We had already reported on the potential price drop of the Sprint HTC Hero to $99.99 but now it's officially official. Best Buy has just announced that the Sprint HTC Hero and Samsung Moment will both now be priced at $99.99 with new 2-year contract. We think that having those phones at $99 is a wonderful deal that should hopefully spur other carriers to drop prices on their phones as well (ahem, T-Mobile).

If you had paid $179 for the Sprint HTC Hero or Samsung Moment at Best Buy, hopefully you can still return in and receive the difference? Let us know what happens!

[businesswire]

We've already seen the Samsung Galaxy Spica I5700 before but now it's finally official. Samsung has just unveiled their latest Android powered smartphone and it's looking exactly like we imagined. The Galaxy Spica packs a 800 MHz processor which we're going to assume is like the Moment's, a 3.2 inch 320x480 capacitive touchscreen, and a 3 megapixel camera. One fun feature, the Galaxy Spica will be the first Android smartphone to support DivX videos.

The Samsung Galaxy Spica is already available in Europe and the CIS and will be released in the Middle East and Asia at a later date. Looks like it'll follow in the Galaxy's footsteps and not be available in the US. Oh well, guess the Samsung Behold II will have to do!

[via engadget]

Though we're sure all you Sprint HTC Hero users would really appreciate an Android 2.0 software update right about now, it looks like HTC isn't ready to deliver Eclair to you just yet. Instead, Sprint is ramping up a 'maintenance release' that'll presumably fix well-known bugs and software issues with the HTC Hero. You should receive the update in the next few weeks. [sprint]

BGR is whispering that the Sprint HTC Hero is now available for $99 with new 2-year contract at Best Buy. We'll be looking to see if this report is true but it makes sense considering the DROID Eris, Verizon's version of the HTC Hero, is offered at that price point. $99 is a fantastic deal for such a great Android device--HTC Sense is lovely to use, Sprint rate plans are affordable, and Android 2.0 should come eventually.

We've seen the Android Dev Phone 1 for quite some time now and it was essentially a T-Mobile G1/HTC Dream with some snazzy graphics on the battery cover. Now, the Android Dev Phone 2 is essentially the myTouch 3G/HTC Magic/Google Ion with the cute Android Robot peering out on the battery cover.

The Android Dev Phone 2 is available for $399 and comes unlocked for use with any GSM carrier. Developers should note that the ADP2 comes with Android 1.6 and not Android 2.0 which can be qualified as a strange move since Android 2.0 is already live and running. We're not sure if developers will find a reason to switch over to the ADP2 but the ADP2 does offer 512MB ROM vs the 256MB ROM of the ADP1.

In any case, since there's not much difference in the dev phones (and it's a device that's entirely familiar), it's definitely more fun to wonder what the Android Dev Phone 3 will be. Perhaps the Motorola Milestone?

[via androidandme]

We're not going to lie, the Vega Android Tablet by ICD actually looks like something we'd want to use. The Vega Android Tablet comes in 7-inch, 11-inch, and 15-inch versions that could find a use in any home since ICD (Innovative Converged Devices) promises to make it a low-cost device that may even find carrier subsidies. The specs for the Vega Android Tablet are:

• Android 2.0
• NVIDIA Tegra
• Resistive touch-screen display
• 1366x768 screen (for the 15.6-inch model)
• 512 DDR RAM / 512 NAND Flash storage
• 1.3-megapixel Webcam
• MicroSD, USB 2.0
  
• Wi-Fi, 3G, Bluetooth
• Accelerometer
• Dual microphones
• Battery Life ~4 hours

The Vega Android Tablet is supposed to make its way to users in the first half of 2010. More details are expected at CES so we'll definitely keep an eye on this. Hit the jump to see more product shots of the Vega Android Tablet!

[icd]

Check that out. A Palm Treo 650 running our favorite OS, Android. Yes, that's a 5-year old device with just a 312 MHz Processor and 32MB of RAM running a desktop-class OS. Yes, it takes a while to boot up and looks a little weird. But isn't that just awesome? Obviously, we don't recommend using a Palm Treo 650 running Android as your daily driver but hey, if you got one, why not try it, right?

We'll always have a soft spot for Palm Treos, if only for their trail blazing ways. Though we obviously focus on Android first at Android Central, we're happy to see Palm succeed with the Pre and now the Pixi. But there was once a time when we wondered if Palm should scrap their OS and just use Android instead. Looks like we weren't the only ones wondering!

[via gizmodo]

Sony Ericsson UK has a pre-registration site for the XPERIA X10 that states the expected launch date for the device as February 10th. Obviously that's in no way, shape, or form the exact date but it does give us a barometer to control our expectations. The XPERIA X10 is the device we are looking most forward to in the new year and we're hopeful that it can challenge the Motorola DROID as the best Android handset available.

Remember: 1GHz Snapdragon Processor, 4-inch touchscreen, 8.1 megapixel camera and that beautiful 'Rachael' UI. Just lovely stuff.

[sonyericsson uk]

The much anticipated Dell Android Smartphone is officially official and it's headed to China & Brazil. The Dell Mini 3i, as it's known, looks like a cross between an iPhone and a Palm Pre with touches of the myTouch 3G. The Dell Mini 3i will launch on China Mobile in China without 3G and Claro in Brazil with 3G. Obviously, the biggest head scratcher is why is a big time US company not releasing their first big time phone in the US and we honestly have no idea. Maybe Dell figures the competition is too stiff in the States and would rather try and sell a gazillion units in foreign countries for the time being?

And though the Dell Mini 3i was announced, the official specs and pricing are still under wraps. The China version will run China Mobile's Ophone OS on top of Android and arrive in November. The Brazil version will reach customers by the end of the year but it's unclear if it will have any custom UI on it. In any case, even with so many unknowns we're still confident a reputable company like Dell will deliver a quality handset, even if it is their first foray into the smartphone market. Dell keenly reminds us that we should definitely expect more Dell smartphones in the future.

The Dell Mini 3i has already been unboxed in China and you can take a closer look at the phone after the jump!

[dell via engadget]

Though the Android 2.0 'Eclair' SDK has been available for quite some time and the Motorola DROID runs Android 2.0 perfectly, the Android 2.0 source code has been kept under wraps for some particular reason (underhand deal with Motorola & Verizon?). This meant that all phone manufacturers outside of Motorola could only tinker with Android 1.6. Luckily, that has all changed.

Google has released the Android 2.0 source code to the Android Open Source Project and that's a great start for all Eclair hunters. Cyanogen has even got it fully running on his T-Mobile G1 and says everything is running "really well, fast and smooth". Eventually, we're sure that Android 2.0 will be available in relatively easy, how to instructions for rooted Android devices.

[aosp via mobilecrunch]