Author: Phil Nickinson

See that picture up there? That’s the surface of Mars. And apparently it doesn’t look very good on the Nexus One. And now on the Motorola Droid. And quite possibly any device running Android 2.1. Why? Let’s discuss, after the break.

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We’re back after a couple (erm, more like a month) off, but we’re back with a vengeance. And here’s what we want to know: Android games are growing by leaps and bounds, as is the hardware we’re playing them on. And, so, what’s your favorite racing game? Head on into the forums and let us know. For your troubles, we’re giving away 10 Invisible Skins from the folks at invisibleskinz.com. We’ll take submissions until 12:01 a.m. Saturday.

What’s your favorite Android racing game?

Loyal reader Tom Cochrane reminded us on Twitter that Motorola has a status board for its Android 2.1 roll-out. And above is where we stand as of today. If you’re rocking the Milestone, updates are either in progress or should be coming in the few months or so. Same goes in the U.S. for the Backflip, Cliq and Cliq XT. Hang in there, folks. [Motorola] (And thanks, Tom.)

Gotta say, you guys are getting weirder and weirder. And no women want a Nexus One? C’mon! Anyhoo, second batch of contest entries (here’s the first batch) is after the break for your viewing pleasure. Reminder: Comment all you want, but we’re going to officially vote at a later date. And there’s still time to enter. Here’s what you need to know.

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For a fleeting second — but not much more than that — I was worried. Here’s Microsoft, unveiling its new "Kin" (or KIN, if you ask them) dumber-than-a-smartphone, smarter-than-a-dumbphone pair of devices for Verizon and Vodafone. And here’s me, imagining the following conversation:

MOM: OK, All I want is to get my daughter something that can take pictures, text, post to her Facebook and maybe that Twitter thing.

VERIZON DUDE: Sure thing, ma’am. Here’s the Kin One. It’s new. It’s hip. It’s perfect for someone your daughter’s age. Facebook? No problem. Surf the Web Sure thing. She texts a lot? Well, this one (Kin Two) has a bigger keyboard, and a better camera, with a whopping 8 megapixels. Couple of swipes, and she’s sharing with all her friends.

MOM: Sounds great! And it can download apps, right?

VERIZON DUDE: Oh.

And therein lies the problem. Taking the operating system out of the equation — be it Android, Windows Mobile, Symbian, whatever — is fine. HTC’s Sense does a pretty good job of that with Android (and a really good job in Windows Mobile). Motoblur we’re not nearly as smitten with, but the principle’s the same. Same with Samsung’s Touchwiz 3.0. Make the phone do the social networking work for you.

But take the heart out of a platform — and these days, easily downloadable applications are the heart of any smartphone experience — and you’re left with a less-than-capable platform. Kin One and Kin Two might well be priced less than every Android phone available on Verizon. But they also will be capable of less, and that will be their downfall.

Some more pictures of the T-Mobile myTouch Slide have emerged, showing the horizontal slider running Android 2.1 and the some hybrid form of the new Sense UI. (You can see the "Leap" feature above, which also shows that there will be five home screens.) It actually looks like the earlier version of Sense, combined with some of the newer elements like Friendstream. As to when we’ll see the myTouch Slide, well, stay tuned. [TMoNews]

OK, so the Sprint Evo 4G doesn’t really cost $5,555. As you should all well know, it’s common for carriers and retailers to assign outrages prices to a phone when it’s first put into inventory. And as the Evo 4G isn’t expected to be sold for another couple of months or so, it’s a pretty good bet that Sprint doesn’t even know what the price is yet. That said, it is the Evo 4G we see here in this inventory shot, so it’s another step forward. You’re all waiting patiently, right? [Engadget]

Adobe launched CS5 this morning, which has a bevy of features that can help create mobile content. And what phone/platform did they use to show off the end results? Well, it sure ain’t Apple the iPhone. Thanks, David!

Far be it from us to scoff at that hideously square Motorola Android phone — possibly called the Twist — that made the rounds over the weekend, but, well, it was pretty bad. But just because it’s bad doesn’t mean it might not exist, and Android France snagged what appears to be specs of the blockish Motoblur device. Size is listed at 67x67mm, and just less than 16mm thick, with a 2.8-inch screen at 320×240 pixels. Quad-band EDGE and dual-band HSPA is listed (with North American 3G freqs, to boot). There’s also a 3MP camera, 512MB ROM/256MB RAM, WiFi b/g, aGPS, a TI OMAP 3410 processor at 700MHz … and a mere 940 mAh battery.

Real or not, that’s a tiny phone, and a tiny battery. And it’s square. (And it has Motoblur.) Really, people, is this something you’d want in your pocket? [Android-France.fr]

Might Google be working on an Android-based tablet? The New York Times says yes (and there’s really no reason for anybody to think that Google doesn’t have a host of new products being tested underground somewhere), reporting that Google CEO Eric Schmidt was blabbing about it recently.

[Schmidt] told friends at a recent party in Los Angeles about the new device, which would exclusively run the Android operating system. People with direct knowledge of the project — who did not want to be named because they said they were unauthorized to speak publicly about the device — said the company had been experimenting in “stealth mode” with a few publishers to explore delivery of books, magazines and other content on a tablet.

With the advent of the Nexus One, there’s no doubt that Google’s capable of launching and growing its own product. (OK, headaches included.) Is some sort of slate/tablet/e-reader on the horizon? No reason why there couldn’t be. [NYT] Thanks to everybody who sent this in.

There you go, folks. If you were holding out for Verizon to officially launch its NFL service, it’s now available. All you have to do is text NFL to 8915 or go to VerizonWireless.com/nfl, and you can snag the official app.

See that silhouette up there? That’s none other than the Samsung Galaxy S (see our initial hands-on and software hands-on) going through the Federal Communications Commission, and with AT&T’s 3G bands, to boot. That said, it doesn’t necessarily mean we’ll actually be seeing it carried by AT&T. But it does mean that you can rock the 1GHz, Super AMOLED, Touchwiz 3.0-sportin’ phone without worrying about guys in suits showing up at your door. [FCC via BGR]

Verizon Droid Eris owners, take note: Your phone is on the way out. Sorry, that’s just the way it is. Above is a screen showing the PCD – ADR6200 (aka the HTC Droid Eris) listed under End of Life Devices — meaning it, indeed, is headed for the big smartphone convention in the sky. Yeah, that’s pretty quick, considering it was only released last November. The good news: There’s no reason to freak out. Your phone will still work. Nobody will come to your house and take it. It’s just nearing the end of its sales life.

Gee. Wonder what could be replacing it. [via BerryScoop]

With the OMG news tonight that Twitter bought Tweetie and has made it its official iPhone client — and it’s a great choices, as Tweetie is a damn good app — we can’t help but wonder: What Android Twitter client would you like to see as the the holy writ for Android? Something from your own must-have Twitter client list? Something else? Let’s hear it, people. [via TiPB]

The Motorola Devour (video hands-on) came at a tough point in the smartphone world. It’s the first Android device from Moto and Verizon to come after the wildly popular Droid. And while we pretty much knew from the get-go that we weren’t looking at a Droid 2 — the smaller screen was an early giveaway — that didn’t really seem to lower expectations. In some ways, Moto met them. In others, not so much.

So join us after the break as we take a look at the Motorola Devour and find its place in the Android lineup.

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So Verizon has some "journey" that it’s beginning on Monday. While we’re all waiting on the HTC Incredible to be announced any day now, we’re not quite sure it fits the "it’s new, it’s unique" line that Big Red’s touting here. Instead, it’s quite possible that it’s referring to the fabled Microsoft "Project Pink" that’s also rumored to be announced then, and that certainly would match up the "let’s get social" line. (FWIW: Engadget’s thinking the same thing.)

Hey, we definitely want to see the Incredible announced and released, like, yesterday. But we’re not going to put all our eggs in that basket just yet. [via BerryScoop]

Update: @slundberg01 offers another theory: "The journey on Monday for Verizon is NFL mobile. It releases Monday. There will be new phones but that’s not Monday. that’s why if you look at that flyer it was a football thrown through the paper."

In case you hadn’t noticed yet, Google Earth is once again available on the Motorola Droid with Android 2.1. (It was missing for some people after the update, and there for others. Why? We dunno.) Anyhoo, we decided to have a little fun with it and put it side by side against the Google Nexus One (also running Android 2.1, natch) to see which phone better ran the hefty app — it still weighs in at a rather massive 22 megabytes installed. Check it out after the break.

Update: D’oh! Didn’t have WiFi turned on with both devices in the first video. So, there’s new video after the break. (Also, no, the Droid’s not overclocked. It’s the stock 550Mhz.)

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Here’s the thing about this render that purportedly is of the HTC Incredible: It’s probably pretty close. The shape and lines are pretty much what we’ve seen leaked out any number of ways. (Like this, or this, or this, or this.) But it’s just a render, we don’t when it was, erm, rendered (or by whom), and it’s missing the ring around the trackpad that actually lets you click on things. So take it for what it is, but don’t get overly excited about it. [Wikipedia via Android and Me]

Remember that update for the Motorola Cliq that was being tested a week or so ago? It’s now available for all to download. No, it’s not an update to Android 2.1 or anything, but there are a slew of improvements, which we’ll list after the break. In the and while you’re reading, get to updating, m’kay? [Motorola] Thanks to everybody who sent this in.

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Hey, kids. You know that myTouch Slide that’s all the rumor rage these days? There’s a good chance that it just showed up at the FCC, sporting T-Mobile’s radio bands. It’s a little odd that we actually get a pic of it at this point in the game, but we’re not going to be picky about that. When and for how much are still anybody’s guess. [FCC via Engadget]