Digicel on Thursday launched the Motorola Milestone, the first device in Jamaica powered by Android.

The handset will be on sale to patrons attending Reggae Sumfest from July 22 through 24, before being offered in select Digicel stores throughout Jamaica.

The Milestone optimises the mobile Internet experience with rich Web browsing and all of the preloaded GoogleTM applications, such as Google SearchTM and Gmail. The handset features a QWERTY slider (13.7mm) for easy and fast messaging, a stylish external design and a high-resolution widescreen multi-touch display, enabling users to pinch and zoom.

“We are proud to launch the new Milestone for our customers in Jamaica, which adds to our many first to market innovations that we have enjoyed over the past 9 years,” said Jason Corrigan, Digicel Jamaica’s Commercial Director in a press release on Thursday.

Lynn Kirchenberg, Motorola’s Marketing Manager for Latin America, Mobile Devices said, “We are very proud to be a pioneer in the industry once more by introducing the first AndroidTM 2.1-enabled cell phone in Jamaica, thus setting a new Milestone of mobile devices. It is worth mentioning here that Jamaica is one of the first countries in the Caribbean to launch Milestone and it is a key market place for Motorola. MILESTONE will exceed user’s expectations”.

Here are some of the features of the device:

Browsing anytime, anywhere

Facilitating browsing anytime, anywhere, the Milestones features a full HTML browser, fast processing, high-speed Wi-Fi connectivity, preloaded Google applications, and a high-resolution widescreen display to enable users to easily conduct their searches. In addition, searching for content on the new device constitutes an experience that goes beyond the boundaries of the Internet by exploring through applications, contacts, songs, and any other content stored in the phone.

Social life and work on a single device

With Milestone, users have the option to combine all of their e-mails in a single site (Gmail, yahoo and hotmail) sent to their inbox. The device also integrates personal and work calendars and access to Global Address book, enabling users to be only a touch away from colleagues and friends.

Full multimedia experience

The new model also includes a 5-megapixel dual LED flash, autofocus camera with image stabilization, DVD-quality video capture and playback, music player, universal 3.5-mm headset jack. In addition, the Milestone is compatible with Motorola Media Link, thus enabling users to manage all their multimedia content on their phone, PC, and the Web.

Key features

o 3.7″ widescreen multi-touch display with 854 pixel widths and more than 400,000 total pixels (more than twice than those offered by our main competitor).

o “Copy & paste”, “Pinch & zoom”, and “Double tap” features.

o 5-megapixel camera with dual LED flash, autofocus, and image stabilization.

o The possibility to manage and share media content between the desktop PC, phone, and the Web via Motorola Media Link and Motorola Phone Portal.

o Full suite of Googleª applications: Google Talkª with Presence, Gmail.

o Unified Microsoft Officeª and Google contacts.