If you thought it'd be easy to move code back and forth between two nearly-identical Motorolas running Android... well, you'd apparently be right. Unfortunately, taking clear video of the completed task proves, as ever, to be an insurmountable task. Of course, the Android hacking community has overcome pretty much every other roadblock it's encountered so far, so it shouldn't come as any surprise to learn that the
Milestone's firmware has been successfully ported today over to its big, loud American cousin, the
Droid, thanks to the work of
AllDroid's Eugene and Barakinflorida who risked their own device for your gain. Our understanding is that the ROM's cooked in some regard -- it's not bone stock, which makes sense if for no other reason than the fact that the Droid's got a completely different radio -- but fortunately, that all-important
multitouch support carries over from the Euro side. We're hearing direct from
AllDroid's founder, Brent Fishman, that the ROM should drop in a couple of days. Until then, follow the break for a video of the build in action.
P.S. Don't worry Droid owners, Google Navigation is still functional with this build.
Update: Better video added after the break! Man, these guys learn fast.
posted December 17th 2009 5:09AM
how to blur a video on pupose, the perfect example,
YOU MAN ARE STUPID!
@DeviantmacG
No, what you see on the second video is what Motorola refers to as motoblur xD
purpose*
it pretty clearly shows him using multitouch, thats really all that matters
@Jono20 How do we know he's not just using a milestone!
But does it lose google nav like the Milestone?
@lookseehear Google Navigation still works according to Brent. Just added to post above.
@lookseehear Google nav works now the same way on both Droid and Milestone... turn by turn works inside USA on both.. and neither works outside USA without hacking.
@Thomas Ricker does it enable the keyboard functionality to be multitouch(or just pinch to zoom)? Do you know? Because holding down shift while typing an acronym(or pressing any two keys at the same time for that matter) is something that is sorely lacking, more than pinch to zoom in my opinion.
@lookseehear just an added sauce hence the native google nav is still there. contrary to a lot of opinions, it's still good that at least finally moto-droid unveiled their droid version 'milestone' to UK. Milestone POV: http://bit.ly/motorola-milestone-best
Nice. Now if they can port the robotic Droid startup sound and Google Maps Navigation back to the Milestone, I'll be very happy! :D
Wait, let me get this straight...
Is that second video a video of someone videotaping the first video?
I literally can't /facepalm hard enough...
my G1 has a rom on it that has multi touch on the browser!!
@petay my friend, all you need to do is download Dolphin Browser and you can have "multi touch on the browser", which I assume to mean pinch-zoom.
Does everybody not understand that multi touch does not solely = pinch zoom? multi touch encompasses a lot more than that, like the on screen keyboard, games and etc
The Blurry Picture was Video playback on the Droid... For Some reason, everyone Linked to that one First /Facepalm..
@petay
Yeah, I would Hope your G1 Has Multi-Touch on it!
Direct Link to the Forum is here http://alldroid.org/viewtopic.php?f=210&t=704
Not sure if engadget Left it out on purpose or not?
@eugene373 that blurry video was the first posted. Also, we're having trouble with our source links at the moment. It'll be corrected in a few hours with the US devs get on.
"Man, these guys learn fast": Yeah, to fast BTW :D
I am experiencing some deja vu.
http://www.androidguys.com/2009/12/17/multi-touch-on-the-verizon-droid-finally/
@c0z i do remember reading this on android guys first
@c0z Not sure what you're implying but we've been tipped directly by Brent -- waited for video to post.
@Thomas Ricker The video has been up, as seen by the link in my original post.
@c0z
Good call. Androidguys definitely beat Engadget by a whopping 16 minutes based on the time of the first comments.
/facepalm
Very smooth...
God I wish HTC makes a Droid-esque phone, and not another touchscreen-only iClone.
isn't the second video just showing picsay as one commenter on youtube pointed out?
Picsay don't Control the Home screen & The Web Browser...
And by the way, that was the Gallery app not some third party from the Market!
Don't Believe what some idiot's posts!
Now come on, how abouts going the other way and porting the DROID firmware over to the Milestone!? We're more in need of Google Navigation than you are of Multitouch, believe me!
We bought a Milestone at my workplace, and whilst it comes with a trial version of MotoNav, for the long run we're gonna be in need of Google Navigation!
The multi-touch is a bit lame really, only works in the browser and maybe other insignificant areas and its nowhere near as smooth a zoom experience than you get on the iPhone, but it works I suppose.
@Heliosphan Agreed. the multi-touch isn't all that.
I'm waiting on the pricing of MotoNav to be announced - if it's cheap enough, I can live with it over Google Maps Nav. It's functional and works nicely - or at least it will for the next 62 days.
@Heliosphan The Milestone will do navigation, in the US. It's a location aware application.
(Sigh) It's not like the DROID is incapable of doing multitouch: it just doesn't have multitouch in any of its native apps. If you want multitouch in your browser, go download the latest version of the Dolphin web browser.
So is it me or does it appear that they not only ported the multitouch but also Android 2.1 (evident by the boot screen)?? The milestone doesn't run 2.1 does it? So we get a 2-in-1 deal? Sweeet.
@(Unverified) That's the Nexus One's boot animation, not the Android 2.1 boot animation. All you need to do is move the zip file from the Nexus's rom dump to the Droid and it will play it at boot up. I did it to mine just to see what it looks like. It's neat, but the X makes no sense for the Droid, so I put it back.
Its not GOD DAMNED MULTITOUCH PORTING.
Jesus Christ Engadget. How many fucking times are you going to get this wrong? All they did was move the Milestone browser to the Droid? Infinitely easy, infinitely stupid.
Not newsworthy, and certainly not worth the dribble "all-important multitouch support".
@(Unverified)
I don't care if the Droid technically has multitouch or not. The fact is I can't pinch to zoom in the browser or picture viewer, nor is the on screen keyboard multitouch and the App Market alternatives all have issues that keep me from using them fulltime. So to me at least, this is porting multitouch.
Plus, you're wrong about it only porting the browser. The video clearly shows multitouch in the picture gallery. Also, IIRC the first thing that was tried was to just port the browser from the Milestone, but that didn't work. There are some framework files that needed to be copied and edited in order to get this to work.
DO WANT
EVEN BETTER video! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MnE-9CRtTjQ
This really is much to do about nothing given that the U.S. version of the handset (DROID) is multi-touch capable, and if you just have to have 'pinch to zoom' in your browser, use Dolphin.
I really don't understand why anyone would give up the excellent Google Maps with turn by turn directions for something as frivolous as 'pinch to zoom', but - To Each Their Own.
@DaHarder
Read the article: navigation is working AS WELL AS multitouch, the best of both worlds I would say
So I'm looking at getting an Android headset next year. How much of a hassle is this whole firmware thing? I was surprised to figure out it didn't just auto update like game console or PC operating system, but I guess they're just two different things in that sense.
Like, am I gonna risk fucking up my phone just to get the newest version of the Android OS? Any help on the matter would be appreciated. I'll admit I'm pretty ignorant when it comes to upgrading phone OSes.
@kenny goo Official updates are (semi) automatic, and while there is always a risk problems will be supported by Verizon/Motorola.
If you start hacking your phone to install updates not officially blessed you're on your own. I'd suggest extensive reading to get an idea for other people's experience, and probably avoiding it altogether if you're not tech-savvy.
so is this droid running a 2.1 rom? judging from the startup ....
Best part of this video is the Call of Duty 4 background music
really, 2.1? What about the GSM version of the DROID, the MILESTONE? http://www.puremobile.com/Motorola/Motorola-Milestone-GSM-Droid-Black-GSM-Phone/