Motorola has just outed a Europe-bound Milestone XT720, a handset intended to grab the attention of camera lovers with an 8 megapixel sensor, 720p / 24fps video and — a first for Android handsets — a xenon flash. Speaking of Android, this will come loaded up with version 2.1 when it launches later this month. Plans for 2.2 upgrades are, as usual, not yet formalized and not under discussion. Other specs include a 3.7-inch, 480 x 854 screen, a 550MHz ARM Cortex A8 CPU, and a promised 9 hours of talk time and 320 hours of standby time. It looks very much like Moto’s selection of Droid-esque handsets that have been prowling the Chinese market, and it seems the company has enjoyed success with the keyboard-less form factor and is pushing it out to Europe. US release plans are also not being discussed — it might happen and it might not, seems to us like it’ll depend on the Euros’ reaction. We’re just getting to grips with the handset right now, and will furnish you with video of it as soon as we can.

P.S. We’re told this handset is closer to the Motoroi than anything else, Motorola describes them as sister devices. We also spotted a network update from Orange on the demo handset, implicating it as a possible carrier for the XT720 in the UK.

Update: We’ve now got Motorola’s full press release plus a promo video after the break, as well as some comparison pics between this new handset and the original Milestone in the second gallery below.

Update 2: And we’ve just added our hands-on impressions and video, you know where to find them.

Motorola’s European version of the Droid — the Milestone — is on the verge of release in the UK, so it’s not surprising to see ads starting to pop up. This is the first we’ve seen, and we’ll say that the approach is… interesting. In contrast to the over the top, explosive (literally — did you see that banana?!) Verizon Droid ads, the Milestone ad is all about information, delivered in a soothing, sophisticated tone. “Intelligence and versatility converge” here, and we have to say we much prefer this approach over the it’s a “frickin’ robot” one taken by Verizon.