[9] Features of the phone include Wi-Fi networking, a 5-megapixel low light capable digital camera, a standard 3.5 mm headphone jack, interchangeable battery, 3.7-inch 854×480 touchscreen display.
It also includes microSDHC support with bundled 16 GB card,[3] free turn-by-turn navigation from Google Maps, sliding QWERTY keyboard, and Texas Instruments OMAP 3430 processor.
[10] The phone does not, however, run the re-branded Motoblur interface for Android, instead providing the Google Experience skin and application stack.
[4][11] With a major marketing push by Motorola and Verizon during and after its November 2009 release, the Droid became popular and had strong sales in the United States.
Launched on October 17, 2009, TV spots and an associated website made "entertainingly combative" claims[16] listing features then lacking on the iPhone, e.g. "iDon't multitask" and "'iDon't have a real keyboard", only mentioning the name of the Droid in the final frame, reading "Droid Does".
"[18] This was a program (billed as an "interactive experience") in which Verizon connected the Nasdaq and Reuters electronic billboards in Times Square to its systems such that people were able to control the electronic displays by using voice commands (illustrating the voice search function that is a primary Android feature).
[19] The November 6, 2009, release date of the Droid came just under a month after Verizon and Google announced that they had entered into an agreement[20] to jointly develop wireless devices based on the Android mobile platform.
[21] American exclusive software for the Droid includes Google Maps Navigation, an Amazon MP3 Store applet, and Verizon Wireless Visual Voice Mail management.
But screenshots from Verizon Wireless documents showed that a last minute software bug was found, and the update was delayed once again, with no new roll out date determined.
The new news from Verizon Wireless provided official information about the update and what it entailed, including "Pinch-to-zoom...available when using the browser, Gallery, and Google Maps", a weather and news app/widget including "information you want from the Web...weekly and hourly weather forecasts based on your location, and news headlines", voice-to-text wherever there are text boxes, "New Gallery application with 3D layout", and Live Wallpapers "offer[ing] richer animated, interactive backgrounds on the home screen", as well as other, more minor upgrades.
It includes a new home launcher, Flash 10.1 support, new homescreen widgets, an updated Market, a JIT compiler for a faster system, as well as new aesthetic changes.
[42] While the phone's internal hardware (besides cellular) is the same, differences include out-of-the-box multi-touch support enabled, a trial version of Motorola's MOTONAV service (instead of Droid's US-only[43] Google Maps Navigation) and an 8 GB microSDHC card, instead of the Droid's 16 GB microSDHC card.
The Milestone was launched in Hong Kong on December 21, 2009,[48] as the sixth Android device in the region for HKD 4,680 with an 8 GB microSDHC card included.
This version is in English but supports Chinese hand writing that originated from the Motorola MING and pinyin input method.
This creates difficulties for users who wish to boot custom ROM images not signed by Motorola that have become popular in the Droid modding community.
[49][50][51] Whether the disabling of custom boot loaders is due to retailer, carrier, manufacturer, or legal restrictions is unknown.
Early in 2011 the community around Milestone ROM-Development and the Polish National BOINC Team initiated AndrOINC[52] to decipher the RSA 1024-bit signature and make customizing possible.
[53] In June 2011, Motorola committed to delivering an unlockable and relockable bootloader solution for phones receiving updates later that year.
The official Android 2.2 Froyo update was released on March 16, 2011, for UK users with a slow rollout to the rest of Europe.