We know the wait for the Android 1.5 Cupcake Update is winding down but if you want to see all the new features in action (namely soft keyboard & video recording) check out the latest video from the official Android website.

In the video, the familiar face of Eric goes through some of the new features of Android 1.5 on a HTC Magic (!). Check it out!

We're not sure how new (or old) this is but Wal-Mart is reportedly selling the T-Mobile G1 at a discounted $98.88 with 2-year contract. This is a pretty solid deal considering the retail for G1s are $179.99. But if you're not a Wal-Mart fan, Amazon still has the best deal in town, offering the G1 for $97.99.

Anyone still in the market for the T-Mobile G1? Or is everyone now waiting for the Magic, I7500, or whatever comes next?

[tmonews]

Android Netbooks seem to be all the rage these days, we've got word that even Dell is throwing their name in the mix with a possible Android-powered Netbook. The Dell Android Netbook was leaked by BSQUARE (who are supposed to be working on Flash for Android) in a press release, so it carries some weight.

To quote the press release:

Bsquare Corporation (BSQR - News), the leading software solutions provider to the global embedded device community, today announced it is porting Adobe's Flash Lite 3.17 technology onto Dell Netbooks running Google's Android platform.

"Integrating Adobe Flash technology with the functionality of Google's Android platform on the full range of Netbook devices will allow our OEM customers to meet the high expectations their customers have of this new industry segment," said Bsquare's CEO Brian Crowley. "As the Netbook and Nettop market segments expand, our Adobe Flash Lite port to Android is just one of the software products we will offer our OEM and ODM customers."

[via gizmodo]

The wait is almost over! After asking you guys if you received the Cupcake update, T-Mobile US just posted plans for the Android 1.5 Cupcake Rollout and it'll start by the end of next week! They're going to be randomly sent over-the-air so you may have to be patient in receiving the update, T-Mobile says everyone should get their Cupcake goodies by the end of May.

We may have jumped the gun a bit in announcing the Android 1.5 Cupcake Update being rolled out to all T-Mobile G1 users because well, we're still scratching our heads waiting for Cupcake to come to our G1. However, a lot of users from the UK are telling us that they have received the Cupcake Update and that's making us wonder if it's strictly a UK phenomenon.

Are T-Mobile US and T-Mobile UK working independently on the release? Strange but logical considering the HTC Magic (which needs Cupcake to work) is available over in the UK and Europe already. On the US side, there's no pressing need to push Cupcake out.

So G1 users in the US, do any of you guys have Cupcake running on your T-Mobile G1? Anyone? Let us know in the comments!

And remember, Dev Phone or Rooted G1's don't count.

Phandroid just got word that Android Market has received an update to allow developers to target more countries. Specifically, free apps can now be targeted towards: Canada, France, Ireland, Italy, Portugla, Spain and Switzerland. Paid apps will be available to Austria, France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the Netherlands. And there'll be local language support for English, German, French, Italian, Spanish, Dutch, Czech, and Polish.

In all, it's a solid update for developers considering Android is growing increasingly popular across the pond and developers will have more eyes on their applications.

If you're a fan of visual voicemail (and who isn't?) you'll be happy to hear that Visual Voicemail is coming to T-Mobile. According to T-Mobile's roadmap (which details dates on other T-Mobile phones), Visual Voicemail is supposed to launch this July. If you're unfamiliar with what Visual Voicemail is and does, just know that it makes Voicemail a heck of a lot more bearable--it's basically visual, voicemail (duh).

We have no idea which phones will be able to take advantage of this great feature or if it'll cost extra but we know that it's pretty darn nifty. If you find yourself digging through voicemail that's buried under menus and keypad commands, it's probably going to be worth it.

Are you guys excited about Visual Voicemail to T-Mobile or do you guys use another solution like PhoneFusion's Visual Voicemail?

[tmonews]

TmoToday is reporting that HTC is working on an Android-powered, netbook-type device with 3G connectivity for T-Mobile.  Hmm...interesting. Though these HTC netbook rumors are strictly rumors for now, it may be a market that HTC, Android, and T-Mobile are interested in.

The current trend in computing is moving towards these affordable, one-trick-pony netbooks and though it's garnered a lot of buzz, no one has yet to put out the definitive netbook. With the market so young, could Android take the industry by storm and become the operating system to base netbooks on?

But we have to ask the question again, are any of you guys interested in an Android-powered netbook? Personally, we're interested by the idea but we're not sure how well it'll be executed.

[tmotoday]

The HTC Hero, which we first spotted in the HTC 2009 product lineup in bright pink, has been reportedly handled and caught in the real world. And if you remember what the HTC Hero looked like--it had a very strong chin, to say the least--everything still rings true.

A few observations: the HTC Hero looks to have a 3.5mm headphone jack (hooray!) but lacks a trackball, d-pad, or any navigational input--this puppy may be completely reliant on the touchscreen. The buttons seem to be your standard Android-fare with Home, menu, back, make call, and end call options though we've got to say the design is pretty poor.

We're not sure if this is a pre-production model or the actual thing but we can't see why anyone would choose this Hero model over the Magic or I7500 off looks but hey, the more Android hardware the better. What do you guys think?

Hit the jump to check out more pictures of the HTC Hero!

[via engadget]

We've got our hands on T-Mobile's reported Android Roadmap for the rest of the year and though it looks somewhat suspect, the conclusions are fairly logical. According to the roadmap we can expect an updated T-Mobile G1 to be released some time in Fall of this year along with the mysterious Samsung Houdini.

This timeframe makes a lot of sense because the G1 would have been on the market for one whole calendar year and would be in desperate need of a refresh. As noted in the roadmap, the current G1 will have reached "end-of-lifetime" when the new G1 is released. The photo shown as the T-Mobile G1 v2 could merely be a mockup, but it looks distantly similar to the Memphis, which we dubbed an Android phone in HTC's leaked product map.

As for the Samsung Houdini, we know that Samsung is supposedly releasing three Android Devices this year and that we've already found the other two (the I7500 and the S8000 'cubic'). Could this be the third Samsung Android device or is it simply one of the previously reported Android devices? We can't tell because the Houdini seems to fall in line with the full-touch, one-slab design of both the Cubic and I7500. We think it's the I7500 because again, the timeframe makes sense.

And finally, if this truly is the roadmap for Android devices in 2009--those blacked out boxes in the holiday season better have Android phones behind them or some other carrier is going to need to step up and deliver some Android hardware (looking at you Sprint). Just 3 new devices? Not good enough.

[bgr]