Motorola DROID gets Google Maps 3.4, multitouch ensues

By on Feb 5, 2010 at 5:57 PM
News February 5, 2010

DroidLarge

Any Motorola DROID owners out there still feeling a bit slighted from Google enabling multitouch for the HTC Nexus One? Well, cheer up. Today, Google released an update to its Maps application — version 3.4.0 — and it brings multitouch pinchy, zoomy functionality to your DROID. Other changes to the new build include:

  • Starred items from google.com now sync with maps
  • Search suggestions from maps include maps.google.com search history
  • Night mode navigation

You can head over to the Android Market to get the latest bits and try out multitouch, and the other goodies, for yourself.

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  • haha

    Droid has a lot of iPhone haters out there, I think it is because they are somehow emotionally attached to Apple and feel Android breathing down their necks!!
    I love my Droid though, wouldnt traid it for an iPhone ever!! Unless the iPhone 4.0 really changes some things then it would seem that Apple is falling quite behind and is still growing mostly on hype

    • MikeD

      Pot calling Kettle black.

      Your response sounds like you are emotionally attached to your Droid.

      Now this is a good update for Droid owners. My good friend has one and is happy about the update. But As an owner of an iPhone 3G, I am glad to see my friend happy with his choice. Why can’t I be happy with mine and people stop the name calling.

    • whoster69

      I don’t think it is so black and white. I own a DROID and love it. I think the iPhone is pretty slick, but I won’t be buying one mainly because it is so restrictive on how you use the device. Apple has a some great software and hardware, but their forcing users to always do things their way, really turns me off.

  • Neo

    @ haha or any body with an Android phone

    Can you put apps in your MicroSD card yet? I’d like to get a Nexus one but that’s one of the things keeping me from getting one.

    • ricky1297

      I know that it’s possible with other Android devices like the G1 and Hero but I’m not sure if the Nexus can do that yet. It isn’t a big deal though because I have so many apps on my Droid’s internal memory and still have a bunch of free space.

      • AusFest

        Yeah I thought that was going to be a problem when I bought my first android phone and unless you go crazy stupid on apps its really not a problem. Multitasking, thats all I have to say, cant live without it.

    • kedmond

      It’s not a problem at all. I have many apps installed and I still have 100 megs available. Most of the app’s data is stored on the 16 gig card. I think this is the biggest misunderstanding about Android. If you think 256 megs is too small, you simply don’t understand how Android uses it.

  • adam

    Neo, no u cannot. Soon, hopefully!

    • whoster69

      Agreed. This is one of my biggest frustrations with my DROID. We need to run them from the SD card!

  • Perspective

    What’s a Droid? Weren’t people talking about it a few months back? Sounds vaguely familiar. . .

  • ChocoTaco

    Haha, Apple and Google crumble as a partnership and multitouch becomes native in Android apps. Love it. Glad the backdoor “we’ll keep Google search stock on the iPhone if you keep multitouch out of Android natively” agreement is off the table. Steve-o is surely shooting himself in the foot. His iPad is ripped apart limb from limb from seriously everyone on the internet – even Gizmodo – and multitouch is becoming native on stock Android apps. The fall of the rotten Apple is upon us.

  • Tyson

    got it love it

  • B-Rose

    Works great. Was really happy to get this one.

  • The UNZippee

    droid is improving while iphone remains the same. i’m curious to see what iphone 4.0 software is going to entail to try and 1 up droid

  • StevenGlansburg

    just a quick reminder, the iphone is not on verizon so you will have to settle for this

    • MicroNix

      I’m glad the rotten apple isn’t on Verizon. This will allow Android to flourish on the top carrier (not to mention every other carrier) in the US and limit iPhone to the crappiest network in the US. Everyday iPhone stays exclusive to AT&T, Android takes another bite off the Apple!!!!!!!! Go Android!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  • D.J.

    Unfortunately the Browser can’t be updated like that. I don’t understand why though, considering how the Droid and the Nexus One both use the stock Android OS.

  • JERRY

    Why are people hung on getting Apps to SD card.. what you guys should be asking for is More storage on board.. the Nexus One is so thing that if it came with some storage.. it would still be thin.. probably as thin as the Iphone..

    but you guys gotta remember for apps 512MB is not bad Most Android apps are not big .. let’s say you take half the storage 256 mb.. Android apps probably average 2.5 MB or so .. that’s about 100 apps for half thespace on the phone…

    NOBODY needs 100 apps .. if you have more than 100 apps .. I can guarantee you that you don’t use more than half of them…

  • haha

    I have 50 apps so far and I use all of them. I have a game that is over 21mb. So yeah, I am waiting on the words of googles ceo. He said we will get apps on the sd card without rooting. I am guessing before 2.5. So maybe within 6 months?? But once 2.1 gets rooted for the droid I am gonna root mine so I can overclock it to 900mhz while in use and 125mhz while not in use. Amazing performance and better battery than stock from what iv heard. Again….try that iPhone.

  • ~Phel

    I have the nexus and the iPhone 3gs and I can definitley say that the iPhone is by a landslide a more potent device and does everything 100 times faster and smoother. It seem to me that the android need serious work if they want to even get on the field to play with Apple. It’s more of a play toy right now becuase I can’t trust the nexus for work, it takes like ten minutes to load a web page or send an email. I think they made the nexus for teenagers and soccor moms. Maybe after a couple years of improving it, only then it might be a choice other than the iPhone. Sorry guys!

    • MicroNix

      @~Phel

      Perhaps some real testimony would make your statements more credible. iPhone 100x faster than Nexus? Come on, be real. 10 minutes to load a web page? Now that was true with the first gen of iPhone on AT&T’s beautiful edge network, but I’ve seen vids of the Nexus in action and it loads pages as fast as any iPhone I’ve seen.

      Now you want to talk about a toy. The iPhone sports the same dull 20 icon screen layout no matter what. While it is smoother scrolling, it lacks half the res of a modern day phone and because of that low res, it really looks like a fisher price toy! Play a movie side by side once.

      The nexus can run widgets that when you turn it on show current information based on location, etc. On the iPhone you need to open each app individually and check the same information you get on one screen on an android phone. Ouch, no real multitasking on the 3GS…fail.

      The beautiful thing about Android phones is that you are free to install what you want. Things like home screen replacements. Things like Sweeter Home which is going to definitely lift the skirt of the iPhone with customization and features that will make even the 3GS look 5 years old in tech. And once Firefox comes into the picture (sorry Apple fanboi but Apple won’t let you install a “competing” browser on your iPhail and Safari is *not* where its at) you’ll see just how it all comes together with an open platform.

      If you want to get into a serious debate on which one is the toy, present some real factual information.

      • MikeD

        All these devices leapfrog each other. So when the next iPhone comes out, you still gonna be flapping your gums.

        There is always going to be something better coming done the pipe. What the challenge is choosing something you can work with for more than a year.

      • MicroNix

        Really? And what has changed with the iPhone since it first came out? Does it run any better/improved apps than version 1? No. Does it look any different than version 1? No. Has there been any real earth shattering improvements since version 1? Well if you call copy and paste earth shattering then I guess so but I don’t see it. Going 3G doesn’t cut it because that should have been in version 1 like all the other smart phones at the time. Unless 4GS brings something wild like video calling (I can hear AT&T’s cell towers falling over right now), I’m not expecting any leap frogging tech. Just Jobs getting the loyal subjects to fork out more cash for something already found in other phones (but I’ll give him that he’ll have it “perfected”).

      • T

        Yeah man… looks totally different. It now has a plastic back instead of a metal back. Huge change! ;-)

  • Jimmy T

    In response to “Phel” I am an iPhone owner, and I am not sure you know what you are talking about. While I love my iPhone’s user interface, and the 3GS is fast enough for my needs, I think the Nexus One is faster, while the Droid can hold it’s own against the 3GS. You need to understand that competition is good for us, the better Android gets, it will force Apple to make changes as well. If you are a iPhone fan/owner like me, then surely you can agree that the iPhone hasn’t changed too much, and does need some improvements. Another thing to note is that the iPhone is a great ipod, but not really a good phone. I get dropped calls all the time, while my wife who is also on AT&T seems to have a better signal with her Blackberry in our house. She does not have as much dropped calls as I do, some of the blame is likely Apple’s fault.

    Jim

  • elizabeth

    I cannot find this update on the market place. Where is it?

    • T

      Do you have a 1.6 version phone or higher? If you’re using HTC Sense or Motoblur, you’re still in 1.5….

  • adam

    Hey Phel! Run both on wifi side by side,then watch sum YouTube. Tell us how much better ur iPhone is when ur done.

  • Miquel Alvarez

    @Adam- Haha, your kidding right? I just compared the nexus to the 3gs in YouTube and there’s no doubt… 3gs all the way including the sound. The nexus is an ok device it just needs some heavy duty refining to get it up to speed with the 3gs, sorry!

  • Consufed

    Multitouch only seems to function*in* Google Maps. Lameness. Now how about for the browser?

    • DroidxRage

      I’m rooted with Bugless Beast, I have all the Google apps in Multitouch…

      Browser
      Gallery
      Maps

      All Multitouch

  • Miguel Alvarez

    @Adam- Haha, your kidding right? I just compared the nexus to the 3gs in YouTube and there’s no doubt… 3gs all the way including the sound. The nexus is an ok device it just needs some heavy duty refining to get it up to speed with the 3gs, sorry!

  • haha

    Yo Miguel, bet you didn’t enable high quality from the options menue on the Nexus for your youtube comparison, noob, they are the same quality. But it will actually look way better on the nexus because of the screen…..get an education first, then compare phones. Late

  • Mark

    I love my droid but I wish I could allocate more memory for apps and such! 256mb, I’m allready out of space, damn it!! I left AT&T for the droid and the only thing I miss is my 32gigs and the lightning fast speed. Thanks, Mark

  • man

    uh-oh

    • leah

      really? what do you mean? man..

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