Risk of (lack of) Milestone updates?

[jk6959]

Hi guys, I'm new to posting on this forum but I've been browsing it the last couple of weeks.

I'm passing on my iPhone 3g soon and looking into getting the Milestone, but I'm worried that it's relative insignificance in the UK and being treated as slightly different to the Droid could leave it not getting the same updates the Droid does.

I.e. in 6 months time or whenever they end up releasing 2.5, 3.0, 3.5, etc - there might be a good chance of releasing the update on the official google experience Droid in the states - but short of rooting it, is there any guarantee of the same support for Milestone owners? I'm eager to get the Milestone in the UK, but what I've heard about not seeing protected apps and the risk of having a lack of support are pushing me away from this device.

This is coming from the iPhone, which while being incredibly limited - I know that when an update is out - it's available to all iPhones from day 1 - so this change is worrying to me and considering the improvements 2.1 and future firmware updates promise I'd be happy with some guarantee that I wouldn't have to break/root my device to get basic updates (essentially when Droid / Milestone are running stock Android and nothing like Sense anyway).

Cheers :icon_eek:

 

[RinTinTigger]

Hi guys, I'm new to posting on this forum but I've been browsing it the last couple of weeks.

I'm passing on my iPhone 3g soon and looking into getting the Milestone, but I'm worried that it's relative insignificance in the UK and being treated as slightly different to the Droid could leave it not getting the same updates the Droid does.

I.e. in 6 months time or whenever they end up releasing 2.5, 3.0, 3.5, etc - there might be a good chance of releasing the update on the official google experience Droid in the states - but short of rooting it, is there any guarantee of the same support for Milestone owners? I'm eager to get the Milestone in the UK, but what I've heard about not seeing protected apps and the risk of having a lack of support are pushing me away from this device.

This is coming from the iPhone, which while being incredibly limited - I know that when an update is out - it's available to all iPhones from day 1 - so this change is worrying to me and considering the improvements 2.1 and future firmware updates promise I'd be happy with some guarantee that I wouldn't have to break/root my device to get basic updates (essentially when Droid / Milestone are running stock Android and nothing like Sense anyway).

Cheers :icon_eek:

Hey jk,

speaking from the stone, there will be the same update support, but just in other times. Also its not really clear right now, WHO pushes the updates, is it motorola? is it the providers? is it google? Ya dont know.

But the updates will be the same i think, just later, as it always is in europe ^^

 

[jk6959]

Thanks for that, I'm very keen on jumping on the Milestone/Droid bandwagon, and didn't want to have to hack/root my phone in future for basic firmware updates. I have a feeling that sooner or later I may end up rooting the device, but I feel it should be for a proper benefit and not an update to the OS that should be given.

I just worry that this segmenting of the Android experience, where -short of rooting - many phones are left with Old OS's that can lead to a splintered Operating System where incompatibilities arise, some handsets don't get much needed performance boosts and the end-user experience is somewhat reduced. This is all coming from an iPhone user, so it's definately biased from the ease of using that OS, but it feels so simple and limited that it's a good 'my-first-smartphone' but once I've gotten used to it essentially running my life (emails, phonecalls, texts, calendar, events, etc) I'd like more choice and control.

One thing I'd like to ask - is that I know web-browsing speeds are improved over old Arm CPU's, but does the OS take full advantage of the huge power boost of the new CPU/GPU combination in Droids/Passion/X10/Bravo/etc or is it still mainly working to the lowest common denominator of the old qualcomm 528mhz cpu's in the 1st gen Android phones? I ask this as the 3gs gives detailed list of the improvements going from 3g-3gs with 2x speed, etc - and It'd be good to hear that the hardware is being utilised here too in more than just the web-browsing.

 

[RinTinTigger]

Hey,

the thing is, the phone runs very very well out of the box. Not much update needed. and if so, they will provide the stones with patches. ATM IMHO there is NO NEED for rooting it or installing custom firmwares like it was with the Blackberry Storm.

 

[mpmilestogo]

Another Milestone Lurker

I've had the milestone for about 2 weeks now after purchasing from Amazon. I'm a bit concerned about exactly who will be pushing the updates. I live in the US so I visit the update mechanism on the phone every so often just to make sure I'm not missing something. I will want to root the phone primarily so I can enable paid apps in India and Singapore. I travel there every 3 months or so and I need a carrier unlocked phone since I carry sim cards with me for the places I work.

I feel the phone works very well in most regards; but there are a few things. The native exchange support needs some help around email attachments and SSL encryption or settings. I also think that battery life is not as good as it could be. But the big thing for me is rooting the phone and getting support for market enabler and backup for root users amongst others. But I also want to see new ROMs become available that may target other functionality much like what XDA does for HTC phones.

I'm hoping that Motorola pushes the updates but I'd be just as content downloading an update.zip or something which I would flash on the phone. Getting root will be the primary thing for me since my HTC Hero phone was rooted the very first day I got it.

I'm hoping to see the updates around first of the year.

 

[RinTinTigger]

Well,

in my eyes it makes not really sense if Moto pushes the updates. They could only push updates that dont affect the OS-Branding of the carriers. So it would make more sense, if moto publishes the updates to the carriers, they do there branding whatever, and then push updates. But that is done via IMEI Numbers....so i guess if you bought via amazon, then you can let whitelist your IMEI number for updates like some have to do with the market.

Tigger

 

[arlissfreire]

....so i guess if you bought via amazon, then you can let whitelist your IMEI number for updates like some have to do with the market.

Tigger

What does that exactly mean? How do I whitelist my IMEI ?

 

[mpmilestogo]

I'm curious about that too. Since my phone came from amazon how do I get the IMEI listed or whitelisted so the phone will get updated? Secondarily, anyone have this phone either in Singapore or India and have access to paid applications on the market there? I'm used to running the market enabler to get that support when I travel which is quite often and the reason why I buy unlocked phones. I only really need root access because market enabler demands it. Down the road though, it will be rooted because its the nature of the phones and I will want to install new cooked ROMs on it that extend it one way or another.

If there is someone using paid apps in Chennai or Singapore, please let me know.

 

[RinTinTigger]

Actually, you yourself cant.

Motorola has the IMEI Numbers of all Phones they produced.
They are send to the providers every time you do a call.

If your IMEI is not Whitelistened yet, it will take a time to get your provider "recognizing" that you have a Milestone, capture that IMEI and whitelist it to the update servers. As i now know, that google does publish the OS updates to the providers, and they push it to the phones, it may just take a while, until they got YOUR sepcial IMEI. Also, speaking of traffic, they wont let all IMEI numbers access update servers at one time.

So just be a little patient so far.

 

[mpmilestogo]

Thanks for the information on IMEI numbers. I can definitely be patient for the update. I get a lot of use out of the phone the way it is now. I'd like to see a few of the issues addressed and also have an opportunity to root the phone.

 

[fox283]

Im russian user of milestone(ive bought it in Germany).is it passable to update via wifi?

 

[fox283]

By the way,i use vodafone version

 

[azraiyan]

Paid apps

Hi I just bought Milestone in Hong Kong few days ago, before that, I got HTC Hero. So far its been good and Ive been reading post why some are unable to see the paid apps in the Market app. How to make this visible on the Stone?

 

[fox283]

u should install market enabler,but it is impassible because u need ROOT.

 

[azraiyan]

my hands were itching to do the root but thats for Droid and I will wait for official updates. And I do want to root the Milestone, probably want to change the startup animation and add new wallpapers. hope the updates will be the same as the Droid. I still find HTC Sense is better, more home screens without having to install apps and themes. Also hope the update can let us see the paid apps