Mr. Blurry Cam also managed to bring us a few pictures of the not so new or exciting Kogan Agora Pro.  Later we found that the specs of the Agora Pro were not up to par enough for Android applications, this in the tech world would be called an Epic Fail. At CES we managed to see a few Android’s on display. The one in particular was more of a prototype to show what Android is capable of rather than a handset. Qualcomm demoed Android on a large WVGA screen with 1.5GHz dual-core CPU complete with integrated HSPA+, support for1080p high definition, mobile TV and also GPS capability. With all of the heavy Internet based functions Android is a perfect solution.

This week, Sir Luke Hutch crated a video demonstrating that multi-touch can be done on a stock T-Mobile G1 by modifying only one system class in the Java-based user interface stack. The 2009 roadmap for HTC has supposedly leaked revealing a very interestingly colored “Android Hero” device.  Following the same chin style of the G1 this device is nothing really new, but it is a great deal thinner. This year at CES we managed to get a look at the GiiNii Movit Internet Tablet running Android.

FlyCast is now available in the Android market for those who just are not that into Pandora. Streaming music to your G1 seems to be the name of the game with these applications. Why use up space on your microSD card when you don’t have to right? CompuLab has just announced their new Expeda handset running Android. This very odd looking device has a full QWERTY keyboard just below what appears to be several navigation controls.

There are more Android rumors this week as we hear that ASUS is working on an Eee Phone. After playing with the latest of ASUS’s products we certainly hope that they are actually developing one. At CES we stopped by the OpenMoko booth to check out their Neo FreeRunner running Android. It runs as you would expect it to, we really were hoping that they would have changed the specs just a bit but it just did not happen.

There was a video making its rounds of a mobile phone that had the makings “Dream G2” just under the battery with the word “Dream” on the front. This device does not appear to be real, there is no indication that the primary operating system is indeed Android and not Android running on top of Windows Mobile.  Dan O’Sullivan has created a G1 hat to help give better over the phone support to his family members.  He created it so that he would be able to see what it is they were doing. Now users who are experiencing poor battery life can now purchase a massive 2600mAh extended life battery to replace the little 1150mAh stock battery. To end the week we have managed to get some more convincing info stating that there are certain elements of the cupcake update that will make an appearance in the new T-Mobile G1 update that Google will push out next.

We started this slow news week of with a simple hardware hack that allows users to use the T-Mobile G1 with any iPod speaker dock. This hack is in no way pretty or particularly useful, but it does show that progress is being made. Parts are relatively cheap so many users can afford to try it out. Now open source developers who prefer Python to using Java will have the option when developing for Android. Damon over at damonkohler.com has managed to get Python up and running on the G1 despite being rough around the edges.

More photos Android running on the OpenMoko FreeRunner have surfaced. As most leaked photos are these are blurry and hard to see. There is still nothing new to report on this particular subject. Google recently sent out an email to developers confirming that paid applications will be offered in mid January. G1 users do not have much time to snatch up what free apps they can without risking the loss.

HTC firmly believes that Google and T-Mobile will adopt and legitimately release the cupcake update to users. Unfortunately HTC has no say as to what makes it to the handset, it will all be up to Google and T-Mobile. Some of the guys over at VentureBeat have managed to get Android running on the Eee PC 1000 netbook. Surprisingly the port was fairly easy with minimal hang-ups. They also managed to find a few other suggestive surprises while digging through the source code.

Now users who upgraded to the RC30 firmware and lost root access can roll back and regain control with RC29. Downgrading is fairly simply, but as with all firmware changes it should be done with caution, as it is possible to render your handset useless.

A video surfaced showing the new on-screen QWERTY keyboard expected to be seen in the new “cupcake” update. From what can be seen the keyboard is very responsive and laid out very nicely. We just can’t wait to see test this keyboard out for ourselves. Garmin has gone and made an announcement that they will be releasing an Android-powered navigation system. Garmin is famous for their turn-by-turn navigation services.

This year (most) Google employees did not take home a Christmas bonus; instead they received a special “Dream Phone.” The unlocked G1 that employees received have a special “droid” design on the back I guess to sweeten the deal. Google was not able to work their legal magic in all countries. In the countries that were not able to get the G1, employees will receive the monetary value (about 0) of the G1. These countries include, India, China, Brazil, Korea, Israel, Russia, Argentina, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Mexico, Turkey, Kenya, United Arab Emirates, South Africa, Egypt, Chile, and the Ukraine.

The aTrackDog application helps users stay up to date with all of their downloaded applications. This application however is not without major flaws. This application does a lot more than they tell you; it collects very valuable data market intelligence from the users. Many developers push out beta updates that will trigger this application to give all users false information about updates.

We over at Android Community have announced the winners of our holiday giveaway. Congratulations to Message, Cycledroid, fstltna, Scythe, Adam Sowa and youngmack2k4 who will be taking home one of 6 Plantronics Discovery 925 Bluetooth headsets. We have also dug up quite a gallery of hands on photos of the HKC Pearl. This handset runs both Windows Mobile and Google’s Android OS as a dual booting system. This handset has a touchscreen and scroll ball just as you would find on the T-Mobile G1.

To top off a week of great news we got a nice visual comparison of Lenovo’s new Android-powered OPhone and Apple’s famous iPhone and iPhone 3G. The OPhone measures in at 115.84 x 61.57 x 57.12.03mm, which is only 1mm larger than the original iPhone in all dimensions. The OPhone’s headphone jack is located at the bottom of the device rather than the top. Also the very similar standby/power button is located on the left side on the top rather than the right as the iPhone.

My Maps Editor hit the Android Market this week and now users can take their desktop maps wherever they like. You can also create, edit, share, and view personalized maps on your Android-powered handset and synchronize them with the My Maps tab on Google Maps. Jeffery Sharkey gave us one last gem before heading over to work for Google. OilCan is basically Greasemonkey on steroids. Users can run hundreds of scripts that allow you to tweak different options ranging from the way a web page is laid out to being able to touch and hold an application to uninstall it.

Mocana’s NanoPhone brings more security options to Android users who are more cautious after hearing about the security flaws in Android. This security option does not put a dent in the already lacking battery of the G1 however. For those of you like us who just cant wait to see more of the Lenovo Ophone there have been a few more leaked photos. We can’t wait to get our hands on this device so we can bring you a full review. HulloMail has brought UK T-Mobile G1 owners yet another visual voicemail option for those who did not like the last attempt.

The top ten Android Market applications have been announced and we were certainly surprised to see a game take the number 1 spot. We honestly though that an application would have been up there, but when we heard that Namco classic Pac-Man made number one we were not surprised. There is a new update for Android in the works and it goes by the name “cupcake”. Don’t be fooled by the name of the update, this one will bring some pretty nice features such as video recording.

The T-Mobile G1 maintenance guide found its way to the Internet this week providing anyone with teardown, troubleshooting and repair tutorials. Just how many people will crack their G1 open out of curiosity? T-Mobile has also chosen to drop the upgrade fee for the holidays. This of course will only last for a limited time; there is no word on when this promotion will end. Android Community is giving away 6 Plantronics Discovery 925 Bluetooth Headsets for the holidays this season. All you have to do is register and create a post telling us what is on your Christmas list. Couldn’t be simpler.

Huawei has announced that they will release Android-powered handset in 2009. It is always good to hear that another Android-powered handset is in the works, how about some more here in the US? China seems to be getting all the luck. This week Android has gotten the first turn-by-turn navigation application. AndNav2 is free and will remain to be free as long as they can keep in-application ads running. Samsung is also working on a touchscreen Android-powered handset for release in late 2009. Who knows, maybe Sprint will swoop this up and finally get with the program.

CellphoneSignal fabricated a story about the new T-Mobile G2 coming in late January 2009. Of course the specs seemed a little off including video calling features. This turned out to be false as we suspected. Sorry for any confusion there might have been. There is more than likely a T-mobile G2 in the works, however this is not it.

Now early adapters of the T-Mobile G1 who wish they had waited for the developers version can stop kicking themselves as the bootloader can be modified to work as the developers edition does. Just a few simple steps and your on you way to hacking the firmware without registering as a developer or forking over the 9 to purchase one. Proceed with caution though as this may brick your G1.

There are also new AdWord options for phones with full HTML browsers including the T-Mobile G1 and - dare I say it - iPhone. Now those of us who are AdWords advertisers to your desktop text and image ads on the T-Mobile G1, or any device that has a full HTML browser. The Open Handset Alliance (OHA) had the opportunity to introduce 14 new members including two well-known laptop manufactures ASUSTek and Toshiba. Two companies we are really excited to see developments from are Sony Ericsson and Garmin. Here is a complete list of those who joined the OHA, AKM Semiconductor Inc., ARM, ASUSTek Computer Inc., Atheros Communications, Borqs, Ericsson, Garmin International Inc., Huawei Technologies, Omron Software Co. Ltd, Softbank Mobile Corporation, Sony Ericsson, Teleca AB, Toshiba Corporation and Vodafone.

Sony Ericsson is said to be developing their very own line of Android-powered handsets, the first of which is set to be released in the summer of 2009. For months we have been seeing videos of the HTC Touch running Android, all the while wondering just how it was done. Wonder no more there are now instructions on how to run Android on your handset. The best part is this process is reversible; all you must do to get back to Windows Mobile is reset the device.

T-Mobile has made an official statement regarding the international roaming charges made to one users account even though his data was turned off.  T-Mobile says that the applications were responsible. The G1 does not use data when it is turned off, the applications however have the ability to access the data network whenever they choose. This brings us back to one of the original issue we have been experiencing with the lack of the ability to end processes – including applications –running in the background.

Data Viz will be bringing office solutions to the Android platform in 2009. They plan to allow users to users to view, edit and create Microsoft Word, Excel and PowerPoint documents all with the help from their Documents To Go application. Visa has delivered their promised Visa Mobile Application in order to better serve their customers. This application reportedly only works with Chase Visa cards however. This app is currently in the beta stages but offers users alerts, offers and location services to help with your financial management.

Looped has finally brought their social networking application to the Android platform. Now you can see where your friends are and what they are up to just by opening the app. Loopt is available on many different carriers as well as over 100 different handsets including the iPhone and Blackberry line. Users who use Truphone on other handsets now have a similar service they can use on the T-Mobile G1. Reketu now offers many of the same features including international calling without the need to download an application.

Sprint is finally looking to Google’s Android platform to help dig them out of their hole. We find this particularly funny after Sprints CEO Dan Hasse – yes the one from the commercials – said that Android is ”not good enough to put the Sprint brand on it.” It looks like they have finally decided that publically eating your words is price enough to try and save the sinking ship that is Sprint. T-Mobile has just started selling the inline 3.5mm headphone adapters at retail locations for .99. Now early adopters of the T-Mobile G1 can have this godsend. The adapter also includes a microphone and answer/ mute button for use with headphones.

To wrap up the week we got a glimpse of the new “Ophone” being developed by Lenovo, who joined the OHA just recently. Unfortunately this handset will only be available in China. This large touchscreen Android-powered handset has a shape that is very familiar, almost like the new BlackBerry Storm with the curve on the top and bottom. With all these Android-powered handsets coming out of China we may be considering a move.

We also came across a video of the Nokia n810 booting Android. Although we cannot vouch for the authenticity of the video, we have seen some pretty interesting devices running Android. T-Mobile is now reportedly training employees on the pricing and conditions of the new data plans that they are putting into place. They are reportedly going to be strict with the 10GB data cap, but we shouldn’t be worried about it too much as it is a high amount of bandwidth.

One user racked up 2.85 in data roaming charges while on a trip to the UK even though all data had been turned off. He placed a call to customer service before the trip to make sure there were not going to be extra charges and was told that he didn’t have to worry about it. We then found out that data roaming in UK models of the T-mobile G1 is turned off by default and must be activated it order to be on. We cannot even begin to imagine why this was set up this way.

If you haven’t noticed by now, the UK seems to be getting all the luck with the G1. From the white version, 2GB SD card and free handset, to the disabled data roaming, the UK always comes out on top. Now T-Mobile is slashing the monthly price plans for the G1 by 25 percent, bringing it down to only £30 (about USD). FotMob is a football application that gives you live updates of your favorite team from Premier League, Championship, Bundesliga, Serie A, Primera Division, SAS ligaen, Tippeligaen, Adeccoligaen and Champions Leagues anywhere you go.

We have good and bad news to report as far as the next Android-powered handset. The Kogan Agora Pro is not the best phone in terms of specs, but if you’re in Australia and have to have and Android, you may want to pick this one up. For 9 you will be getting the full version and for 9 you will get a stripped down version missing features such as the camera, which isn’t missing much. If you pre-order now your handset will ship on January 29th.

At CES 2009, Hop-on will be announcing their new gambling software for Android. The mobile gambling market has been doing surprisingly well at fueling the addictions of those who enjoy gambling a little too much. Shazam has been adding to their database of songs. In fact 2 million have been added to give users a better experience searching for songs. This is a huge addition of 30 percent to their database.

Google is now pressing forward with pushing development for Android by offering fully unlocked G1 units. These units are only available to those who register as developers. The cost of these handsets is 9 and they are both SIM and hardware unlocked. Another perk to getting one of these is the newly added graphic design to the back casing. Lastly this week a new Brower that goes by the name Steel was released into the Android Market. While still buggy this browser shows great promise with the addition of an on-screen keyboard in future updates.

With the recent popularity of netbooks in today’s economy we think it would be a good idea to use Android as an operating system. Android much like Linux would cut costs even lower than Windows machines because it does not cost any money to run the operating system. Rumors are going around this week that we just might see an Android-powered netbook be the end of 2009. Lets keep our fingers crossed. PhoneFusion has finally made good on the promise to bring visual voicemail to Android users. The big surprise is the shiny new interface, which is a huge improvement upon the early versions of this service.

Opera has finally created a version on their mobile browser for Android. Opera offers many useful features such as speed dial, which is a grid of bookmarked windows that allows users to quickly navigate to their favorite page. Perhaps the most intriguing feature of Opera is the fact that instead of sending the web page to the handset and then rendering the page, Opera will render the page on their servers and then send it to your mobile device. This process is known to create faster loading times.

Apparently the browser security update that Google pushed out did not do the trick. Our users are reporting that their browsers are being “hijacked.” When trying to navigate to Yahoo.com, our users are being redirected to an antivirus download page. There is still no word from Google as to what they plan to do about the issue. Now users who have held out all this time for the white G1 wont have to any longer. In many T-Mobile locations you can now pickup the white G1. The whole device is not white however, only the chin and screen. The rest of the device including the keyboard and back casing is silver.

Back on August 20th, Google was turned down for the trademark “Android.” This has not stopped them in the least; they are now reportedly appealing this before the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board. Google has continued to make it appear as they have the trademark by adding “Android is a trademark of Google Inc. Use of this trademark is subject to Google Permissions” to Google’s brand guidelines.

HTC has been doing so well with the sales of the T-Mobile G1 and Touch Pro that they have reportedly raised their expected shipment numbers to 1 million by the end of the year. HTC CEO Peter Chou says, “HTC was too tough for the global economic recession to weigh down.” Colorware has recently added the G1 to their list of available custom painted services.  If you just can’t live with the available colors or want to spice it up a bit it’s going to cost you. If you have yet to pick up your G1 now you can purchase the device straight from Colorware painted and all. We would not advice this as the phone does not come with any discounts.

ShopSavvy has recently figured out that certain unlocked handsets will not allow this application to work. Due to the nature of this application, there is only support for a few countries. If your SIM card does not provide the correct location information it will not appear in the Android Market. Qigi has finally given us a visual of one of the many Android-powered handsets to be released in China in 2009. Their 6i will come in an Android version and a Windows Mobile 6.1 version to satisfy just about anyone. This slick handset visually does not disappoint. This smartphone has a 2.8-inch screen and Marvell Monohans 624MHz processor.

Google until now has not commented on any of the recent updates. They have finally told us that the odd texting was all about. They left root commands open to developers in early versions and forgot to close them in the final version.  The first virtual keyboard for Android surfaced in the form of an application. A7 SMS has an oddly laid out keyboard that reads QWERT across the top. Not many of our users are able to get this method to work.

Mozilla says Android will not be getting their new mobile web browser Fennec unless Google opens it up to applications that were not written in Java. iSuppli has created a report that shows the cost of all of the major components of the G1. When you total it all up you will find out that the G1 costs only 3.89, talk about getting your moneys worth.

We recently reported that it was highly unlikely that Android would be getting a Facebook application. At the time we were thinking that Facebook was not creating an application for Android, that doesn’t mean that someone else would not. It didn’t take long for developers to wrap the mobile web version of Facebook to run on Android. You wont get much more than what m.facebook.com gives you. fBook was created by the developers over at Next Mobile Web.

Tapulous is thinking about bringing the hugely popular iPhone application, Tap Tap Revenge, to Android if the demand is high enough. For those of you still new to the game, it is similar to Guitar Her.  WeatherBug has also created a weather application for Android. Their weather app is integrated with Google Maps providing the users with many more options. WeatherBug gives users give users GPS-enabled Severe Weather Alerts, Customized Forecasts and More from the Largest and Most Precise Weather Network in the World.

PhoneFusion is in the process of bringing visual voicemail to Android users. The good, is that it will be free to everyone. The bad, the interface is very outdated and about as ugly as they come. Those of you who always like to stay connected with friends and see what everyone is up to will enjoy Loopt for Android. Loopt has been doing very well so far on the iPhone so they decided to bring it over the Android for us.

T-Mobile G1 owners in the United Kingdom are reporting receiving the RC8 update this week. This update is the equivalent to the RC30 that the US recently received. Although many have received this update, a large number of people are reporting that they still have seen no sign of an update.  One word we see in the Android Market all the time is Wiki. Now we are going to see it even more with the addition of the Wikitap application for Android. WikiTap allows users to search Wikipedia and even contribute videos to current entries.

Hop-on commented on the dismissal of Android by Sprint’s CEO, Dan Hasse. Hop-on believes that Sprint is not dismissing Android because it is not good enough, but because Sprint would loose a market share. We all know that as time goes on Sprint gets worse off, wouldn’t releasing an Android help sales significantly? The G1 stands up to over 95 percent of the phones they currently offer.  Hop-on also talked a little bit about their own Android development. From what we read they will be releasing two different Android-powered handsets at about the same time.

A way to share your G1’s Internet connection has been discovered, it is not technically a tethering application, but it will serve the purpose for the time being. Taiwan is the latest country rumored to be getting the Android in the first half of 2009. Not long after the release of the T-Mobile G1, members of the XDA developers forum have found a way to gain root access in Android. This opened up a large window of opportunity, Jay Freeman took the opportunity and ran with it, successfully porting Debian over on the G1. Jay Freeman (saurik) is the man who created the Cydia distribution system, Winterbaord and many more applications for the iPhone. Google got wind of the developments and have already pushed out an update RC30 that prevents us from gaining root access.

It has been confirmed that Android is being developed for OpenMoko open source handsets. There is also word that there will be a free beta port for existing FreeRunner customers.  With all smartphones there is the opportunity for attackers to gain access to your personal information or even get a virus. SMobile has seen the possibility and is now advertising a mobile antivirus program for Android. Microsoft CEO, Steve Ballmer had a moment to speak about how he feels Android is not profitable. He speaks as if Android is somehow inferior because it doesn’t bring in money in the same ways that Windows Mobile does.

AT&T Mobility has stated that they are only waiting for Google to open up to more non-Google applications before they release an Android of their own. They say that when customers want Android, they will give it to them. In a recent discussion on Orb forums, one of the developers has stated that there will be an Orb application for android very soon.  Orb allows you to stream content or view files on your computer from anywhere that has an Internet connection. In other application news, Meebo has stolen this week’s spotlight with the launch of their incredibly simple yet effective instant messaging client.  Meebo is another web app that has decided to make an application for Android. With Meebo you can sign in with many different types of services including AIM, MSN and Yahoo.  Yet another Chinese company, Huawei, has announced that they will be releasing an Android-powered handset in the first half of 2009.

Rumors that Wal-Mart would soon carry the G1 in their stores spread like wildfire this week. Despite Wal-Mart claiming that they were only rumors, the story turned out to be true. In no time at all people spotted the G1 in store desplays. Motorola’s Co-CEO Sajay Jha stated on a Q3 earnings conference call that there will be no Android-powered handset released by them untill Christmas season.On October 30th residents of the United Kingdom were able to finally get their hands on the T-Mobile G1. The UK however got a few changes that the US did not receive, the G1 in the UK comes in either Black or White while the Us only got the Black and Bronze version of the G1. Other differences in the UK release is the price, you can purchase it overseas for free with a 2 year agreement, also the G1 comes a 2GB MicroSD card as opposed to the 1Gb that we received.

A week ago Google sent out the RC28 update only to quickly recall it because of security flaws. A few days later Google sent out a new RC29 with an added security patch that supposedly fixes and browser security issues that were present. It appears that more and more of our users receive this update ever day but the bulk of them have yet to receive it. The update process is very easy, all you must do it accept the update and let the phone do its thing. For those who are two impatient to wait there is a way to update your G1 with a MicroSD card. However this may cause you to loos your datat and is not recomended. TechOn was brave enough to disect the G1 the other day and reported that the roll ball is the same as the one in RIM’s Blackberry handsets. Aside from that the inside of the G1 is white. We had not ideat that the G1 is painted.