Motorola Solstice XT901 is FCC certified, on its way to US Cellular with LTE and ICS

Motorola’s had a couple of pretty restless months lately, but after Razr HD and Maxx HD’s releases there hasn’t been much left to report about Google’s subsidiary. Most Jelly Bean upgrades still don’t have clear ETAs, the rumor about a Moto Nexus device was probably fabricated, while other high-end gadgets are not expected to be coming anytime soon.
That doesn’t mean we get to forget all about Motorola however, because there’s a new budget-friendly mid-ranger from the company heading to US Cellular. Codenamed “Solstice”, the handheld has just cleared the FCC with model number XT901, being most likely scheduled for a December launch (this year’s winter solstice occurs on December 21).
This is the first time we’re hearing about the phone, so, as you can imagine, the details, specs and features are a bit blurry. Still, we know that the mid-ranger will sport a qHD display with 960 x 540 pixels resolution and will pack a dual-core 1.5 GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 Krait CPU.

There’s also Android 4.0.4 ICS on board of the device, which is another hint at an imminent release, while connectivity options include Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth and 4G LTE.
We have no way to know if the phone will come exclusively to American regional carrier USC or if it’ll be available on other networks too, but we’d probably put our money on the former. As for pricing, the Solstice should probably be a tad pricier than the existent ICS-running, 1.2 GHz CPU powered Electrify 2. That means you should be ready to pay around $100-$150 on contract and $350-400 with prepaid plans.
Anyone looking for a decently priced and decently (cough mediocre cough) spec’d ICS-based phone? Could the Solstice fit the bill?

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Android 4.2 Key Lime Pie, Motorola Nexus and Droid RAZR X spotted in wildest rumor yet

Google is going to unveil new products on October 29, including the LG Nexus 4, the Samsung Nexus 10, new Nexus 7 versions (32GB support and Cellular connectivity hinted), all running Android 4.2 according to a recently released report.
Previous rumors suggested that Android 4.2 will still be named Jelly Bean rather than Key Lime Pie, and recent server logs spottings revealed two product codenames, the Occam and Manta, that were believed to describe Motorola-made devices. However, following Google’s Q3 2012 financial disclosures, we found out that it will be a while until Google will be able to launch a pure Motorola handset. Therefore the Occam and Manta codenames probably stand for something else.
Why the long introduction? Well we have a wild rumor for you today, which we advise you to take it with a huge grain of salt for now. DroidForums is featuring an “exclusive moto leak” in one of its threads, which details Android 4.2.2 Key Lime Pie upgrades for some Motorola devices.
In that list we can find several Droid models that have already been announced and/or launched, but also some devices that are yet to be unveiled such as the Droid RAZR X or the Motorola Nexus, both of which are shipping with Kie Lime pie on board, according to the text.
Moreover, in the list below you’ll also find a Droid RAZR i, which would be a Verizon version of the Intel-based RAZR i model that was announced in Europe a short while ago. But Verizon is yet to announce and/or launch the handset.
Here’s what the leak reads:

Motorola Mobility Android Engineering
Below are the authorizations an unauthorized/pending of Motorola phones to receive android 4.2.2 (code name) Key Lime Pie

• Droid RAZR X: Authorized Reason: Being shipped with 4.2.2
• Motorola Nexus: Authorized Reason: Being shipped with 4.2.2
• Droid RAZR i: Authorized Reason: Pushing 4.2.2 out between Q3 and Q4 2013
• Droid RAZR HD/MAXX: Authorized Reason: Pushing out 4.2.2 between Q3 and Q4 2013
• Droid RAZR M: Authorized Reason: pushing out 4.2.2 between early Q3 and Q4 2013
• Droid RAZR MAXX: Authorized/Subject to change Reason: Support time frame may not support 4.2.2 estimated push date late Q2 2013
• Droid 4: Authorized/Subject to change Reason: Support time frame may not support 4.2.2 estimated push date early Q3 2013
• Droid RAZR: Pending Authorization Reason: Support time frame may not support 4.2.2 estimated push date mid Q2 2013
• Droid Bionic Pending Authorization Reason: Support time frame may not support 4.2.2 estimated push date mid Q2 2013

The above documents have be reviewed and authorized/Pending authorization and are subject to change by VP product Management.

In case the list above has indeed been leaked by a Motorola employee, then we’re definitely curious to see what the Motorola Nexus and the Droid RAZR X are. We’ll certainly be given a hint in a few days, once we find out what Android 4.2 will be called.
But if things turn out to be true and Android 4.2 starts rolling out to Android devices towards the end of this year, we’ll definitely start asking questions about Motorola’s rumored KLP update plans lined up above, as some handsets would only get it very late next year – you know, just like other Android OEMs who don’t happen to be owned by Google.
Any thoughts on this wild rumor?

 

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