Tristan Findley Professional Resumé

Motorola Milestone set for December 7th UK Release

For those Android fans out there, the Motorola Droid, dubbed the Motorola Milestone in Europe, is arriving on our shores on December 7th, almost one month to the day that the device released in the US. Exclusive to Expansys UK until the end of the year, the phone is available SIM Free for £449.99, or for £49.99 on an 18-month T-Mobile Combi 30 + Web N Walk tariff for £35 per month.

The Motorola Milestone / Droid is the product of a direct collaboration between Google and Motorola. Both companies have clearly taken a lot of product feedback from the previous HTC Devices, and come up with a device that will meet almost everyones needs. This is one of two devices that Motorola are releasing with a hardware keyboard, a feature not seen on an Android device since the HTC T-Mobile G1. Motorola have improved on this design no end, but created something that is both beautiful, and remarkably practical and robust.

The Milestone will be releasing in the UK with a few small but significant changes from the US Droid. The first, is full Mulitouch capability built into the OS. The US model currently doesn't currently support this on the inbuilt software, however future updates as well as third party software are already able to take advantage of the feature. The next most significant change is that the European versions will not (yet) get Google's free Turn-by-Turn navigation. Instead, the device will ship with (a trial of?) Motorola Motonav. I would expect Google Navigation to make an appearance eventually, however the theory is that it has been held up by the owners of the Euro mapping data - Tele Atlas (TomTom). The last difference, is the US model shipping with a 16GB MicroSD, while in Europe we will only enjoy a complementary 8GB MicroSD. With the current prices of Flash Memory, I don't believe that this will upset anyone.

The Droid has already been attracting a lot of attention after its US preview and release, with it being toted as a direct Apple iPhone 3GS rival. This could be down to the iPhone exclusivity to AT&T, with the Droid being offered exclusively on Verison. Indeed, early reviews of the product praise the Verison network when the device is being compared to the iPhone.

The Milestone / Droid boasts the first phone running Google Android 2.0, a mobile operating system that has come along in leaps and bounds (with 2.1 already due before the onset of 2010). Its hard to believe that an operating system that was released a year ago, and announced only 2 years ago is already aiming for the top-spot among the current heavyweights of Symbian and iPhone OS. Android seems to be giving people just what they want from devices, especially if people don't want to be locked in with an Apple device. With more enhancements for the already feature-packed operating system on the horizon, and the possibility of free turn-by-turn Navigation, the current phone giants have got their work cut out for them.

My Milestone is already on pre-order from Expansys, and I will try to post a review of the product as soon as I receive it, and have had a play. Keep checking back.

Useful links

Motorola Milestone product page (UK)

Motorola Droid product page (US)