This is a very early custom build of CyanogenMod 9 (Android 4.0.3 out of Android Open Source Project) that didn’t get its own fork at CyanogenMod repositaries just yet. Adventurous users and fans of the original Motorola Droid may get a first glimpse of ICS goodness on their phones by using a download link here. Make sure to follow the discussion at XDA-Developers if you read this news late, as the new builds pop up constantly.

This build (or as author calls it “attempt”) was accomplished by XDA developer kfazz. As the video above shows, it’s quite nice and reasonably smooth for a more than 2 year old phone with just 256 MB of RAM. First test reports show that the build has colors that are fixed from previous kfazz builds, UI is a lot smoother, screenshot works, WiFi works. Interestingly enough, the available memory is about the same as what it was on Gingerbread — 90mb free, and that is without all of the memory booster tweaks, such as Supercharger, etc. Screen rotation is backwards, keyboard out triggers portrait, and the camera gives a “cannot connect error”. The’re’s more quirks and bugs to keep this highly experimental build a daily runner for Droid, but the work goes on for the growing excitement of Droid community.

There’s also a report that the last update of this ICS ROM works on Motorola Milestone A854 model (but not on A853 model). All in all, it’s a Christmas gift for Droid fans that came early.

The post Pre-Alpha Build of ICS on original Motorola Droid A855 appeared first on Mobile Magazine.

In all this talk about iPhone and Android, that other guy seems to get lost in the mix. Despite all kinds of other woes going on at Research in Motion, the company does have a few happy milestones to celebrate. For starters, BlackBerry App World has just crossed the milestone for one billion app downloads.

It has taken App World a little over two years to reach this ten figure milestone, but it does mean that they are now seeing an average of three million downloads per day from over 100 countries around the world. Yes, people still rock with their Curves, Bolds, and Torches. Leading the charge are such developers as Bellshare GmbH of Germany, which has almost reached the 10 million download mark for its family of apps. Avatar-friendly Jingu is well on the way to a million downloads too.

That’s all well and good, but let’s put some things into perspective. BlackBerry has reached one billion app downloads. The iOS App Store, on the other hand, has broken the 15 billion download mark in right around three years. Unless RIM’s offering can somehow muster up 14 billion more in the next year, they’ve got a lot of catching up to do.

Photo: Engadget

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We knew that the iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch were popular. We knew that people who purchased these devices would inevitably download a few apps. As it turns out, the average is more than just a few. In fact, the average iOS user has downloaded a total of 75 apps. That’s on average.

How did we arrive at this number? Apple has just announced that the App Store has broken the 15 billion download mark. That’s right. Fifteen billion apps have been downloaded from the App Store in its relatively brief history and that comes by way of 200 million iOS users. Some quick math gives us 75 apps per user.

While it took Apple nine months to reach its first billion, the last billion happened in just one month. It helps when you have a huge established user base and a total embrace of the “app” concept. To date, the App Store has over 425,000 apps for your downloading pleasure and Apple has paid over $2.5 billion to developers. That works out to an average earnings of $5,882 per app. I imagine apps like Angry Birds skew that figure just a little.

Photo from Business Insider.

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Do you have that old Motorola Milestone smartphone? Have you been anxiously waiting for Motorola to finally push out an Android 2.2 Froyo update for that thing? Well, it’s finally here, but it may not be exactly what you want.

Let’s start with the good news. The Froyo update is supposed to bring along support for Flash Player 10.1, as well as provide the mobile hotspot feature and a faster web browser. This comes after an “exhaustive testing process,” so you’d assume everything is in the free and clear.

And then you get hit with the bad news. Despite being an “upgrade,” it seems that Froyo might cause for “some adverse effects… which could include slower operation of some phone functions and applications.” Great. So you get Flash, but Angry Birds slows to merely a flutter? The other downside? Any DRM-locked media on your SD card gets killed.

Still want a taste of the Froyo on your Milestone? Nab it from Moto directly.

The post Froyo Update Could Make Motorola Milestone Slower? appeared first on Mobile Magazine.

Everyone is still trying to catch up to the ever-growing flood of apps available through the iPhone’s App Store, but Google Android is certainly starting to pick up steam. According to some unofficial reports from AndroLib, Android Market is now loaded with over 200,000 of those little programs for your favorite Google-flavored devices.

It’s important to note that this figure is highly unofficial. Google itself announced reaching the 100,000 app milestone on October 25. It’s really unlikely that the app count effectively doubled in time for the holidays, but it’s possible that Google was slightly under-reporting when it made that announcement two months ago.

The great thing about Android, at least from Google’s perspective, is that the platform is picking up steam and consumers have a lot of choice when it comes to Android-powered handsets. Whether you’re rocking a T-Mobile G2, Sprint Epic 4G, or Verizon Droid X, you’re knee-deep in the Google pool. That certainly helps from a development standpoint, reaching an increasingly large audience.

No, the number of apps in Android Market is not quite as plentiful as its iOS counterpart, but you also have to reallize that both marketplaces contain a fair bit of fluff material too. Really, how many fart apps do you need?

[TNW]

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Well, maybe “sold” isn’t necessarily the right word here, because the announcement says that there are one million Galaxy S phones “shipped” in the United States. There’s a slight difference between the two, but it still speaks to the great success that Samsung has been able to enjoy with this platform.

It helps that the Galaxy S is available as the Samsung Vibrant (T-Mobile) and Samsung Captivate (AT&T), as well as the Samsung Epic 4G (Sprint) and the Samsung Fascinate (Verizon) soon. This greater choice makes it easier to push more units.

To put this into perspective, it took about 74 days for the Motorola Droid series to reach one million units, but Apple sold 1.7 million iPhone 4 devices in just three days.

Samsung Ships One Million Galaxy S Phones in 45 Days [GadgetLab]

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Motorola Milestone drops $50 on Telus Mobility

Want to get the hottest new hardware from Telus Mobility but find that the price is a little too rich for your blood? Well, it seems that you’re in luck. Telus has decided to drop the price on the Motorola Milestone by a cool fifty bucks. That ought to cover at least a portion of your first monthly bill, right?

As you might recall, the Motorola Milestone is powered by Google Android, comes with a huge capacitive touchscreen, and features a slide-out QWERTY keyboard. Naturally, the usual suite of Google-fueled goodness can be found within as well.

The fifty dollar drop brings the asking price down to just $149.99 for the Motorola Milestone, assuming that you sign a new three-year service agreement with a qualifying voice and data plan. If you go for any other kind of contract, the pricing remains the same: $500 on a two-year, $550 on one-year, and $600 outright.

To make the purchase a little more appealing, Telus is also offering a free car mount for the Milestone until the end of the month. That makes it easier to use the GPS navigation features of the smartphone. Buy before the end of March to take advantage of this bonus offer.

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Motorola Milestone from Telus Mobility - Photo: Michael Kwan

It may have taken a little time to find its legs, but the Google Android platform is really starting to take off. One of the hottest handsets to feature this operating system is the Motorola Milestone, available now through Telus Mobility.

In many ways, you could say that it’s the same as the Motorola Droid through Verizon, but you don’t get the MOTOBLUR user interface, you would have to wait for the Motorola Backflip in that case. The Milestone is configured to use the Telus 3G+ network so its very fast. I was really excited to take this phone out for a test drive and it largely delivers on its promises.

In a nutshell, you get three personalized home screens (that can be loaded with apps and widgets), a 3.7″ capacitive multitouch display, a slide-out QWERTY keyboard, 5MP camera, and the full suite of on-device Google services.

Motorola did not skimp on its choice of materials as the Milestone feels very solid in your hands. The feature set is very robust and the Android platform has plenty to offer. The web browser is fantastic and the haptic feedback is a plus.

This phone is certainly not without its shortcomings, of course. The sliding mechanism is not spring-loaded, so you have to firmly slide the display over manually. I’m also not entirely pleased with the hardware keyboard. Similar to the droid, the keys are too flush, there isn’t enough key travel, and I experienced far too many typos.

The battery cover is much harder to remove than it should be and it’s really unfortunate that you have to remove the battery to get at the microSD slot, but you should be used to that by now if your a Motorola user. Otherwise, performance is more than adequate and Android Market has lots to offer. Even YouTube performance wasn’t too shabby at all.

The Motorola Milestone is $199.99 on a three-year contract with Telus. Check out the video review and photo gallery below for a closer look at this hot Android smartphone.

Motorola Milestone on Telus Mobility Photo Gallery

The post Video Review: Motorola Milestone Android phone from Telus Mobility appeared first on Mobile Magazine.

After the Motorola Milestone got delayed for Telus Mobility telling us that it wouldn’t be ready for the beginning of 2010, we then discovered the this Tuesday as the speculative date. We were only one day off, but still, Telus’ announcement won’t get you a Milestone yet.

Officially announced as a carrier for the Motorola Milestone on Wednesday this week. Specs and outward appearance are akin to the Verizon Motorola Droid, Telus’ Milestone will take advantage of HSPA for its 3G connection.

For a steap $199 on a constricting three-year contract the Milestone can be had for $200, try to get off early and you will be looking at $500 for two years and $550 on a a one-year contract. Ouch! The no contract price is $600.

Editors Note:  There are no Motorola Milestones in stores yet.  Some stores say they will be in “today”, but that’s what they said yesterday. Nonetheless, no one is camping out front of the stores to get one, wait to pop in to a store in near the end of the if you were thinking of getting one.

The post Telus launched Motorola Milestone yesterday, none in stock just yet appeared first on Mobile Magazine.

Of course, not all 100,000 of these applications are perfectly useful and some are going to be a complete waste of your money. However, there are still a lot of very useful and very fun apps in the bunch that can help you stay connected, stay organized, or just put a smile on your face.

It really is amazing how this platform has really exploded in popularity, not only for consumers, but also for developers. Peering over to alternatives like the Nokia Ovi Store and Android Market, you don’t find anywhere near as many applications as what you get with the Apple App Store.

Apple senior vice-president of Worldwide Product Marketing Philip Schiller is quite proud of their achievements too. “The iPhone SDK created the first great platform for mobile applications and our customers are loving all of the amazing apps our developers are creating.”

Source: iPhoneInCanada

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