First generation Motorola DROID to get minor OTA update soon

What could be sadder than watching the gleaming new smartphone you have just purchased, loaded with the latest and greatest technology, start to age. All of a sudden, newer models are running faster, doing more applications, and all you can do is wait for your next upgrade. There is no denying that the original first-gen Motorola DROID has seen better days. With a processor speed about half of what is available with the Motorola DROID 2 Global model, and smaller storage to boot, the latest iterations of DROID phones can run circles around Time Magazine's 2009 Gadget of the Year.

While most carriers and manufacturers are quick to stop supporting models no longer in production, we have to give Verizon and Motorola some credit. The DROID does do Android 2.2 and should be able to handle Android 2.3. And instead of letting the model simply curl up and die, Verizon is going to be sending out an OTA upgrade soon for the device. Not a major upgrade to be sure, the new Froyo build (FRG83D) is expected to be rolled out starting this week.

Among the changes, users will get a new Twitter app, an updated Amazon widget, an improved news and weather widget and improvements to Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync such as being able to handle server-side inactivity of 34 minutes or more. Other changes to Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync include the ability to continue syncing emails even after a policy refresh, and support for Exchange 2010 connections. Users will also notice a new interface for Gmail.

There is a limit to how many more upgrades Motorola and Verizon could put on the phone. Eventually, the upgrades will stop. For now, though, the Motorola DROID might be lagging behind the new breed of Android models, but the handset still can give its users everything they want in a handset.

source: Verizon via AndroidCentral