Review: Mobilink Motorola Milestone Launch Event

Moblink invited people from the blogger’s community yesterday (30th July, 2010) to the Mall of Lahore for the launching of their first non-Blackberry smartphone: the Motorola Milestone.

The event was deemed as a success by the bloggers who attended the meetup (including yours truly). The community appreciated Mobilink and Google Pakistan’s efforts in finally bringing an Android smartphone to the local market.

The event was set at The Sunset Boulevard, Mall of Lahore. It started at around 4:15PM. At the start, The host announced a Facebook-based competition where you had get maximum number of comments to win an actual Motorola Milestone. Saad Hamid (of Sizlopedia.com fame) racked up almost 700 comments but was beaten by someone else (whose name I can’t recall at the moment). Two other giveaways were also held in which the prize(s) were awesome Google Dolls.

Afterwards, Jehan Ara (President of P@SHA) spoke a little about software and mobile apps. Later, representatives from Google, Mobilink and Motorola came on stage to talk about the Milestone’s features and achievements.

Which is what I’ll myself be talking about in this post.

An Outdated Phone

FACT: The Milestone (aka DROID) was released 9 months ago in the United States. It is, by now, pretty much an outdated handset in terms of its slow processor and old display technology. So it comes as a disappointment that we’re seeing this release in Pakistan now. And let me remind you: The DROID 2 is just around the corner!

Now although the phone has received great acclaim from websites like Gizmodo and Engadget for its then eye-popping display, design and overall features… the fact remains: it is old! It is antiquated!

Much better, stronger Android handsets such as the Droid Incredible, HTC Desire, Nexus One etc have entered the international market after the Milestone.

This was discussed in detail during the conference. An attendee asked the speakers as to why an old phone is being released now. The speaker, in return, made an excellent point by saying that this was the first official Android release in Pakistan and that there are many legalities and formalities involved in it. He also pointed out that newer phones will be released near to their international release dates as Moblink strengthens its partnership with Google and makers of other Android-based handset manufacturers.

A Step In The Right Direction

But all things considered, the introduction of the Milestone is still a great achievement on Mobilink’s side. Till now, all us Pakistanis got from network carriers were Blackberries. But now, with the Milestone, we have our first Android network-carried handset in Pakistan!

Soon enough, we’ll see similar offerings from Telenor, ZONG, Ufone and Warid. And this only means thing: the customer wins!

So, hey Moblink, Motorola and Google Pakistan! From us bloggers here in Pakistan: job well done!!

P.S I do wish that we start having subsidized handsets in Pakistan though. Shelling out Rs. 40,000 (and in most cases: Rs. 60,000+) on a cell phone is not possible for most people here. However in America, you can get the iPhone 4 16GB for Rs. 17,000 (200$) with a 2 year old contract which binds you to use a specific cellular network.

Features

Motorola Milestone will be sold by Mobilink for Rs. 38,000 ($450). Features are as follows:

• Input: 3.7″ high-resolution 854×480 capacitative TFT touchscreen display (with other sensors) and sliding QWERTY keyboard
• Operating System: Google Android 2.1
• Memory: 512MB built-in. Expandable up to 32GB
• Camera: 5.0 megapixel with 720×480 @30fps video recording, geotagging, dual LED flash and autofocus
• Connectivity: Wi-Fi (802.11b/g), Bluetooth 2.1+EDR, A-GPS, USB Micro-B

Photos source: Badar Khushnood and Wikipedia.

Author Bio

Awais Imran is a 17 year old writer cum blogger at humor-based technology blog WINARS and artsyHANDS. He is currently working as a freelance writer for technology-based websites. You can follow him on Twitter or contact via email.