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.

	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.

Have a Rogers-branded Magic or Dream lying around? Do you salivate at the mere thought of "several key enhancements"? Well, partner, mosey on over to HTC's website right this second where you'll find a link to a mysterious update that literally just popped up today. Let us know the gritty details of your experiences if you decide to take the plunge, alright?

Update: We just spotted a changelog when you click through:

• Improves the overall device functionality and stability
• Enables correct SMS timestamp
• Enables Chinese character display for POP3 HTML Emails
• Corrects E-mail client exchange Issues

We're digging the "Improves the overall device functionality and stability" part.

Read - Dream
Read - Magic

The spec gap between the Magic and the Hero is mighty small -- other than the entirely revamped Sense UI, the Hero's 5 megapixel camera is about the only thing the newer model has over the original, physical design notwithstanding. That gap is on the fast track to getting even smaller, too, now that HTC has issued a press release detailing a Sense upgrade for the Magic (assuming you haven't already nabbed it off xda-developers, that is). It looks like current owners will get hooked up some time in October for NT$1,500, which works out to about $46; what we don't know, though, is which Magics will be eligible for the upgrade. Just like HTC's WinMo wares, we're guessing that subsidized units are going to be at the mercy of their carriers, which means that T-Mobile, Rogers, and Vodafone customers (among others) should take a somewhat pessimistic view of this announcement until they've heard otherwise. Hey, we're just looking out for your mental health here.

[Thanks, Steve G.]

Update: Depending on how you interpret the press release, HTC could be saying that the upgrade is valued at NT$1,500, but will actually be free. We're working to get a clarification.

Update 2: Alright, we've gotten the skinny on this straight from HTC. The update will be free -- thing is, it's only coming to Taiwan's Chunghwa so far. The fate of Magics on other carriers remains unknown, but we do know that so-called "with Google" versions will definitely be left out (that includes you, myTouch 3G).

These days, the whole "I shipped a million!" claim is becoming more and more common, but it's still worth pointing out that HTC has managed to move a whole bundle of its Android-based myTouch 3G (or Magic, as it were) since debuting in April. Or, that's the story, anyway. According to a dangerously brief blurb over at Digitimes, the outfit's head honcho quipped that the Magic has "surpassed one million units," and he also noted that it would begin to focus more on the mid-range market as opposed to always dealing devices at the high-end. So, raise your glass high for this one folks, and let the countdown to a million Hero handsets begin while you're at it.

[Via InformationWeek]

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]

TeleNav has already launched its subscription turn-by-turn navigation service for the G1, so it stands to reason that official myTouch 3G support would be close behind -- and sure enough, the company has announced that its GPS Navigator app will be available for download to T-Mobile's second Android device starting tomorrow, August 5. The app features all of the goodies that TeleNav users have come to know and love, including traffic and incident monitoring with automatic rerouting, gas prices, business information, and a choice between 2D and 3D maps; additionally, you've got automatic day / night coloration, carpool lane and tollroad avoidance, and speech recognition for destination input -- a big plus when you're on the road and you need to keep distractions to a minimum.

We've been playing with a cut of GPS Navigator on our myTouch recently, and it delivers a totally usable car navigation experience -- a perfect complement to the comprehensive pedestrian capabilities of Google Maps. Most of the warnings from our G1-based review of the application carry over here -- you need true GPS reception, not merely cellular triangulation, so your phone will need a view of the sky to have a shot at picking up satellites (this also means that getting a location lock is a more time-consuming process, though it typically didn't take longer than a few seconds to do its thing). We're not digging how the colored lines that convey traffic information on highways flash; we'd rather they just stayed a solid color, the way most GPS systems handle it. We also found that the menus are a little wonky -- bringing your finger in contact with a menu item and swiping up or down to scroll would occasionally trigger the first item you touched, which ends up being a fairly annoying bug in practice. All told, though, if you can justify the expense, your $10 a month is going to net you a genuinely reasonable way to consolidate all of your help-me-I'm-lost needs -- whether by foot or by car -- into a single device.

HTC has been on a global Android-pimping mission with its Hero device, and it looks like Chinese subsidiary Dopod gets the honor of announcing three new handsets for the Middle Kingdom. Unlike others, the Hero retains its WiFi capabilities by playing nice with China's custom WLAN security protocol and is expected in late August on China Unicom for 5,600 Yuan ($820) along with the few-frills Click for 3,400 Yuan ($500). The carrier has opted to strip Google Maps from the Hero (though it's still downloadable), and to soften the blow it will likely offer a snazzy red version of the phone. China Mobile will have to settle for an as-yet unspecified TD-SCDMA handset and the already announced Magic, both of which will likely be sporting the OMS flavor of Android. We're not sure we'd classify the Hero's price tag as reasonable -- but really, can you put a dollar figure on being the first big-name Android release in the world's largest wireless market?

If you've preordered one o' them fancy new myTouch 3Gs, check your mailbox, front porch, back door, administrative assistant, or dirty, thieving neighbor -- because it might be there. T-Mobile said that preorders would be shipping at the tail end of July, and sure enough, some folks are starting to get lucky; plebes without preorders will still need to wait until August 5, though, so, you know, either sit there and drool or shout nasty remarks about how you'd rather have a Hero in the meanwhile.

[Thanks, sun]

Our attention is still vaguely fixed on that Hero off in the distance, but let's focus for just a minute -- the myTouch 3G for T-Mobile is now in our well-guarded possession as it trudges toward a late July release for those lucky enough to pre-order. Other than a few silkscreened details, make no mistake -- the myTouch is literally an HTC Magic in basically all but name (we compare it with a Rogers-branded Magic in our gallery below so you can see what we mean), and all things considered, that's not necessarily a bad thing. Like all of its Magic contemporaries, the phone feels small and well-balanced in the hand; one unique detail, though, is the crazy packaging which consists of a semi-soft zippered nylon case enclosed by a paper sleeve. It's cool, different, and unlike a regular box, it's something you'll probably want to hold on to.

This is the first time we've seen it in that "merlot" shade, and in person, this is a great-looking color that could play well with anybody -- man or woman, business or casual. It's a touch of highlight without going overboard (unlike, say, the actual Highlight). Software-wise, this is looking like a bone-stock Android 1.5 build so far (notice the keyboard, for example), which plays with T-Mobile's prior statements that its software value-add with these sets would primarily come through Market downloads. Stay tuned for our full review, but in the meantime, enjoy some visuals!

Though the myTouch 3G is really just an HTC Magic at its core, T-Mobile seems to be doing everything it can to gussy it up with as much crapware bloatware value-add software that it can. All kidding aside, this really isn't crapware -- the carrier is apparently quite serious about calling out best-in-class apps in the Android Market, going so far as to create a separate "app pack" application that'll drill down stuff it wants to highlight. T-Mobile tells us this might even include T-Mobile's own visual voicemail application, which is currently in development, but whether that's available at launch or not, nothing in the app pack won't be findable in the regular Android Market, so there's no reason to worry.

The crown jewel in the myTouch 3G's arsenal will be Sherpa, an entertainment discovery app that learns your preferences in food, stores, and attractions over time based on your ratings and bubbles them to the top so they're easier for you to find. Naturally, it's location-based so that you can find things around you; it'll be interesting to see how well this works in practice, but at a glance, we're excited to give it a shot so that we can finally stop eating In-N-Out seven nights a week (not to say there's anything wrong with that).

As much heat as the "myTouch" name has taken, we're starting to understand why T-Mobile went with it -- the myTouch 3G is a very customizable device. At device launch, we're counting no fewer than 17 trinkets to go along with your phone -- not including color variations -- ranging from the ultra-mundane (a USB cable in your choice of black or white, for example) to the awesome (a snap-on battery extender that'll add 50 percent more juice) to the crazy (a myTouch logo commuter mug). Buyers will also be able to get custom-designed shells through Skinit and have access to a fitness belt, meaning you now have absolutely no excuse not to get on the trail and run that ten miles with that trusty Magic firmly attached to your arm. Well, except the fact that The Hills is on. Right after The Hills, though, we swear.

We just got a look at the myTouch 3G, and while it's great to see T-Mobile's next Android phone all official and everything, there are certainly few surprises for those of us already familiar with the HTC Magic / Google Ion. We found ourselves, despite the best knowledge otherwise, still looking fruitlessly for a 3.5mm headphone jack -- it was silly that the G1 didn't ship with it, but this year it's downright shameful. At least the included adapter is nice. Please, HTC Hero, come and save us from this madness. Fresh off our play time with the Hero, we found the stock Android 1.5 keyboard to be quite a bit of a step back. It's certainly usable, but we found ourselves missing the spacebar quite a lot, and the responsiveness just wasn't at HTC's level, though prediction was pretty good. The included zippered case is nice, though we don't know what we'd use it for, and the unboxing experience is generally pleasant and uneventful. In a lot of ways, the phone seems like a last generation product, but it's obviously the only one of its kind available in the States at the moment, so we suppose T-Mobile would beg to differ. Every single cover we've seen so far looks completely horrible, and while it's nice to have "options," we'd think twice before putting a pic of our dog on the back of one of these. Perhaps the best news making the rounds is that T-Mobile is thinking about putting a Visual Voicemail app in the forthcoming app pack, though it wasn't pre-loaded on any of the handset we checked out, and apparently the app pack is more of a curated Market than a single app combo download. Peep an enthralling video of the hardware after the break.

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