At CES this year, there were numerous Android handsets announced that were bound for Verizon's network – for those keeping count, that was over six months ago. Since then, only some of them have released. First came the ThunderBolt in March, which was closely followed by the Charge. The LG Revolution then came with little to no fanfare. But there is one device that is still missing from the lineup … the Bionic my Motorola.
As per usual, we were given an extremely broad time frame in which the Bionic would launch at the year's opening trade show. We were told to expect it “early second quarter." Toward the end of April, they updated us to confirm that it hadn't been axed but may land in Q3 instead.
With what seems like several Android phones hitting shelves and just as many slipping into obsolescence each week, untimely delays and taking forever to bring a device to consumer hands can be the difference between selling out and being a flop on launch day. The Bionic, although it sports somewhat better specifications than its current Android counterparts on Verizon, is no exception. Not only have all of the CES phones already released (mostly) on schedule, several that weren't announced at CES (DROID 3, DROID X2 and Xperia Play) have, too.
On top of that, yet another rumored device made its grand appearance around the web today. The Dinara, outed by Droid Life, should be one of the first Android superphones which will be made by Motorola and may hit Verizon's shelves sometime this holiday season. What will the Dinara supposedly entail? Only a larger, HD display (the device will be the same size as the Bionic, the display tighter to the edges), 1GB RAM, TI dual-core processor, 13-megapixel camera and an internal, non-removable battery.
This leads me to ask, why is Motorola even fooling with the Bionic anymore? Moto has obviously gotten ahead of themselves and promised a device long before it was ready for consumers. Now that device is no longer ahead of the curve like it once was and they have to work "on some new updates,” which may push this device back into the Fall. At that point, I don't see why anyone in their right mind would purchase the Bionic, knowing there should be a similar but much better phone right around the corner. (Then again, there's always a bigger, better phone right around the corner, no?)
What say you, guys and gals? Has the Dinara caught your eye over the already-aging, elusive Bionic? Should Motorola simply skip the Bionic and focus on its bigger, better brother? Or should they keep stutter stepping until they eventually trip themselves over all of their remarkably similar phones?
Image via Wired
