It's always great to see Android spreading it's robo-love to the smaller guys, and starting today Credo Mobile is carrying the HTC Hero (CDMA).  The Hero, running Android 2.1,  will be offered at $79.99 with a two year agreement, and plans (voice only) start at $59.99 monthly.  Credo Mobile is a small nationwide carrier that uses the Sprint network for voice and data.  They pride themselves on their social conscience, and in 2009 the company donated $2,680,211 to nonprofit groups from it's revenue.  You can read more about Credo Mobile at the source link, and you can find out everything there is to know about the HTC Hero in our forums. [Credo Mobile] Thanks Nick!

Today is the launch of the Samsung Acclaim on US Cellular, and the nation's sixth-largest carrier has a treat for everyone coming in to pick one up -- the Acclaim (as well as other select handsets), will include Your Navigator Deluxe.  Your Navigator Deluxe is a TeleNav powered turn-by-turn navigation system (very much like SprintNavigator for Sprint smartphones) that includes enhancements like comprehensive business listings and weather conditions.  Many (this author included) prefer TeleNav products over the standard Google navigation because of the small extras like a personal launch page and details about your destination.  In any case, more options is never a bad thing. 

Check out a video overview of Your Navigator Deluxe and the full press release after the break. [TeleNav Blog]

While some of us use our phones to communicate or play awesome games, there are those who take science and spare time to the next level.  Mike Partain is one of those people.  Using an off-the-shelf Lego NXT robotics kit, a Motorola Droid and a whole bucketful of ingenuity and smarts, Mike has added sensors the robotics kit was missing -- camera, GPS, and compass.  Hit the break to read about it in Mike's own words, a link to the source code (special thanks Mike!), and a couple videos seeing different views from the Droid's unblinking eye. [spike3 on PBase]

When we saw Martin Cooper -- the inventor of the cell phone, by the way -- on C-SPAN in March, he was telling us how he gave up his iPhone for the Motorola Droid. Fast forward to today, and he's continuing his praises of everybody's favorite smartphone operating system, this time in a Q&A with CNN. Much of it has to do with his influence on the cell phone industry, but it's the final quote that has the zinger:

"I think that the Android phones are catching up now, and the latest version of the Android phones are every bit as good, if not better, than the iPhone."

We couldn't agree more, Marty. And the numbers certainly are showing that. (By the way, you can follow the 88-year-old Mr. Cooper on Twitter at @martymobile.) [CNN] Thanks to everyone who sent this in!

Behold, the retail box for the AT&T Samsung Captivate, which will be available July 18 for $199 after two-year contract. You'll note how the front of the box, at least, is way heavy on the "Samsung Galaxy S" and light on any mention of Android. Not that that's a bad thing, necessarily, though it certainly stands out. Same goes for the promo video that's making the YouTube rounds (and which you can see after the break). Figure with the Galaxy S launching on all four major U.S. carrier in the next month or so, this is just tip of the iceberg. Stay tuned, folks. [via Engadget]

The Motorola MB710 (which looks and sounds a lot like the Motoroi) has been cleared by the FCC, and it appears headed to T-Mobile.  The FCC documents include a user manual mockup that shows us MyFaves, and the radio bands (1700 MHz AWS) pretty much scream that T-Mobile is where it's headed.  Wonder which device on the leaked roadmap it could be?

What we know about specs: MOTOBLUR, 3.5 mm headset jack, GPS, WiFi, bluetooth, microSD card support, 8 megapixel camera, and a xenon flash.  If this is really a Motoroi variant, we can expect Android 2.1, and the familiar 3.7 480x854 LCD display.  Of course, not a peep from Motorola or T-Mobile about the handset, so educated guesses are the rule of the day. [FCC via Phonescoop]

It's Android contest time, boys and girls, and the folks at Seidio are offering up a whopping 20 cases. On tap for the Verizon Droid Incredible are five Innocase Rugged cases and five Innocase Active cases. And it's the same deal for the Evo 4G -- five Innocase Active cases and five Innocase Rugged cases.

What do you have to do to win?

• Evo 4G: Follow the instructions in this forum thread.
• Droid Incredible: Follow the instructions in this forum thread.

Contest ends at 5 p.m. EDT Sunday. Good luck, everybody!

Online auction giant eBay this morning announced that its Android application is now available internationally, including Australia, Canada and the United Kingdom. With the app, you'll have access to:

• Buyer alerts – Stay up to date on the status of auctions and watched items with timely alerts
• Daily Deals – View limited time bargains on popular items, where items are often more than 50% off the original price and include free shipping
• Feedback – Leave Feedback for items bought and sold within the application
• My eBay – Improved experience that includes an easier to use interface so sellers can quickly access listings, watched items, bids and sales
• Member Messages – Buyers and sellers can now receive and reply to messages and emails sent through My eBay. Ask a seller a question or reply to an inquiry or keep track of notifications directly through the app
• Sharing – Enabled with sharing functions so that buyers and seller can share items via Facebook, Twitter or email with friends and family
• Payments – PayPal account users can purchase items directly through the application
• View Sellers Other Items – View what other items a particular seller has to offer across eBay
• Voice search – In addition to type search, the eBay application comes enabled with speech-to-text voice search

You should be able to download the eBay app now in the Android Market (link). [Business wire]

Normally when we see celebrity smartphone unboxings we see names like Michaluk, Bohn, Ritchie and Nickinson. In this case, Sony Ericsson went out and got Maria Sharapova, who's a pretty good tennis player or something, to unbox the Xperia X10 Mini Pro. (See our own hands-on.) What she's got that the rest of us don't -- besides looks and game, of course -- remains to be seen. So what's up, SE? Lose our numbers? Anyhoo, check out the video after the break. (Oh, by the way, Maria -- that finger tapping things looks a little familiar.) [Sony Ericsson Product Blog via Androinica]