Motorola to finally update handsets with version 2.1

Paul Nesbitt

Motorola has finally made Android 2.1 available as an over the air upgrade for its Milestone handset in the UK, which currently runs version 2.0.

The upgrade is significant because it means that Motorola Milestone owners finally get access to a whole feast of extra features, which Nexus One owners have been able to enjoy since Google's handset was launched. Not surprisingly, Google giving its own phone a more advanced version of its Android OS than its partners, like Motorola has not been universally popular.

New features available to Milestone owners include significant performance improvements and new features. These include (in the words of Verizon):

--Email - Yahoo Mail is now supported - customers can simply
sign in with their Yahoo! Email address and password. Note:
Yahoo! Email is not available over Wi-Fi
--Pinch to Zoom now available in the Browser, Maps, and Gallery
--Speech-to-Text - Customers can now use their voice instead
of typing whenever a text-entry box appears
--Google Goggles is now preloaded
--The new Gallery application uses 3D layout and shows both
pictures taken with the customer's Android device and images
from Picasa Web Albums account online