I hope this will be ported over to the Motorola Droid.

This is good news for people with Nexus One’s, but shows the problems with an OS that so many manufacturer’s use, so many different versions, and even different uses of the same versions. (like the Droid Eris) When Apple does an update, you know, unless you have an old device, that you will get that feature too. With Android, you may never get it, you may get it later, or someone with an even older device than you will have it on their phone since that manufacturer decided to add it. It’s frustrating, which is why an ecosystem like Apple has some big benefits. This being one.

I would just like to know why the long wait?? :-)

If this doesn’t make it to the Droid, I’m going to be hella mad!

I can not wait for Verizon to get the nexus one….At least Google is updating their phone…I have a Storm 2 and they sell you the phone and then forget about you…

Just release the Bravo on Sprint already! And with no Sense UI crap. If Android is the new Windows, please just give me the vanilla that auto updates direct from the mother ship.

*Shrug* It’s a pretty simple problem to solve. If you want the most up to date stuff possible then go with one of the “with Google” devices. You may or may not have to wait a couple months to get the update, but you will eventually get it if your phone can handle it. With the others it’s more or less a crapshoot since the manufacturer added massive portions of their own code to the Android OS so it’s entirely up to them on whether they’re going to update or not. Basically, if it’s a non-with Google device, you can think of it as not being Android, it’s a separate, albeit similar, OS.

Well let’s hope they keep the innovations (and polish) coming. Apple needs the competition and android has a ways to go there.

i never was really bothered with the lack of pinch to zoom. I want to know if this multitouch lets the os register two different touches on the screen so when typing fast on the screen it registers each touch even if i touch two at the same time.

I suppose Google just ironically responded to Jobs’ last week diatribe about do not do evil mantra being load of crap. Now they will show them the true Evil hahahaha

Hallelujah!

This is the area where I think Android fails and the iPhone shines… updates.

With Android you are handcuffed to your phone manufacturer to provide an update for your phone. Good luck with that. Most don’t care to keep phones updates and would rather sell you a new phone with the latest OS…

With the iPhone you can continue to update the iPhone OS and while you may be limited by features only supported in newer versions of the hardware (ex. GPS)… you aren’t left completely out in the cold.

Just another reason why I won’t consider switching to an Android based phone.

Google needs to add a requirement for the Google Experience that they can handle updating… put the driver in their repos.

I guess since S. Job’s comment about Google, Google said fuck it lets piss him off more. Multi-touch that Nexus!! Show ‘em who’s bullshit!!

Well at least these OTA updates from Google tell me something: they have absolutely total control over the Nexus One, meaning that they don’t have to wait for HTC to build the firmware and then the carrier to push it out, hence the other HTC phones with outdated firmware. They are taking a more Apple-ish approach, updating every single phone they sell through the store quickly and the same time.

This is Google’s answer to fragmentation, if in the future, most Android phones are sold through their store, thoeritically, all of them would have the latest and greatest OS version.

Will this becoming to the Droid as well in an over-the-air software update?

Lil’ fun fact: the European version of the Motorola Droid, the Milestone, had multi-touch implemented in its browser right from the start.

You’re definitly right. But I’ve been running Symbian s60 on my Nokia’s for a long time and never even expected an update. I don’t think all symbian devices share the same OS verisions but I’ve never heard someone complain about that. Can it be that Anroid OS offers so much great functionality that we want every update there is? I think this OS update thing is a pretty new thing, still most of my friends doesn’t really care.

I hate that the minute I got my myTouch 3G that two amazing Google phones come out with the latest and greatest… and I’m stuck with, what, Android 1.6?

No matter who you roll with, youre still going to have to wait for somebody to send you an update. I got my Nexus One a month ago and an update is already coming to me. I’m a happy camper.

+1

So all this time the Nexus One didn’t have multitouch? Damn.

I think Google is in charge of updating the Nexus One, it gets updated as soon they finish with the latest firmware. Hopefully they’ll do the same with the rest of phones they sell and this whole updating issues will be a thing of the past.

Isn’t it funny, that the name Microsoft doesn’t appear in any of the discussions about iPad, flash or so – seems that Microsoft is not even worth to be criticized anymore.

So, can the 10K commenters who all said, “No multi-touch? FAIL!” when it debuted, please tell us your next reason to whine about it?

Your post makes no sense sir.

NexusOne will be dead in a couple of years. One of the biggest mistakes by Google.

As a Nexus One owner who had an iPhone OG and 3g for the better part of 2 years I can calmly and confidently say that you are full of bupkiss.

I would not even consider going back to my iPhone after 3 weeks of googly bliss. I can listen to Pandora, AND use other features at the same time. Also all of the iPhones “killer apps” are google products, youtube, gmail, and maps.

iPhone is shiny, but the google coders are clearly vastly more competent than apple’s. This war is already over, but people haven’t realized it yet.

That’s very cool Google but I still can’t use Google Navigation here in the UK despite paying nearly $620 for my nexus One after all tax and shipping was paid.

Google, it’s b cool if you could flip the switch there too

Also being a former iPhone user and now a Nexus one owner I can say that the Nexus one BLOWS the iPhone out of the water. If you have an iPhone you can easily say that multi-tasking is no big deal… until you actually have it. It’s a huge difference in how I use my phone and how my phone works with what I need it to do.

Not to mention the camera is far superior and the speed of the phone is a huge difference.

Also worth mentioning is Google navigation which is a HUGE plus for someone like me who lives in Los Angeles and likes going out to different places.

I loved both phones honestly… but my nexus one just feels more useful.

Expected news :)

You’re right, one month after the phone’s release is entirely too long to wait on an update.

It’s actually not that simple and hasn’t been solved. What if I want an Android on Verizon? T-mobile? Then I can’t get a Google branded Android phone. This is not for tech people that know the difference. Most people don’t. They see their friends’ phone and will say that they want to do the same thing, but they can’t. They won’t know the difference between a Google branded Android phone and a plain Android phone. With Apple, you buy it, you know it will work, even if they go to other carriers. It’ll be the same feature set.

Bing. Coming soon on the iPhone 4G.

The procedure:

1. obtain the update.zip file
2. reboot into the bootloader
3. select recovery
4. apply sdcard:update.zip

Specifics

Obtain the file from here:

https://android.clients.google.com/updates/passion/signed-passion-ERE27-from-ERD79.a487b405.zip -Thanks Fabolous

OR

signed-passion-ERE27-from-ERD79.a487b405.zip – Thanks DEMO_BURN

-Rename the file to update.zip (in Windows, just rename to update – it is already a zip file)

-Make sure the update.zip file is on the root of your sdcard (not in any folders)

-To reboot into the bootloader, turn off the phone. Then power on while holding down the trackball.

Navigate to the option ‘recovery’

When the Android w/ caution logo pops up, hold down the power+volume up

Select ‘apply sdcard:update.zip’

Thanks chief99 for the bootloader specific instructions.

Enjoy!
———————————————————————–

FAQ

-Does this wipe my settings or applications? No, the update only touches your system files and radio. All your apps and settings will be preserved!

I like how the Nexus One is getting better and better! :D

http://www.onenexusone.com :D

If you cant wait to get the OTA update I just posted how to download and install it now on droidtricks

Bong => Apple will screw themselves.

A nice update for a phone no one bought.

Yep, Why doesn’t Microsoft invest those money into research instead of making exclusive deals and purchases?
Don’t do it Apple, else I’m going the NEXUS WAY.

The same feelings, I’m still Android 1.5 thanks to Samsung galaxy!

One of the things that raise one’s eye brow is the inability of the Nexus Phone to have that “pinch to zoom” capability.

For sure, this update is a godsent for users. Hopefully, this will raise the sales of the N1 phone now.

More details on how to get it without the wait: http://bit.ly/nexus-one-official-ota-details

Is Google now paying royalties to Apple (the “multitouch” patent owner)?

Pulled the words right outta my mouth! Apple’s iPhone dominance has come and gone. It’s popularity remains only for those who won’t let go of the hip factor. Android vs. Apple = Function vs. Form. Function wins.

I’m still shocked at how fast Android has gone from the red headed stepson in the corner to such a viable product. A year ago I early adopted and got the G1. I sat back and watched as noone offered any other Android phones and so called tech mavens like Leo Laporte didn’t say Android wouldn’t be successful, they just didn’t talk about it. Next thing you know a year later and the Nexus one was so nice, I got it a month after buying my second Android phone. Now we’re at the point where Android has hardware and software to compete with Apple thanks to Apple’s shortsightedness. With any luck next year at this time the iPhone will be slowly going away. Flash support will really help I think.

It’s kind of like the way the cell phone business went before. Motorola was dominating the market before Apple came into play. Who’s next.

I work in the technology business and last year at this time people’s phones at work were a combination between Blackberries, iPhones and normal phones, with my boss and I owning G1′s. This year, there are a few iPhones, a few Blackberries, a few Mytouches, a few G1s and my Nexus. Things seem to have evened out and now even people like Leo Laporte, pure mac fanboys, are talking about the Droid and the Nexus one like they actually want Google to succeed.

So your point is what? Choice is bad? The consumer is a sheep? A bit condescending and I think many folks are tired of the iArrogance. Android seems to be a viable platform for developers to make applications without Big Brother (or Mr. Jobs) asserting control. Some people like their freedom to be unique.

Yeah, the whole month of January. You’re kidding right? And Android has a multi touch API built in, no stock Google apps used it. However, developers were using it in their apps (e.g. the Dolphin browser). And after having the pinch to zoom stuff, I prefer double tap with my hand. Pinch to zoom needs 2 hands (and if so many folks weren’t iPhreaks they’d realize that 2 hands to zoom is a FAIL).

I was not too impressed with the google maps for navigation so I purchased co-Pilot. It works a lot better than I expected. Nexus one is very responsive maybe due to powerful cpu. It only takes seconds to acquire and lock sat. signals. I tested it around NYC on a cloudy day. I do not have data service so I cannot test a-gps. Nexus one has both gps and a-gps.I’am now using it as dedicated gps. iphone can only do cell based navigation. Just retired my garmin gps and 2nd gen iphone. Nexus one is truly all in one device.

[...] The Nexus One getting multitouch in browser,maps and other apps. (more on this) [...]

[...] and ‘one of the early China-only Motorola Linux phones’, but it took for Google to add multi-touch capabilities to the Nexus One before he finally broke down and bought one from the company’s web [...]

[...] Torvaldsはこれまでにケータイを何台も持っていた。その中にはGoogleのG1機や、Moorolaの初期の、中国向けのLinux機もあった。そして今回彼がNexus OneをGoogleのWebサイトから買う気になったのは、同機にマルチタッチの機能が加わったからだ。 [...]

[...] The Nexus One Just Got Multi-Touch - TechCrunch [...]

it is not possible to type two letters at the exact same time when typing not even multitouch would fix that. u have to go one letter at a time to spell.

[...]  Clearly the Nexus One device itself does support multi-touch (as reported here http://techcrunch.com/2010/02/02/nexus-one-multi-touch/) since Google have recently provided an over the air update that enables pinch zoom on photos, [...]

That’s not true. There is a difference between a Google branded phone and a “with Google” phone.

T-Mobile’s G1 is a “with Google” phone. Just look at the back of it. If you have a G1, then you have stock Android (assuming you haven’t flashed a custom ROM into it). I think the myTouch 3G is also a “with Google” phone. I’m not sure about the Verizon Droid though.

I agree! Multi touch is mostly eye-candy. I like the multi-touch for looking at pictures and maps, but for web-browsing (which I do much more often on my Nexus One), I usually stick to the double tap. It’s quicker.

[...] in the suit — at least not yet. You’ll recall that exactly one month ago, Google decided to turn on multi-touch support for Android users with Nexus Ones. As we noted at the time, Apple was probably not going to [...]

Google Maps has a new navigation feature that turns your android into a GPS navigator, complete with the voxy-sounding synthesized voice.

It works gangbusters, at least around Seattle. I’m getting a car mount for my Droid, just so I can have it up where I can see it easily when I’m using it for navigation.

My only complaint – ditch the barely understandable retro synthesized voice and use a 21st century human sounding voice.