G1 News

A European version of the Motorola DROID Google phone revealed last week in the US has also arrived on retailer sites across Western Europe, now daubed with the name ‘MILESTONE’.

Available in November on the O2 and Vodafone networks in Germany and Italy respectively, the Motorola MILESTONE sports some interesting new features that separate it from the iPhone-botherer on the other side of the Atlantic.

The MILESTONE’s Android operating system seems tweaked to access features not found on the US DROID, namely pinch and zoom support.

Multi-touch is certainly a welcome function, and will certainly be put to good use when browsing the web on the 3.7″ TFT display.

However, Motorola’s new Android phone has been confirmed to not be shipping with the impressive Google Maps Navigation software that debuted on the DROID, instead opting for a proprietary MOTONAV service.

We hope that Maps Navigation for Europe is in the works and on the way!

Core features like the 5 megapixel camera with dual LED flash, slick slider form factor and push mail support remain intact, but the memory card included has been trimmed from 16GB to 8GB.

The price on O2’s German site is €481, but everything seems fairly quiet regarding a UK Motorola Milestone release date, let alone pricing…

What Moto giveth, Moto also taketh away. Which features would you prefer to see on the MILESTONE?

Be still my beating heart.

Just as we thought the plucky T-Mobile G1 was about to be left behind as the Motorola DROID and Android 2.0’s charms courted everyone’s attention, a man named Akira Harada has given us all hope by porting it across to the original Google phone!

Whilst the update isn’t fully optimised, and the G1 does need to be “rooted” for this to work (instructions here), the video proof shows that it is a risk I will be willing to take for Android awesomeness.

Expect to see it on XDA Developers any time from now, and a link to it from our site about 15 minutes later.