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?

We know how tough it has been for Google and Facebook to see eye to eye, it wasn’t that long ago that a Facebook app was ‘not coming any time soon‘.

The animosity has turned into full blown love as Techcrunch reported that a client for the social networking site was indeed winging its way onto the platform, as soon as the end of the week!

So anyone that has bought a MyTouch3G and is in dire need of someone to poke or to fill in a quiz about movie star’s slacks, your solution is on the way!

Not quite here yet, but we are expecting it any time from today, the 5th of August!

It might have been a little slow to get going in the West, but the allure of a robust, free open source platform has the Far East banging out an array of Android powered devices in the coming months leading up to Christmas.

HTC have been the standard-bearer for a while, and in addition to the phone they are launching in the UK tomorrow (widely rumoured to be the Hero), they will be bringing out 3 more devices in the second half of 2009.

The Korean contingent are coming through from Q3, with Samsung i7500 due to make an appearance (what happened to the Jet/S8000 running Android?) and three Android handsets due from LG.

With the new breed including Huawei’s glass-loving iClone and handsets from Acer and Lenovo sporting the Google-made OS, it will definitely be exciting to see what kind of niche Android carves for itself when the phones running it have to be counted on two hands…

I know most of you already have your Cupcake updates working nice and smooth, how’s about having another detailed look at the slick and sexy interface of HTC Rosie, running on a T-Mobile G1!

Said to come with the new HTC Hero, these videos from Androidpit.de show off everything! The slick bookmarks, the new side-scrolling, the music player, all of it is gone over in massive detail!

The interface is set to German, but you’ll still get a great idea of what’s going on when you have a look!

If you aren’t as technically savvy as a NASA control centre operator and just want Cupcake in your G1 early, it seems like you can do it without rooting your G1. I know, right? Great news!

Oddly, you do need the Blighty version of Android 1.5, but it will work okay in your US G1…provided you follow the darned instructions!

This is courtesy of bigfoot85t and Android Central, by the by, full disclosure and all that!

1. Head over to the T-mobile Forums to download the UK version of Android 1.5 Cupcake
2. Put the downloaded file into your SD card
3. Turn ur phone off and re-boot it holding the home button
4. When you see the triangle hit alt+L
5. Then alt+S
6. Press home and back when it tells you to (to reboot your phone)
7. It’ll say installing Radio after you hit home+back (thats normal)
8. It’ll reboot a couple times and after you see the new Android loading screen, you’ve got Cupcake.
9. When Android 1.5 for the US comes out repeat the process with the US download

Being the UK version of Cupcake, you see how hobo-fabulous us guys in the UK live, without snazzy things like Voice Search and Amazon MP3. Them’s the breaks, but you know that you can upgrade to the real deal when it does come out, so worry not and enjoy early!

Okay, the regjigged Hero Android Cupcake OS video was good, but this is another level entirely!

Haykuro of the xdadevelopers forum brings this to us (obviously) and the new Android interface (allegedly named ‘Rosie”) is frankly amazing. The live widgets, the switches for various functions, that huge clock, it’s brilliant!

Which phone it’s from is unclear, but I would like it now, please!

Source: SlashGear

Nowhere on the planet is safe from the onslaught of Open Source Android, as NTT DoCoMo announces their new HT-03A handset, soon to launch in Japan.

Unfamiliar with the name? Then the looks of the above handset should jog your memory! Yes, it’s another renaming for the HTC Magic/MyTouch3G, as the HT-03A becomes the first Android phone to launch  in Japan.

It will be interesting to see how the interface is tailored to the Japanese, if at all, as they seem not to be awfully fond of touchscreen phones…

Source: Unwired View

Jealous that I’m riding on the crest of a Cupcake wave whilst some of you are still waiting for it to come out?

Let Mr. SmileyMan from Google show you round Android 1.5 (albeit on an HTC Magic), and see the virtual keyboard and video recording skills in motion!

Stay strong, my brothers and sisters. Your turn will come.

Source: Android Central

In a galaxy far far away, men of a certain age, weight and personality idolised a particular 30 year old sci-fi film, resulting in the creation of millions of pieces of useless tat in the form of tie-in memorabilia. The twisted progeny of the Star Wars trilogy include action figures, T-Shirts, posters, Christmas albums (R2-D2 We Wish You a Merry Christmas is my favourite track), spin-off cartoons and yet more films. Mobile phone themes are the latest addition to this endlessly expanding brood .

My dreams have been answered. Finally I can have a picture of the Death Star, Tie Fighter and the Millenium Falcon on my mobile home screen, now if I could just get a girlfriend….

Yeah, I said paid apps were coming, then they didn’t. Sorry!

But when not trying to get some Michael Jackson tickets, the only thing I’ll be doing tomorrow is trying to get some decent paid apps for my T-Mobile G1, as the UK Android Marketplace finally goes live for them on the 12th of March.

According to Regan Whitehead from T-Mobile UK:

“From tomorrow, UK customers will have paid apps on the phone, and there’ll be a wide selection of paid apps on the market.”

Pretty clear cut there…

Maybe then you’ll be able to tell us which ones you’ve bought!

Source: AIsForAndroid