Chatter over the
Milestone's impending Android 2.1 update has reached a rolling boil in recent days, but it's actually the Milestone's American cousin that's getting the official coverage today. That's right: Verizon's just posted details on the Droid's upgrade to Google's latest and greatest cut, and you've got the expected host of goodies including the new 3D Gallery app, voice-to-text, news and weather widgets, pinch-to-zoom support, "improved" pattern lock, and -- get this -- live wallpapers, something we'd originally thought Motorola might leave out. It appears to lack the
Nexus One's 3D app launcher (which we'd expected), but it's still pure gold for owners. Let us know when you've gotten it, eh?
[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
Update: Leaked documentation
indicates we'll see this start to get rolled out in batches of 250,000 at a time starting on Thursday -- not too long of a wait (unless you're in the very last batch, that is).
posted March 16th 2010 7:17PM
Welcome to 2010.
Will be a nice update for DROID users!
Maybe it's time for Google to give the Nexus One 2.2 now? :D
Most of the Droid owners I know already have 2.1.
@Ryan Hemler I wish I was one of your friends.
@Dick Lynch
Almost...
I called Verizon to ask when to expect it and they said it was controlled by Google and Motorola (yes Verizon actually let another company dictate when updates occur). Anyway Motorola's site still shows it as "Coming..."
Arghh I want my live wallpaper and pinch and zoom features!!!!
Ok tantrum over, now back to our regularly broadcast show....
@Ryan Hemler
And are running their Droids at 1Ghz or better.
OMG 2.1 is here!!!!
-Sent from my iPhone
@RLBurkes Why does it matter to you mr "sent from my iPhone"?
@RLBurkes
**** you
sent from my multitask-capable motorola droid.
@vidplace7
Because maybe he's like me and envies you super-badass android owners whilst being stuck to crappy AT&T on an iPhone.
@WastedxYears "****" (Love?) You.
You really should be more clear.
Wow, you got all of that off without running out of battery power.
@coreyonfire You people are just ate up with Android, good grief, it's just a phone os, and not the best either
@Mikeserena
Have you used Android 2.1? I can't fathom how it's not the best OS... It's fully open source and customizable and got tons of apps!
@coreyonfire
You don't have to be stuck anymore...there's Nexus One for AT&T now!
Squeee!
ummmmmm wow i just was lookin at that 2 seconds ago, came here to click "tip us" and there it was... i am amazing
and so are you engadget
OMG!!! finallly some news on this update. now we gotta wait until it pops up on the phone to install. Glad to see live wallpapers are in. who needs a nexus one after this.
@MatriX123 me. :( too bad they're 600 bucks
@MatriX123 People that can't stand that tiny ass physical keyboard.
@BrandT screen size is the same. keyboard does suck though.
@MatriX123 I'm using the swype keyboard on my droid, and I never use the hard keyboard anymore, except for the rare long message or email that has plenty of special characters or numbers. The nexus one would be great for me, since I don't need the keyboard, it's faster, and thinner.
@MechEMark i agree. just not sure how all the contract stuff works with me still with the droid. like what happens if i go and get a nexus one and try to get my # ported overt to the nexus? does that breach the contract and i have to pay that fee to then be able to use the nexus contract free?
@kpenning i would love a nexus one. its a much better phone than the droid, but im still confused on how the whole contract no contract stuff works.
@MatriX123 If you port your number it will cancel the current account and therefore you'll be subject to fees. Better to just wait till the Nexus One is on Verizon or your contract is up.
@MatriX123
I guess the Kotar is too low...
@NetworkNinja i have verizon, but im still under contract. so if i wanted a nexus i would have to pay the fee right?
@MatriX123 A nexus one for verizon was submitted to the FCC not too long ago, it shouldn't be too long till you can just buy that from google, and take it to a verizon store and have your number and data transferred over. If you bought one today, you'd have to cancel your contract with verizon early and pay the ETF, then go to another carrier.
@MechEMark thats what i thought. or wait till my contract is up. that sux! 529 for the phone and god knows what for the contract fee.
@MatriX123 http://www.engadget.com/2010/02/26/nexus-one-hits-fcc-again-this-time-in-cdma-trim/
there's the link to where the guys here reported the CDMA version of the nexus one going to the FCC.
@BrandT At least it has a keyboard.
@MatriX123 - Have you used Google before? It's a wonderful tool here on the Internet. Give it a try: www.google.com
You can type anything in the search box. Like "ETF Verizon" to see the details of their early termination fees.
Here's a hint: you'd likely be paying upwards of $350 to break the contract on your DROID line...
They probably just forgot to mention the 3D app launcher. I hope it's there. Why would they not put it there if they're including everything else?
Arghh... They never get it perfect.
@ai4281 No, it has been indicated that phones that lack a 1GHz CPU will not get the 3D app launcher. It's on purpose.
@kpenning You're right that they indicated this but it kinda confuses me. I have have it on my Droid and it runs flawlessly with no lag at all, even before I overclocked it to 1.2GHz. Also with live wallpapers included you would also think they ironed out any issues with the kernel, effectively catching up to the community of rom developers out there.
@kpenning
The lack of 3D app launcher is probably linked to the droid requirement for a landscape launcher due to the slide out forcing landscape... something few other Android phones have. I doubt it is something that could not run.
Honestly, I couldn't give a damn about the 3D app drawer. It's the lack of extra home screens that gets my goat. And until I saw that there was a music-visualizer wallpaper, I could not have cared about live wallpapers.
@ai4281 Because it sucks. Doesn't work in landscape very well. Will be nice to get an honest to god made for Droid version of 2.1 now.
@RowdyReptile
Yep, it's a landscape thing. The 3D launcher isn't all that intensive, it ran very nicely on my Magic (myTouch) when I was running a 2.1 rom.
woohooo!!!!!! :)
Yes, finally!!!
Hopefully since the info was released we wont have to wait a week for it to roll out. gonna go restart my droid to see if anything happens. prob nothing though.
@MatriX123
Yeah, I have the feeling I'll be doing this about every 1/2 hour for the next couple of days... *sigh* I'm a nerd.
@jamo true. was debating on getting a nexus. screw that now.
@jamo Me too, me too.
@MatriX123 I'm still waiting on the first half of 2010 for the Moment. Also given the fact that they just release the CL14 maintainance update in late Feb, its probably going to be more towards mid year before it gets the official 2.1 love.
YESSSS!!!!! Can't wait for 2.1, and live wall papers is a great surprise!
@MechEMark
Don't get too excited for the wallpapers. I know from experience that the Droid simply doesn't have the power to run them without overclocking. They aren't even that fast when the phone is running at 1 GHz.
@Steve B That was more excitement for 2.1, with an added comment of surprise on the live wallpapers. Sorry for the confusion. :)
@Steve B
I am running 1ghz and they work just fine..