Years ago, Sony used to be one of our favorite electronics companies, they made beautiful, desirable products that seemed to be ahead of the curve. Fast forward to 2009 and Sony products always seem a little misguided, a little needless, and almost always proprietary.

So color us surprised when we heard that Sony was working on an Android-powered Walkman. Has the maker-of-all, master-of-none company finally conceded defeat? Have they finally realized software is what makes great products these days? It would seem so if they put Android on their Walkmans.

Details are expectedly vague but it makes incredible sense: no one cares about Walkmans right now, people want more Android. Plus Android is highly customizable, has a great web browser, and a slew of applications to boot.

We say it's a no brainer, what do you guys think? Is Android going to be in everything?

[engadget]

Google I/O was a pretty big deal and we're sad that we missed it this year (for more reasons than free phones). Luckily, if you're still interested in what happened in Google's largest developer gathering, you can catch up with all the happenings online.

There were a lot of big products like Google Wave, Google Web Elements, more technical sessions to showcase some applications that developers built, and of course, Android. Leave it to Google to even build an interactive map to mimic the showroom floor. It's like you were there!

Check out all Google I/O content here.

T-Mobile is still rolling out their 3G network in hopes of reaching respectability, this time cities in Texas such as College Station, Beaumont, Bryant , and Galveston are all enjoying the speediness that is 3G. For you Floridians living in Lakeland, Sarasota, Spring Hill, Bradenton, and Weeki Wachee--well you guys have T-Mobile 3G too!

I'm not familiar with a large portion of these cities so it looks like T-Mobile is hitting the smaller cities now with their 3G rollout. Does your city have T-Mobile 3G?

[tmonews]

The HTC Hero is a much anticipated Android device and not because of its looks but rather for the custom HTC-built 'Rosie' UI that's laid on top of Android. We've seen Rosie in action before but here's a closer, shot-by-shot look at some specific features of this beautiful, TouchFLO 3D-esque interface. As you can see in the pictures, there's a heavy influence on widgets.

So what do you guys think? Are you guys excited for Rosie? What do you guys think of the screenshots?

Hit the jump for the rest of the pictures of Rosie!

[via phandroid]

According to BusinessWeek, Google is looking into offering app sharing features in Android Market. Specifically, Google is considering enabling user-to-user gifting and recommendations. The impact that these new features have could be huge, as great as Android Market is, it's tough to sift through so many applications to find the diamond in the rough. With the ability to offer user-to-user recommendations, the process may become easier.

If it's better for Android Market and the user experience, we're all for it. Here's to hoping we see something like this in the near future.

Microsoft Exec Steve Guggenheimer recently voiced his skepticism regarding Android and its ability to translate to a computing operating system. To quote:

"I'm somewhat sceptical that consumers will begin running to Android right now," said Guggenheimer. "You'll still want your printer to work, you'll still want your software to work. There's a lack of a complete ecosystem around Android."

We usually disagree with what Microsoft says about Android believing that their comments are misguided attempts in disparaging a competitor, but in this case, we think Microsoft has a valid point.

As versatile and exciting as Android has proven itself to be, it still needs to prove itself in the computing arena. Though computer manufacturers are ready to jump into the Android game, we're still not sure if Android is ready for netbook primetime.

What do you guys think?

[techradar]

The Android devices launching on Rogers (HTC Magic & HTC Dream) are unique in the sense that they have their own custom build of Android loaded on the device. Because they aren't 'Google Experience' phones, meaning no Google branding anywhere, Rogers and HTC has the final call on what is loaded onto these Android devices. 

The wunderkind Haykuro got his hands on the HTC Dream and loaded a ton of screenshots for the Roger-specific Android phones. What's most unique is the Exchange support, T9 soft keyboard, QuickOffice, and more. It's definitely interesting to see Android in a different light, though we still think we prefer the 'Google Experience' Android devices best.

Hit the jump to see specific screenshots or hit this flickr link.

[via engadget]

Tmonews is reporting that they expect the T-Mobile myTouch 3G aka the HTC Magic to release in June--yeah, as in this month. We've previously confirmed that the myTouch 3G will be reaching T-Mobile sooner than later and Tmonews cites reasons for such a quick launch to be the new iPhone 3G S and the Palm Pre, two handsets that are quickly taking mind share (and surely market share) from potential customers. Offering a new Android Device as lovely as the myTouch 3G would certainly be a compelling offering to bring users to Android and T-Mobile.

Tmonews has a relatively strong reputation in regards to leaks and information so we're going to trust their report. A June release of the T-Mobile myTouch 3G should be in the cards. It makes too much sense to not be true.

First we had the Android Netbook fad, now we have the Android Smartbook craze. Only a wee bit bigger than your average smartphone, this particular Freescale Android Smartbook comes with a slightly larger 4 inch screen with a full QWERY keyboard running the Android OS. The details are incredibly vague, as always, but a release date 'later this year' is expected.

Though we're beginning to turn the corner on Android Netbooks and believe that they could be the future, Android Smartbooks have another hurdle to clear before we fall in love with them. Why would we choose an Android Smartbook over an Android smartphone? We honestly have no idea.

[engadget]

Nearly everyone uses Facebook and nearly every Facebook Android User is unhappy with the current state of Facebook Applications on Android. And with Facebook staying mum on an official Facebook Application, third-party developers hope to fill the void. The Android Facebook App is looking to offer compelling features that will improve the Facebook integration in Android.

Features include [via androinica]:

• The ability to comment on or “like/unlike” Facebook status
• Friend feeds that include status updates, wall-to-wall posts, photo uploads, comments, and YouTube video posts
• Real-time loading and filtering of activity stream
• Notifications for upcoming events, birthdays, and new comments
• Improved photo and photo album support/navigation
• Tag photos and view photo tags

Check out The Android Facebook App's blog here. They plan to release the application in late June/early July so keep your eyes peeled!

Hit the jump to see pictures of The Android Facebook App!