Motorola tweaks Android timeline, details Froyo support

Last weekend Motorola refreshed its support forum for Android software upgrades. This latest round of news can be broken down into three categories: good, bad, and downright disappointing.

Let's start with the good news, shall we? As many of you are already aware, the Droid currently is receiving its 2.2 "Froyo" update. Meanwhile, the Droid X is expected to see Froyo in the "late summer," which echoes Verizon's original promise. Other handsets from around the world are slated to have Android 2.2 arrive in the fourth quarter, including the Milestone and the Motoroi.

Now we have to report the bad news. Those of you who were disappointed to hear that Motorola had pushed back the 2.1 update for the Cliq and Cliq XT will not be pleased to learn that Eclair isn't scheduled to hit your handset until late in third quarter or early in the fourth quarter of this year. You might recall that these devices were expected to received Android 2.1 by the end of last June, only to have it pushed back on the final day of the month. Ironically, I found it somewhat laughable that AT&T's Backflip was pegged with a Q3 update, yet it's possible that it will beat T-Mobile's devices to the punch. I get the feeling that by the time any of these early MotoBlur phones see 2.1, many users will have moved on, searching for a replacement handset. And by that time, we'll be talking about Gingerbread.

In terms of downright disappointing news, we've learned that the Devour will not see any future updates. What's more, the European Backflip and Dext also are staying put with their current versions of the OS. Much like Samsung's Behold II, these phones will head off into the sunset with Android 1.6 "Donut." At one point, however, they were listed as "upgrade under evaluation." Unfortunately, that doesn't bode well for the Asia-Pacific and Canadian versions of the phone, which carry that status today. I wouldn't hold my breath for a 2.1 update.