometime this month, just about 10 months after the Galaxy Nexus launched with Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich on board. Probably not what Droid Bionic owners had in mind when they bought the phone all those months ago.

Hopefully, with the introduction of the Android PDK, no smartphone owner will have to endure what Droid Bionic owners have had to endure again.

Motorola-Droid-Bionic-back-2-625x348

The Droid Bionic is still without Ice Cream Sandwich, a year after its release.

In any event, Happy Birthday Droid Bionic, and may you get Android 4.1 Jelly Bean before the celebration of your second one.

Anyone out there regretting their purchase, or are you still loving the Droid Bionic, a year after it was released?

40 Comments

40 Comments

  1. Kech C

    09/10/2012 at 4:18 pm

    While I still like my Bionic I am very disappointed in Motorola. They have done a very poor job of keeping their customers informed on what’s going on. The phone is fine, Motorola not so good

  2. Motohater

    09/10/2012 at 4:20 pm

    I know that I am tried of all the lies and broken promises. I cannot see myself ever buying another Motorola product anytime soon, if ever. I’m very disappointed in the way we’ve been treated. Sending back my 2nd replacement bionic today. Yes, on my third one under its factory warranty.

  3. droid bionic user

    09/10/2012 at 4:50 pm

    I am very disappointed in Motorola. this is my first and last Motorola Phone Im moving on
    i had to return 3 phones cuz of the data issue a year latter and poor service my next phone will be a samsung device the galaxy note 2

  4. brood

    09/10/2012 at 4:53 pm

    I’ve been having a lot of problems with the bionic. I’m on my second. I bought it as soon as it was released, then motorola released a bunch of phones that were better…and from what I hear they actually work! my phone suffers from severe data issues every day. They should offer people a full refund since they sold people a faulty product. I don’t think I will be purchasing another phone from motorola because they don’t care that their products are faulty.

    • hollyv

      09/20/2012 at 6:34 am

      I completely agree…I ask to trade out 2 weeks after I got it and they assured me that an update was coming and would make my phone amazing. Of course now I’ve had it for almost a year with nothing …so made. My husband has the razr and loves.it and im stuck. Thank you Verizon.

  5. Frustrated Customer

    09/10/2012 at 4:55 pm

    Don’t think I will ever own another Motorola product & my Bionic was my third …Guess its time to purchase another LG phone….

  6. rob

    09/10/2012 at 5:17 pm

    Still like the phone never any problems all I have to say is that if I promised my customers stuff like they have promised us the upgrade and not delivered on the promise my ass would be looking for a new job will never buy Motorola again

  7. Daryl

    09/10/2012 at 5:28 pm

    I am thoroughly disappointed by my Bionic. It’s had nothing but problems, the much touted lap dock wad horrible, I’m currently having big problems recently in maintaining a data connection, and the ICS delays are the last straw. I feel Luke the phnone is a mess and Motorola is washing their hands of it. I’m done with Motorola after several in a row. Samsung here I come.

  8. Stephanie

    09/10/2012 at 5:35 pm

    Yes. Actually. I have been quite disappointed. The razr thing really annoyed me. I feel hosed. And where the hell is ics? I also have a stupid xyboard…with no arrival of ics on the horizon. Come on! I do not want to go iPhone/iPad over this crap.

  9. bionic fool

    09/10/2012 at 5:46 pm

    DATA drop Issues!!!!!!!!!!!!! Also i cant send videos i’ve shot cause they are blurry when i send them over text even after resizing! Maybe im doing something wrong but my droid x sent them just fine!

  10. Jay

    09/10/2012 at 5:51 pm

    All this falls back on Verizon at this point. Moto has given them stable releases, but for whatever reason,(Flash,Rootable..whatever)they won’t release OTA It’s been a year already.

  11. Bob

    09/10/2012 at 5:59 pm

    Moto-no-la! Never again! Can you hear us? At least give us back half of what we paid for this Phone to control all others! Never again!

  12. gs3

    09/10/2012 at 6:06 pm

    I feel your guys pain that use to be me but then i jumped ships to the galaxy s3 and enjoy ics 4.0.4 and already set to get jelly bean 4.1 before bionic even gets ics..

    • Bob

      09/10/2012 at 6:30 pm

      Thats my plan too. I’ve seen it but going to ride my Bionic till it dies. Well, worse than it already has.

  13. VA Patriot

    09/10/2012 at 6:23 pm

    A prime example on how marketing vs customer value are at odds. As pathetic as it is, Motorola has failed Droid Bionic Owner. Their actions speak volumes above their written words that they have little value on who their customer really is.

    • Bob

      09/10/2012 at 6:46 pm

      What “Written word!” Oh, we are going to release it some time in the future, maybe. Then they have the nerve to send me an email today saying “Check out our latest Droid Razzr HD family.” How about you send me one to replace the piece of junk you sold me under false advertising!

  14. William McClenney

    09/10/2012 at 6:32 pm

    Well, I went from the purchase on Christmas Eve 2011 when I was told that ICS would be on it in a few weeks by the Verizon salesman, to eventually “early Q3”. Here’s the thing about the Bionic. It’s a pretty flexible design, good hardware, except for maybe the screen, but it’s not bad, just not so great, and it came with a rather nice range of tailored accessories. I favored the extended battery and cover, and a nifty external charger that takes both Motorola spec batteries.

    I have a suspicion that ICS may be able to better utilize the dual-core donk and generous 1GB of RAM. Mine came with a 16 gig micro usb card which I have not come close to overrunning even with gobs of dense georeferenced USGS topographic maps.

    Here is my considered take. It would be difficult not to be alienated by both Verizon and Motorola given both the delays and now this offer to give you $100 off if they exercise their proviso not to provide ICS or JB for the Bionic.

    Consider for a moment what that would mean to this customer of both. I would be stuck in Verizon’s plan for a year and a quarter with the poor performing Gingerbread OS. Try to exercise it before 24 December 2013 and I get to pay a non-discounted price for that upgrade, provided that is a Motorola, which would THEN be discounted that $100. Or do I misinterpret that?

    And then there is still the open question if the $100 offer will even encompass my Christmas Eve/Verizon 2-year plan out to Christmas Eve, next year….

    Now either one of those would be the kiss of death as far as I am concerned. Because death of business, Verizon/Motorola, is what comes beyond adding injury to insult. We Bionic owners are already insulted! Failing to provide ICS and JB after such an announcement would be injury.

    OK, so I get to upgrade to a non battery interchangeable RAZR (with or without a pass on the 2-yr hardware contract). Which places me squarely in iPhone 5, or maybe iPhone 6 territory by Christmas next year.

    Verizon/Motorola, listen up. If you DON’T release both ICS and JB for the Bionic, then several primary trusts will have breached. You see I moved to both Verizon and the Android platform to get away from the bizarre heavy-handedness of Apple and AT&T. I paid the early contract termination charges and fled both to get here?

    Which means going back is a coin toss, unless you honor your words. That, surprisingly, goes a long way in business…….

  15. joe

    09/10/2012 at 6:39 pm

    To the ppl having data issues …i was having same problem when retarded verizon pushed .905 update…screwed everything up…i found unofficial ics .230…fixed everything but im with everyone…im pissed and wont buy another verizon or motorola product…ps update is easy for anyone feeling adventurous …update fixed all data issues issues and love the phone…verizon CS said i should buy new phone…i think thats their plan…its not that im cheap but they have to earn my$…

  16. Geri O

    09/11/2012 at 5:41 am

    While I am a faithful Verizon customer and will continue to be, I was soooo disappointed with their handling of the Bionic situation. My local corporate store absolutely bent over backwards and did backflips to help me with the situation, but their hands were tied by corporate policy. After struggling for 8 weeks, I finally drop-kicked that Bionic POS and paid full-price for the fruit-labeled phone on Verizon. Why? Because, unlike another Android phone (and I have much love for Android, but…..), I knew, for better or worse, what I was getting. I can’t recall a bigger ball-drop from Moto and Verizon than the Bionic story. Verizon still covers my phone and coverage areas better than anyone, but the Bionic stigma is still in my head. And Moto….fuggetaboutit…..

    Geri O

  17. Kelly

    09/11/2012 at 6:48 am

    Overall I still like my Binoic, it’s my favorite Android yet (previous phones.. EVO 4G and Thunderbolt). No real problems in the past year. It’s very fast and I like the display’s brightness outside (I’ll deal with Pentile for that tradeoff of brightness for excellent outside viewing) Besides lacking the ICS update, I have two issues with it: 1) Moto’s software is a little odd, quirky, has minor glitches at times but that’s not a dealbreaker. 2) My biggest dislike is the darn camera, almost everything about it. It’s very slow and takes horrible pictures most of the time. But I realize that until recently, all Android cameras have been bad. I’ve missed so many great photos that I’ve wanted to simply throw the phone and put myself and the camera out of it’s misery. I’m glad to see excellent cameras on the HTC One series and GIII. However I’m staying with Vzw and want a smaller phone, so I will own an Incredible 4G or Razr M very soon. I realize their cameras arent as stellar as the 2 mentioned above, but still a drastic improvement over most past Android cameras. I like that the new Razr M is nearly iPhone sized, but with a 4.3′ screen. The non-removable battery concerns me a bit, but that may not be a dealbreaker. If my ICS update comes soon, it may make living with Bionic easier for a few more months. If ICS improves the camera on Bionic just a little ,that would make me very very happy :) and I may be a Bionic owner for much longer.

    • Kenny

      09/11/2012 at 2:24 pm

      The ICS camera switching is really cool as you know our current phones/versions take quite awhile to get the camera to launch. I’ve heard ICS improves the camera but I’m not sure how really good it can get. The RAZR M takes great pictures, not sure if that’s the software or better hardware or both. But yes, the camera is a dud launching and only takes good pictures outdoors with plenty of light.

  18. Marcus

    09/11/2012 at 12:17 pm

    I am pissed. Like I was when the Razr came out like 12 hours after I dropped top dollar for the Bionic. Hoodwinked is the most PC word I can think of for what Motorola did to its customers. They hyped and hyped and hyped the phone, then completely wrote it off within a week. Clearly they had a stock of pre-built phones they needed to dump into the market, and had little to no intention of supporting it. Shameful…I will NOT be giving them another penny.

  19. JayAaroBe

    09/11/2012 at 2:05 pm

    One word to describe Moto/Verizon: rapacious.
    ra·pa·cious  [ruh-pey-shuhs]
    adjective
    1. given to seizing for plunder or the satisfaction of greed.
    2. inordinately greedy; predatory; extortionate: a rapacious disposition.
    3. (of animals) subsisting by the capture of living prey; predacious.

  20. Kenny

    09/11/2012 at 2:21 pm

    I love my Bionic, best device I’ve owned. I’ve had a couple of iPhones and the first Droid and I think its the best sounding phone to date. I am bummed about no ICS as it’s pretty slick on the other devices I’ve used. It’d be nice if they just went straight to Jellybean.

  21. have you had enough bs i have

    09/11/2012 at 6:31 pm

    Running custom roms since beginning of 2012 not gonna wait for moto or verizon to get their act together fck that shit don’t even get me started on Verizon’s tactics lol

  22. tommas

    09/11/2012 at 6:32 pm

    What about google. Anyone notice that this site only comes up in bing search. Hmmmmmmmm.

    • jane

      09/12/2012 at 6:07 am

      I found this site from a google search.

  23. Marty Finley

    09/11/2012 at 6:36 pm

    I have supported Motorola And thier products for the last 30 years. I purchased a Bionic on Sept 7, 2011 knowing that Motorola would stand behind thier products. I was greatly mistaken, Motorola abandon their customer base and therefore I intend to abandon Motorola 100 percent. I Paid premium plus for my phone and Motorola rewarded me with newer Android phones less than 30 days after my purchase. Motorola has abandoned the Bionic customer, thus untill Motorola does for that customer base, in my opinion we should boycott all motorola products. Giving them the same support they have given the Droid owners have received. NOTHING, Motorola cannot even keep a scheduled update, one year after initial release.

  24. nokissorgrease

    09/11/2012 at 8:27 pm

    What really sucks is i bought. 4 of them

  25. catmman

    09/12/2012 at 7:15 am

    Glad I got it for free but still doesn’t make me happy. Would ditch but have three car mounts and so on. Works well if you dumb the phone down and only run 3G all the time. What a shame.

  26. Zoraya

    09/12/2012 at 8:34 am

    I was so excited to purchase my Samsung charge but was greatly dissappointed. Luckily Verizon saw my loyalty and upgraded me to the “top-of-the-line” Bionic. Although, i was stoked, it quickly faded with the introduction of new and improved Motorlla product within 1 moth of getting my bionic the graphics amazed me but i held onto my newest dinosaur. I have anticipated the update for a long time nowand am saddly waiting for my upgrade date in June 2013. :-( I just hope Motorolla is taking note of the many disappointed customers. ESPECIALLY, its less savvy women clientel who cant even get a cute decent looking case to make it at least appear pretty. Lol.
    Thank You Adam for putting my thoughts into words.

  27. Cory

    09/12/2012 at 9:42 am

    Hey Adam, how about you don’t write anything until you have something good to say. If you Google “Droid Bionic Ice Cream Sandwich” the first 6 or so suggestions are from you, regurgitating the same crap over and over again, every other day, it seems.. We all know… we get it… move on.

    • p9

      09/12/2012 at 12:43 pm

      Apparently you aren’t stuck with one of these useless phones, Cory.

  28. Bver

    09/12/2012 at 1:23 pm

    I was one of the morons that got the Bionic right when it came out. I’m still ok with it, it hasn’t crapped out on me at all and I haven’t had to return it like I did 3x’s with my Droid X. Only things that pissed me off was the release of the RAZR right after and the lack of ICS upgrade. My husband got the RAZR and flaunted it at me – then had to switch to an iPhone for work. Thinking of transferring over to his phone. I hear the 4.0 phones will do screen caps now. True, or is that just the Samsungs?

  29. regretful

    09/13/2012 at 1:37 pm

    I hate my bionic. Tons of cell radio issues and problems with the phone turning off randomly. Never will I buy a Motorola product again. Can’t wait to get my SIII.

  30. ray Fer

    09/19/2012 at 7:57 pm

    I bought the bionic specifically because ics was promised. I have bought my last motorola product thanks to this.

  31. John Gault

    09/20/2012 at 4:34 am

    The Bionic is a great phone. Yes, the ICS delay and sticking the RAZR out there are terrible ways to treat customers, no doubt. The phone itself, even with the old OS is still excellent. iPhone is a joke compared to even a year old Bionic.Yes, Motorola sucks, but the phone is great.

  32. Wesley McDowell

    09/20/2012 at 8:25 pm

    Good thing the Bionic has wifi. If it weren’t for that I often would not have a data connection. I can understand not always having 4G LTE, but not even connecting with 3G? That’s inexcusable. I wish I had known the RAZR would be released so soon, I would have waited a couple of weeks, but now feel stuck. Such is life. No phone or provider is perfect. Don’t like Verizon? Well ask your AT&T customer friends how much the like their LTE service.

  33. Jeffrey Williams

    10/10/2012 at 4:07 pm

    I’ve been following Motorolas Droid Bionic forum closely on this and found that Moto has been answering questions and their concerns about ICS delays. The issue has not so much been Motorola but Verizon who keeps disapproving the past few upgrades for senseless reasons. But at least Motorola is providing dialogue while Verizons Droid Bionic forum remains silent.

    Keep in mind, there is no money in to be made by Verizon with any ICS upgrades at this point, especially when they’re pushing their “share everything” plan and on the eve of the holiday season where newer phones, pre-loaded with JellyBean, will soon be out. It’s a prime and profitable opportunity to re-leash everyone into a new contract with a more expensive shared data plan.

    But if you want your voices to be hears, this is not the site. You’re much better off registering with Motorola’s forum site. And for what it’s worth, Verizon also has a Droid Bionic site. At least Motorola will respond while Verizon ignores it’s flock.

  34. bean

    03/06/2013 at 5:33 pm

    I am also very frustrated with the Bionic. I have complained and complained to Verizon from the moment I got it but they didn’t care too much. This is a bummer since I have been a Verizon customer for15 years (back when it was Airtouch) and this is the first phone I absolutely hated. My contract is up in 2 months and I have no idea what I’m going yo get next. Since I have got the Bionic my internet is slow, ghost typing, the screen switches on it’s own, it shuts off on it’s own, it freezes, keyboard letters are inaccurantly detected and the camera is the worst I have ever had! Need I say more?

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