Droid rooted, and manual update to Android 2.0.1 available

Those of you (and us) not patient enough to wait for Verizon to roll out the 2.0.1 update on its own are in luck. Not only can the Motorola Droid now be rooted, the incremental update to the Android OS can be applied manually, and it's as easy as applying a couple of zip files.

First up is the update, which comes to us from AllDroid via our forums. Just download this zip file from the forum post, rename to update.zip, and put it on your microSD card. Turn the droid off, and turn it back on while holding the "X" button. After the "/!\" symbol appears, press the volume up and camera button, then follow the onscreen instructions. (We've tested this out, and it worked fine.) As a reminder, here's what you get in the 2.0.1 update.

Next up is is the rooting of the Droid, which again comes from AllDroid (via Engadget) in the form of another downloadable zip file and is applied in the same manner. Note that this is for adb access and you can't yet run apps from the Android Market that require root.

A big night for all you Droid owners out there. Get to it.

Phil Nickinson