Android Mobiles

There have been a BUNCH of Motorola Milestone updates over the past several days/weeks and the phone is definitely getting some nice… mileage. It’s launched in new places, gotten updates and much more. We wanted to keep you up to pace with the Motorola Droid’s twin brother so here goes nothing.

Milestone Launching On TELUS February 18th
It looks like TELUS customers only have a couple short weeks until the Motorola Milestone lands in their part of town! TELUS themselves didn’t “tell us” (see what I did there?) but BestBuy had no problem blurting something out on their website:

This also means that folks with AT&T could unlock the device and essentially get a 3G capable Droid on their carrier of choice. (Via BestBuy)

Manitoba And Sasketchawan Get SasketchaScrewed
Aren’t you happy that the Milestone is coming to Canada? If you live in Manitoba or Sasketchawan you can SHUT UP! Just like happened with the iPhone, TELUS network can’t support these areas with good enough coverage, or something. Bottom line – you can’t get the Milestone if you live in either of these places. BOOOOOOO! [Via IntoMobile]

European Milestone’s Get Android 2.0.1
Users in at least Germany, France and Italy are now able to update their Motorola Milestone to Android version 2.0.1 and if you don’t have it through an OTA update yet, can do so manually through the Motorola website. For instructions, see the unwired article with details and a walkthrough!

Milestone Lands In Taiwan
If you live in Taiwan you can rejoice – the first ever Android 2.0 phone is now available in your country and as you probably didn’t have to guess, it is the Motorola Milestone! The carrier for this one is Taiwan Mobile – enjoy! [Via Digitimes]

Anything Else?
All you phandroids with your ears to the streets and hands on your Stones for Miles (get your mind out of the gutter, I was playing with words), any Milestone updates you have either big or small?

The guys at Engadget have done a pretty darn good snooping job through which they’ve figured out that the Dell Mini 5 has passed the FCC with the bands needed for AT&T, Rogers, Bell, and Telus 3G. This wasn’t an open and shut case of finding Dell’s paperwork, this time it was a little bit more tricky.

The Dell Mini 5 was rumored to be manufactured by a company called Qisda. Well above left you’ve got a filing from Qisda that comes with… a Dell logo! And on the right you’ve got a picture of what is known to be the Dell Mini 5 sporting what looks to be the exact same thing.

Nice work, Watson!

[FCC via Engadget]

Motorola must be having a blast testing out different form factors and unique layouts. They recently announced the Motorola Backflip and its rumored that in 3rd Quarter they’ll be launching the Motorola MOTOSPLIT. The folks at AndroidCommunity claim to have leaked renders of the device:

The first time we saw this was just a couple weeks ago and today’s tipster reiterates a 3rd quarter launch on AT&T. But this time around we get some insight from a purported 1st hand source:

The keyboard keys are inset and probably have no tactile feedback, however, they should be quite easy to use. It looks like the cutouts are pretty finger-friendly, as they contour to the shape of a standard finger. Under those cutouts is a low-resolution monochrome touch screen, one for each side of the keyboard. This is where the finger presses. The contact area is small, but the plastic grid that surrounds it contours to the fingers. The label and function of each key can be changed to suit certain layouts and applications.

The keyboard has multiple orientations. The keyboard can be pulled from side to side for typing on a surface. A small kickstand angles the phone when typing in this manner. The keyboard can also be pulled to the left for a standard landscape layout. There is also a dial-pad layout.

The specifications are slightly different than previously posted. The MOTOSPLIT uses the same processor as the BACKFLIP. Every other spec is almost the same as the BACKFLIP.

I’m not sure I completely understand but it sounds like the buttons have different backlighting depending on which way the keyboard opens. And, obviously, depending on which way they keyboard is open, button presses have different affects.

An interesting idea… one you’ll use?

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