Motorola's Shadow emerges once again

By on May 26, 2010 at 8:47 AM
Rumor May 26, 2010

motorola-shadow-leak

Remember the guy that leaked the first clear image of the Motorola Shadow? No, not the live image, but the pic as seen on the user guide? Well he’s back and has brought with him yet another pic of the highly anticipated smartphone. But along with this leak comes the revelation that previous rumors were a bit off in the spec department. Instead of 4.3″, the WVGA display is 4.1″ diagonal. And that 16GB of internal memory? Apparently it’s actually a combination of 8GB internal and 8GB removable memory card. Regardless of the confusion over the aforementioned specs, we’d be pretty shocked if the 8 megapixel camera and 720MHz TI OMAP3630 processor didn’t pan out.

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  • Senor Dickhäus

    I still feel like this should have at least a 1GHz processor.

    • http://www.Addicted2Fresh.net/blog The Fresh Addict

      I kind of agree but if it isnt a direct successor of ‘The Droid’ then I see why it doesnt, could be a midlevel handset if thats the case I understand. If this does turn out 2b “The Droid 2″ then Motorla just misfired in the Smart Phone arms race…

    • ChocoTaco

      Why? Clock speed has no influence on performance. Motorola doesn’t use Qualcomm processors in their Android phones, they use TI OMAP processors. Why would they use an outdated 65nm Snapdragon processor? The TI OMAP 3630 at 720MHz will outperform it. Tests have shown it outperform the processor in the Droid by 80%, so why should Motorola use an older chip like the 65nm Snapdragon that will use more battery life, generate more heat and perform worse than the 720MHz 45nm TI OMAP 3630? Or are you only familiar with processor marketing hype? I’ll trade you a 3.4GHz Pentium 4 for a 2.66GHz i7. Fair trade? The P4′s clocked way higher.

      • Electrofreak

        Not entirely true. The graphics performance is 80% faster than the Snapdragon, but the CPU performance is worse.

        The Snapdragon is approximately 5-10% more powerful per clock cycle than a Cortex A8 processor, 45 nm or no.

        Don’t confuse graphics performance with CPU performance. Even if you clocked the OMAP 3630 at 1 GHz, it wouldn’t be as fast as a Snapdragon.

        Google “Hummingbird vs Snapdragon” and click the “I’m feeling Lucky” button. I’ve got a very detailed article there that explains it in detail.

        In the mean time, care to STOP spreading misinformation?

        Thanks.

      • Electrofreak

        Correction, 80% faster than the OMAP 3430, not the Snapdragon.

        The OMAP 3630 has the same SGX 530 GPU as the OMAP 3430 in the Droid, but it’s clocked at nearly twice the speed because of the lower heat and energy consumption of the 45 nm platform.

        But I’m seeing a LOT of people recently trying to compare the Snapdragon to various ARM Cortex A8 processors when they really have no idea. Snapdragon outperforms hardcopy Cortex A8, and the only CPU to rival Snapdragon currently is the 1 GHz Samsung Hummingbird Cortex A8, and that’s because it was significantly modified.

        TLDR Version: Snapdragon: 2100 million (dhrystone) instructions per second at 1 GHz. Cortex A8 like the TI OMAP 3630: 2000 MIPS.

        Not the best example (since some SoCs like Hummingbird actually manage to accomplish more per instruction per second than a typical Cortex A8) but if you don’t understand SoC architecture, that’s the best way to understand it.

        The 45 nm Snapdragons (1.3 or 1.5 GHz) will outperform just about everything until Cortex A9 comes out next year.

    • Electrofreak

      The OMAP 3630 is capable of running at 1 GHz. It’s been downclocked, probably to save power.

      It’s kind of silly really, since it’s a 45 nm SoC instead of 65 nm that’s currently in everything else (including Snapdragon). It’s about 20-30% more energy efficient than a 65 nm feature size chip, and so at 720 MHz, it consumes almost exactly the same (if not slightly less) power than a Droid at 550 MHz.

      It’s obvious that they want to use the energy consumption rate of the current Droid as kind of a benchmark, allowing them to keep the same 1300 mA battery, or boast better battery life with a larger unit.

      Phones like the Nexus One and EVO 4G with 65 nm Snapdragons use a 1500 mA battery, and even that has a tough time coping with the power needs of the chip.

      Long story short, we shouldn’t have any trouble clocking the OMAP 3630 to 1 GHz stable, but Motorola / Verizon appear to want to keep its power needs in line with the current Droid. They’re only pushing the clock speed up as far as the efficiency gain of the 45 nm chip provides them.

    • stix26

      Remember when the Incredible was a rumor its processor was rumored to be around 760 Mhz not 1 Ghz. so ther is a chance this is the dame issue with this processor. I do agree with the others that say the overall chipset is as good or better than the Snapdragon, but it does sound good to have the 1Ghz.

      • Electrofreak

        Simple solution, if you want 1 GHz, OC your TI OMAP 3630 to 1 GHz. It’ll be stable (hardcopy Cortex A8 at the 45 nm process are capable of 1 GHz stable by architecture design), and will perform almost as well as a Snapdragon, but will be 20-30% more energy efficient than a current-gen 65 nm Snapdragon.

        Pretty much win all around.

  • http://www.Addicted2Fresh.net/blog The Fresh Addict

    So is the Droid2 and Shadow one in the same or 2 diff handsets?

    • T

      2 different handsets. Droid 2 still has a slide out keyboard. If the rumor is true, this will have a lame name, “Droid Xtreme.” Weak…..

      • Derrick

        Has anyone seen this rumored Droid 2? I’ve seen that render of a Moto phone that’s white with a red belt look or something. I really need a REAL Droid II with a keyboard. Where are you getting your information T?

      • acquaz10

        the droid 2 is a slight refresh of the original and the shadow is becoming the new moto flagship phone

      • T

        I’m getting it from where BoyGenius got his start and made most of his connections… Howard Forums. That picture you’re referring to is the initial concept, the newest not having that red piece, and it being flush to the bottom of the face (think droid w/o a chin). Droid 2 is a standard Google experience, Shadow is MotoBlur. And while the Shadow has seen delays, the Droid 2 has been slowly creeping up the dates, from October to July as potential release date. Presumably, delays to the Shadow will force the D2 into a holding pattern.

        But yes… there are definitely two very real, very different phones.

      • Derrick

        There’s a lot of misinformation, people are actually referring to the Shadow as Droid 2 and Droid Xtreme.

    • StevenGlansburg

      technically since Verizon puts DROID in front of every phone with the Android OS, this like the DROID 5

      • ChocoTaco

        DROID only goes in front of their flagship phones. See ‘Motorola Devour’ and ‘LG Ally’. -1 for you for.

      • rg

        Close enough, +1 for Steven because Verizon insists on USING CAPS LOCK ON ALL ANDROID PHONE NAMES, which is equally offensive to read.

      • SKINNI

        I love the CAPS LOCK they use!!!

      • StevenGlansburg

        I had no idea that was the rationale. Either way, it’s kind of confusing to anyone, whether into tech or not.

      • SKINNI

        LOL! True! Im a DROID fan but I dont like the hit or miss naming. I thought their entire line of Android phones would be their “DROID Line/Series” which would be cool. When u name one phone “The DROID”, another phone the “DROID _____”, & another just the “, that doesnt make much sense. This is about as sparatic as Android versions are floating around. I love the phones but SOMEONE really needs to get a wrap on this. I think it kinda smears the image slightly, regardless of how great the hardware/software may be (think PALM).

    • http://www.Addicted2Fresh.net/blog The Fresh Addict

      Ok so this officially confusing guess thats what happens when we rely on leaks and info from our local Golds Gym SMH!

  • moosc

    Where is the 4.3 screen and side out keyboard fail

    • Sonya

      Where did you get that info from? The phone was never was suppose to have a 4.3″ screen or a slideout keyboard. People were just mixing things up. The Droid Pro however may combine all those things.

      • StevenGlansburg

        I think you have that Droid Pro confused with the Droid 3GS

  • Derrick

    :( Motorola, if you want me to replace my Droid, you need to bring one of these with a physical keyboard and keep it just as slim if not slimmer than the current Droid. Don’t worry about those that hated the Droid keyboard, I’m OK with it if it keeps the phone slim.

  • Infojock

    I don’t give a damn about a physical keyboard, but I am elated to hear about the 8gigs of internal memory!

  • Kar

    The leak came from Motorola and Verizon. They desperately want to be Apple. They are hoping that they get Apple like media attention with this leak. That’s what happen when you run out of idea.

    Disclaimer: I use Nexus One on Froyo. I am not an apple fanboy.

  • achilles

    HTC Incredible, no keyboard = fail (despite what the media says), the Nexus One, came out too late and no keyboard = fail (despite what media says), Mototola Shadow, no keyboard = fail (too similar to other existing devices and no keyboard). The best overall existing android phone is the Droid. Physical keyboard, stock android, camera flash = pass.

    • Channan

      The iPhone, no keyboard = fail

      Oh wait. It’s been one of the most successful phones ever.

      No thanks on a physical keyboard. I like my Nexus One just the way it is.

    • rusty

      And of course if you dont have the need for a physical key board your entire post = fail.

    • Jeff M.

      so that’s why they can’t keep the Incredible in stock…and no one is ordering the EVO

      • StevenGlansburg

        actually the incredible isnt in stock because Verizon created an artificial shortage.

      • MikeD

        I highly doubt that. They want as many of those device out in the consumers hands as possible. Its serves no purpose for them to create a shortage. Actually it could hurt the sales.

      • benr

        Actually, if you READ the reason why .. it’s that Samsung hasn’t been able to produce the screens fast enough. No screen .. no phone. ;)

      • Electrofreak

        Don’t feed the troll, kids.

    • StevenGlansburg

      I love when people like you can’t except the idea of pressing digital, non-existent buttons on a touch screen. It’s really not that hard. On the iphone it was actually easier than most post physical keyboards, especially the Droids awful keyboard.

      • Semi Constructive Criticism

        first of all you mean accept not except and second of all some people like physical QWERTY keys still. i know that when im writing a text, yea the touchscreen is totally fine on my Droid, however when im writing a long email i like to use my physical keyboard. And you get used to the physical keyboard on the Droid like i did and its not that bad. Sure i hope the Moto Droid 2 has a better one but that still doesn’t take away from the fact that the Droid is one of the best phones out on the market.

      • QuickWeevil

        Agreed. I had a Moto Droid and I NEVER used the physical keyboard because it was terrible. The landscape soft keyboard was fantastic.

      • Jim Davis

        It’s not that “people like you” can’t accept a touchscreen keyboard. Some of us prefer physical keys. They make using things like connectbot much easier because they don’t take up all the screen space. But, by all means, bash anyone that doesn’t think exactly like you. Geez, what happened to “Think Different”?

  • gees

    HTC > MOTOROLA

  • OnceUponAtime

    Listen, I am a techie myself, much like all of you. I’m a current owner of an iPhone (Busted, but still working none-the-less)
    I’ve never seen a bunch of whiny ass prepubescent teens as I have on these comments.
    Why can’t you all TAKE IN technology, be proud it’s moving forward. Yeah, you’re phone will only be the “best” for a few months (If you’re android, of coarse)

    The iPhone has set the benchmark and as to date android is the playing team. Great make FANTASTIC devices, once isn’t nearly as fragmented however.;-)

    • Alex

      Gotta love these idrones that come in here to talk crap about a app launcher disguised as a phone. Congrats on showing your skillsthat you can speak with Jobs knob deep down in your throat.

  • Mark Katz

    Cannot wait for this one! All the things I LOVE about my Droid without the added bulk and weight of the IMHO, useless physical keyboard!

  • webby

    I’m interested, but if it is not plain vanilla Android, or if the processor is any less powerful than a 1Ghz Snapdragon, I will pass.

  • Joe

    Motorola, LOL.

  • GothamCityGuy

    I still love my Droid INCREDIBLE…….everything this has but in the perfect size

  • Moosa

    With android 2.2, you really don’t need a power hungry 1 ghz processor. You really don’t need all that power unless you put tons of apps that will run in parallel in the background all the time.

    • ChocoTaco

      What power? A 45nm 720MHz OMAP 3630 is FASTER than the ancient, overrated, overhyped, outdated 65nm 1GHz Snapdragon. You people have absolutely no idea what defines a fast processor, do you? Why is a 3.4GHz Pentium 4 orders of magnitude slower than a 2.66GHz i7? Do you not understand architecture at all in even the tiniest way? Clock speed is a marketing term. It has nothing to do with processor performance unless you’re comparing it WITHIN THE SAME ARCHITECTURE. The OMAP chips have a totally different architecture than Qualcomms and they perform BETTER clock for clock.

      Why would they use a 1GHz Snapdragon that would perform worse, use more battery and generate more heat when they can use a TI chip at 720MHz that will outperform it in every way?

      • Joe

        Agreed

      • Doh

        Choco, its no use trying to explain this to most people. They probably couldn’t tell their left nut from their right nut much less CPU architecture.

        I’m really excited for OMAP4440 (45nm) that suppose to hit 1+ Ghz. 150% performance increase over existing A8 cores.

        http://focus.ti.com/general/docs/wtbu/wtbuproductcontent.tsp?templateId=6123&navigationId=12843&contentId=53243

      • Electrofreak

        WRONG.

        Seriously, stop, you don’t know what you’re talking about.

        The graphics performance is 80% faster than the OMAP 3430, but the CPU performance is worse even than a Snapdragon would be running at the same speed.

        The Snapdragon is approximately 5-10% more powerful per clock cycle than a Cortex A8 processor, 45 nm or no.

        Don’t confuse graphics performance with CPU performance. Even if you clocked the OMAP 3630 at 1 GHz, it wouldn’t be as fast as a Snapdragon.

        The OMAP 3630 has the same SGX 530 GPU as the OMAP 3430 in the Droid, but it’s clocked at nearly twice the speed because of the lower heat and energy consumption of the 45 nm platform.

        I’m seeing a LOT of people recently trying to compare the Snapdragon to various ARM Cortex A8 processors when they really have no idea. Snapdragon outperforms hardcopy Cortex A8, and the only CPU to rival Snapdragon currently is the 1 GHz Samsung Hummingbird Cortex A8, and that’s because it was significantly modified.

        TLDR Version: Snapdragon: 2100 million (dhrystone) instructions per second at 1 GHz. Cortex A8 like the TI OMAP 3630: 2000 MIPS.

        Not the best example (since some SoCs like Hummingbird actually manage to accomplish more per instruction per second than a typical Cortex A8) but if you don’t understand SoC architecture, that’s the best way to understand it.

        The 45 nm Snapdragons (1.3 or 1.5 GHz) will outperform just about everything until Cortex A9 comes out next year.

        I’m a tech columnist and I’ve written extensively about ARM architecture.

        Google “Hummingbird vs Snapdragon” and click the “I’m feeling Lucky” button.

        @Doh: The OMAP 4000 series is Cortex A9, we won’t see that until early next year at least. And obviously you don’t know jack all about ARM architecture or you’d know he is talking out of his butt.

      • Winston

        Hey look, a tech writer for Qualcomm. Admit it, you work for Qualcomm. We all know the truth.

        Just for the record, I have tested Snapdragon and OMAP3630. I would use OMAP3630 every day of the week.

        You are talking very basic core speeds, which is a great way to win your argument but have it be meaningless in a real life setting.

        You need to reevaluate your numbers but take it from a use case view. Who care how many instructions can be crunched to a user? Get both processors, run a use case, compare the results.
        Something like decoding H.264 high profile at 60fps while on a bluetooth voice call and displaying multiple layers on your display. Now tell us which chip is better.

      • Electrofreak

        If I was a tech writer for Qualcomm (which I’m not) then why in my article about the Galaxy S vs the EVO 4G would I recommend the Galaxy S as the better phone with it’s Samsung-built S5PC110 SoC?

        Now take a deep breath and look at my response to Curtis a couple posts down. You people are reading what you want to read in my explanations. Everyone wants to believe that the OMAP 3630 will outperform the Snapdragon in terms of performance and it’s simply untrue. But in smartphones, energy efficiency is king, and that’s why a competent 45 nm chip (720 MHz is plenty competent) is a better pick than a Snapdragon.

      • Electrofreak

        Oh and regarding your test, nothing would excite me more than the opportunity to do just that. If I had the resources, I would!

      • Winston

        @Electrofreak

        I am lucky in the fact that I do have the resources to compare various application processors. And I am telling you that in a real life setting the OMAP3630 is superior to the Snapdragon.
        Can the Snapdragon out preform the OMAP3630, it can but the power draw would be unacceptable for a cell phone.
        The Snapdragon is a lot of hype. Any day of the week I would take the OMAP3630 or Tegra over it. As for the Snapdragon 2, the changes are interesting. I would put Tegra 2 and U8500 over it. The OMAP4 looks promising but I need to see more real life data first.

      • Electrofreak

        I’m not arguing the fact that OMAP 3630 is the superior chip in this application (primarily due to energy efficiency), I’m arguing the fact that it outperforms the Snapdragon in processing speed, which it does not.

        That, my friend, is my point. The original claim was that the OMAP 3630 at 720 MHz is a faster chip than the 1 GHz Snapdragon, and I felt compelled to dispute that statement.

        I should note that in terms of graphics performance, the OMAP 3630 carries an edge over a QSD8x50 Snapdragon mostly due to the aging Imageon (Adreno) GPU. Supposedly the QSD8650A (single core 45 nm Snapdragon) will have a minor bump in GPU performance, and the next-gen GPU will be appearing in the (dual core) QSD8672. I’ll be interested in seeing how it stacks up.

        From what I’ve found, TI doesn’t stray very far from ARM’s specifications for Cortex chips, aside from adding a DSP for a minor improvement in repetitive tasks.

        From what I’ve heard, OMAP 4440 is essentially just hardcopy Cortex A9. Information on Cortex A9 is readily available from ARM developer resources, and will be a very significant improvement over Cortex A8 with dual-channel memory controllers, out of order execution (which I should point Snapdragon supports on a limited scale and Cortex A8 does not) and of course multiple cores.

        Can’t say I know a lot about Tegra 2 other than the fact that it is based off of Cortex A9 and has significant improvements (particularly in terms of the GPU solution) that set it ahead of the reset of the pack.

        Snapdragon 2 is a mystery to me, and I’d be interested to know more about it as well.

        I’m not a fanboi for any particular SoC (okay, I lie, I admit a bit of a soft side for the 45 nm Cortex A8 Samsung S5PC110 Hummingbird), and each have their pros and cons. You seem very pro-3630, which is fine, it’s a good chip, but people who purchase an OMAP 3630 will need to understand it’s strengths and it’s weaknesses. The ability to OC fairly well will, IMO, remove any real concerns that enthusiast users might have with performance.

        Winston, I’d be interested to discuss further the circumstances in which you’ve used an OMAP 3630, as one of my contacts in writing my article was a fellow who worked with the 3630 in industrial applications. Hit me up with a comment on my ABT article if you are interested. I’d like to write another article breaking down and comparing SoC performance and it’s not easy to find people who have had the opportunity to compare different SoCs side-to-side.

      • Electrofreak

        I’m going to give you the benefit of the doubt and assume that you think that a 45 nm chip is somehow faster than a 65 nm chip running at the same clock speed, which isn’t true.

        Energy efficiency is 20-30% better, heat is lower, and the SoC is *capable* of clocking higher, but that’s where the benefits of a smaller feature size end. It isn’t some magical CPU performance increase.

  • Curtis

    Even if the crap you were spitting was true electrofreak, why would you want a 5%-10% CPU boost in exchange for absoluteness pathetic battery life.

    • Electrofreak

      I’m not making a case for the Snapdragon, I’m making a case for the truth. I’d gladly take a 45 nm OMAP 3630 at 720 MHz over a Snapdragon because I could easily OC it to 1 GHz if I wanted, and have a much better battery life than a 65 nm Snapdragon for a marginal loss in performance.

      I just can’t stand it when people go on about stuff they have absolutely no clue about in a public forum where people will believe the BS and make decisions on products based upon that false information.

      I do know what I’m talking about, I’ve written and published this material, and have ARM engineers as my source.

      I’ve said it before; Google “Hummingbird vs Snapdragon” click “I’m Feeling Lucky” or the top link, which is my article on AlienBabelTech. Read it, and decide for yourself if I know what I’m talking about.

      Better yet, don’t take my word for it. If you want to know how Snapdragon stands up against Cortex A8, search for the article on AnandTech (well known for its fair and detailed articles) for the Nexus One review. Inside, you’ll find a good breakdown of Snapdragon and the Scorpion CPU inside.

      Snapdragon is a good processor, and currently beats a Cortex A8 equivalent MHz for MHz just because of the sheer amount of development work Qualcomm has put into it. Only a heavily modified Cortex A8 like Hummingbird can rival it. However, the 45 nm chips really are much more energy efficient than any 65 nm SoC, Snapdragon included, and I’d take them in a heartbeat.

      As soon as Snapdragon 45 nm chips come out, ARM hardcopy SoCs will be behind again until Cortex A9 comes out, which will shatter Snapdragon’s grip on the SoC market.

  • StevenGlansburg

    Ok, serious question.

    When does this actually come out?

    • Curtis

      Hopefully June, or July

  • BB33

    I LOVE my Droid, but I will gladly pay full price for this phone (since I won’t be eligible for upgrade) if it ends up being a better Droid minus the keyboard. I maybe use my keyboard once a month so I can do without it. And that larger display & faster processor are even better.

  • JAIME

    Nice phone can’t wait for it to come out.

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