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.

Motorola and US mobile network Verizon have jointly announced the Motorola Droid 2, the successor to the hugely popular phone we know here in the UK as the Motorola Milestone. The Droid 2 picks up where its predecessor left off with an upgrade that’s more evolutionary than revolutionary. The design has seen some enhancements, gone is the unsightly lip and in comes a new and improved keyboard, but the form factor of sliding QWERTY and full touchscreen remains pretty much untouched. So Motorola, what’s new?

Well, the Droid 2 packs an impressive 1GHz processor, up from the 600MHz chipset found in the original, RAM is doubled to 512MB and the phone will ship with Android 2.2 Froyo on board. These should all make for an incredibly fast and slick user interface. Froyo also brings Flash to the browser meaning users will be able to browse the full web and enjoy embedded video and Flash games. On board memory is also beefed up to an impressive 8GB and still takes a MicroSD card to expand this further.

Aside from these changes and the rather minor physical enhancements (though the improvements made to the keyboard will be welcome) it’s pretty much business as usual for the Droid 2 with the same 5.0 Megapixel camera on board alongside the usual smartphone suspects such as HSDPA, Wi-Fi and built in GPS ad the originals excellent 3.7 inch touchscreen display. Nice. But the real question is; where’s the Milestone 2? Keep an eye on the Blog over the next few weeks and we’ll let you know as soon the European Droid 2 breaks cover.