Okay, let's play a little bit of catch up. The device pictured above was first known as the Motorola Sholes, which for a little while turned into the Motorola Tao, and now looks to be named the Motorola Droid. Hmm. Tao is our personal favorite since we're not even sure what a 'Sholes' is and 'Droid' being too repetitive of Android. Regardless of name, it looks like the Motorola Droid/Tao/Sholes won't run MOTOBLUR, instead rocking a 'with Google' build of Android (which actually lends more credence to the 'Droid' name) that will include native Adobe Flash support.

The reported specs of the Motorola Droid/Tao/Sholes (via phonedog):

• 3.7″ screen with 854×480 (16:9 widescreen) capacitive touchscreen
• 600 MHz ARM Cortex A8 Processor
• Wi-Fi, EV-DO
• 5 megapixel camera with autofocus and LED flash and video recording
• QWERTY Slider, 13.7mm thick
• 3.5mm headphone jack
• 16GB onboard storage with microSD expansion slot
• Android 2.0 'Eclair'
• Launches December 1st

Overall, everything looks fine--the additional screen real estate is a big plus but we were being greedy and hoping for a wee bit more CPU power. BGR also reports that there may be a keyboard-less version for 2010. TheStreet independently reports that Verizon and Motorola may announce the phone next week, which would be highly convenient timing considering rivals HTC and Sprint are launching the HTC Hero on October 11th. Talk about stealing the spotlight.

However, most rumors and reports suggest a later reveal date for the device but with CTIA being held next week, the stars might just be aligning for us. Who's excited for this device and be sure to tell us what's your favorite name--Droid, Tao, or Sholes--in the comments!

thanks Carlos for the tip!

We tallied up your votes, read through your answers, and came up with a clear cut winner on which Android device you guys are most looking forward to. Unsurprisingly, it's the device that's been on our minds from the very beginning, runs the best custom UI in HTC Sense, and is the device closest to launch: the Sprint HTC Hero. The voting breakdown is as follows:

• Sprint HTC Hero - 40% (739 votes)
• Sony XPERIA X3 'Rachael' - 25% (474 votes)
• Motorola Sholes (Verizon) - 18% (332 votes)
• T-Mobile Motorola CLIQ - 12% (216 votes)

Taking a closer look at the results reveal that the Verizon Motorola Sholes/Tao/Droid made a late push, likely due to the leaked pictures that showed off the stellar hardware. And though it was our own personal favorite, we're surprised that the Sony XPERIA X3 'Rachael' racked up so many votes considering it's not yet firmly linked to a carrier. The T-Mobile Motorola CLIQ finished a disappointing fourth but it's a bit unfair when being compared to these flagship devices (fix that price T-Mobile!).

And to give you guys an idea of which devices were written as 'Other': the Samsung Galaxy and InstinctQ receive a lot of votes, as did the same phones originally listed but on different carriers (Hero on AT&T, etc).

Stay tuned for the next poll! We hope you guys continue to vote and thanks for participating!

It's official folks. The Android 1.6 'Donut' update is rolling out to T-Mobile G1 and myTouch 3G devices as we speak. The update will be pushed out to users over-the-air by T-Mobile. We're glad the 'Donut' rollout went a lot smoother than the 'Cupcake' update, maybe Android and T-Mobile are getting the hang of this. Either way, be sure to let us know when you receive the 'Donut' update!

[t-mobile]

thanks Scott Swain for the tip!

Why hello there Motorola Tao. Though we once knew you as the Motorola Sholes, we think this new name fits you better. The clean lines and high-end build certainly make you look exquisite, amazing, and all types of superlative adjectives we're not sure even exist yet.

Though we don't get a full look at the Motorola Tao in the picture, this brief little preview will certainly keep all Android phone makers up at night. Don't forget that the Tao also rocks a QWERTY slider form-factor that's sure to make physical keyboard enthusiasts a tizzy. Seriously, we need official confirmation of this puppy ASAP. Did we mention that the Motorola Tao is supposed to come to Verizon and just cleared the FCC? So, who's interested in the Verizon Motorola Tao?

Anyone care to vote which upcoming Android phone they're excited for most now?

[bgr]

thanks Carlos for the tip!

Take one look at that device right there and ask yourself, what can't Android be? The ODROID gaming platform, powered by Android, is now available for developer pre-order and this nifty little device packs a 3.5-inch capacitive touchscreen, Android 1.5, 512MB of RAM, WiFi, Bluetooth, and mini-HDMI port (tv connectivty) and a 833MHz Samsung CPU (like the iPhone 3GS). Not bad, right? The developer version will ship November 5th and comes with charger cable, batteries, and serial console debugging board and runs for ~$320.

The obvious question is what games does Android even have that warrants a gaming platform? Hopefully, ODROID developers will answer that question soon enough. The standard ODROID gaming platform is expected to be available in December for $250.

[via gizmodo]

Tmonews reports that T-Mobile is going to be rolling out Android 1.6 'Donut' to the T-Mobile G1 at 12AM Eastern Time. Select G1s will receive the update and after 24 hours, the myTouch 3G will get in on the 'Donut' action with their own update. If everything goes according to plan, 'Donut' will slowly trickle down to all the T-Mobile Android handsets soon enough.

We have yet to receive official word on the 'Donut' rollout from T-Mobile so if you do receive the Android 1.6 'Donut' update be sure to let us know! Hopefully this won't turn to another 'Cupcake'-rollout fiasco.

Who's ready for another round of 'will they, won't they'?

The box art for the Motorola CLIQ has been revealed and *surprise, surprise* it heavily showcases social networks and MOTOBLUR. On the front side of the box we can see icons for Facebook, Twitter, Last.fm, MySpace, Yahoo! (!!!), and Google Talk. Perhaps that list of applications pre-loaded onto the CLIQ was right after all. Everything else as far as features and what's in the box is standard fare.

Motorola is really going on its own with the CLIQ, the inclusion of a Yahoo icon clearly distances the CLIQ from the Google brand name. In fact, as the box art stands now, I can't find a Google logo at all (Google Talk logo is in Google colors not Google name).

And honestly? This is the way it should be. Android is growing up and we'll continue to see it morph into different experiences--the beauty of the CLIQ lies just as much in MOTOBLUR as it does in Android. Though we'd still argue that including a Google logo would do a lot of good for the common consumer, this is likely a thing we're going to see more in the future. Android is Android, not Google.

What do you guys think of the box art? Is Motorola right in not including 'Google' on the box?

[leakdroid]

hit the jump to see more pictures of the box art!

Do you have an Android Dev Phone 1 or Google Ion laying around somewhere? Well if you do, you're just in luck--you can go and download Android 1.6 Donut and explore the latest Android OS to your liking. If you need a quick refresher, Android 1.6 offers support for CDMA devices, new screen sizes, a new text-to-speech engine and a lot more goodies for developers to build better apps.

Android 1.6 Donut hasn't been deemed ready for the prime time yet so us regular Android users will have to wait for an official launch to enjoy Donut. Even so, we're sure the Android developer community will figure out a way to port Android 1.6 onto our stock G1s and myTouch's soon enough.

[htc]

If winning the Super Bowl and the Stanley Cup in the same calendar year isn't enough for you Pittsburgh folks, maybe T-Mobile 3G will be! After not making the cut in our previous T-Mobile 3G rollout update, Pittsburgh is now covered in the all around speediness of T-Mobile's third generation network. Enjoy responsibly.

And Pittsburghians (Pittsburghers?) be sure to let us know how the T-Mobile 3G is working out for you! And for the rest of the cities still without T-Mobile 3G, your city could be next!

The Samsung Behold 2, rumored to rock Android, just cleared the FCC. That would make for exciting news, hmm, 6 months ago? We're kidding. But honestly, with so many amazing Android phones in the pipeline and each one offering fresh UIs and new experiences, will there be room for a device (the Behold 2) that's a successor to a device (the original Behold) we didn't even remember? Especially when it comes with only a 1000mAh battery (for reference that's less than the G1)?

Okay, we're being way too harsh. We don't even know what the styling of the device will be or what new features it'll add. The Behold 2 may be an amazing device for all we know! But simply put, Android is beginning to reach a point where we should probably stop focusing on what may be coming and begin to discuss what's already happening.

HTC Hero. Motorola CLIQ. Now that gets us rolling! What do you guys think? Are we being too tough on the Behold 2?

[via phandroid]