The Motorola Milestone has reached another milestone (pun definitely intended) as the device has received a nice Froyo 2.2 update. The update was released by Motorola and so far there are a few things that you should know before you decide to take the jump and upgrade to the Froyo.

The first thing is that DRM-locked content on your SD card could be lost, this is according to Motorola. As to what would cause this loss of data we are not sure, but the company is advising customers to be aware of the risk before they decide to slap the latest Android dessert on their devices. Not only that, but Motorola claims that updating to Froyo 2.2 can cause some applications to perform at a decreased speed than before the update and ultimately can slow up the entire processing of the phone.

How is this, we do not know because it has always been common knowledge that a software update brings speed boosts. However the warnings are there so if your DRM-locked Inception copy is lost or you notice Angry Birds takes longer than expected to start you know why. But for those miner issues, you get the ability to move applications to SD card as well as get Flash 10.1 player for all your online content and as Adobe put it, experiencing the full web.

So as we said before, if you trust Motorola’s “exhaustive testing process” and are willing to give the software and firmware update a try, be our guests. The update is available from Motorola’s site and the update process is straight forward which involves connecting the device to the computer in order to complete the upgrade. Not only that but Motorola does warn that some of the old applications might not work with the new software.

The front part that contains the screen now has the “lip” integrated into it, instead of the back piece, as in the first Milestone. But the best exterior change is the keyboard, which has been refined and made better for typing. It is not flat anymore, but features bumps that make it easier to type, and with the dreaded gold navigation key gone, it’s one of the best keyboards on the market.

Internally, the Motorola Milestone 2 has been upgraded with a 1GHz TI OMAP SOC (which has a pretty good video chip that should be better than the one in Qualcomm’s Snapdragon solution), 512 MB of RAM (which is really needed, 256 just wasn’t enough anymore), 720p video capabilities on the 5 megapixels camera, Wifi N support and 8 GB of internal memory + a micro SD card slot that supports cards of up to 32 GB capacity (64 and maybe more in the future), so you can have a lot more storage space for your data.

All of this is great and makes the phone a worthy competitor, but despite running Android 2.2, Motorola has decided to lose some customers with their custom Motoblur skin for the OS, which a lot of people hate and is impossible to uninstall.
If you like or don’t care about that, the Milestone 2 is definitely a great phone, but if you want to have a more pure Android and smartphone experience, you’d be better off with a HTC Desire Z, which has the same specs, same great keyboard and comes with a default Android 2.2 installation that can be easily customized to your liking.

This is why there is variety when it comes to smart phones, and even a single phone can come in a variety of flavors. This is the case with the Motorola Milestone. Many of you may remember this handset as one of the most elusive Android devices to ever be released. It was; the phone as first announced as the DROID in the US where it would be released exclusively under mobile carrier Verizon. It was not until a later announcement that the device would indeed be available in the UK and under a different name did Android fans finally get to rejoice.

One of the reasons why the Milestone was such an anticipated handset was that it bought together several important elements: the (then) new Android 2.0 Éclair, a slide out QWERTY keyboard and a big touch screen display. The 600MHz CPU is hardly anywhere near the Snapdragon chips used in today’s smart phones, but it did keep the price of the handset lower.

Now, Motorola is trying a new approach to the Milestone, dropping the keyboard and slimming down the handset. The new XT 720 Milestone smart phone is now a media based handset with an 8 mega pixel camera, 720p video recording and even an HDMI output port for video playback.

The new device moves away from the usual tech crowd to the more media centric Android fans. As fun as a full QWERTY keyboard can be, not all smart phone users are heavy typists; this makes the shift from typing to media playback a pretty good choice.

Now, a new Motorola handset is announced to be carrying the DROID name, the XT 720. While the new device still carries the old DROID moniker, it loses the slide out QWERTY keyboard and gets a sleeker, lighter form factor. Of course, keyboard fans will be disappointed at the loss of the slide out attachment, but it is certainly a great way to get the DROID marketed to the general smart phone community –after all, there are plenty of people who prefer to have a much lighter phone.

As expected, the UK version of this handset will be labeled as the XT 720 Milestone (also Motoroi), and at the weight of 160 grams, the weight difference between the two phones is not exactly far apart (the older Milestone weighed in at 165 grams). Instead, the new phone trades off the older 5 mega pixel camera (with D1 video recording) and replaces it with an 8 mega pixel snapper (with 720p video recording) while the phone itself gets an additional HDMI port.

Overall, the tradeoff between the two phones is more about personal preference than actual device performance. With both handsets using an ARM Cortex A8 CPU (clocked at 600 MHz), 3.7 inch capacitive touch screens and mostly similar hardware specs, the end decision boils down to choosing a more text-centered device with a QWERTY keyboard, or a handset that focuses more on media with its better camera and HDMI output support.

Now Motorola Droid owners can, with the advent of the Game Gripper. The Game Gripper is a peripheral for the Droid that allows users to get that old-school game pad feel when they are playing games. Being the open source platform of course, emulators are a must to relive those childhood memories and maximize your mobile phone gaming.

The Game Gripper only comes in one color, floppy gray with red, semi see-through buttons. It features the classic D-pad as well as eight control buttons. While it is not exactly for professional gaming it does seem to do the job nicely by pressing on the keys below the toy-like buttons. According to the official site, they try to keep the cost down with their choice of materials (hence the air bubbles and lines):

“Buttons have small lines on them and air bubbles in them (this kept the cost way down and I think makes them look better). The Game Gripper is loose fitting so it slides on and off easily.”

The Game Gripper team is working on several new designs for other phones. The site also has a request page wherein people can give ideas on which phones to focus on. Looks like Droid gets a one up on this one, it is quite a simple solution to a problem that GameBone and Patent 0081505 have been trying to fix.

See the video at Engadget.

Motorola is anticipating a resounding success with MILESTONE in UK and being an owner of this exclusive Android 2.0 supportive smartphone is easy for those living in UK as it is on sale for just £450. Meanwhile, you can always get a subsidized deal with T-Mobile.

MILESTONE can easily be identified as the European edition for USA DROID; while Motorola’s newest sensation offers the already known great features including support for Android 2.0 platform, a 3.7 inch high resolution slider touch screen, a great QWERTY slider keypad and fabulous overall connectivity options. The images get sharper and more stunning with MILESTONE as the device is equipped with a 5 mega pixel camera while the processing is about to get even more speedier with ARM Cortex A8 processor. But even with these mind blowing features, the device looks as sexy as anything with MILESTONE being the slimmest devices going around in the smartphone market with just 13.7mm width.

And finally, the one essential feature which sets Motorola’s MILESTONE apart from its American cousin is its multi-touch feature which is one characteristic iPhone fans are well aware of. There are already some great Motorola MILESTONE deals coming out so be sure to check them out.

Motorola’s latest sensation can be purchased online by shopping at the online mobile store, Rue du Commerce, which is offering the Android 2.0 powered device with a free SIM currently at a discounted price of EUR 520, while the normal retail price is EUR 549. While buyers can also get MILESTONE at this online retail store at lower prices by opting for its contract offerings with local carriers in France.

The general idea is that MILESTONE surpasses all other Motorola mobile sets in all respects, while it also seems to have given the best user-experience with Android as compared to other mobile sets. Motorola is all set to reach its target of achieving 1 million units sold till the quarter of this year, as already 700,000 units have been purchased since MILESTONE first hit the shelves in mobile retails stores. And with MILESONE landing at European shores, the sales of this exciting device from Motorola are only expected to rise.

When it comes to naming the features MILESTONE has to offer to mobile users, the list is long and lucrative. So far general public is already aware of the use of a touch-screen display with a WVGA resolution, GPS and Wi-Fi connection facilities, the mind blowing QWERTY side slider and a 5-megapixel camera to take snapshots with an added dual LED Flash. The device also has Bluetooth v2.1 and USB 2.0 and not to mention the fact that users can email and message with it and it also supports Multimedia options and HTML browser.

The Dolphin browser is now officially available for download at the Android market for a while now although it just recently supported the multi touch capability of the Motorola Droid, which is powered by Google’s Android 2.0 operating system. It is worth mentioning though that Droid users will now be able to relish an improved experience when they surf the internet with their devices.

There are a vast range of features possessed by the Dolphin browser which are highlighted below;

- Easily share what you find on the web or what you are up to. Post web pages and status updates to Twitter and Facebook, just with one click!
- Comment on web pages you are visiting.
- Discover what others are enjoying.
- Find out what your friends is viewing and sharing
- Dolphin looks for RSS feeds on every webpage you visit. When dolphin finds available feeds, the Feeds button will be shown. click notification or menu button, then subscript it with Google Reader.
- Auto sync local bookmark with your Google. Access your favorites from your mobile phone and PC.
- Integrate all sites list into start page, allow you to access site just by click

There are also other features available with this browser and you can visit http://browser.mgeek.mobi/home for more info.
You can also view the video below to see the Dolphin browser at work.

Expansys, usually the first point of call for mobile phone lovers, has already confirmed that the Android 2.0 fully equipped mobile device will be launched on the 7^th of December, this year. It was also confirmed that the retailer price for the device will be £449.99 although Sim-free. We also discovered that Clove had been taking pre-orders for this Android device at £424.35 and also scheduled to release the device on the same day.

There is really nothing official to hold on to as Motorola themselves haven’t confirmed the speculation that the Milestone will be debuting in the UK Market. Although the said device had been launched in Germany earlier in the month yet the launch of other monolithic devices launched with O2 and Vodafone also confirms the fact that no one can say with certainty the definite date of launch in the UK market.

It was even discovered that Motorola had gone as far as denying the existence this Android device on their UK site. There are succinct suggestions that Motorola is expecting the launch the device in a big and proper way.

I would seriously expect Motorola to release the device in a big way with lots of freebies for users in connection with mobile operator. There are serious indications that a Sim-free launch is plausible in December while the release with mobile network is expected before the end of the first quarter of next year.

When the Motorola DROID was first announced, it was considered as a US-carrier exclusive device and many were disappointed that the DROID would not make it to the UK. Motorola later announced that they would indeed be localizing the device in the UK and are renaming it as the Milestone. The device will be similar to the DROID in many aspects, but with a few slight changes. The first announced and confirmed change is that the touch screen is now multi touch and will respond to pinch commands (among others).

Motorola Milestone is using the new Google Android 2.0 Éclair (which follows the more commonly used version 1.6 Donut). This is the main reason why many Android fans are awaiting this phone, being the first device with the 2.0 Éclair available, the Milestone has been on the spotlight of many reviewers since it was first announced.

The smart phone is out in Germany right now and it is available for 1 Euro on a two year 20 Euro contract. Despite the device not being SIM locked, the locked contract makes that a moot feature. Without Google Maps support in Germany, users are encouraged to try out Motorola’s proprietary MOTONAV app. Vodafone has announced that they will be carrying the Milestone though they have yet to confirm when the device will be launched under their name.

While the device itself has yet to actually be available in the United Kingdom, its arrival in Germany means that it is only a matter of time before everyone gets to try out the Android 2.0 Éclair.