Trent Reznor of NIN fame is even more famous in the tech community for getting the Nine Inch Nails application rejected from the iPhone App Store. After weighing in on the differences between smartphone OS's, Trent has finally come around to releasing applications on non-iPhone OS's. And lucky for you Android NIN fans, an Android version is coming soon.

Yeah. We're officially cool enough to rock and roll. Well, almost.

[twitter]

The NBA has just released Close Up, an Android application that allows live streaming of the Eastern Conference Finals. For a mere 99 cents, you'll get a close up look at in-game action from 4 unique camera angles: Arena Cam, Host Cam, Action Cam, & Player Cam. This is a great idea from all parties involved: T-Mobile, the NBA, and TNT. Bravo to them for putting their close relationships together for a great experience.

We have one question though, why so late in the NBA playoffs? We would have loved to see this application used for all TNT broadcasted games. Also, let's hope that Lebron & co. don't continue their sweeping ways so we can get more out of this great Android app!

We still don't know which color of the HTC Magic we want: Black or White. (un)Fortunately, us folks stateside still have some time to decide but you lovely Taiwanese people have the decision made for you: it's going to be Black with a (presumably) custom Red border. The HTC Magic will be available in Taiwan beginning May 15th for the price of $640 without a contract.

I guess HTC being a Taiwanese company allows Taiwan some cool customizability? We personally think the red just looks off.

What color of the HTC Magic do you guys prefer? Black or White?

Hit the jump to see the red border on the HTC Magic!

[via androidcommunity]

We already know that a lot of PC manufacturers are looking into Android as a viable platform for their netbooks. What we didn't know is that Google is now interested in seeing if Android is actually usable for netbooks. According to some reports, Google posted an ad on Craigslist seeking Netbook users to participate in a Google Android Netbook Usability Test. You'll get a NDA slapped on your mouth and a $75 American Express Gift Certificate for your services.

It seems that Google is getting serious into turning Android into a Netbook OS. The future of Android is going to be mighty interesting.

[crave]

Per BGR, it looks like T-Mobile is going to make some changes to data and messaging plans that might not fly well with their customers. Starting sometime in June, data plans will now be required for all smartphone-type devices (excludes Blackberry Pearl, Pearl Flip & Samsung Behold, Memoir). Pretty big deal if you don't have a need for a data plan or if you're always surrounded by Wi-Fi hotspots you never use data. Secondly, the unlimited family messaging plan is going up from $19.95 to $24.99.

These changes are definitely harder to swallow than those before, are they deal breakers for any of you guys?

With the Android 1.5 Cupcake Update pushing out to Android Users sometime this week, talk is already beginning on the next Android update: 2.0. According to some reports, Android 2.0 is codenamed 'Donut', which obviously is a clear successor to 1.5's 'Cupcake'.

We're pretty big fans of the 'Donut'-moniker and think Android should keep it for 2.0. And if Android 1.5 brought us a slew of new features, could you imagine what the milestone 2.0 update will bring? Our imagination is running crazy just thinking about it.

How do you guys like the 2.0 'Donut'-name?

[via phandroid]

This is getting a little hectic but reports are now surfacing that the T-Mobile G1 v2 may actually be the Samsung Bigfoot (and not a Motorola or HTC device). Confused, much? Cause we are too. But supposedly the specs line up with each other and one assumption led to another..

Honestly, we don't know what to believe but we personally don't think that the T-Mobile G1 v2 is a Samsung device. We don't imagine Samsung being quite happy when their device gets re-branded to fall in line with another brand name. Especially since they wanted to focus on the Android-side of Android and not the Google..

Hit the jump to see the specs of future Samsung devices

[unwired view]

If you wanted to see some more market confidence in Android, how's this? According to an analyst from Strategy Analytics, sales of Android devices are expected to grow 900% to reach 8 million Android devices sold in 2009.

Hmm. Those are some pretty bold numbers but it may be possible. Android seems to be gaining more and more devices and to have a whole portfolio of devices would seem to be pretty beneficial to growth. It seems that after a lonely first year, Android is going to get really popular, really fast.

[strategy analytics]

Though we had originally hypothesized that the T-Mobile G1 v2 would be the HTC Memphis prototype device, it turns out we were looking at the wrong company. The T-Mobile G1 v2 is not even from HTC. According to BGR, the T-Mobile G1 v2 may be a Motorola Device and NOT an HTC device like the original G1 was.

And yeah, we agree, to name a device a G1 v2 would typically lead you to believe that it's a true 'successor' to the original G1. But we guess not. BGR has a pretty good track record and T-Mobile has done something similar to their Sidekick line. Though Danger is always involved, they've used Flextronics, Sharp, and yep, Motorola, to design different models under the 'Sidekick' brand name.

And if you squint a little bit, the image above does look more like a Motorola device than a HTC Android (original G1 and Magic) device. And the charging port on the device doesn't look to be HTC's favorite ExtUSB, so maybe, just maybe this is going to be a Motorola Android Device.

What do you guys think?

[bgr]

Don't act surprised. T-Mobile has made it no secret that they're investing heavily on Android and with leaked roadmaps and new Android devices coming out the woodworks, we should almost expect most of the next generation of Android phones to land on the friendliest carrier in the states, T-Mobile. It's just nice to hear a T-Mobile US Exec say:

We are looking to launch multiple Android-based devices in the second half of this year with three partners

What is half-surprising is that the same T-Mobile Exec expects to "see Android find its way down into feature phones on the low end" as well. We're not sure how that'll play out but Android seems to be growing more and more versatile by the day.

So who are the three partners? HTC and Samsung are all but confirmed. Could the 3rd device be a Motorola Android Smartphone?

*fingers crossed*

[gigaom]