PhoneLon

These are two handsets we haven’t yet covered on the blog but that’s not to say we haven’t been keeping our eyes on them. Following the huge success of the Droid Aka the Milestone in the US, we were expecting great things of the Milestone, but it never really materialised; it launched and never really gained any traction at all, it would seem that Droid Doesn’t here in the UK (if the Droid Doesn’t jibe doesn’t make much sense, click here)

But that hasn’t stopped Motorola taking another crack at it it would seem, with the Milestone 2 having cropped up at the IFA in Berlin last week and this time it’s bringing along a friend too. Looking at the Milestone 2 first, it’ll launch sporting the latest incarnation of Android, aka 2.2 - Froyo. It’ll also be touting 720p HD Video recording, a 5 megapixel camera, Flash 10.1 support, a 1GHz processor, 512MB RAM, 3G, Wi-Fi 802.11b/g/n (and hotspot feature), DLNA, an 8GB internal memory and supposedly an 8GB microSD card thrown in the box. Oh, and of course, the Milestone 2 will be sporting a slide-out QWERTY keyboard.

That’s a pretty impressive spec list by any standards, putting directly in contention with the likes of the HTC Desire and the Samsung Galaxy S but actually sets itself aside from the two powerhouses by sitting in a niche that neither company currently cater for, high end Android Smartphones with QWERTY keyboards, although the upcoming (rumoured) Desire Z may soon end that.

The Milestone 2 has also brought along a friend this time around, in the form of the Defy, a rugged smartphone which is aimed at those of us who suffer with butter fingers or those that like to keep their keys in the same pocket as their phone. It’s dust, scratch, impact and water resistant. Note the word resistant, it’s not unbreakable or invincible so don’t consider it a challenge to drop your phone in a pint of beer down the pub with your mates! That said, Motorola have said that if the worst should happen and your phone is submersed, it’ll be good up to a metre deep in water for half an hour.

Now usually, this would be the part where we list of a pretty unimpressive list of specs but with the Defy, you’ll be pleasently surprised. We’re talking an 800MHz Processor, Android (2.1 sadly, not Froyo), 3.7″ capacitive touchscreen and a 5 megapixel camera. Not a bad spec by any means, let alone for a phone that would happily survive being knocked around on a building site all day. Keep an eye on the blog for more details about these two.

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Traditionally we cast our eyes east for a glimpse of the latest and greatest smartphones on the horizon but increasingly our gaze has been drawn to our friends across the Atlantic. With HTC continuing to show the US lots of love, making Google’s Nexus one as well as numerous network exclusive smartphones (Evo 4G/ Droid Incredible), and America’s own Motorola re-emerging to get in on the Android action (not to mention a certain Apple product and the impending re-launch of Windows Mobile) we could well be witnessing a shift in the balance of power from East to West.

Motorola are clearly keen to keep up the momentum in their comeback story on the back of the hugely successful Droid (which was well received here in the UK as the Milestone) and the guys over at Engadget have got a sneak peak at Motorola’s next Android ace up their sleeve. Expected to be announced on the 23rd of June at an event co-hosted by Motorola, Google, Adobe and US network Verizon, that ace is almost certainly the Motorola Droid X.

On to the phone itself and the Droid X is an uncompromising beast. Disposing of the slide out QWERTY keyboard found in the original Droid, the Droid X sports a staggering 4.4 inch touchscreen display putting it right on the limit of how big a phone can be before it crosses over into tablet territory (ala the Dell Streak). The screen boasts an impressive FWVGA 854 x 480 resolution and is aided by multi-touch to complete an impressive touchscreen package.

The Droid X runs Android 2.1 ?clair and looks set to mark the return of Motoblur, Motorola’s social networking aggregator which won rave reviews when it debuted on the Dext here in the UK. Back on to hardware and the Droid X includes an 8 Megapixel camera with HD video capture and is expected to include a 1GHz processor and 8GB of internal memory. Despite its unofficial status, the Droid X is almost certainly going to be revealed next week. The big question for those of us on this side of the pond is whether we can expect a Motorola Milestone X? Well, with a spec sheet that reads like an Android fans wish list, we certainly hope so. Keep an eye on the blog for more information as and when we get it.