As important as phones can be in our daily lives, there are some reasons to avoid them entirely. Here are ten such reasons which may actually succeed in turning you into an anti-social, handsaw-owning phone avoider..

Reprinted with permission from Matthew Inman aka "The Oatmeal," a former web designer turned comic artist. You can see more of his work on The Oatmeal or in 5 Very Good Reasons to Punch a Dolphin in the Mouth, the comic book which he self published last year.

Acer's updated its Android range of phones with the Liquid e, running Android 2.1 and built using a Qualcomm Snapdragon 768 MHz processor, so isn't quite as zappy as some others we've seen recently.

While we don't have images of the Liquid e yet (seen above is the previous Liquid model), it has a 3.5-inch capacitive touchscreen is a WVGA job, the camera is a 5.0-megapixel sensor with autofocus; and there's Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, GPS and HSDPA/HSUPA on the wireless side.

Internally, the ROM is 512MB (with a microSD slot), RAM is 256MB and an accelerometer, light sensor and proximity sensor all feature. Full release and specs below, with pricing and availability not yet known. Acer's not exactly known for its smartphones, but this Liquid e sounds like quite a step-up from the first Liquid which we saw last year.

Acer is proud to present Liquid e, the new version of the already well known Liquid smartphone.

Acer Liquid e features the latest Android™ 2.1 Operating System (aka Éclair). Building on the processing and graphical capabilities of the Qualcomm™ Snapdragon™ and its high definition screen, Liquid e is the state-of-the-art for multimedia, web browsing, and social media integration. It should thrill both avid users of internet on-the-go and new users eager to experience the rich possibilities offered by this innovative device.

This appealing high definition smartphone is the ideal solution for users demanding the best from their devices and in particular for high-definition video playback or streaming, gaming and browsing smoothly rich-content internet sites.

What's new on Liquid e with Android Éclair 2.1:
• Home screens - The new version now handles five home screens by default, allowing users to easily install more applications from the rich selection available on the Android Market, as well as shortcuts and widgets;
• Quick Contacts – a feature that lets users easily switch between the address book and the social network applications;
• Live wallpapers to customize your Liquid e on the fly;
• A new keyboard layout with an extended dictionary for predictive input;
• An updated version of the Android browser, supporting HTML5, double-tap zooming, video tagging support and geo-location API support.

With its 3.5" high-definition capacitive touch screen, Acer Liquid e offers an unparalleled experience when watching pictures or videos, and proposes an abundance of new applications on Androidâ„¢ Smart Handhelds - games, professional applications and web applets that will enrich the end user experience.

Powered by the powerful Qualcommâ„¢ Snapdragonâ„¢ processor, Acer Liquid e provides instant access to web pages, smooth streaming of videos or music, and instant response from popular mail, maps and search applications. The high-speed processing capabilities and high-speed internet access (HSPA) of Snapdragonâ„¢ brings to life the Androidâ„¢ experience: no idle-time, almost instant uploads of web pages and downloads of rich multimedia content. The developer community can now take full advantage of these capabilities to bring to market innovative applications that demand raw computing power and superior handling of 3D graphics.

We recently heard that Android 2.1 was on its way to the Droid, but now sources tell AndroidandMe that all U.S. Android phones will be receiving Android 2.1 firmware in coming months, though some will require a wipe to upgrade.

As we've heard is the case with the Droid, some niceties like animated wallpapers probably won't make the jump, but if the updates come to fruition, increased text-to-speech support and enhanced widgets will likely come along with them. The price of getting up to date, Androidandme explains, might be wiping your phone clean. A bummer, but that's life.

Google has shown its awareness that fragmentation is a serious issue for Android, so it wouldn't be surprising to see them try to make things a little more even across the board. The G1 and MyTouch are supposedly candidates for the first wave of updates, so keep an eye out for confirmation in coming weeks. [AndroidandMe]

Omnifone's MusicStation music download store—which is pre-loaded on all HP laptops—is also getting an Android launch if you're looking for another way to download music on your Nexus One. [Business Wire]

I want to believe Asustek Computer chairman Jonney Shih when he says his company's Android phone will arrive "this year," because the more people use Android handsets, the more hardware options we'll have, the better the software gets, the more vibrant the App Market will become. Plus, I crave balance: the Garmin-Asus Nuvifone G60 was a barely-mitigated disappointment, so a solid Google piece is well overdue. But when it comes to Asus phones, release dates should be taken as tentative until the device is literally in your hands. [Digitimes via Slashgear]

AT&T's first Android phone won't ship with Google Search. Instead, The Motorola Backflip's home screen will sport a Yahoo Search widget, and its browser will run Yahoo searches by default. Yep. I think that's what they call a burn.

It'll be the first Android device of any kind with Yahoo as the main search engine, which makes sense: Android is Google's platform, so Google Search is a natural fit. But Android's also an open platform, which means that carriers can do with it what they please—including denying its creator a chunk of valuable search revenue.

AT&T's undisputed bread and butter is the iPhone, which means that appeasing Apple is high on their priority list. And it's hard to see what other advantage this move has for the carrier other than scoring a point in their patron's favor in the escalating Apple-Google feud.

There are four more AT&T Android phones on the horizon, and it'll be interesting to see how many of them follow this same track. That'll probably have something to do with the consumer response to Yahoo. In the meantime, the Backflip exposes a noticeable chink in Google's Android armor: an open system is, by definition, one you can get shut out of. [Engadget via Android Community]

Absolutely dread going to your location wireless provider's store and having to be social? If it's one of your worst nightmares, hopefully this will help you change that.

Guest post by a "connect" in the wireless industry.

Do:
Buy at the end of the month or during bad weather. It's funny, but the best time to buy a phone is at the end of the month. Every store has a quota to hit and the sales reps are a lot more tempted to make a good deal if it's the end of the month. They'll most likely be offering better discounts to try and get those final sales for their quota. Also, on days when the weather is really bad, the store has probably been slow most of the day and the reps are bored. We're not kidding. They'll want to talk to you and want to sell you something. The sales reps have probably made nothing in terms of money for that day and they'll be eager to try and make a deal for you.

Take the features:
Use them as a bargaining tool. This is a great way to get extra discounts or deals on a phone. Tell the rep you'll sign up for the data plan (if not already required based on the phone like a smartphone) plus insurance and other extra features if they'll cut you a small deal on the equipment. ARPU (Average Revenue Per Unit) is always a huge goal for managers and employees, and it adds a large amount to our commission check. You can always take these features off (if they're not contracted like the smartphone data plans) if you don't use them. Just know that most wireless carriers require features to be active for a certain amount of time or else the representative won't get the commission from it.

Also, try to find a rep that is passionate. It might seem like common sense, but we can't tell you how many people just enter the store and mosey on over to any boring dope and expect greatness. Look for a rep that looks happy to be there. That rep will most likely be an upfront person and be detailed on equipment and plan pricing. If the rep is trained well enough, he or she will know about other carrier's pricing and plans as well, making this much easier on you.

Ask the representative to be blunt and honest - telling your rep from the get-go to be straightforward and to-the-point will save both of you a lot of trouble. They'll get the job done faster and you'll get the info you're asking for without all the corporate mumbo-jumbo that they're supposed to shove in your head.

Plus, if you don't already have a phone in mind, ask the representative what phone they use. If they're carrying it, it's most likely a decent phone. Most likely.

Sales reps can usually budge on the equipment pricing, accessories, or waiving activation fees depending on whether you're at a corporate store or an indirect dealer. But something they can't do is budge on the plan pricing; that's something no one can adjust - only the retention department over the phone can.

If you see a better price at another store or online, ask for a price match. This requires a print out of the ad that you saw, but you'd be surprised how many people don't care, or don't come prepared. Corporate stores can only price match in this fashion, too. Buying at a corporate store versus a 3rd party store (Costco, Sam's Club, Radio Shack) has its benefits such as better trained employees and usually original/more encompassing warranties.

Don't:
Don't threaten to leave your carrier if the representatives you're talking to don't give you a good deal. Sales reps know your contract length and they know you aren't going to pay that $200 ETF to get little Timmy off your plan and into an iPhone because they won't give you $50 off that dumbphone he wants. Things like telling them that you've been with them for 10+ years and you deserve 5 BlackBerry Bolds for free will only frustrate the poor guy. When it comes to equipment cost, the amount of years you've been with a carrier as a customer doesn't mean too much. Also don't say that you'll get a better deal by switching from x-carrier to y-carrier if you don't know for sure if it's exactly true. A good rep knows when a customer is lying and they'll pretty much be done trying to work with you at that point.

Remember to play it smart. Don't try and ask for a smartphone without a data plan. That's like buying a brand new BMW and not wanting to put premium gas in it. The reps most likely can't make that happen due to restrictions with the way those plans work. Also never ask to speak to the manager while negotiating for a better deal. You're undermining the representative and are only going to annoy the manager.

Upgrades (phone discounts you get when extending your current contract with your existing carrier) mean pretty little to the sales reps in terms of commission. The rep doesn't make much on these kinds of contracts and if you're going to give them a really hard time about pricing, they'll either pass you to another rep or put 0% effort into trying to help you out.

Tips from reps we know:
• "I've had high maintenance customers bring a store employee coffee or thank you card after working really hard for them. Doing even the smallest things like that will get us to do pretty much anything you want in the future or fix any problem you might have down the road."
• "Reps work on commission; it's how they pay their bills, feed their kids, and pretty much survive. It's really aggravating when you spend 45 minutes in the store talking to us about plans and pricing and then come back the next day to sign up with our co-worker on our day off."
• "Reps are people too. We have our good and our bad days. Act like a decent human being and you'll be treated with the same respect."

All in all, pretty standard stuff though like we said, you'd be surprised how many people don't really get the big picture. Hopefully this makes shopping for a new phone, wireless plan, and even carrier a little easier on you the next time around!

While this post tried to encompass all wireless carriers in the U.S., some have different policies and practices and it's best to visit their respective website to learn about plan/feature requirements, and any sales/rebates they have available before you go to the store.

BGR features the latest tech news, mobile-related content and of course, exclusive scoops.

It's not an OS update like we were hoping, but BlackBerry has taken the lid off its free Enterprise Server Express software which syncs the smartphones to Microsoft Exchange and Windows Small Business Servers.

It's a less-whizzy (ie, free) version of BES for small businesses or individuals who don't want to fork out for the full service. It'll still wirelessly synchronize email, calendar, contacts, notes and tasks, allow for edits of Word, Excel and PowerPoint files and access files on the business network, which should be enough for the average user. Out in March.

It's not an OS update like we were hoping, but BlackBerry has taken the lid off its free Enterprise Server Express software which syncs the smartphones to Microsoft Exchange and Windows Small Business Servers.

It's a less-whizzy (ie, free) version of BES for small businesses or individuals who don't want to fork out for the full service. It'll still wirelessly synchronize email, calendar, contacts, notes and tasks, allow for edits of Word, Excel and PowerPoint files and access files on the business network, which should be enough for the average user. Out in March.

T-Mobile is replacing the antiquated trackballs on BlackBerry's Pearl 8100 and 8120, and the Curve 8320 smartphones for free from the 15th of February, to any customers who are having problems with them. It's one of the reasons RIM moved from trackballs to optical trackpads, so if you aren't having problems yet, mark my words: you will. [TMO News via Electronista]

Good news—Digitimes is reporting that many of the Taiwanese phone suppliers are ditching resistive touchscreens and focusing their attentions on ramping up production of the much more superior capacitive panels. Today is a great day to be a finger. [Digitimes]

On March 18, at the Baselworld watch show in Switzerland, a vaporous French company called Celsius X-VI-II will unveil the Papillon, a $300,000 mobile phone that is packed with the most advanced micro-mechanics of any gadget ever created.

All of this according to a recent profile in PCMag, one that frankly raises more questions than it answers. In the piece, Celsius co-founder Alejandro Ricart offers a vague picture of his team's ambition, citing high-end Swiss watches as the inspiration for his company's ultra-luxury, mechanical mobile phone.

"We want to take the useful functions of the cell phone and try to re-think them, and re-create them in a mechanical way," he explained. One such suggested mechanism is a kinetic hinge that powers the phone when it's flipped open and closed shut.

Sascha Segan, PCMag's reporter, seems pretty enthralled by the whole business, describing the device as a "hand-made art-watch with more than 600 mechanical components, many of which are visible to the naked eye."

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Papillon is French for "butterfly," an insect that apparently inspired the design of the phone and, when you come to think of it, is sort of a strange little creature in its own right. As you can see, a butterfly floats fleetingly through the teaser clip for the phone.

All of this is quite bizarre and potentially very dumb, like something out of a Dan Brown novel*, and it certainly feels like it could all blow away in a cloud of vapor. The x-ray shown above is the only image of the phone available. But in a genre of gadget that is almost categorically uninteresting to us, this ultra high-end device has piqued our curiosity. [Celsius X VI II via PCMag]

*If Celsius's shadowy forces silence me for making all of this public, or for ripping the weird promo video from their site without permission, just FOLLOW THE SIGNS.

Google may've delayed the launch of two Samsung and Motorola Android phones last week, but if you speak to the Chinese government, they have no problems with Google (their free-speaking arch-nemesis) offering their wares in the country. [Reuters]

If you need more evidence that American culture has jumped the shark, check out the second Coca Cola phone to hit in as many weeks. There's just one thing worth mentioning: IT ACTUALLY WORKS.

You can even buy it now, and the price is pretty mind boggling too, at just $6.64. Sadly it's not powered by Coca-Cola, nor is it a cellphone, but at 1:1 scale this landline phone will definitely be a talking point at house parties.

The dial pad is located on the base of the cup, and you hold it just like you would a normal phone—look closely, and you can see a mouthpiece and speaker. Pretty crazy stuff. [LightInTheBox via ChipChick via Gearfuse]

One of the most exciting things about Android was the idea that it could be ported back to older handsets. This turned out to be harder than expected, except or a few HTCs and, amazingly, a Palm Treo from 2004.

The 650, which runs old-school Palm OS, must be straining to boot Google's mobile OS, working with just 32MB of RAM and a 312MHz processor—a far cry from even the G1, which isn't known for its snappy performance. But, with time and patience, she flickers to life anyway. And for its mere fact of existence, this Frankensteinian monster should be applauded. Onward and downward, brave Android hackers. [Engadget]

Yes, your eyes are deceiving you, LG's not licensed the StarTAC design. Phew. That telescopic antenna doesn't just harp back to ye olden days though, it also receives a digital TV signal, one of the first US DTV devices.

Joining the Lotus clamshell is the DP570MH portable DVD player, which will play DVDs and over 800 channels of live digital TV thanks to the LG2160A ATSC-M/H chip, which LG's offered to Dell for use in its laptops, and manufacturers of in-car receivers such as Kenwood. The DVD player has a four hour battery life when playing TV, which is only two hours less than the iPod Touch.

I'm all for DTV devices, but surely LG could've picked a better handset to introduce to the US market, considering the Lotus has been floating around since the end of 2008? [LGE via Engadget]

In case you're interested Google, www.Google-Nexus-1.com is being sold buy-it-now for $5,000, described as a "a premier domain name for millions of hits." [eBay]

Here's the story. Designer Jeremiah Whitaker spent nine months at Microsoft working on Windows Mobile 7 (according to his LinkedIn), and published an example of user experience on his site—which is believed to be from Microsoft.

Accompanying the above images, he wrote:

"NDA dictates I keep this vague. For a leading cell platform I created UX flows of common controls and usages. After client review I created flash demos. Those demo's were then reviewed and passed on to SectionSeven development to create interactive prototypes".

The design company SectionSeven has been working with Microsoft recently, so he wasn't exactly encrypting his work on the mobile platform's user experience very well. It's like he wanted to be found out.

The diagrams, while not exactly clear, do hint at the possibility of multitouch for Windows Mobile 7 phones, or at least some new gestures not needed previously on their platforms. Last week a list of the minimum required specs that Microsoft has supposedly issued to manufacturers leaked out, with at least a 3.6-inch WVGA display needed for WinMo7 handsets, along with a 1GHz processor. Both these elements would certainly be well-suited to a multitouch UI. [Jeremiah Whitaker via Microsoft Kitchen via The Unwired]

Firefox Mobile for Android is inevitable, it's just a question of when. While it's still vague, at least we know it's on the cards for late this year, with Mozilla's VP of mobiles telling TechRadar the hold up is due to different code:

"Android has been built on a Java platform, whereas [Firefox Mobile] is based on C and C++ code. Until last year when [the Open Handset Alliance] released the NDK (native development kit) which allowed native code as part of the app, it was simply impossible."

[TechRadar]

These are the first photos of Microsoft's Project Pink phones, snatched from deep within the bowels of the Microsoft/Verizon industrio-complex —not the Turtle, but the larger, Sidekick-like Pure. This doesn't look like Windows Phone 7, so what is it?

The shots come just hours after a leaked advertising campaign for the Turtle outed Verizon as a carrier for the Pink Turtle, without so much as a mention of the Pure.

Our tipster confirms the Pure is also headed to Verizon, but doesn't have a release date. (Though it's hard to imagine the release date would fall too far out of line with the Turtle, which is expected to hit stores at the end of April. Business Week's claim that the release will be May or June of this year supports this.) Anyway, this thing: It's strange! The paneled interface, with fixed squares for everything from music (with Zune typography) and email to RSS feeds and what looks like a unified social networking hub. As hinted earlier, the aesthetic is similar Windows Phone 7, but the software is distinctly not Windows Phone 7. This looks like Windows Phone 7: Feature Phone edition.
Our source got a few seconds to use the Pure, and said it was intuitive, "better than Android," and decorated with Windows Phone 7-style animations throughout. That said, the app situation still doesn't add up. There's apparently an download screen for new apps, but it's not populated with anything yet. This could mean two things: Either the Pink phones will tap into the Windows Phone 7 marketplace somehow, which would be great (but also doesn't make sense), or they'll have apps like the Zune has apps—which is to say, only sort of, and only from selected partners.

The more we see, the more the Pure and Turtle look like they're stacking up to be Zune-ified followups to the Sidekick. It's an interesting move, but who does Microsoft think they're going to sell this thing to? Tweens?

Update: Firmware Leak

We've got our hands on leaked Pink firmware, and we've dumped all the icons and photos we could extract. Sadly, there's not way to run this right now, but we can see a lot of what's shown above, like the homescreen application icons, in full resolution. There are also traces of Zune, as well as Facebook, Twitter, Yahoo, and Windows Live. There are some shots (discovered by someone else who's got the firmware) that show a lockscreen dialer, but these are likely placeholders of some sort. Also tucked away in the firmware are default wallpapers for both phones, in their rumored resolutions. Finally, we've got a shot from the Turtle's unremarkable camera, which appears to have flash.

(Filenames included in the gallery, because they're pretty descriptive.)

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Here's what we can glean from the dump so far:

• The carrier is definitely Verizon, though there are references in the firmware to AT&T and T-Mobile in the US (which are probably placeholders, since the rest of the evidence points to CDMA radios as standard for these phones.) There are also references to a wide range of foreign carriers in the UK, mainland Europe and Asia, but again, most of these carriers don't support what looks like the initial version of the handset's CDMA hardware, as far as I can tell.

• The OS is based on Windows CE, like the Zune and Windows Phone 7. This doesn't mean a ton to users, but the guy who passed us the firmware sums up what that means under the hood:

Everything is programed in .NET a lot like 7 is. It does not say it inside the files where I have seen, but It is coded in XAMl and is in the structure that CE 7 is supposed to be structured, it is my belief that it will be based off CE 7, and it will have a lot of tie in to Windows Live as well.

• Turtle and Pure codenames are used in the firmware, but that doesn't mean that those'll be the shipping names for the product. There are also codenames for the "Pride" and "Lion" handsets, which appear to just be the international versions of the Turtle and Pure, respectively.

• The Turtle's screen is 320x240, while the Pure's is 480x320—the same as the iPhone.

• There are reference to something called "The Loop," which sounds like some kind of central social networking hub.

We're powering through the firmware dump now, so we'll post more as we get it. [Special thanks to our tipsters, and Conflipper]

In between all the exciting rumors of when Google's Nexus One will be released and how much it will cost, there's at least something that's confirmed: Google submitted a trademark application for "Nexus One."

Android.in writes that the application was filed on December 10th, a bit before all the excitement about Nexus One began, which they speculate could mean that there'll be little involvement by carriers, but who knows at this point? I'm just going to keep staring at mysterious countdowns. [AndroidOS.in]

Joking they were not, when Google vowed to take down China. Ok, that's not exactly what they said—but after refusing to launch two Android phones there mid-January, they've now pulled out of a developers event in Beijing. Updated.

Following developer events at TED and MWC (plus the upcoming GDC), they were scheduled to tour around Asia, visiting Hong Kong, Taiwan and Beijing with armfuls of Nexus Ones to give away. Really driving the point home, they've pulled out ahead of the event next week. Not launching Android phones from Motorola and Samsung is one thing, but no Nexus Ones? This could be the end of China's censorship, for once and for all. [Reuters]

Update: A Google spokesperson contacted All Things D to set the record straight: Google didn't cancel any event in Beijing, because there was no Beijing stop on the Nexus One tour to start with.

The spokesperson explained: "The reports are incorrect...There was not a Nexus One launch event scheduled in Beijing. Google is hosting 3 Android Developer Labs in Asia over the next couple weeks in Singapore, Taipei, and Hong Kong...We never planned to hold an Android Developer Lab in Beijing, and suggestions that we did plan one are not true." [All Things D]

Google Earth is available on Android! (Isn't is weird that this didn't happen earlier? It's been on the iPhone for a year! Anyway.) The catch? For now, it only works on the Nexus One, which basically nobody owns. Don't worry, Droiders: Soon.

For now, Google Earth will only work on handsets with Android 2.1, which effectively limits it to the Nexus One. The good news is that the Droid, and some older HTC handsets, are due for a 2.1 upgrade relatively soon. The bad news is that even Google can't even escape Android's increasingly worrying fragmentation problem with its own apps, on its own operating system. This doesn't bode well.

Anyway, the app looks almost exactly like it does on the iPhone, meaning that you get to play God with a barren, lifeless Earth, in full 3D, with your fingers. Oh, and there's voice navigation! So there's that. [AndroidGuys]

It will no longer cost you more to cancel a Nexus One contract than it does to buy a Nexus One. But Google's still imposing a $150 "equipment recovery fee" on top of T-Mobile's $200 ETF.

The change comes on the heels of an FCC inquiry into out-of-control termination fees. Up until now, Nexus One owners were expected to pay $350 in the event of canceling or downgrading their T-Mobile contracts within 120 days. With the new Terms of Sale, however:

"You agree to pay Google an equipment subsidy recovery fee (the "Equipment Recovery Fee") in the event you cancel or downgrade your wireless plan within 120 days of activation of wireless service. If you activate a new line of service with T-Mobile, your Equipment Recovery Fee will be $150 USD if you cancel or downgrade your service plan within 120 days of activation."

Obviously, Google doesn't want folks selling phones under contract for profit, and they claim not to make any money off of equipment recovery. But while $150 extra is better than $350 extra, it's still a huge fine to impose on someone for changing their mind. [Google Terms of Sale via WSJ]

Less than 24 hours after Google employees were gifted Nexus One Google phones, and started twitpic-ing them, the handset has turned up on FCC's site with a few of the specs detailed.

With the model number PB99100, the HTC-built "NEXUSONE" (as it's listed) is apparently quad-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE, as we heard yesterday, with UMTS/HSUPA on the 850/1700/1900 frequencies, according to the FCC-digging Engadget. This means that the Nexus One will be capable of 2Mbps upload speeds and 7.2Mbps download speeds.

Other specs discovered amongst the FCC jargon include a microSD card slot, 802.11b/g Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 2.1. Got any more details for us? Hit us up on tips@gizmodo.com now. [Engadget]

Another personal encounter with the Nexus One is recorded in history forever, and while Tnkgrl wasn't allowed to exercise her camera finger, she's written on her blog that it's "extremely thin," but more importantly, there's a severe lack of multitouch...UPDATE

While she concedes that it's "much nicer looking in person," the lack of multitouch in the browser and Maps is a bummer. Here's what she noticed when having a fondle with the Nexus One:

- It's much nicer looking in person than in pictures
- There's a 4 GB micro-SD card installed
- The battery capacity is 1400 mAh
- The screen appears to be OLED (same size/resolution as the Motorola Droid)
- 3G works on T-Mobile USA :)
- I can confirm that there's no 3G on AT&T (EGDE only)
- It's definitely unlocked
- It's super snappy! Faster than the Droid…
- There's no multitouch support in the browser or in Google Maps
- There's no dedicated camera key, but it's the same camera interface as the Droid
- The trackball can be used to focus (like on other HTC devices)
- Low-light performance is decent, but the flash is weak
- Calls are routed the normal way, not using data (VoIP), and sound fine
- The home screen is divided into 5 panes (like the Sense interface on the HTC Hero)
- It's using a micro-USB connector for data/power
- There are some gold contacts at the bottom edge, for a dock perhaps?
- Did I mention it's fast?

The lack of a camera button disturbs me, but other than that, it sounds like a fairly ho-hum Android phone. [Tnkgrl via Engadget]

UPDATE: Alright commenters, you have your wish. Tnkgrl only said there's no multitouch support "in the browser or in Google Maps," which still doesn't eliminate the option of multitouch in other areas of the phone. And of course, it's still just early days yet—there's no reason to believe that Tnkgrl got her hands on a final production unit.

Google wasn't exactly dancing for joy at the first week sales figures of the Nexus One, if the rumored 20,000 units is anything to go by. But that could change, with a Walmart advert saying it's "coming soon."

Currently only Google and T-Mobile sell the Nexus One in the States, although Verizon is supposedly going to stock it sometime in 2010.

No clues on when it'll actually go on sale, or how much it'll set you back, but with Walmart Wireless trying to corner that lucrative cheapie zone, with any luck they'll have some good deals for the Nexus One. [Walmart via Android Community]

Yesterday's report from Android tracking site AndroLib that the Android Market had probably surpassed 20,000 apps was heartening for Android users and industry watchers alike. Minor issue! According to Google, they overshot the figure by about 20%. Still, the current count of 16,000 apps sit on a pretty healthy growth curve, if not a particularly steep one. So anyway, continue to party! Just a little less hearty. [MobileCrunch]

Over at DroidForums they've got a tutorial on how to hack your Droid to enable GUI Wi-Fi tethering, as Moto's Android may do many things, but it stops short at hooking up with your laptop or other wireless gadget.

Modder WebAcoustics says of the hack:

"Please note that this involves rooting your phone, installing a custom recovery image, and a custom kernel. This is not for the faint of heart"

If that doesn't intimidate you, then hop on over to DroidForums for the details. [DroidForums via The Gadgets via Engadget]

A few blurry pics and a viral video that was promptly yanked from YouTube have led to the official announcement of the Puma Phone, aka, the phone that makes me wish I was more sporty.

When I was a kid, if someone turned up wearing Puma sneakers instead of Nike/Adidas/Converse, they were ridiculed. Looking back, it was pretty harsh, but had we known Puma would be putting its name to a phone this stylish, I doubt we would've hung that poor kid from his shoelaces on the monkeybars. (I kid, obviously—it was from his braces.)

Despite this phone being made by Sagem (not exactly a brand you can boast about), it's a pretty incredible device—the specs are decent enough, but the overall experience of using one is amazing. It's been styled to an inch of its life, with every corner of the custom OS looking like it's stepped out of a graphic designer's wet dream.

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It's a pretty ordinary touchscreen phone shape, feels nice in your hand with quite a good build (it actually reminded me a bit of the first HTC Touch in terms of size and shape, only painted with gloss), but not as well built as the stuff coming out of HTC nowadays. It's light, but does feel quite plastic.

Flipping it over though reveals the kicker—a solar panel for charging in the sun. It's not the first phone with a solar panel, but Puma's paws have got right into the nitty gritty of the functionality—with the phone telling you how many minutes you've got charged up by solar power, and what that translates to in terms of messages you can send, minutes you can talk for, and so on.

It also rewards you, with the minutes being exchanged for Puma merchandise in the store. It's a really neat touch, and will definitely be an incentive to charge as much as you can by mother nature's rays.

Sadly, it's the screen that lets the hardware down—it's a 2.8-inch QVGA TFT capacitive touchscreen with 240 x 320 pixels, and while it was responsive it just wasn't the sharpest picture we've seen on a phone. It may do with the fact that every single screen is bright red, but even looking at Dylan, the Puma Phone's pet puma, who strolls past the screen roaring at you, it was a bit of a muddy image.

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There's two ways you can go on the homescreen—towards the sports side, or the lifestyle screen. Sports has all the fitness programs, like a pedometer, bike tracker, run tracker, compass, alarm, stopwatch and RSS for sports-related news. Every program is very Puma Phone—bright red, and stylised.

The lifestyle screen has everything else you could possibly need—music player (which is a very cool turntable, where you see the arm dropping the Puma logo-record onto the player and then spinning around—it actually lets you scratch); messages, email, camera and so on. The social app opens up to display your Twitter, Facebook, Flickr and YouTube accounts, which are pretty basic but quite clear and easy to use.

Shooting photos on the 3.2-megapixel camera was pretty similar to the experience of using an Android phone—very easy to use, and the LED flash and 6x digital zoom worked well too. I took a few snaps in the bright strip lighting-lit room and they were clear with no visible complaints. It also handles video conferencing at VGA resolution (see that forward-facing camera, there?), but I didn't try that out.

To make a call quickly, or get to one of your other oft-used apps, the 'magic carpet' can be pulled up, almost like the opposite of Android's curtain, which comes down. There, you can make a quick phone call or see the Puma store.

Needless to say, I think it'll be a real shocker at Mobile World Congress. While Microsoft's big Windows Phone 7 was surprising, we kind of expected it to deliver on the good stuff. The Puma Phone has come out of nowhere, and I can definitely see it becoming a viable second phone for anyone sporty-inclined. It won't replace your smartphone, but there's enough new features and incentives to continue using it (charging the solar panel to collect enough points to buy Puma stuff), so it's definitely worth your attention. [Puma Phone]

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Video from our friends at Recombu:

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Leaked photos of the BlackBerry Magnum (aka, a cross between a Bold 9000 and Storm, aka, my DREAM BlackBerry) didn't manage to illustrate that touchscreen well, but how 'bout a video fondling?

While The Cellular Guru's Magnum was just a prototype, lacking in a working OS, he was able to demonstrate the touchscreen display and Bold 9000-type aesthetics. As someone who's owned both the 9000 and 9700, I've got to say I'm pleased to see a return to the more premium build quality, though I'm hopeful the back will be made with the same leatherette finish (the prototype in the video was missing the back cover).

Other notables are the larger keyboard, optical trackpad and micro USB port. It remains to be seen whether the touchscreen will improve on the first and second-gen Storm's efforts, but here's hoping it'll be more responsive. I don't think my little heart could take the pain of having a touchscreen QWERTY 'berry with a buggy display.

Check out the video for the intimate fondling of the Magnum (and comparison between the 9000 and 9700), and with any luck we won't have to wait too long for this device to get the official nod, with Mobile World Congress just weeks away. [The Cellular Guru]

Inspired by the Nexus One (which HTC made), the Desire—or Bravo, if you prefer—has a 3.7-inch AMOLED screen with multitouch, with 480 x 800 pixels. It's the best display I've seen on a phone for a while.

Internally, a 1Ghz Snapdragon chip, 512MB of ROM and 576MB of RAM, 1400 mAh battery, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and GPS all lurk. The camera is 5.0-megapixels with autofocus and flash. It's running Android 2.1 with HTC Sense, and will be available in a couple of months time. It's better-specced than the Legend, but with those looks, the Legend will steal the show I'm sure.

gawkerGallery(5472643,5,'');

newVideoPlayer( {"type":"video","player":"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/v\/tL60j3iDgLk&hl=en&fs=1&fmt=22","customParams":[],"width":500,"height":412,"ratio":0.824,"flashData":"","embedName":null,"objectId":null,"noEmbed":false,"source":"youtube"} ); If you're a Nexus One owner and you have a sense of adventure—or are black-out drunk—you can now flash an alpha version of the leaked HTC Desire ROM on your phone. Speaking of Flash, this ROM has it.

Have you secretly harbored Desire-envy ever since its unveiling at MWC? This is your chance to close the gap; the Desire ROM will give you its Sense UI as well as support for Flash 10.1, apparently.

Of course, this is all very experimental, so things are buggy and it's more of a curiosity than a permanent makeover. But a cool curiosity, nonetheless. As usual, proceed with extreme caution. [Redmond Pie via Boy Genius Report]

Inspired by the Nexus One (which HTC made), the Desire—or Bravo, if you prefer—has a 3.7-inch AMOLED screen with multitouch, with 480 x 800 pixels. It's the best display I've seen on a phone for a while.

Internally, a 1Ghz Snapdragon chip, 512MB of ROM and 576MB of RAM, 1400 mAh battery, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and GPS all lurk. The camera is 5.0-megapixels with autofocus and flash. It's running Android 2.1 with HTC Sense, and will be available in a couple of months time. It's better-specced than the Legend, but with those looks, the Legend will steal the show I'm sure.

gawkerGallery(5472643,5,'');

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Here's what our friends at TechRadar had to say in their hands on:

Those that watched the Nexus One announcement unfold but wished that HTC had plugged its cool Sense overlay onto the phone will be pleased, as this is what the Desire is all about.

Essentially it's the same phone as the Google Nexus One, with the slim 11.9 depth chassis and smooth exterior making it a real joy to hold in the hand.

It's a little on the large side thanks to packing a 3.7-inch OLED screen, but HTC has had a look at the few foibles the Nexus One has and sorted them out on the Desire.

The main difference lives on the front of the phone - the trackball has been replaced with an optical option instead, meaning a less tactile feel when trying to navigate through menus.

It's not a real negative point though - it's just that some people might have to take a while to get used to not actually scrolling anything physical.

The touch sensitive buttons on the front of the HTC Desire, which our review pointed out were a little bit fiddly, have been replaced by physical keys, which respond nicely to the touch and allow easier access through the phone.

The Sense UI is back in force on top of Android 2.1, and it's even more cracking than before. The phone is fully multi-touch enabled, and this is never better exemplified than in the Leap view.

Simply pinch inwards on one of the home screens, and the Desire shows off all the currently running displays in an easy to poke format, meaning no more scrolling to get to the other end of your screen.

The WVGA screen is just tip-top for multimedia as well - we've moaned in the past that the Android music player is staid and boring.

But we're glad to report that this element has been put right with the Sense overlay, offering you the chance to slide through artists, albums and songs at the bottom of the device.

Video on the Desire also looks great, as you might imagine - you can watch all variety of codecs on the phone and the 3.7-inch OLED screen gives some scarily deep blacks and lovely colour saturation, as well as a terrific response time for fast moving scenes.

The internet browser on the HTC Desire is up there with the best of them - we managed to load a couple of fairly heavy websites in a few seconds - over an EDGE connection, which is miles faster than most competitors.

We're mightily impressed with the HTC Desire, and can see that this is going to be a real iPhone contender in 2010, no matter what Steve Jobs brings out later this year.

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Photos courtesy of Tech Radar.

One phone that didn't get leaked to death before the announcement was HTC's HD Mini. After yesterday's WinPho7 launch, Windows Mobile 6.5.3 may seem tired, but the hardware on this industrial wonder is anything but.

I mentioned the word "industrial," which is possibly the best word I can think of it. If the Legend is the sexy younger sister, and the Desire is the brainy older sister, then the HD Mini is the younger emo brother. With visible screws on each corner of the back, it's rugged, hard and very manly, almost giving the Droid a run for its money. It may not be powered by Android, but I still think this phone is worth your attention—at least, until Windows Phone Series 7 launches.

Photos courtesy of our friends at ElectricPig

Specs-wise, the 3.2-inch capacitive HVGA screen has 320 X 480 pixels, a 600Mhz processor has been used, and RAM and ROM are at 384MB and 512MB respectively. The camera is the typical 5.0-megapixel autofocus/flash affair, and Bluetooth, GPS and Wi-Fi are included—you can actually turn the phone into a Wi-Fi hotspot, like with the HD2.

Here's a video from Recombu, who deemed it "small and slightly pointless." But only slightly!
newVideoPlayer( {"type":"video","player":"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/v\/JB7gXIsUby8&hl=en&fs=1&fmt=22","customParams":[],"width":500,"height":412,"ratio":0.824,"flashData":"","embedName":null,"objectId":null,"noEmbed":false,"source":"youtube"} );

Slicked over Windows Mobile is HTC Sense, which makes it bearable, but with Windows Phone 7 Series just around the corner, the HD Mini may just find it's the slightly-emo stepchild.

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One phone that didn't get leaked to death before the announcement was HTC's HD Mini. After yesterday's WinPho7 launch, Windows Mobile 6.5.3 may seem tired, but the hardware on this industrial wonder is anything but.

I mentioned the word "industrial," which is possibly the best word I can think of it. If the Legend is the sexy younger sister, and the Desire is the brainy older sister, then the HD Mini is the younger emo brother. With visible screws on each corner of the back, it's rugged, hard and very manly, almost giving the Droid a run for its money. It may not be powered by Android, but I still think this phone is worth your attention—at least, until Windows Phone Series 7 launches.

Specs-wise, the 3.2-inch capacitive HVGA screen has 320 X 480 pixels, a 600Mhz processor has been used, and RAM and ROM are at 384MB and 512MB respectively. The camera is the typical 5.0-megapixel autofocus/flash affair, and Bluetooth, GPS and Wi-Fi are included—you can actually turn the phone into a Wi-Fi hotspot, like with the HD2.

Slicked over Windows Mobile is HTC Sense, which makes it bearable, but with Windows Phone 7 Series just around the corner, the HD Mini may just find it's the slightly-emo stepchild.

gawkerGallery(5472652,7,'');

Waking up to fresh photos of an unofficial phone is always welcome, but I do wish all these spyshots of the HTC Incredible would be accompanied with a bit of meat. Some bacon for my breakfast, you could say.

It's already shown up in Verizon Wireless' inventory system, and we've heard a few details on the inner workings of the handset—but as to when it's expected to go on sale, why don't you tell me, eh punk? [DevDroid via AndroidCentral]

The HTC Incredible, a leaked cellphone code name that first made the rounds back in December, is the real deal, as seen in these sneak peak pics from Pocket Now. Can you say brown? You'll see: Updated.

Very original Zune coloring, no? Lots of contours and wacky shapes going on in the rear too (and probably a prototype placeholder, we hope).

There are some specs to go along with the leak, those being an Android 2.1 OS with HTC Sense, running on a Snapdragon CPU. A rumored 256MB of RAM accompanies a roughly 3.5-3.7" WVGA screen (possibly AMOLED? That's unconfirmed).

Dual LED flashes adorn the brownish backplate, and an optical mouse pointer resides down near the bottom. Thoughts?

Update: Now with video:

Now it looks red... [Pocket Now]

The chocolate brown HTC Incredible has reappeared on the scene, this time in Verizon Wireless' inventory system. Is the Android phone close to announcement? It's peculiar HTC hasn't officially announced it yet, instead outing the Legend and Desire.

The Android 2.1 phone (with HTC Sense slicked on top) is rumored to run on a Snapdragon processor, with 256MB of RAM and a 3.5 - 3.7-inch WVGA display. If traces of the Incredible are appearing on Verizon's system, then it'd make sense if it's outed shortly—right, HTC? [Berry Scoop via Android Community]

Image Credit: Pocketnow

Glimpsed in the most hi-res outfit we've seen so far is the HTC Legend, which—if rumors prove correct—should be shown off next week at MWC.

It still looks like the Hero only with a unibody aluminum shell, but according to Dutch carrier KPN it'll go on sale March. KPN's advert for the Legend touts it as having a 600Mhz processor, an optical trackpad instead of the ball seen on previous models, and a 3.2-inch AMOLED capacitive touchscreen. The other specs gleaned from KPN seem par for the course—a 5.0-megapixel camera with LED flash, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, GPS and Android 2.1 (Eclair), and it looks like it'll be running HTC Sense, the Android skin which they've used on a lot of their recent models.

The leaked pics we saw recently of the Legend showed it as having black plastic inserts at the base and top of the back casing, where the SIM card, microSD card slot and camera are. It's still got a chin by the looks of the profile photo on KPN's site, but if you ask me that's a good thing. This is definitely a phone to get excited about. [Tweakers via Electronista]

That HTC Legend handset from the leaked roadmap we saw the other week has just been given another airing in public, with the Hero-esque aesthetics and specs revealed. LED flash, anyone?

Part of the "Lifestyle" range of phones HTC is cooking up, the Legend will contain a Qualcomm MSM7227 processor, which was revealed earlier this year for budget (sub-$150) smartphones. It'll be fast, but it's no Snapdragon, with the CPU clocking in at 600MHz. Internal memory is listed at 512MB with 256MB RAM, and the battery is a 1300 mAh floozy—again, nothing special, with the Hero having a 1500 mAh battery.

A 3.2-inch HVGA AMOLED capacitive touchscreen, 5.0-megapixel camera with autofocus and LED flash (a one-up on the Hero, there), microSD slot, Bluetooth 2.1, GPS, G-sensor, digital compass, 3.5mm headphone jack and microUSB port round the Legend off nicely, but it's only the addition of an optical trackpad and LED flash which are the main differences between this and the Hero. Supposedly it'll launch in March according to Ai.rs, and the leaked roadmap of launches. I've still got one more question for HTC—will the bottom of the chin actually be red or green? [Ai.rs]

HTC's had some faulty plumbing lately: first pics of the Incredible leak over the weekend, and now we've got our first look at the HTC Legend in the wild—complete with an ooo-shiny aluminum back.

The design—particularly the aluminum casing and optical sensor trackpad—jives with what we'd heard recently, as does the apparent HTC Sense interface.

It's a different look for HTC, but I'd say not an unwelcome one. It's especially comforting to know we're not looking at a slew of brown-backed *cough* Incredible *cough* handsets. If the rest of the rumored specs—inclduing a 5.0-megapixel with LED flash, a 600MHz Qualcomm MSM7227 processor, and 512MB of internal memory—pan out, this looks like a nice step up from the Hero. Hopefully we'll find out for sure at the Mobile World Congress next week. [Engadget]

Running Android 2.1 with HTC Sense, it's got a 3.2-inch AMOLED screen with 320 x 480 pixels, capacitive but of course. The camera is 5.0-megapixels with autofocus and flash; there's a 600 MHz processor and 512MB ROM (with microSD card slot), 384MB of RAM. The battery is 1300 mAh, so a bit less than the Hero, and the usual Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and GPS are included.

One interesting thing to note about the Legend is that it's got a few new tricks up its Android sleeve. A "helicopter view" which is almost like Mac OS X's exposé means you can pinch the screen to view all the five Android homescreens, switching between the widgets easily.

A new FriendStream scrobbles all status updates. photos and links from your various social networking sites (currently, Twitter, Facebook and Flickr are supported), but you can still use the individual widgets and apps if you prefer.

It's out in Europe late March/early April in Europe, with worldwide availability to be confirmed. I've got to say, after getting hands-on with it recently this will definitely be my next Android handset.

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With HTC's upcoming crop of Androids, you'll be able to separate people into two distinct groups: those who spring for the brainier, better-specced Desire, and those who get bowled over by the beautiful, yet lesser-specced Legend.

The Desire (or Nexus One) is the final word in the Androidsphere—it's a mark of someone who knows what they're doing, who wants to show people they NEED that extra computing power. If you compare it to the Legend, you could be justified in saying Legend-salivators are more shallow, ignoring the might of a Snapdragon processor in lieu of a unibody aluminum shell and slim build.

You'd be wrong, however.

I Mean, It Is Just a Sequel

The internal upgrades are minor, when you consider it next to the HTC Hero, but like the Empire Strikes Back, sometimes sequels are far better than the original. While we found the Hero "tragically flawed" in its slugginess, the Legend's slightly more powerful 600MHz processor behaved—well, like a legend. The 3.2-inch screen has the same amount of pixels as the Hero, but swaps the HVGA for a more superior AMOLED. The 5.0-megapixel camera is still the same quality, but has the much-welcomed addition of a flash. You get the picture—the Legend is building on the Hero's quality in incremental upgrades, but every change, however minor, radicalizes the experience of using the Legend.

It's running Android 2.1, which as any Hero owner knows should be released as an over-the-air update soon. One day. The jump from 1.6 to 2.1 is impressive—it's a lot faster, the multitouch is better, there's greater integration of social networking profiles with contacts, and HTML5 support, amongst other—admittedly small—changes.

Design Works

Plain and simple—the Legend is the most well-built phone I've ever had in my hand. You just know when you feel the weight of it, the cool curved exterior of the unibody aluminum shell, and touch the ultra-responsive touchscreen. It's that sensation when you first tenderly held the original iPhone, which has been long-missing in the market.

The bottom and top of the back is actually made from rubberized plastic though, so there are no issues with wireless signals—unlike the first generation of the iPhone. Removing part of the case reveals a very thin battery and a touch-sensitive catch which keeps the SIM and microSD cards encased. It's a small point, but it's also the most polished example of a phone's innards that I've ever seen.

Just like BlackBerry, HTC is migrating its trackballs to optical trackpads. This is a relief, but in actual fact I barely had to use the trackpad—only when having to make an edit when typing out messages or emails. The screen is just so responsive, with nary a wrongly-actioned command made, that you can imagine HTC forgoing the trackpad altogether at a later date.

Only eight buttons reside on the Legend's body. The on/off button up top, the two volume controls on the top left, and then on the lower face, home, menu, back and search. They all worked well, though the home, menu, back and search keys did feel a bit cheap in comparison to the high-end feeling of the rest of the handset.

Same Old Camera?

HTC's used the same 5.0-megapixel camera as we saw on the Hero, but the addition of a flash is a new and exciting step for them—strange as that sounds. As you can see from the two photos below, the flash is very strong—too strong, I'd say. However, the quality is decent in lowlight conditions—noisy for sure, but I've seen worse.

My friends in lowlight at a cinema before Alice In Wonderland 3D

In daytime I had a lot more luck. Testing it out on some cakes in my kitchen in the late afternoon sun retained the nice rays of sun across the cakes, with the yellow of the flowers showing up bright. But even at 5MP, the general image performance isn't enough to ditch your point and shoot just yet.

Testing indoors with daylight

More Sense Than HTC Sense

Most manufacturers are skinning Android with their own proprietary interfaces...MOTOBLUR, Mediascape, S-Class, they're ok, but I'd almost rather use Android in its natural flavor than have to put up with some of their issues.

There just ain't no Android phone like a HTC Sense Android phone. It's simply the best skin an Android could ask for, even without the minor improvements seen in the Legend. By far the pick of the bunch is the new "Leap" view—or "Helicopter view" as it was known in-house when designed. It works much like Mac OS X's Exposé function, bringing all seven homescreens up as thumbnails. The feature is very useful, particularly if you just can't remember which screen your mail, or the weather widget, is listed on. The pinch command takes some getting used to, but once you've got the gesture down-pat, it's a godsend.

Leap—or helicopter—view

But with ever feature that will be used often comes one with no point at all. FriendStream is a nice enough widget, which collates all your friends' updates from Twitter, Facebook and Flickr into one feed, but for anyone who's a purist and likes to see every form of update on each social networking site, it will be removed quickly from the homescreen. I preferred using HTC's own brilliant Twitter widget, Peep, for the full Twitter options, and the Facebook app to see every form of action. The Flickr integration is handy, being able to see when my contacts upload photos, but not necessary if you get email notifications already.

Plus, FriendStream just felt slow sometimes—in fact, on a very speedy phone, it felt incongruous in comparison to everything else, often updating with tweets quite a few minutes later than the Twitter widget did. It's not a big problem, but for someone who relies on Twitter heavily as a source of entertainment, it became a source of frustration.

FriendStream

Respectable Battery Life

The Legend ran 36 hours before it died on me. Not too bad, considering I had an hour-long call plus about five shorter ones, sent and received around 20 text messages, and spent almost a whole day browsing the web, checking Twitter, and showing it off to my friends. After the horror of seeing my G1's battery deplete in half a day when I first bought it, the Legend's 1300mAh battery ran to my satisfaction.

The Legend Is The Most Solid Android Phone I've Used

True, other phones may be better specced, but with that premium build it's like comparing a Sony Vaio (not a bad laptop, sure) to a MacBook. Sometimes there's just no contest. While the extra horsepower and added touches of the Nexus One and Desire are nice, I found the Legend more than satisfactory.

It wasn't sluggish, certainly didn't have bugs or issues like the G1 and Hero, and while it'll inevitably slow down and have you cursing the fact you didn't spring for something with a Snapdragon chip, I'm going to award it possibly the highest accolade a reviewer can gift a device: I'm going to upgrade to one.

It's not the best Android phone. That badge still belongs to the Nexus One, or possibly the Desire, when we review it. But it's one of the best all-rounders, when you consider the hardware—and the feeling you're left with once it leaves your hand. I feel bereft without it.

Superb hardware quality

HTC Sense is better than ever

Addition of camera flash

Super-fast and responsive

FriendStream could be faster

Camera flash isn't perfect

The HTC Legend hasn't been announced for the US market yet, with the European launch sometime this month.

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HTC swept the show with the sexy Legend, well-specced Desire and rugged WinMo HD Mini, and while US availability hasn't been confirmed yet we can let our UK readers in on the good news. All phones will hit eXpansys on the 12th of April, with the HD Mini at £349.99, the Legend at £399.99 and Desire at £449.99.

Alternatively, T-Mobile and Orange will be flogging the Desire, with carriers for the Legend and HD Mini not yet confirmed. [eXpansys]

UPDATE: Commenter Hearthatvoiceagain tells me O2 and Vodafone will also have the Desire. As will 3 Mobile—it's turning into quite a free-for-all type handset. Anyone got news on the Legend or HD Mini?

A new feature that's making its way onto all of HTC's Android phones via its Sense overlay is the "helicopter view," as they call it internally. It's like Mac OS X's Exposé function, letting you see all homescreens instantly.

Recombu has shot a hands-on video of the Desire, which specs-wise is identical to the Nexus One, only with HTC Sense slicked over the top. It's a quick look at what to expect, and how you'll be accessing all those lovely homescreen widgets in the future. [Recombu]

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This isn't a Nexus One celebrating Gay Pride month—it's CNET Crave UK's broken Google phone. According to HTC's technical support, "they don't go in pockets," lest the screen gets cracked.

Only thing is, Crave UK swears up and down the Nexus One suffered the damages while charging on a desk—with no tampering by vicious iPhone users recorded. After being recommended by Google to speak to HTC's technical support, Crave was told that "putting a phone in a tight pair of jeans and sitting down would usually cause the kind of damage," and that "people sometimes forget that they don't go in pockets." Say what?

Here's the second stinging lash—the cracked screen will cost £180 to fix. That's $270, or $100 more than the whole phone's parts cost, according to iSuppli. Yeouch. [Crave UK]

From Andrew Sullivan's Daily Dish, a reader writes in to remark on the continued place of youtube, twitter and the camera phone in Iran's struggle:

Watching your continuing coverage of the people of Iran continuing their fight for freedom I was struck, and touched, by the presence, in every picture, in every piece of footage, by the universal presence of cellphones and cameras. No matter how chaotic, no matter how frightened they may be, the protesters held their phones high. Not a brave few but a brave many pressed into the violence, stood right next to the regimes thugs and pointed their cameras. It seems like the ultimate act of defiance; no matter how you try to shut us down or shut us up, we will expose you. You can kill us, but the world will know that we never stopped fighting.

I urge you to continue to use your platform to show us this incredible fight. Before this started, the people of Iran seemed alien and vaguely threatening. Now, I see a young woman, veil shoved back and cellphone in the air, and this lefty atheist woman sees a sister clear across the world.

I sometime imagine that what we write about here is not important, but then a post like this comes along and reminds me that gadgets are more than toys and corporate tools for some in this world. And it makes me very happy.
[The Daily Dish]

Moblin is, of course, the open source mobile Linux that's been seen on phones and netbooks with Intel's Atom processor. Maemo was seen on Nokia's N900, and was pretty much heralded as the savior for their phones, especially with the latest version, Maemo 6, expected to debut on some phones this year.

While the jury is out on whether we need another mobile OS, MeeGo "will acelerate industry innovation and time-to-market for a wealth of new internet-based applications and services and exciting user experiences," according to reps from both Intel and Nokia, at a Mobile World Congress event in Barcelona.

Actual firm information on what MeeGo will look like, do or why the hell there's a market for it are beyond me, but all shall be revealed soon, I'm sure. [MeeGo via TechRadar]

From the MeeGo site:

MeeGo includes:

* Performance optimizations and features which enable rich computational and graphically oriented applications and connected services development
* No-compromise internet standards support delivering the best web experiences
* Easy to use, flexible and powerful UI/app development environment based on Qt
* Open source project organization managed by the Linux Foundation
* State of the Art Linux stack optimized for the size and capabilities of small footprint platforms and mobile devices, but delivering broad linux software application compatibility

MeeGo currently targets platforms such as netbooks/entry-level desktops, handheld computing and communications devices, in-vehicle infotainment devices, connected TVs, and media phones. All of these platforms have common user requirements in communications, application, and internet services in a portable or small form factor. The MeeGo project will continue to expand platform support as new features are incorporated and new form factors emerge in the market.

Word is that Apple has added a new layer to the approval process, called a static analysis tool. This particular static analysis tool is intended to scan for the use of private APIs in submitted apps, and flag them if it finds any. For quite a few people, evidently, this means that apps that were kosher a while ago are, with their next updates, very suddenly not. Time for a FORENSIC RECAP! From Craig Hockenberry, developer of Twitterrific, and Guy Who Noticed This Early:

To which John Gruber (Daring Fireball) knowingly responded:
So yeah, what the hell does any of this mean?

Apple gives developers a bunch of public application programming interface (APIs) which are essentially documented, permitted tools or calls that they can invoke in their apps. For example, Apple has an API for recording microphone input, which developers can use, and which Apple, by publishing them, has basically promised to keep intact and working. Private APIs are calls and features that only Apple uses, and which they don't really tell developers about. There could be a few reasons for this: either they specifically don't want developers to use them, for security or consistency reasons, or they're not finished and subject to change, which means that for devs to use them would be risky—their apps could just break with the next system update, since these private APIs are, in effect, volatile. Remember all those early jailbreak apps, before the App Store was open? Those were built using entirely private APIs, many of which became public later. Anyway!

There's always been an official ban on the use of private APIs, but Apple hadn't really been enforcing it to date, partly because it's just hard to tell sometimes—unless the private API is used in a terribly obvious way, finding them is a matter of taking to apps with a fine-toothed code-comb, which the current crew obviously can't do, and which machines—as in, software—would be good at. With these new static analysis tools, Apple has created a machine filter for apps that breach this rule.

Given that actually App Store policy hasn't changed, this shouldn't amount to anything more than better rule enforcement for app devs. Shouldn't. Introducing something automated like this, even if it's a "serious tool, not simplistic" as Gruber claims, is bound to end in tears. Congratulations, developers! Your next appeal against app rejection will be to a piece of software, which has no capacity to feel your pain. Devs: Let us know if you've run up against this thing in the comments, and if it was fair. [Twitt-ah]

As an iPhone user, I definitely chuckled a bit, before I returned to weeping silently in a corner as my phone tried to make an outgoing call from the greater Boston area without success. Must be the storm. Must be. [YouTube via Engadget]

I have to admit I was surprised at the iPhone and BlackBerry 8300 series did so well here—the two most popular handsets in the country, going into 2010, are full-fledged smartphones. Also surprising: people still buy Razrs. Razrs!

Motorola's fall from grace started when they couldn't come up with a serious successor to the megapopular original Razr, so it's kind of sad to see that right up until their Android renaissance—and maybe even through it—the Razr, now in version 3, is still a core part of their business. But there's a broader point here, about how people use their phones: there are still plenty of folks lingering in the dull, barely-connected land of the dumbphone, where LG appears to be King, but they're emigrating in droves, because they crave one thing: internet:

Smart, dumb, whatever: today, phones are for going online. Which, if you believe Nielson's scores, means phones—especially smartphone—are pretty much for Google. Now, get your pencils out, and let's draw a straight line between Google's dominance on the mobile web and the mysterious but very real Nexus One. Easy, wasn't it? [Nielson]

One of the first questions I asked HTC when I saw the HD2 was "will it come with Android?" Don't get me wrong, I'm a WinMo user from way back, but with that 4.3-inch screen, it's perfect for Google's OS.

If these leaked photos of the HTC Supersonic are anything to go by, then it seems HTC has enough sense to do a similarly-specced phone, but with Android. Like the HD2, the screen is 4.3-inches, and internally there's meant to be a 1GHz Snapdragon chip, and a 5.0-megapixel camera. The extremely blurry photos turned up on the Android Mobile OS site, with the sneaky-snapper claiming it'll be carried by Sprint and will be a WiMAX device, but curiously it'll only be running Android 2.1, though HTC's brilliant Sense skin will be prominent on it.

We don't like to put too much faith in all these grainy leaked pics, but if it's true, the Supersonic will be my next phone for sure. [Android Mobile OS via Android Community Slashgear]

After eyeing up renders, this caught-in-the-wild snapshot of the HTC Bravo comes accompanied with information on its Android partner the Legend, which hasn't been salivated over quite as much as it should, considering it's supposedly packing a unibody aluminum casing.

The photo above is of the HTC Bravo, which was first outed in the leaked HTC roadmap. According to the Polish site Komorkomania, who got hands-on with the two phones, it still features the four buttons and optical sensor trackpad, and will go on sale April. Specs include a 3.7-inch AMOLED screen, 1GHz Snapdragon processor, Wi-Fi, GPS, 512MB RAM, Dolby for Mobile audio, 5.0-megapixel camera with 720p video recording and will run Android 2.1 with HTC Sense.

While they couldn't take photos of the Legend, Komorkomania said that during their hands-on with it, they were made aware of the unibody aluminum casing (HTC taking design cues from Apple?) with plastic inserts so the cover can be removed easily for access to the SIM card, microSD and battery. That was made evident during the leaked roadmap, but supposedly it'll also come with a 5.0-megapixel camera, AMOLED screen with 480 x 800 pixels, and optical sensor trackpad just like on the Bravo.

I must admit, I'm dead excited for these two phones to be officially announced. The Hero was a great device, but these two pack more weight—and will hopefully come with a later version of Android than the 2.1 they've been spied with. [Komorkomania via Electricpig]

Shack Friday! Get it?! Instead of Black Friday? You still there? Is this thing on? Anyway, the RadoShack Black Friday ad has leaked to the Internet, and with it a number of purported "deals" and discounts on popular electronics. [CrunchGear]

As we become more aware of the various viscera inside our gadgets, otherwise unremarkable gadgets seem suddenly... strange. Take the LG Arena Max LU9400: It's almost definitely a feature phone, but it's got the spec sheet of a Nexus One.

The Arena Max is a 3.5-inch screen handset with all the iron you'd expect, including a Wi-Fi, GPS and a five-megapixel camera, and a little you wouldn't, like a 1GHz Snapdragon processor—the same brain you'd find in the Nexus One, the HTC Touch HD2, and the Sony Xperia X10. In other words, it's a monster.

But if it's anything like its predecessor—and these early shots seem to indicate that it is—it'll be treated to (burdened by?) an in-house OS and UI, most probably LG's flashy-but-limited S-Class experiment. If you're the kind of person who doesn't fret over your phone's spec sheet this probably won't matter; if you are, you'd probably just buy a real smartphone anyway.

Anyway! The Arena Max is expected to launch in Korea soon, with a wide—including stateside—release following right after. [All About Phones via Slashgear]

This LG Mini GD880 is so good-looking it makes my brain hurt at the injustice of it (presumably) running LG's S-Class OS, and not Android. Still, there's some nice spec to back up this slim 16:9 phone.

Just like the Chocolate phone before it, the display has a 16:9 aspect ratio, in this case at 3.2-inches. LG hasn't released many details about the internals just yet, but we do know it has a 5.0-megapixel camera with face detection, Wi-Fi, and HSDPA 7.2Mbps connectivity.

The lack of buttons, metal finishings and square corners make it look like it'll be part of their more "premium" range of handsets, so expect to pay a pretty penny if you want it PAYG, otherwise it'll most likely go for the usual month contract fees when it goes on sale in March in Europe—with worldwide availability expected shortly. I'm going to harass LG for confirmation of the OS, but with Mobile World Congress starting this weekend, I'm sure we'll find out a whole load more then. [LG]

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That slick-looking Mini GD880 phone from LG that was introduced last week has been handed some more details for its profile card at MWC. It'll be the first phone to support LG's new 3-Way Sync service, Air Sync.

It's a fancy way of saying it continually syncs over the air using that very-2010 term "cloud computing", backing up browsing habits, photos, videos, calendars and contact details. Information is exchanged from the phone to the user's computer, with the last 100 websites visited on the PC being transferred to the GD880, embarrassing search results and all.

It'll be available in the UK in April, with international release details expected later. For the full story on the specs, head on over here.

LG's first Windows Phone 7 handset, which got shown off recently in the sweaty palm of a Microsoft director at the Engadget Show, will be called the LG Panther. Apparently. We know LG likes silly names, but Panther?

Of course, there's a more famous Panther in our world—2003's OS X 10.3, from Apple. The rumored names comes via the UK site Best Mobile Contracts, which we've never heard of so can't vouch for how solid this rumor is—but after Cookie, Viewty, and whatever else they've managed to slip past their marketing team, Panther is hardly the least-flattering if indeed that's what LG names it. [Best Mobile Contracts via WMPowerUser via TechRadar]

Self-described cellphone cynic and "father of Linux" Linus Torvalds decided to get a Google Nexus One the other day. And while the customer service lines may be clogged over the phone's performance, Daddy Linux is positively pleased as punch.

Unsurprisingly, the man who invented the most popular open source operating system in the world is a "happy camper" over the fact that this cellphone runs Linux. But Linux alone wasn't enough to get Linus on board with the rest of the smartphone crazy 21rst century, no sir. His previous phones, in fact—the ones he mostly used to "play Galaga" on long flights—also had various versions of Linux, but lacked that certain spark.

Pinch to zoom touch capability and GPS were what finally got Torvalds to commit, and commit he has. The Nexus One "is a winner" he wrote yesterday, adding that it no longer feels as though he's forced to drag along a cellphone for "just in case" emergencies.

So, Google, as you frantically work the phones in that customer support center and stare longingly at other company's smartphone sales, take some solace in the fact that the Father of Linux is out there, somewhere, playing games on your Linux phone. [Linus Torvalds via Laughing Squid]

German researchers are working on mobile phone technology that would convert silent mouth movements into speech. It's an ingenious way to have a noiseless conversation, but if they don't get it right there could be some unfortunate mix-ups.

The tech—developed at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology—involved uses electromyography, and measures the electrical potentials generated by muscle activity in the face to translate mouth movements into speech. You'd be able to speak silently, but the person on the other end of the line would hear what you were saying loud and clear.

Of course, lip-reading is an inexact science—even more so, I would imagine, when implemented by a machine. So while you'll be able to share PIN numbers without sharing it with the whole room, you'll want to proceed with caution on more intimate conversations. [Cellular News via Dvice]

In this war there are two battles: the polite, traditional fight between expensive, full-featured apps like Navigon and TomTom, and the I-will-undercut-you-if-it-means-killing-my-own-mother gorefest of the cheaper apps, like MotionX and Gokivo. With RoadMate, Magellan has taken the road less bloody.

Debuting at $80 (and presumably climbing to $100 later), RoadMate recreates as much of the Magellan dedicated PND experience as possible, which means the interface is a full conversion—there's very little in the way of iPhone-ness here, even down to a replacement keyboard. In addition, it falls on the conservative side of the map storage debate, holding its data locally—great for when you might be in a bad service area, but not so great if you don't want to set aside 1.3GB of space for an app.

The rest of the feature list is appropriate to the price: spoken street names, simulated lane guidance, 3D landmarks, in-app music controls and address book integration are all there, as are a few newbies like a "Find Your Car" GPS function and a pedestrian mode, and a "OneTouch" menu, which is basically a panel of search shortcuts for stuff like pizza and nearby gas stations.

I can't pass judgment on this app without running it through its paces (which yes, we will do eventually) but it comes at an awkward time. While cheap apps have been nipping at the heels of more expensive, prestige brand apps for a few months now, Google's telegraphed their intention to nuke the hell out of everyone, someday, which can't be the best way to lead into a new product launch. RoadMate is available in the App Store now. [Magellan]

A Winnipeg man has been dumped by his girlfriend of two and a half years, after she found his phone riddled with sext messages. Only problem? He didn't write any of them. Virgin Mobile did.

Apparently the cheeky monkeys over at Virgin Mobile had pre-loaded a number of suggestive text messages into at least one Samsung model, ranging from the relatively innocuous "Be there soon" to the crystal clear "Booty call." When the wrongly accused man's girlfriend found them, she naturally assumed she was a cuckolded Canuck.

The dumpee, identified only as "Darren P," called Virgin Mobile to complain, and was told to put it in writing. So it sounds like if any action is going to be taken, it'll be a while.

It's not clear yet if he's reconciled with his ex after these revelations came to light. But even if she comes crawling back, make sure to think it over, Darren P. She was looking through your phone! She thought you actually used the phrase "booty call" to make a booty call! Surely there are other fish in the frozen tundra of Winnipeg. [Metro UK via The DW]

This KINGK N99 phone has all the makings of a proper knock-off. It looks just like the Motorola AURA! It has a Nokia logo! It has a Transformers Autobot logo! It even has a 1.3 "magapixel" camera.

Just in case this KINGK tickles your fancy, you can import it from—where else—China for $159.99 now. Do let us know if it "caters to the taste of male friends" like it says on the website. [SZPrice via UberGizmo]

Aaron Woodman, the director of consumer experiences for Microsoft's mobile division, was a guest on today's Engadget Show, and he had a nice surprise for everyone: a prototype of LG's Windows Phone 7 Series phone.

There's not a whole lot in the way of details—it's a slider that's a bit thicker than the iPhone, it has a 5MP camera, and sports six hardware buttons—but it's still exciting to see the new operating system on a branded device for the first time.

Woodman wouldn't confirm nor deny if Windows Phone 7 Series would support Mac OS, only mentioning that it was a topic the team was currently discussing. Hey, at least the notion hasn't been shut down out of hand, so we'll take this as a no news is good news type of thing for now.

Head over to Engadget for more pictures and a quick video clip of the LG phone in the round. [Engadget]

We've been so caught up in the Windows Mobile 7 launch date rumors, we almost forgot about Microsoft's supposed leaked minimum specifications requirements. After all, this is a company that issued maximum Windows 7 netbook specs.

Supposedly, Microsoft's weighing down on hardware manufacturers wishing to create tidy little phones for the platform, with the following list of minimum specifications garnered by Eldar Murtazin, the editor of leaky site Mobile-Review:

- 1GHz processor
- 3.6-inch WVGA display
- G-sensor accelerometer and compass
- 8GB of internal storage
- 5.0-megapixel camera

I've got to say, if Murtazin is on the money with this list of minimum requirements, then we're in for a treat—though potentially an expensive one, with some of those specs bound to push the cost of each device north-ways. [Eldar Murtazin on Twitter via Unwired View]

Don't expect much more than a 2.2-inch QVGA screen, A-GPS, 5.0-megapixel camera with LED flash and noise cancellation via the two microphones. It comes in six different colors—namely, black, black satin, silver, grey, blue and red, with the price not yet known. [Mobiado release pdf]

You can't talk about the Devour, Motorola's new slide-out QWERTY Android phone, without talking about the Droid, Motorola's favored child. And it's precisely when pitted against the Droid that the Devour stops making sense.

The Price

The Devour runs $150, with a two-year Verizon contract. But not really. (More on that later.)

What It's Supposed to Be

When the Devour was announced, I called it a "Baby Droid with Motoblur." That's not quite right, it turns out. Despite a measurably smaller screen, the Devour is actually a bit larger than the Droid. It's a hefty, machined aluminum slab of a device that feels sturdy in your hand and a bit fat in your pocket. It's a continuation of the Droid's design philosophy, if not its actual design: The Devour obviously copies some stylistic traits, but the Droid's goldish finish and sharp edged evoke an entirely different past than the Devour's matte silver, slightly more rounded profile. A child of the 70s speaks the Droid's retrofuturistic design language; the Devour speaks more to a future-forward 90s sensibility. At any rate, it looks nice.

And it feels nice, too—gone is the Droid's lifeless slider, replaced with a springy mechanism that just begs to be fiddled with. The tapered sides give you a place to rest your index fingers during typing. Speaking of which, the Devour's keyboard, with slightly raised, perfectly rounded and neatly spaced keys, is a welcome improvement over the Droid's. And instead of a trackball or d-pad, the Devour has a small, inset touchpad on its lower-left chin. So far, so good.

Then you turn it on.

This is when it becomes clear what the Devour is meant to be, which, despite the apparent improvements, is something less than a Droid. The smaller screen—3.1 inches to the Droid's 3.7—pushes fewer pixels, too, at just 320x480 vs 854x480. The camera, which shoots 3MP photos, suffers from poor color and clarity issues to a greater extent than the already mediocre sensor of its predecessor.

And the software! Oh, the software. Here's how Jason summed up the Motoblur widget philosophy in his original Cliq review:

The four widgets of note are the status widget, the messaging widget, the happenings widget and the news/RSS widget. The news widget is self-explanatory, and really cool that a phone would have a built-in RSS reader right on the home screen, but the others are a little bit trickier. The status widget lets you update your "status" to any of your social networking sites, like Facebook or Twitter. The messages widget consolidates ALL your 1:1 messaging, like emails, SMS, DMs on Twitter or private messages on Facebook. The happenings is a feed of other people's status updates on your social networks.

Motoblur is as good here as it's ever been, aided by plenty of tweaks, faster hardware, and a more developed underlying operating system. (This is the first time we've seen it laid atop of Android 1.6; the Cliq was a 1.5 handset.) But as Motoblur has inched forward, Android has outpaced it. And unfortunately its stablemate, the Droid, is one of the best exemplars of why you don't need to mess with Android.

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What was so refreshing about the Droid was that its software was essentially untouched—Android 2.0, which was at the time the newest build of the OS, had been left alone to represent Google vision for Android, without interference from Motorola or Verizon. And because Android 2.0 was so good, it took the wind out of the sails of alternative Android interfaces like HTC's Sense or Motoblur.

Motoblur's greatest sin isn't that it can be a bit confusing to navigate at first, or that it feels a bit crowded on a 3.1-inch screen, or that its inbuilt Twitter and Facebook functionality depends too much on sending you to an external browser; it's that in pursuit of a custom interface and minor, proprietary features—Flash Lite in the browser, DLNA media sharing and proprietary voice command and nav software to compete with Google's native solutions—Motorola has left Devour users with an out-of-date version of Android. Android is an OS that's fragmented, and 1.6 is one of the fragments that's getting left behind. Even some Google apps won't work on Android 1.6, like Goggles or Google Earth. (Update: Goggles apparently works on 1.6, but I can't find it in the Android Market on the Devour. Ideas?) Of course, an upgrade is possible, but a Blur-adorned Android will always lag a version or three behind vanilla Android, which seems to be assimilating many of its most important features anyway.

The redeeming factor here should be that it's cheaper than the Droid by about $50, positioned to appeal to people who might otherwise buy a messaging phone, but who don't want to put down for a Droid. But even at launch, this price positioning doesn't work.

What It Really Is

if you're a Verizon customer, holding this next to a messaging feature phone, the choice is pretty clear: go with the smartphone.Thing is, that's a false dilemma. You have other options.

Before the Devour hits shelves later this week, it will have been undermined by one of its biggest sellers. Best Buy, at launch, will be selling it for $100, alongside the Droid, also priced at $100. The $150/$200 Devour/Droid distinction will remain intact at Verizon stores, but you can probably depend on these lower prices to be an option from here on out.

What you're getting with the Devour, then, is a downgraded Droid. Sure, the keyboard is a bit better, and the styling may appeal to some people alienated by the Droid's aggressive lines, but if you're a Verizon customer, holding these two potential purchases in your hands—which, by the way, have access to the exact same smartphone plans—it's hard to imagine why you'd opt for the silver one. [Motorola]

Elegant, brushed aluminum design

Better keyboard and slider than the Droid; generally better hardware than the Cliq

Motoblur works reasonably well for social networking hounds, but later versions of Android with dedicated social apps serve just as well

Same street price as the Droid, which is just a better phone.

It's stuck on Android 1.6, rendering it incompatible with some newer apps—even apps from Google

Psst, Droid owners. Here's how to hack Android 2.1 onto your happy little Motorola friend.

The Android 2.1 firmware update doesn't bring much to the Droid plate, apart from added speed (the video below shows one modder unenthusiastically exclaiming "I'm amazed by how fast it is"), three new homepage screens, and Google news and weather. There's no multitouch, but then, you already know how to do that. [AllDroid via Engadget]

Honestly, I never thought I'd see the day when I could write about Moto's corporate struggles and actually be able to put a positive spin on it, but it does sound like the right decision has been made up above. [NY Times]

A follow-up from the Cliq, called the Cliq XT—or Quench, depending on where you live—has been shown off running Android 1.5 (which is a shame when most companies are looking at 2.1 now), and has MOTOBLUR.

Whether that's for better or worse, I'll leave up t