Did you hear? Google's got this little OS called Android that has reached the ripe, mature age of 2-point-Oh. With the giant eclair now sitting on Google's front lawn and the SDK out in the wilds, what was poor Akira Harada to do with all that code knowing that the Motorola Droid was still days away from shipping? Port it to the original Android device, the T-Mobile G1 / HTC Dream, naturally. It's a rough port, not even close to being optimized but it should whet your appetites for all those official updates and delicious home-cooked ROMs we expect to be arriving in the hallowed halls of the XDA forums in the days ahead. See it after the break... roll it!

Anyone with an existing Android device and a nasty case of DROID envy today might want to hold off before switching devices, emptying the bank account, and possibly switching carriers in the process, because HTC's got a little bit of information here to end our day on a high note. Here's the full quote:

"Yes, we are working on an Eclair update for the HTC Hero. Because Eclair is a significantly enhanced release, it will require some time to update Sense for this new version of the Android OS. Please be patient while we work to provide you with a tightly integrated experience like the one you are already enjoying on your Hero."

Bottom line, the Hero is signed up for Android 2.0 and it's just a matter of HTC getting Sense ported and tested -- makes sense (no pun intended), and we imagine Motorola will have to go through these same hoops with BLUR. The company went on to mention that it intends to bring the update to all versions of the Hero, though it's up to partners (like Sprint, for instance) to help coordinate how and when that's going to go down. We don't have any information on the sundry Dream and Magic variants around the world at this point -- but it's important to remember that the Hero uses the same processor as its older siblings, so at least there's hope for a good xda-developers port if nothing else.

We're expecting the official release of Android 1.6 phones any day now, but those of you hardcore enough to rock the badass unlocked Dream known as the Android Dev Phone 1 can get a bite of that Donut immediately: HTC's posted up an official 1.6 image file for you. Sadly it doesn't seem like regular G1 or Dream owners can use this code, but at least someone's having a good time.

[Thanks, Loe S.

	CLIQ	Galaxy	Tattoo	Hero	Magic / MT3G	Dream / G1
Carrier	T-Mobile	-- (GSM / HSDPA)	-- (GSM / EDGE)	Sprint	T-Mobile	T-Mobile
Manuf.	Motorola	Samsung	HTC	HTC	HTC	HTC
Price	--	--	--	$179.99	$99.99	$149.99
Released	--	July 2009	--	Oct 11, 2009	Aug 5, 2009	Oct 22, 2008
Keyboard	Slide-out	Virtual	Virtual	Virtual	Virtual	Slide-out
Android	MOTOBLUR	Standard	Sense UI	Sense UI	Standard	Standard
Processor	528MHz MSM7201A	528MHz ARM11	528MHz MSM7225	528MHz MSM7201A	528MHz MSM7201A	528MHz MSM7201A
Screen	3.1-inch (est.), 320 x 480	3.2-inch, 320 x 480	2.8-inch, 240 x 320	3.2-inch, 320 x 480	3.2-inch, 320 x 480	3.2-inch, 480 x 320
Headphone	3.5mm	3.5mm	3.5mm	3.5mm	ExtUSB	ExtUSB
Touchscreen	Capacitive	Capacitive	Resistive	Capacitive	Capacitive	Capacitive
Still Camera	5MP with AF	5MP with Flash	3.2MP	5MP with AF	3.2MP with AF	3.2MP with AF
Bluetooth	2.0	2.1	2.0	2.0	2.0	2.0
Exchange	ActiveSync	ActiveSync	--	ActiveSync	Depends on version	Depends on version
Storage	256MB, microSD	8GB, microSD	512MB, microSD	512MB, microSD	512MB, microSD	256MB, microSD
Battery	1400mAh	1500mAh	1100mAh	1500 mAh	1340 mAh	1150 mAh
Weight	163g	114g	113g	135g	116g	158g

It's been over 11 months since the Android first hit the scene with HTC's T-Mobile G1, and in that time we've come to the conclusion that, despite having more or less a clean slate on industrial design choices and specs, little progress has been made in the way of variation. Stacked up side-to-side, Motorola CLIQ manages to stand out with a slide-out keyboard and MOTOBLUR skin, but under the hood, it's pretty much as uniform as a netbook. Peruse for yourself in the chart above.

Pioneering T-Mobile G1 owners have been enjoying the spoils of Android 1.5 (or Cupcake, as it's known 'round these parts) for months now, but it looks as if that very treat will be the last taste of confectionery goodness that the smartphone gets. According to Android software engineer Dave Sparks, a time is soon coming when devs "wont be able to fit the latest [Android] release on the G1's internal flash," and yet another engineer has chimed in via Twitter to say that he "can't promise" that any update after 1.5 will fit. For whatever reason, HTC gifted the G1 with an incredibly meager amount of internal flash, and considering that no Android phone will support app storage / loading from a microSD card, there's no way to free up room for Donut, Eclair or Flan. You've been a real champ, G1, but without 2.0+, we just can't give you the love and devotion you truly need. Go on, call us fickle -- we deserve it.

[Via Electronista and jkOnTheRun]

Update: We've received a statement directly from T-Mobile on the matter, saying "We plan to continue working with Google to introduce future software updates to the T-Mobile G1. Reports to the contrary are inaccurate." It's unclear whether those are just going to be security and stability updates to 1.5 or whether we'll see wholesale new versions like Donut and beyond, but for the sake of G1 owners everywhere, we're hoping it's the latter.

Hey, T-Mobile, allow us to hit you up with some knowledge, if you would. Take a quick gander up north of the border, where our dear friends on Rogers have reduced both the Dream (your G1) and the Magic (your myTouch 3G) to just $79.99 on a three-year deal -- and that's in Canadian dollars, which works out to $74 in greenbacks. Granted, yes, we understand that a three-year deal is a full 12 months longer than an old-fashioned American two-year deal, but still, you're going to have to forgive us if we start working on our visa applications. Coincidentally, we know there's a version of the Hero kicking around that'd work swimmingly on Rogers; we don't mean to start any rumors, but... oh heck, who are we kidding, of course we're trying to start rumors.

[Thanks, Ilia]

If you're ready, willing, and able to sign up for a new three-year agreement on Rogers, HTC's two inaugural Android sets just got a good deal cheaper for you. Originally priced at $149.99 on contract, both phones are now down to $99.99 -- a stellar deal, we think, considering you're getting 7.2Mbps HSDPA, capacitive touch, 3.2 megapixel autofocus cameras with video capture, and HTC-customized Android ROMs. Maybe Rogers is discounting so quickly because they figure the phones aren't quite as appealing in light of the recent Hero announcement -- or, more intriguingly, maybe they're prepping for an actual Hero launch of their own now that we know there's an 850 / 1900 3G version in the mix.

[Via Boy Genius Report]

Read - Dream (Black)
Read - Dream (White)
Read - Magic

One of our favorite intellectual property rips of recent months is without a doubt the SciPhone Dream G2 from China. Having completely missed the point of Google's open-source OS being, well, open-source and thus free for SciPhone's use, the company instead chose to hack the G2's "proprietory" OS to look like Android. The charger, however, built to look like the iconic Android mascot is pretty damn cute; enough so that the idea of paying $150 just to get our hands on the 100-240V USB charger has crossed our minds. See the Android's naughty bits after the break.

[Thanks, Steven]

A dude with access to the ROM Rogers is using on its just-launched Dream and Magic Android sets has posted a truly epic, comprehensive set screenshots on Flickr, showing off some of the features unique to these particular versions of the phones. Examples include a highly-customized HTC virtual keyboard with XT9 support reminiscent of its modern WinMo keyboards, Exchange support, integrated Quickoffice, and an all-important PDF reader. It's a nice little journey into the heart of Canada's first Android sets -- unless you're jealous, in which case it's an emotionally draining nightmare.

[Via Android and Me]

We'd say that Best Buy's phone pricing is never a set-in-stone indication of the price you'll pay direct from the carrier, but it's probably pretty safe to assume from these tags that everyone -- Rogers, Best Buy, Future Shop, you name it -- will be charging within a few bucks of CAD $149.99 ($135) for your choice of the Dream or Magic when the Android sets launch on June 2. That's not too terribly bruising on the pocketbook, but that's going to be on a three-year contract with a minimum $45 voice / data plan; if you step down to a two-year deal, you jump all the way up to a whopping $449.99, and a contract-free purchase is going to set you back $599.99. Tell you what, Rogers: give us both the black and the white Dream for $450 on a two-year and you've got yourselves a deal. Sound good?

Remember how we found out that there's a difference between the Google-branded Android firmware and its HTC-modified equivalent, and the latter isn't allowed to feature the silkscreened Google logo? The HTC version is way cooler on account of its Exchange ActiveSync support and the much-improved camera app; the only downside is that you can't flaunt that logo on the case, which -- let's be honest -- is totally meaningless to an end user (unless you're some raving Google fanboy / fangirl, and in that case, no amount of awesome customization is going to sway you). Anyhow, it's up to individual carriers to decide which versions of the devices they wish to launch, and Rogers customers will be excited to know that they're getting the logo-free HTC builds. That makes Canadian Dreams and Magics a whole hell of a lot more useful to business users than the G1s down in the States, and going forward, this is an issue T-Mobile probably wants to think about -- as long as the base Android code doesn't license ActiveSync, anyway.

Rogers' HTC Dream and Magic aren't "Google phones," have Exchange support

In a surprise announcement, Vodafone Spain is set to launch Magic, HTC's 2nd Android handset, in just a few hours. The countdown timer appeared early this morning with local sales set to begin at 1700 hours. That gives Vodafone Spain subscribers an 8 day head start on the rest of the world -- an eternity for Android nerds. Unfortunately, while it's free with applicable contract on Vodafone UK, it's gonna cost you in Spain -- rates our Spanish friends describe as "outrageous." Let's see if our Canadian friends agree.

[Via Engadget Spanish]