Good news for those of you in the UK who are waiting for the HTC Desire and HTC Legend to be released on Vodafone: It's now "Coming soon," as in April. We know that, 'cause, well, the site says so. Stay tuned for exact release date and pricing. But go ahead and admit it: You'd give up your firstborn for this thing, wouldn't you ... [Vodafone] Thanks, Dave!

The HTC Tattoo, or we guess it's "the little Android device that could" now, is getting Android 2.1. Yep, the same Tattoo that comes with a small 2.8-inch (320x240) resistive touchscreen and a past its prime 528MHz Qualcomm Processor, will run the version of Android that is the envy of every device. HTC says (translated):

“Kindly note that now we understand that a phone running Android OS 2.1 is available that you are excited to get an update for your Tattoo. We are still working hard to Sense for building this new version but we expect to have the upgrade finished and ready to go soon.”

The HTC Tattoo, known more for its customization than specs, is currently the only Android phone available on Vodafone UK. And though it's just a low-end device, it's going to run Android 2.1 and HTC Sense. Not bad on paper. Not bad at all. [frandroid]

Hootsuite, one of the most recent Twitter clients to come to Android, just announced it acquired the Swift Twitter app. Many users noticed the interface of Hootsuite to be quite similar to Swift App, for those that have used both clients, so the acquisition doesn't come as an extreme surprise to most. With the developer on board fully now, hopefully we will continue to see updates to the application, and see what other features they are able to incorporate.

While Hootsuite is slightly more geared towards a business type feel with scheduled tweets and a few of there other features, Swifts simple yet feature-loaded interface is one that many are sure to prefer. [HootSuite via Android Guys]

Far be it from us to say we told you so, but, well, we told you so. Here's confirmation, plain and simple, that the Google Nexus One on Verizon will not be sold in stores and instead will only be available at google.com/phone -- never mind that Verizon has the wrong link here. No great surprise, as that's been Google's plan for the device all along, same as with the T-Mobile version.

We're still trying to track down an actual date that Big Red's version will be available, so stay tuned.

Update: Curse our tired eyes, but sure enough this screen says it'll have the Sense user interface (read our review of the new version). Interesting ...

We asked for your favorite Android Twitter client, and you answered. Boy, did you ever answer. So, after wading through more than 300 responses, here are your five favorite apps that keep you tweeting all day long.

We have to say, that Verizon HTC Incredible pictured up there looks pretty final to us. The carrier branding is there, there's less of a prototype feel, and with the Droid Eris expected to reach end-of-life on April 1st, the HTC Incredible should seamlessly slide in to replace it and be all sorts of awesome. Unlike previous pictures, the Incredible has eschewed its former glossy backing with a matte-like finish, a change that we can get behind. The odd design on its back cover is still there though and it gets even more interesting when the back cover is removed, it's all scorching red. We kind of like it.

The specs are shaping up and from what can be gathered the Incredible will sport an underclocked Snapdragon processor (768MHz), 512MB RAM, 8 megapixel camera and run Android 2.1 with Sense UI. The dimensions are supposed to be similar to a Nexus One and that friends, is a good thing.

one more picture after the jump!

[Android Forums via engadget]

Opera Mini 5 beta hit the Android Market this morning, and we've been putting it through its paces. It's important to remember that this is Opera Mini, not the Opera Mobile we saw at Mobile World Congress, and the two behave differently.

Opera Mini features data compression on the server side, which means it's fast. Very fast. It will load almost anything faster than a standard mobile browser, so there's almost no point in comparing the two (we don't bother in this hands-on). Also remember that this is beta software, so bugs are likely. And, no, there's no Flash support, and no multitouch. But everything ran pretty smoothly in our brief testing. Check it out after the break.

Chris Bosh is a wonderful basketball player for the Toronto Raptors. He's also really into gadgets and rather tech savvy so in this pseudo commercial, he gives some of his amazing app ideas for the Nexus One. We think if Google can tap into half of these crazy ideas that Chris has, they could be on to something ridiculously awesome. In the mean time, we can just enjoy the fact that a personable NBA superstar decided to make a goofy video about a phone many of you guys use.

It sure seems like Android and NBA superstars are like peanut butter and jelly, doesn't it? Hit the jump for the full video!

Thanks, Alex!

This is another one of those deals that's likely to raise a few eyebrows, or at least produce some unwarranted exclamation points. The long and short of it is that Microsoft and Motorola have come to a deal that will make Bing the default search engine on Android devices released in China in the first quarter.

Here's another way to write that headline: "Manufacturer does what it wants with its own phones."

While it's the first time we can think of Bing being put onto an Android device by default, it's still in the same ballpark as AT&T going with Yahoo on the Backflip. And far be it from Microsoft to put its product on every platform imaginable, right? Besides, this may just be payback for all those Windows Phones that are seeing Android ported onto them. [PR Newswire]

We're getting word that T-Mobile G1 users have been getting OTA updates over the past couple of days, but alas it's not "THE BIG ONE" to Android 2.0 or 2.1. Instead, it looks like it's a radio update, aka the infamous "call quality improvement."

Be sure to post your findings in the forums and check out what others are seeing. [T-Mobile forums]