Tristan Findley Professional Resumé

Motorola Milestone to have limited Android Marketplace access?

Those early adopters of the new Motorola Milestone Android smartphone may find their access to the Android Marketplace limited, with most paid-for content unavailable. As a potential early-adopter myself, I did some digging into these claims to see if I could shed some light on the truth behind it, and to what extent it would affect customers of Motorola's latest flagship device.

While reading through the forums of Expansys UK, I came across a rather disturbing post about the Sim-Free Motorola Milestone. This initial finding worried me, and got me searching for similar issues with Android devices. It did not take me long to find that this was indeed a problem with the SIM-Free HTC Hero. Posts on the Android Market forum showed numbers of angry users unable to find their favorite apps. I first called Expansys, to confirm this issue, and I am currently awaiting a response from their technical support representative.
Next, I tried to get in contact with Google directly, only to find that their phone-contact is limited to automated messages (unless you know the extension of the person you're trying to contact). I therefore phoned Motorola's UK Technical support line. The representative I was put through to was very quickly able to tell me that they believed that this indeed was a potential issue for the Milestone, however they were unable to confirm as they have been working on reports from the German markets, and did not have a UK device in the office to test with. The representative kindly offered to escalate the case, and I am expecting a callback from Motorola on this in the next couple of days.

Next I turned back to the internet to see if I could turn up any more information on this lockout. According to what I have found out so far, access to the Android Marketplace would be limited to free applications for the Milestone, at least at first..  I am forced to conclude that this is probably going to be the case. This is due to one or two reasons:

• Google have to 'whitelist' devices to access the full Marketplace. In the case of the SIM-free HTC Hero, access to the Marketplace was limited to free applications only for many months. The device was eventually 'whitelisted' and now has full access to the Marketplace. I was fortunate enough to have a Sim-Free HTC Hero available to test with, and I can confirm that this is indeed the case.

• The other reason behind the restricted access, may be to do with Developer handsets being made available to the general public. These handsets have unrestricted access to the root of the phone, allowing for a user to copy applications from one device to another, without paying for them. I am unsure if carriers can place extra restrictions upon branded/locked handsets, but this may explain why SIM-Free handsets will suffer. If this is the case, then it is an anti-piracy step that Google have taken to protect their developers.

Posts in the 'Milestone: Missing apps in Market' and 'Why block unlocked devices?' threads from the Google Marketplace forum indicate the above.

Will this fact stop me from purchasing a Milestone, or recommending it to friends & family?
No. For reasons I shall explain next.

Should you be worried about this and cancel your (pre)ordered device?
If there is a certain app that you absolutely cannot live without in the short-term, then maybe the Milestone isn't for you right now, however, if you feel you can survive without that killer-app, then I'd stick with the Milestone. As the HTC Hero has proved, access to the marketplace will eventually be granted. Just be patient.The Milestone is available exclusively unlocked in the UK and German markets, and a phone-giant like Motorola will not allow for restricted access to burden the sale of their flagship device. Google are well aware of the issues surrounding the Milestone as there are multiple posts on the Android Marketplace forums. Google have invested interest in the Milestone / Droid as they worked with Motorola to design it from the ground up. To this end, I do not feel that the restricted access will be a permanent problem.

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I cannot yet confirm that the restricted access will in fact be a problem in the UK until the Milestone is officially released. Mine has not yet reported as shipped from Expansys, but I will post a report on this issue as soon as I have the device in my hands, and I will continue to post updates on this issue to my site and to the relevant forums as I receive them.

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Update: I have since been contacted by Motorola UK Customer Support. They have confirmed that the UK Sim-Free handsets will not have access to the paid-apps in the Marketplace, however they are working on a resolution to this. They have kept the case on record and relayed the above research to their management team. I guess we'll find out for certain once we've received the devices.

Update: After receiving a SIM-Free Motorola Milestone from Expansys UK, I can confirm that there are no limitations on the Marketplace applications available to the device.