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Motorola introduced the Milestone XT720 smartphone June 7, calling it one of the thinnest Android smartphones to boast an 8-megapixel camera.
At 116 by 60.9 by 10.9mm, the Milestone earns bragging rights over the recently introduced Acer Stream, which is also being touted for its slim, 11.2mm-thin physique. (By comparison, the Apple iPhone is 12.3mm thick, and the Motorola Droid is 13.7mm.)
Looking like the newest Motorola flagship device – “Milestone” is what Motorola called its tweaked-for-non-U.S.-markets version of the Droid – runs Google’s Android 2.1 and features a 3.7-inch FWVGA display with a resolution of 480 by 854, a capacitive touch sensor, hand-writing recognition and Motorola’s touch user interface. Together, they’re designed to offer a robust Web-browsing experience, with users able to easily scroll and move between up to five customizable home screens. The Web browser allows up to eight windows to be open at once.
“Milestone XT720 is one of the most powerful phones in Motorola’s current smartphone range,” said Ralf Gerbershagen, vice president and general manger of Motorola’s Mobile Devices business in Western Europe. “Slim, sophisticated and technically savvy, Milestone XT720 is a high-performance device designed for those who are actively engaged in both their work and social lives.”
In addition to those 8 megapixels, the Milestone is the first Android smartphone with a Xenon flash. Also kitting out the camera are 10-times digital zoom, a 720p HD camcorder, a smart-image capture feature that includes panorama, face detection, red-eye reduction and multi-shot – which snaps six photos in quick succession, to make sure you avoid blinking eyes, among other photo bummers.
The camera also supports an HDMI cable, so videos taken with the phone can we watched on a television, and includes an 8GB microSD card, though can support a card up to 32GB.
Bluetooth and WiFi connectivity are included – the Milestone can create a wireless local area network, for tethering – and so are GPS capabilities with an e-compass and Motorola’s MotoNav app for turn-by-turn directions. Multiple email accounts, including Push Exchange, can by synchronized and supported, a suite of Google apps are included, such as Google Maps, Gmail and YouTube, and enterprise documents can be viewed and edited on the handset.
The Milestone is compatible with WCDMA 1700/2100, GSM 850/900/1800/1900, HSDPA 10.2Mbps and 7.2Mbps, EDGE Class 12, GPRS Class 12 and HSUPA 5.76 networks, and given that it was introduced from England, an initial introduction in the United Kingdom or Western Europe seems likely.
No details were officially offered about pricing, a launch date or carrier partnerships. Recombu.com, however, is reporting that customers in the United Kingdom will be able to preorder the Milestone XT720 June 11 from retailers eXpansys.com, play.com and Clove.
On May 11, Motorola introduced still another Android-running smartphone, the Flipout. “Pivoting” on its corner, the square touchscreen twists to reveal an equally sized qwerty keypad below it.