Thats what I read too. But rooting still works according to the sources I have read with the exception to Telus Milestone (in Canada). Some people speculate that this is due to change with the upcoming 2.1 update.

I'm planning to get the Milestone too. Have been an iPhone user all this while and would like to return to Android

Do share with us how this is done and the files

I can be reached by PM if you don't mind

Thanks a lot for the guides!

Anyone tried 2.1 apps for your Milestone 2.0.1? It doesn't require root access and the codes has been ported to be compatible with 2.0.1. Check out this guide:

http://milestoned.sjj.sg/

Now you get the nexus one launchers, media gallery, etc on your Milestone

Nope we can't flash custom ROM on it with the Milestone because Motorola enforces a signed bootloader. As a result you can only use signed ROMs. Unless someone break that lock or find another exploit... its gonna be impossible. Another possibility is Motorola decides to be the good guy and bless custom ROMs.

By the way, I got my unit yesterday evening! Its a nice phone. However, my browsing experience with the default browser isn't entirely smooth. Its very choppy. Anyone of you have this problem?

But you need custom ROM for that right? Or rooting the phone plus an OC program would suffice?

Hopefully. Kinda miss my iPhone for that hahahaha... I know the Milestone is capable for smooth browsing because outside of that browsing experience, things were pretty close. Facebook app is OK too. What I don't understand is those youtube videos I have watched. Those Milestones don't seem to have choppy browsing at all. Is this only limited to HK units?

I'll give that a try and report back! Thanks!

Yeah, don't we already know that? So how are you resolving your problem? Hopefully you can get it fixed. I'm eager to OC mine too. I'm very confident it can do 800MHz stable although 1GHz seems fine too.

I think it can download all sorts of file. Android compatible files only if you plan to install onto phone. Otherwise, you can download files on the go and then copy to your PC later for consumption.

I don't own the N900 nor have I used it before. But I've seen enough videos to tell the difference. Hardware wise they both share the same specifications. Screen wise, the N900 is a resistive screen so no multitouch there. Maemo and Android are both new generation OS but I'm more inclined to try Android with all the recent rage. hehehe...

Depends on what you want. I'll go with the more established Android platform. Basically N900's bulk puts me off. Also the keyboard area is too small for my liking.

Yes, the lag is still there and its disappointing. I've check a few online forums and we got many complaints there. I hope 2.1 resolve this issue. I guess I'm too used to iPhone hahaha!

Guys, I found a good source if you really want Android 2.1 on your Milestone. Ever heard of the Pulsar custom ROM?

Wait what? Custom ROM? I thought this is forbidden on the Milestone? Technically yes. But these genius developers have found a way to make a collection of apps + tweaks into a package to be updated onto a Milestone with 2.0.1. It won't replace the bootloader or attempt to replace the ROM. Just replace the core applications.

Checkout the link for instructions, download and a list of changes. It even says 'BROWSER FIX'. Attempt on your own choice, if you're brave enough that is:

http://www.android-hilfe.de/root-hacking-m...custom-rom.html

A video of the pulsar ROM in action. Pretty smooth!
http://androidforums.com/motorola-mileston...-2-1-stuff.html



If you don't like how the pulsar ROM and want to revert back to the factory condition you need to attempt a manual flash using RSD Lite plus a BSF ROM file of your choice.

ROM source files
http://and-developers.com/motorola_milestone:sbf

Instructions for using RSD Lite for manual flashing
http://android.modaco.com/content/motorola...d-2-0-1-rooted/

Sell it off

OK I've applied the Pulsar v1.2.1 custom ROM update and everything looks really cool! No root access required. Things look smooth but I'm gonna cross my fingers and give it some trials.

Well first you get all the goodies available with Nexus One except for the messaging speech recognition. Other speech recognition like google search and dialing is available. It works really well. All those new media gallery, launcher, live wallpaper, new widgets, etc are available with this custom ROM.

Also browsing has been improved! As well as pinch zooming throughout the phone. Its more accurate and responsive. Sad to say that Live Wallpaper will slow down the UI responsiveness by a notch even though its still responsive than before. I'm using a static wallpaper to conserve battery though.

Note that this is not really a custom ROM. Its just a package of core apps plus tweaks according to the sources. A check on my Phone Status shows that I'm on 2.1 build. Pretty strange although I'm confident this ROM is based on 2.0.1. The whole ROM pack is 69MB which is huge.

I've posted the source, instructions and download procedures. I've also included source, instructions and download for restoring back to stock 2.0.1 in case you don't like it. Do remember that once the REAL 2.1 update is finally available you should restore back to stock 2.0.1 before updating. Don't wanna hit onto any updating issues.

Yes, no video calling on Milestone. But everything else is available on Milestone. Its been a while since I used video calling but I don't miss it. Unless you're a heavy user I don't see this as a show stopper. Its available now as an AP phone for RM1930. Check few post back. There's a guy who is selling it now. Trust worthy seller.

Honestly I didn't experience this problem from 2.0.1. With the Pulsar custom ROM, autofocus seems to be swift and accurate. I don't think the Pulsar ROM replaces any of the camera software module.

---

Added on March 7, 2010, 3:21 pmDang! Apparently I had an oversight of the features provided by the Pulsar custom ROM. It has the Nexus One IME keyboard with Voice to Text feature! Also Google Maps Navigation is there too! But you need to install the text to speech patch from Market. Here are the list of features provided by Pulsar custom ROM.

* Fix Browser version 1.2
* Android 2.1 Launcher
* GoogleMaps with navigation and multi-touch
* Gallery 2.1 with multi-touch
* All the Live Wallpapers (You can download more form the Market
* 16:9 videos (720×400) 30fps (720p HD)
* Nexus 2.1 Keyboard (IME) with Speech-2-Text
* Enhanced Music App w/ CoverFlow
* Multi Locale
* MultiTouch with more than 2 finger support
* SMS with direct contact selection

There's another custom ROM flavor and its called the Tello. Here are the features:

* Glasstone V4 theme
* Both 2.0 & 2.1 Launchers
* Market Fix
* All the Live Wallpapers (You can download more form the Market
* 2.1 Apps (Launcher, Gallery, Music & Clock)
* Includes PDAnet & Filemanager
* Browser Fix

Note that it has the Market Fix. But I will go with the Pulsar. More features and sleeker. Get ROM happy now boys!

This post has been edited by davidmak: Mar 7 2010, 03:21 PM

So guys anyone of you tried the custom ROM? How did it go?

What about you? Which Android robot will you get?

Nice one there . Yesterday I met my friend purposely to checkout the Nexus One. Surprisingly the UI response is quite similar despite the N1 having a faster processor. Which led me to think that Android's UI isn't really accelerated at the moment. I'm intrigued to see where will we go from here. It should only improve.

The N1 does have more free/available RAM at any time. How will it affect our daily usage? Hmm if you're a heavy user with many program running at any moment. You don't will not see Android closing programs. What I love about Android is how it can cope with multitasking despite having very limited resources. Its just brilliant.

I know this question may have been asked before. Say I'm on an Maxis iValue plan (from iPhone) and now that I'm using Milestone and I have all the necessary APN settings. The plan and rates goes as usual right? Especially for data.

I'm just worried that iPhone may be using a different APN parameter for differentiating the billing side.

Thanks for your reply! That is comforting to know. Please PM me your settings (3G internet and mms) will ya? I'm also waiting for my contract to finish (May 2010) so I can move over to Digi and get their RM58 3GB/month plan. 500MB is not enough for Android, thats for sure. All those syncing and widget data consumption will ruin your monthly bill. Hahaha!

I agree with your statement. Although the Milestone's OMAP 3430 (Cortex A8) runs at 550MHz, it can run circles around any ARM-11 core running at similar clock speeds. However, there are no information whether PowerVR's capabilities are used for UI acceleration except for gaming.

In fact, the Android OS platform is quite fragmented with so many hardware and builds. We see the HTC Hero/Magic running Android UI so smoothly when the code is optimized. Currently I cannot say Android runs smoothly on Milestone. There are still some UI choppiness. This is the same case with WM phones.

Unless Milestone is open for custom ROMs, we will have to rely on Motorola serving the code. Thats just too bad.

From the source I read, it will not work. Most of the firmware parts are locked. So even if you have root access, SetCPU will not work. Correct me if I'm wrong.

I think you should stick and be contented with N1. Soon enough N1 will receive a new kernel update or you can get hold of Cyanogen ROM with highmem tweak. That thing runs smoothly! On the Milestone, no matter how capable the hardware is... it still lacks RAM. By the way, X10 really lags and stutter. I don't know if the code will be optimized on launch but lets hope it will.