Week one of the Smartphone Round Robin is over and week two begins tomorrow. We've just scratched the surface here and already we've run the gamut from a Windows Mobile user examining webOS to a BlackBerry user having an encounter with the Droid. If you have a Smartphone need, we're pretty confident that the Round Robin will help you find out how to fill it.

We could go on, but there's egg nog to be spiked and presents to be wrapped, so hit up the updates page for a list of reviews by platform and hit this post up after the break for the best of Smartphone Experts this week.

Where there's an upcoming HTC phone, there's a current HTC ROM dump. And that brings us to this leak that reportedly shows the HTC Espresso's Sense UI with Android 2.1, ripped from the ROM and plopped onto a Hero. That bolsters the argument that the Espresso may be the successor to the Hero, but we'll just have to wait and see. A couple more pictures after the break. [Via HTCPedia]

Either the folks at NBC's "Saturday Night Live" are as nerdy as we are, or Engadget EiC Joshua Topolsky's visits on "Late Night with Jimmy Fallon" have been rubbing off. Either way, the SNL gang used the Google Nexus One to take a big swing at the iPhone (and AT&T) last night during "Weekend Update."

"It was reported this week that Google would soon launch its own cellphone as a challenge to the iPhone. Also a challenge to the iPhone? Making phone calls."

Now that's comedy! Peep the video after the break. [via Engadget]

Tired of those blurry shots of the Motorola Sholes Tablet (aka the XT701)? Yeah, us, too. Fortunately, Moto's Chinese Web site put forth the full Monte (though the site's currently down). Here are the full, official specs:

• WCDMA / HSDPA 10.2M / HSUPA 5.76M
• 3.7-inch-wide touch-screen , 854X480 resolution
• 5-megapixel camera with auto-focus, Xenon flash
• CortexTM-A8 processor
• Accelerometer, proximity sensor, light sensor.
• aGPS.
•  
• WiFi b/g
• MicroSD
• FM tuner
• 3.5 mm headphone jack
• Support for MP3/AAC/AACv1/AACv2/AMR-NB/AMR-WB/MIDI/MIDI/WAV/Ogg Vorbis
• Supported video formats MPEG4/H.263/H.264
• Support SMS, MMS, e-mail (POP3/IMAP4) and enterprise-class e-mail
• USB 2.0
• Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR

And a few more pics after the break.

[Via AndroidOS.in] Thanks, everyone, who sent this in!

If you're the kind of person who enjoys a good teardown of a smartphone, check out this one of the Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 from MyDrivers. Because who doesn't love good gadget pr0n first thing in the morning? [Gallery via AndroidOS.in]

Bad news for those of you with the HTC Magic and Dream on Canada's Rogers network: Looks like you'll be stuck with Android 1.5 for the forseeable future. On HTC's Web site, under "Can I upgrade my Rogers Magic device to Android 1.6, it says ...

"HTC is not currently planning any Android 1.6 upgrades for Rogers Dream or Magic. Android 1.6 was only made available for “Google”-branded devices such as the G1. It is not available for HTC-branded products such as the Dream or Magic, which use Android 1.5. We believe that Android 1.5 is a stable and reliable software platform that delivers a terrific user experience."

You know what? Android 1.5 is a reliable software platform that delivered a terrific user experience -- in 2008. Upgrades are released for a reason: To get onto devices. Sorry, folks. Best hope for some hacking alternatives.

[HTC via BGR]

Here's another look at the Motorola Sholes Tablet (aka the XT701) with its unslightly bump. The thing is thin, sure, but there's a exactly what the hardware will be is still up for debate. This render clearly shows an 8-megapixel camera with xenon flash (how's that gonna affect battery life?), while a previous look showed a 5MP camera. Rumored specs continue be an upgraded processor from the Droid, built-in HDMI with 720p video quality (which we already have in the Droid), and an FM radio.

The Sholes tablet is rumored for release in Russia and China in 2010, with Android 2.1 on board. One more render after the break.

[Via mobiset.ru - thanks to everyone who sent this in!]

From the Forums is a great way for you, our readers, to see the hottest topics being discussed. But you must be a registered member and becoming a member is a simple process. So if you have not already already done so, head on over and register now!

• Sprint confirmed that the HTC Hero and Samsung Moment will in fact receive an Android 2.1 update skipping 2.0. Excited much?
• The Moto Droid has it all, but you want more right? In the future what new features would you like to see added to your Droid?
•  Ever wonder what exactly "rooting" your Android device means? Our sub-forum, Android Development and Hacking, is a great place to get all the information you need.
• The ever popular Beautiful Widgets is back, new and improved. Gone is the Sense UI inspired look but we think it's looking pretty sharp on our Moto Droids... discuss it here!

See you on the forums!

It's the end of the first week of the Smartphone Round Robin so it's time to wrap up our thoughts on Windows Phone in a full review. There's a lot to be said about where Windows Phone is headed and we joined the choir for this one but honestly, we like the direction it's showing with 6.5. And before anything, we're going to have to say it, we like Windows Phone 6.5. *gasp*

But let's be honest, there's more similarity with Android and Windows Phone than Android has with any other smartphone platform on the market. Heck, they basically share HTC. The biggest difference between the two platforms? Time. Windows Phone and Android hail from two different smartphone eras, Android being the splashy new attention stealer, Windows Phone a part of the old guard. And though many people are quick to write off Windows Phone, to do so would be foolish. Us Android users have a lot to learn from Windows Phone, both from their success and from their mistakes.

So let's take a look at Windows Phone and see what it has to offer for us Android users!

Looks like we don't have to bother with an actual hands-on of the Sony Ericsson Xperia X10, now that the FCC has done one of the best photo jobs we've ever seen come out of the Beltway.

But here it is, in all its photographic glory. And along with the pics come the usual FCC fodder -- manual and radio information, which is important because in it we learn of support for T-Mobile's AWS spectrum. So even if no U.S. carrier picks up the X10 (which was the case for the Windows Mobile-powered X1), you can still bring one in and use it to your heart's content.

We've got a bunch more pics after the break. [FCC via Engadget]