Hasta La Gadget!

We’d had some indication that Europe would be seeing Motorola Milestones running Android 2.1 roughly around this time, and it looks like we are now finally starting to get a few more specifics. According to Mobile Bulgaria, that country’s leading carrier, Vivacom, will begin selling Milestones equipped with Android 2.1 “by March 20th,” which should no doubt be just part of a broader European rollout in the coming days / weeks (that will hopefully extend to Canada as well). Unfortunately, things still aren’t any clearer for Droid users in the US, but you can be sure we’ll be watching every development on that front.

Motorola Milestone with Android 2.1 hitting Bulgaria by March 20th, rest of Europe to follow? originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 12 Mar 2010 11:54:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Let’s step into the time warp, shall we? Specifically, we’d like to go back to our interview of AT&T Mobility CEO Ralph de la Vega at MWC last year when we asked him about the carrier’s support for Android (or lack thereof):

Chris: Okay, and expanding on that a little bit, I heard you speak at CTIA last year and you mentioned that… you mentioned basically the same comments about Android at that time. You said that you thought that it was promising, you liked what you saw, but that was at a time when there were a lot of questions about why AT&T wasn’t in the OHA. I’m wondering if your thoughts, your opinions have changed since then. Has AT&T’s direction with Android changed at all?

Ralph: No, actually, I think that they have been somewhat validated in that… we like the Android as an operating system on its own, but we want to make sure that we have, and customers have the option, to put applications on that device that are not just Google applications, so when the G1 came out and T-Mobile launched it, it’s primarily a Google phone. And we want to give customers the choice of other applications on that device, not just the same Google applications.

Chris: So you’re basically waiting for Android to be de-branded, so to speak?

Ralph: Well, to be open. (Laughter.) Right? I mean, the whole idea behind Android is that it’s gonna be an open OS, and so I don’t wanna roll an open OS to market that has primarily Google apps on it, and I think that’s gonna happen. I mean, I see a lot of activity, I think it’s got a good future, and I think it makes a lot of sense that the OS is open-source, separate from Google apps that are also very good.

A year later, enter the Motorola Backflip — AT&T’s very first Android device. Does it hold true to de la Vega’s principles? Well, it depends on whose glasses you read the statements through. Yes, true, it definitely doesn’t have “primarily Google apps on it” thanks to the carrier’s questionable decision to remove Google search and replace it with Yahoo — but as for giving “customers the choice of other applications,” that’s another matter altogether. It seems that Backflips are being shipped without the ability to turn on non-Market installations, meaning that AT&T has effectively locked you into getting all of your content through the walled garden. Add in the Yahoo debacle and the egregious amount of unremovable crapware they’ve left in ROM, and we start to wonder: why did AT&T bother partnering up with Android if they weren’t going to take it seriously? Certainly doesn’t bode well for the Mini 3 and the rest of the pack, now, does it?

Motorola Backflip doesn’t allow non-Market apps, proves AT&T doesn’t get Android originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 08 Mar 2010 15:06:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Alright, pardon our conjecture here, but we think we’re on to something. A Motorola just flew through FCC certification with ID IHDP56KV1 and model name “i1” featuring iDEN plus Bluetooth 2.1 and WiFi — in other words, this’ll almost certainly be coming to Sprint Direct Connect. Remember that rumored Opus One with Android for iDEN? Yeah, well, “i1” is a pretty notable, stand-out model name if you ask us — and it’s not every day that you see an iDEN device with WiFi, suggesting this’ll be a smartphone. Do a little hand-waving and liberal dot-connecting and you have a reasonable assumption that the Opus One will be coming to market as the i1 — and with FCC certification under their belt, Moto might introduce it sooner rather than later. CTIA later this month, perhaps?

Motorola’s Android-powered iDEN device to be called i1? originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 05 Mar 2010 15:27:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Thought all multitouch-capable displays were created equal? Think again — Android and Me has posted a rather fascinating (if not somewhat depressing) video showing a demo multitouch app created by a game developer who’d grown suspicious after running into all sorts of trouble getting the feature to work the way he wanted on the Nexus One. First up, the Droid handles the demo with aplomb — two thumbs are recognized smoothly and consistently. Next, though, the Nexus One gets confused after a while and starts registering presses at the wrong corners of the on-screen box formed by the placement of the thumbs. There’s always hope that this could be fixed with a firmware bump, but that hope looks to be in jeopardy from language posted by a Google engineer in the official Android dev forums: “…this is how the touch screen hardware on the Nexus One works (which is essentially the same screen as on the G1 and myTouch). The Droid has a sensor from a different manufacturer, with different behavior. Other phones will likewise have different sensors.” In other words, Google seems to think that HTC’s just using a lower-quality sensor than Motorola is. That’s good news for Droid owners, we suppose — but with game development on Android still something of a non-starter, hardware issues like this keep fragmenting the user base and preventing big-name developers from jumping in and betting on the platform. Follow the break for video proof of the wackiness.

Continue reading Nexus One’s multitouch confused more easily than Droid’s?

Nexus One’s multitouch confused more easily than Droid’s? originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 03 Mar 2010 20:31:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We’ve just taken delivery of an AT&T-branded Motorola Backflip — the carrier’s very first Android device — and we wanted to share with you our magical first moments putting the phone through its paces. Here’s a quick rundown of our first impressions:

• It feels solidly-built — probably a notch better than the CLIQ. There’s no wiggle or weirdness in the hinge whatsoever. Of course, we know from personal experience that “feels solidly-built” doesn’t necessarily mean it is solidly-built, so the jury’s still out on how it’ll hold up with regular use, especially with the keyboard exposed full-time.
• Opening and closing the phone isn’t a natural one-handed operation, unless you’re comfortable putting it at extreme risk of an unfortunate tumble.
• It’s laggy right out of the box, which doesn’t bode well for usability once you load it up with your own apps. Of course, it uses exactly the same processor as the CLIQ, so that doesn’t come as a surprise.
• It’s filled to the brim with pre-loaded AT&T stuff: AllSport GPS, AT&T Maps, AT&T Music (which takes the place of the standard Music app), AT&T Navigator, AT&T Wi-Fi Hotspots, Mobile Banking, MobiTV, MusicID, Where, and YPmobile. We strongly prefer the approach of offering a special branded Android Market portal where you can download your carrier’s recommended apps.
• Blur looks and feels the same as it does on the CLIQ, though the main Blur widgets — Social Status, Messages, and Happenings — have been moved one home screen left of the main one (we prefer this configuration anyhow).
• Yahoo has replaced Google as the default search provider throughout the phone. It’s crazy: the home screen widget, the browser, everything’s been programmed to use Yahoo. We love us some irony, but golly, we’d prefer Google searches most of the time.

It spontaneously rebooted for us once in about an hour of use — a concerning sign, particularly considering Motorola’s inability to pump out a solid firmware for the CLIQ — but we’ll need a little more time with it. Want more right now? Follow the break for some more impressions, video, and a sample shot from the camera.

Continue reading Motorola Backflip for AT&T unboxing and hands-on

Motorola Backflip for AT&T unboxing and hands-on originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 01 Mar 2010 14:59:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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