Both of these smartphones have been designed specifically to be able to handle the rigorous activities of daily life, although the Hydro will be more up to the task with its water-resistant properties. The smartphones both will also be aimed for the budget smartphone buyer and will probably be available on regional carriers at some point, but no pricing or release dates have been released at this time.

The phones both come with a smaller 3.5-inch display running on a 320×480 resolution, so they aren’t the best looking displays, but then again they’ll be priced to sell too. Kyocera has equipped them both with Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich but have opted for capacitive touch buttons instead of on-screen controls. They have stayed true to the ICS button layout and design, so that looks nice. Both phones come powered by 1.0 GHz single-core Qualcomm processors with 512MB of RAM, 2GB of internal storage, and decent 3.2 megapixel rear facing cameras capable of 720p video capture.

The Kyocera Rise features a slide-up design that reveals a 4-row QWERTY keyboard that was nicely spaced, had good feel and travel while typing, and will be a great companion for the heavy email, twitter, or texter. The device was thin considering the built-in keyboard and had a good overall feel in the hand with the aluminum accents. Kyocera’s Hydro on the other hand is fully water-resistant up to 30 minutes in 10 meters of water, and has the exact same specs other than no QWERTY keyboard and the battery cover is extremely rugged and durable.

Once Kyocera announces some pricing and carrier options we’ll be sure to update, in the meantime enjoy the hands-on pictures below. I was actually pleasantly surprised by the Rise myself.

Both of the smartphones use technology from the Kyocera Dura series smartphones. The Hydro has water resistance ratings of IPx5 and IPx7. That means the smartphone won’t get damaged if you are caught in the rain or if you drop it in the sink. The phone can be submerged in water up to a meter deep for 30 minutes and still be okay.

The Rise has a slide up touchscreen LCD with a QWERTY keyboard underneath. Both of the smartphones have a 3.5-inch HVGA capacitive 480×320 IPS LCD and use a 1 GHz QUALCOMM Snapdragon processor. Both have 2 GB of ROM, 512 MB of RAM and support microSD cards up to 32 GB. The phones also have 3.2-megapixel cameras with LED flash and the ability to record video. The phones also have Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, USB 2.0, and three axis accelerometers. Pricing is unannounced at this time.

Lets not forget Sony Ericsson and Motorola who sit down next in line with 5 and 4 devices respectively on Gingerbread, then noting that Pantech has none, Casio has none, and Kyocera is tied with LG at 1 device in total. Most groups have more Android 2.2 FroYo devices than they do Gingerbread devices, with the grand exception being, again, HTC with 9 more devices on Gingerbread than on FroYo. Both Samsung and Motorola have one more device on FroYo than on Gingerbread while both Kyocera and Sony Ericsson’s entire collection (1 and 5 respectively) are updated to Gingerbread. Because of this last factoid you could argue that it’s Sony Ericsson and Kyocera, not HTC, that’s winning this update battle.

On the other hand, per the original announcement of who would be in the Update Alliance in the first place, the following manufacturers are the true members:
HTC
Samsung
Sony Ericsson
LG
Motorola

The big four carriers, red, yellow, blue, and pink, are all included in the carrier list of members of the Update Alliance, along with Vodafone and, of course, Google (though Google isn’t a carrier, they’re certainly on the list of those working to bring updates asap to devices.) How Google is working to do this, and indeed how any of these groups are working to do this is still a mystery.

As far as how many phones, by manufacturer, have received an update which were either out at the time of the announcement or have been released since, the numbers are much closer to one another, HTC still in the lead with 14 out of its 24 devices receiving an update, Samsung in second with 13/33, Motorola next with 10/25, LG after that with 9/15, and Sony Ericsson in last place with 4/14. These are the manufacturers that are in the alliance.

Finally there’s one big gigantic undeniably large and in charge list in the gallery below courtesy of AndroidAndMe which contains every single Android device out right at this moment. Have a look at it and let us know what you think of or what you know of the Android Update Alliance thus far. Seem like a successful initiative to you?

[via AndroidAndMe]

Before we continue, I must say that we’re hoping this all has something to do with the seemingly excellent Motorola Triumph, a Virgin Mobile carried Android of some awesome significance that we got to look at some weeks ago. Will they toss Triumphs off the stage into the crowd? We can only hope!

This festival will be taking place on September 10th at Marriweather Post Pavillion in Columbia Md. If only it were in our backyard! The reason this festival is going to be an insane hit – as if the utterly unprecedented awesomeness of the musical lineup weren’t enough – is that it’ll be free! that’s right, all you’ve got to do is head to Virgin Mobile LIVE on Facebook on Friday, July 15th and you’ll be able to get yourself a free ticket or three. How about that!

Also there’s a dancing part of the whole situation too! The Dance Forest will feature James Murphy, Calvin Harris, Ghostland Observatory, !!!, Porter Robinson, Eclectic Method, and Teddybears.

To get in, just go to http://facebook.com/virginmobilelive and “like” the page and be there at 10 AM (EDT) Friday, July 15 to secure yourself some tickets. Virgin Mobile customers and Virgin Mobile Festival ticket holders from the past five years will be invited via text and email to a private “free-sale” to be held at 10 a.m. (EDT) Thursday, July 14, also at facebook.com/virginmobilelive. Win!

And Kyocera, what about them, again? Are they involved, or just advertising? Turns out they’re doing some pretty awesome stuff:

Kyocera Wireless will be presenting the festival for its sixth year and will be showcasing new and innovative ways to express its enterprise-wide greening initiative on the festival grounds. Headquartered in Kyoto, Japan, Kyocera will also be following Virgin’s philanthropic lead by collecting donations on site to aide in the recovery effort from this year’s devastating earthquake and tsunami.

Thank you Kyocera, and thank you Virgin Mobile, well done!

The only information that was passed to us from this, again, very anonymous and not-yet-credible source is that this is a “gaming tablet” made to come out soon to fill in a supposed market gap created by the Sony Ericsson Xperia PLAY, also soon to be out around the world. We do not know which version of Android it will be running, and we do not know the exact size, though from the photos it appears to be slightly shorter and a lot longer than the Motorola XOOM tablet.

The back appears to have similar / the same materials in play as the XOOM, an almost rubbery matte-black plastic with what almost seems to be a gloss (or shiny plastic, more than likely,) overlay of leaves or fishes along with the Kyocera logo. How in the world this will work as a gaming tablet, we do not know.

What an oddity! This would mark another big attempt to take a slice out of the Android pie right alongside the equally odd Kyocera Echo that’ll be coming out on Sprint quite soon – have a peek at a video of Kyocera’s booth at CTIA 2011 here, the full post of which is [here], then also don’t forget our video of the Echo’s [startup sequence] and our lovely [hands-on] with the device as well!

NOTE: bonus – “Katsura” is apparently one of three trees that are “city symbols” for the city of Kyoto. Kyocera is not only based in Kyoto, their name is derived from its name: Kyoto Ceramics = Kyocera.

This phone has dual 3.5-inch WVGA displays with a pivot hinge that allows them four modes of view: single-screen mode, simul-task mode (two different apps running at the same time, one per screen,) optimized mode (such as a keyboard on one half and email on the other, and tablet mode, which of course gives you what they’re calling a 4.7-inch diagonal 800 x 960 pixel screen. But there’s a big line in the middle!

As for the everyday specifications, there’s a 5-megapixel camera on the back that can record with 720p HD video camcorder and a single flash, Android 2.2 Froyo inside, and a mobile hotspot with up to 5 connections to devices for some sweet 3G data speeds. It’s got a 1GHz Snapdragon processor, Bluetooth 2.1, Telenav GPS, Flash 10.1, and an extra battery included – so that you don’t have to go out and purchase a big fat battery to power this double dose of display.

Users also get to take a look at the various plan options to chose from ranging from $69.99 a month for 450 anytime minutes and unlimited data to the $179.99 a month Business Advantage plan with Unlimited data. All plans include nationwide long distance and no domestic roaming charges. Additional lines under the Everything Data family plan can be added for about $20 a month, and for free nights starting after 6pm is an additional $10 a month. Simply everything family plan is an additional $90 a month for 3-5 additional lines. So man, it adds up quick.

The dual touch screen Kyocera Echo comes with twin 3.5″ screens that can run int tablet mode (both screens in concert with a 4.7″ diagonal display size. Other options are the Optimized mode, which offers the same app spreading things out (think YouTube where one screen is the video and the second screen is the YouTube menu), Simultask mode, which takes full advantage of Sprints “Hyper-task” capability employing two of the core seven apps simultaneously, and Single Screen mode which works in the closed configuration for phone calls. The Echo is powered by a single-core 1GHz Snapdragon processor and will be running Android 2.2 (Froyo) out of the box.

It has a 5 MP rear facing camera capable of shooting 720p HD video with autofocus and digital zoom and with it’s external microSD card it can handle storage up to 32 GB. But the real selling point here is the unique 3D hinge design which moves the screens around to be able to use the real estate that a dual screen configuration affords. Check out our Hands-on and stay tuned, a review is bound to come real soon on this exciting new handset!

First Impressions

This is a heavy phone. Not as heavy as the two screens might make it seem when you’re considering you’re holding two phone’s worth of display real-estate, but this is no Nexus S (which, incidentally, Sprint will also be carrying soon.) This wont be the first or last time I say this: this is a phone that consumers will be purchasing and deciding on keeping based on the two screen functionality. I’d wager this phone to quickly become a love/hate situation creator through its whole lifespan.

I won’t go into the software / processor bits in this hands-on post very far as there’s no finality to that end of the phone quite yet, but the dual screen aspect of this phone is definitely, definitely, for certain, inescapable to the point of feeling odd while the device is closed. That said, a two screen Android device remains to me to be an exciting prospect here, even before I’m able to speak on how it’s utilized by apps and such.

The Hinge

While there are hinges on a number of phones coming out right now, and hinges have been a part of cell phones since cell phones populated this earth, but this is a hinge between two displays. This is a unique hinge in that it’s not just pushing the head screen upward and outward, it’s giving you the ability to hold that screen up in several positions. You’re able to have the screen down in single-screen position, halfway up in a laptop mode (both screens visible, the top angled down at approximately a 45 degree angle,) and flat out so both screens are on the same plane. While in that last position, there’s an odd looseness in the top screen that goes on, a spring holding it down in place, that tells us this device is really meant to be held in landscape mode for every configuration except single-screen mode. If not, it really ought to be held down tighter.

The Gap

If you’ve ever used a Nintendo DS, you know the coolness inherent in having two screens running the same app, utilizing two separate planes for the same app or game – it’s definitely got potential. However, setting the screen down to the “tablet” configuration makes us hope for a larger screen that the gap between displays here sort of throws a wrench into. We’re nowhere near ready to toss the towel in on this device just yet, don’t get me wrong, but I and we are hoping for some dedicated apps to make full use of the crack, not dismissing the fact that it’s there.

Wrap-Up

I am personally really excited to get this device in my hands for us here on Android Community to review because it’s totally unique. It’s an oddity to be sure, and one that has a good opportunity to expand the Android landscape in a way that’s extremely volatile. This device could bomb hard if it’s not embraced by developers hoping to utilize the dual screen, and Sprint / Kyocera know this for sure, but it could also be a very big deal in that it’ll be the first dual-screen Android device that’s really being pushed to the North American market on a mobile carrier.

Look for our full review relatively soon – we’ll be going wildly in-depth.

Sprint Direct Connect will feature a broad array of improvements over the iDEN network and is expected to consolidate multiple network technologies into one seamless network resulting in enhanced coverage, quality and speed, better network flexibility, reduced operating costs, and improved environmental sustainability. These changes should help with the increase of data usage on smartphones and offer higher bandwidth capacity, as well as triple the square-miles that the Push-to-talk network covers.

Sprint mentions they plan to first release an Android Powered phone for this new Push-to-Talk network built by either Kyocera or Motorola, and with more to follow from those manufacturers. It will feature smartphone specs, and have a qwerty keyboard. (I’m betting on Motorola first) This all sounds like good news for those that enjoy Push-to-talk. I know I have two friends, one a Fire fighter, and another that is a Vegas Metro Police Officer that both use current Push-to-talk phones on the job that are old, outdated, and look like flip phones from 2007. This should be good news for companies supplying these types of phones to their staff. Read below for the full Sprint Press Release:

Planned 4Q launch of Sprint Direct Connect will offer increased push-to-talk coverage, more broadband data capabilities, new features – and more enhancements to come as Sprint Network Vision deploys

OVERLAND PARK, Kan. (BUSINESS WIRE), March 16, 2011 – Sprint (NYSE: S) today announced plans to expand its gold-standard push-to-talk leadership, unveiling fourth-quarter launch plans for next-generation push-to-talk capabilities powered by Sprint’s broadband CDMA network. As part of the launch, Sprint will offer an initial set of handsets packed with features designed for workgroups that rely on push-to-talk and establish a new push-to-talk brand – Sprint® Direct Connect®.

Sprint Direct Connect service is being built to deliver higher bandwidth capacity to keep up with customers’ demand for data. Sprint also is working to deliver enhanced applications on Sprint Direct Connect, best-ever in-building coverage and is planning to provide triple the square-mile reach of Sprint’s current push-to-talk service.

Sprint Direct Connect will launch with an initial portfolio of rugged devices from Motorola Mobility and Kyocera. The devices will feature most of the capabilities available on current Sprint push-to-talk phones, plus next-generation push-to-talk applications and functionality including high-speed data access, high-resolution cameras and Bluetooth®. The planned portfolio will include an ultra-rugged camera flip phone and an Android™ Smartphone with a touch screen and a QWERTY keyboard. In 2012, Sprint expects to deepen its push-to-talk portfolio, adding more devices with new form factors and features.

The devices are expected to enable group push-to-talk for up to 200 participants, Land Mobile Radio (LMR) interoperability, and availability notification. In early 2012, Sprint Direct Connect is expected to add more capabilities, including international push-to-talk.

Network Vision

Sprint Direct Connect service is a tangible benefit of Network Vision, Sprint’s blueprint to deploy a cost-effective and innovative network. Announced in December, Network Vision is expected to consolidate multiple network technologies into one seamless network resulting in enhanced coverage, quality and speed; better network flexibility; reduced operating costs; and improved environmental sustainability. The plan includes a complete upgrade of Sprint’s current wireless networks accompanied by changes in device chipsets and network infrastructure.

The benefits of Network Vision to Sprint’s PTT customers will be wide-ranging:

Better coverage and capacity

* Push-to-talk coverage footprint is planned to increase to nearly 2.7 million square miles and is expected to cover a population of 309 million (with the addition of 1xrtt and roaming coverage) – an increase from the iDEN network’s 908,370 square miles covering a population 278 million.
* In-building coverage is expected to improve significantly through investment in the most advanced CDMA technology and radio equipment.
* Voice and data capacity is expected to increase significantly as Sprint will be able to fully leverage its industry leading spectrum holdings in 800 MHz, 1.9 GHz, and – through its partnership with Clearwire – 2.5 GHz.

With Sprint Direct Connect, Sprint expects:

* More push-to-talk enabled devices including handsets, rugged devices, and PDAs that combine industry leading push-to-talk and mobile broadband data services over a larger coverage area.
* Enhanced features for push-to-talk users on the new CDMA platform.
* Interoperability with all existing Sprint push-to-talk devices.

During the nationwide implementation of Network Vision, Sprint expects to continue operating the iDEN network at current best-ever performance levels. As the customer base shifts to more broadband-centric push-to-talk applications on the CDMA network and Sprint launches Sprint Direct Connect, iDEN cell sites are expected to be phased out in 2013.

“Our customers are asking for broadband push-to-talk now,” said Paget Alves, president-Sprint Business. “We’ve seen steadily increasing demand for faster data speeds, better and broader coverage, and more applications on push-to-talk devices. Sprint Direct Connect is designed to solve for all three, and is expected to come with sub-second push-to-talk call set-up time initially in Sprint CDMA RevA coverage areas. Sub-second call set up is expected to expand across the U.S. with the implementation of Network Vision.”

Alves added, “We believe the new push-to-talk service powered by a broadband network and featuring competitively priced rugged handsets and smart phones will represent an unmatched offering in the market.”

Sprint plans to identify customers who require custom push-to-talk solutions and assist with their migration to the CDMA network. The company also plans to engage partners in developing a robust portfolio of push-to-talk accessories and involve developers in the creation of new applications through its Sprint Gets Rugged application developers program. The program will provide information, support and tools needed to port developers’ applications to Sprint Direct Connect devices. More information on the Sprint Gets Rugged application developers program can be found at http://developer.sprint.com/SprintGetsRugged. Sprint will hold a conference on March 22 at the International CTIA WIRELESS® meeting in Orlando for developers who are interested.

About Sprint Nextel

Sprint Nextel offers a comprehensive range of wireless and wireline communications services bringing the freedom of mobility to consumers, businesses and government users. Sprint Nextel served more than 49.9 million customers at the end of 2010 and is widely recognized for developing, engineering and deploying innovative technologies, including the first wireless 4G service from a national carrier in the United States; offering industry-leading mobile data services, leading prepaid brands including Virgin Mobile USA, Boost Mobile, and Assurance Wireless; instant national and international push-to-talk capabilities; and a global Tier 1 Internet backbone. Newsweek ranked Sprint No. 6 in its 2010 Green Rankings, listing it as one of the nation’s greenest companies, the highest of any telecommunications company. You can learn more and visit Sprint at www.sprint.com or www.facebook.com/sprint and www.twitter.com/sprint

“Safe Harbor” Statement under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995

This news release includes “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the securities laws. The statements in this news release regarding network performance, coverage and capabilities, business and network efficiencies, including expected financial savings, new technologies, products and services, and environmental sustainability, as well as other statements that are not historical facts, are forward-looking statements. The words “estimate,” “project,” “forecast,” “intend,” “expect,” “believe,” “target,” and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are estimates and projections reflecting management’s judgment based on currently available information and involve a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those suggested by the forward-looking statements. With respect to these forward-looking statements, management has made assumptions regarding, among other things, development and deployment of new technologies; operating costs; efficiencies and cost savings of multimode technologies; customer and network usage; customer growth and retention; pricing; service, coverage and quality; environmental sustainability; availability of devices; the timing of various events and the economic environment. Sprint Nextel believes these forward-looking statements are reasonable; however, you should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements, which are based on current expectations and speak only as of the date of this release. Sprint Nextel is not obligated to publicly release any revisions to forward-looking statements to reflect events after the date of this release. Sprint Nextel provides a detailed discussion of risk factors in periodic SEC filings, including its annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended Dec. 31, 2010.

Because, ladies and gentlemen, Sprint and Kyocera don’t care about early adopters – and that’s not a negative. I suppose the more accurate way to say it is that these companies are not tending to early adopters, developers, hackers, and general power-phone enthusiasts the same way the following phones have and still do: Nexus S, EVO, and all manner of iPhone, I’d argue, believe it or not, What this phone relates a lot closer to is the Samsung Continuum. The double screen bit is an obvious similarity, but they relate to one another the most in the support Verizon and Sprint know they’re going to have to supply for them: hardware primarily, then the occasional “how do I do this simple thing” from the newbies.

As far as I can tell from here, the wave of smartphone about to be released at Mobile World Congress 2011 right in front of my eyes, I’d say the Kyocera Echo wont see more than a couple firmware updates before it’s left to die by Sprint and Kyocera. On the other hand, the Nintendo DS crowd might be excited to see a clone of their favorite gamine system put out here with the capability to call people – but then again, there’s no Pokemon.

For approximately one full minute, Kyocera and Sprint shake hands, and they turn to leave, introducing Sprint’s product chiefs Fared Adib and David Owens. Adib and Owens demo the Echo, showing the coolness of the double screen. They speak of how computing has changed from multitasking to switching between apps. Instead of calling this multitasking, they are calling this “simultasking.”

The Echo will be running Android 2.3 Froyo, and the featured display mode is a tilted “laptop” mode. This phone has six pending patents on this hinge, and they are very very proud of it. Expanding on the rationale behind the double screen, they describe how they wanted to start at the roots of a phone, making it small enough to carry around with you, and continue by making sure it’s not caught in the middle ground between smartphone and desktop.

According to the source, “users can accomplish multiple tasks on the two screens, or drag items from one screen to the other.” This isn’t the first we’ve heard of a dual-display Sprint device; leaks back in mid-January suggested the same thing, though the exact nature of the functionality is still unclear. Android Community will be at the Sprint event in a few hours time, so we’ll have all the details as they’re announced.

The Zio features a 3.5-inch WVGA touch-screen with a resolution of 480 x 800, 3.2 MP camera/camcorder with auto-focus, microSD card slot including a 2GB card, BlueTooth, WiFi, GPS, and 3G. Other features include: Intuitive trackball for easy navigation, Visual voicemail, Sprint Music Plus, Sprint Zone, and support for the new Sprint ID system.

The Transform features a 3.5-inch HVGA touch-screen display, full slide-out QWERTY keyboard, dual cameras – 3.2 MP rear-facing camera with flash, and a front-facing VGA camera for video conferencing – 800 MHz processor, Bluetooth, WiFi, GPS and 3G.

You can pick up the Transform for $199.99 after $100 mail-in rebate, and the Zio for $100.

More photos over at SlashGear Japan.

The device features a 3.5-inch WVGA touch-screen with a resolution of 480 x 800, 3.2 MP camera/camcorder with auto-focus, microSD card slot including a 2GB card, BlueTooth, WiFi, GPS, and 3G. Other features on the device include: Intuitive trackball for easy navigation, Visual voicemail, Sprint Music Plus, Sprint Zone, and support for the new Sprint ID system.

Press Release:

The Sprint Free Guarantee is the only full-money back guarantee on service plans in the wireless industry today, allowing customers to try a new line of service with Sprint for 30 days. If a customer isn’t completely satisfied, they can cancel service and return their device to be reimbursed for the device purchase and activation fee, get the early termination fee waived, get a full refund for monthly service plan recurring charges incurred, and get all associated taxes and fees waived. In addition, Sprint will waive the restocking fee for new customer exchanges as part of this policy. Refund excludes usage not included in the service plan, premium content, third-party billing and international charges.”

The Zio features a 3.5-inch WVGA capacitive touchscreen display. It has all the standard bells and whistles, like 3G connectivity, Bluetooth, GPS, and integrated WiFi. There’s a 3.2MP camera on the back, with the ability to record video. You get a microSD card slot, too. Unfortunately, it’s launching with Android 1.6, but we have heard in the past that Kyocera does have every intention of upgrading the device to a newer version. No word on when that will be, though. You can pick up the Zio right now for $249.99 (there’s no contracts, remember?), and you’ll need to use their $55 data/rate plan, too. Anyone interested? Oh, and just a quick note. If you buy online, you get an instant $20 discount. So, that price will be $229.99, as the picture above suggests.

[via Cricket; thanks, James!]

The rumored release date for the Zio is August 15th, and it would take full advantage of Cricket’s fully unlimited plan, which only runs $55. As a refresher, the Zio features a 3.5-inch WVGA capacitive touchscreen display, 600MHz Qualcomm MSM7227 processor, a 3.2MP camera on the back of the device, and it will launch with Android 1.6. (Yes, we know — not cool.) As you can see from the image, it’s got a trackball, and it has plenty of hardware keys for you to take advantage of. It may not be the most attractive handset out there, but it’s certainly not the most disgusting, either. Price wise, you’ll be looking at somewhere between $250 and $300, but that’s without a contract.

Oh, and yes. Kyocera is saying the Zio will be upgraded to Android 2.x at some point in the future, but they don’t give a clear time frame. Which we should expect. And considering you have to look at Cricket Wireless as the middleman, there’s no telling when that upgrade might happen.

[via Android and Me]

One San Francisco store was given the OK to sell the T-Mobile G1 a few hours early. The line grew rather long as people from all over the area lined up for a chance to get the G1 early. Many T-Mobile customers found a pleasant surprise on their doorsteps Monday morning as most of the pre-orders arrived 2 days early. Google finally released the source code for their Android operating system, however it appears it will only be for those who are running OSX or Linux.

Kyocera also announced they are working on an Android-powered handset. No details about the device have been released at this time. T-Mobile’s exclusive Hotspot Connect application was released into the Android Market this week allowing T-Mobile customers to connect to any T-Mobile Hotspot for free. The long awaited day came with the official launch of the T-Mobile G1, the first handset to run Google’s Android platform. TmoNews reported that there was to be an over the air update (OTA) for the G1 on the 23rd, but after no update was made available, reports changed the release date to November 2nd.

One concept of the Android interface surfaced in the Show Room for the Swedish software technology and design company Tat. Seen in the concept was a layout at the bottom that somewhat resembled that of the iPhone dock. Google announced that they will start allowing paid applications to enter the Android Market in early 2009. Another picture surfaced this week bringing hope to G1 owners who would like an on-screen keyboard, the picture showed an on-screen keyboard that very closely resembles that of Apple’s iPhone.

Instructions surfaced helping people activate their G1 at home without having an account, although to achieve this an activated T-Mobile SIM card is required. Hop-on is the latest company to announce that they are developing a phone to run the Android platform. Hop-on plans to unveil their Android in January at CES 2009. Stories are coming from all over the place stating that T-Mobile employees in non-3G areas know little or nothing about the G1 because they will not be selling the device.

Two developers of award winning Android applications TuneWiki and Shopsavvy, held an AndroidDevCamp in Dallas on the 25th to help developers get started with Android. HTC CEO Peter Chou, told Mercury News that G1 sales for 2008 would be more than 600,000 units rather than the 1.5 million reported to be sold already in pre-orders. Security researchers have already found a security flaw in the G1 that can potentially allow attackers to record keystrokes made within the devise’s browser application. Google is aware of this problem and states that it is not as bad as it appears and that they are already working on it.

Our Golla G1 Case Giveaway came to an end this week, we would like to take the time again to thank our sponsor Smartphone Experts for making the giveaway posible. I am going to pick up a Golla case myself, the cases were actually really nice and fit very well. I would also like to say thank you to all of our members for making this week another record breaking week for us here at Android Community!

Reports come in stating that Kyocera has hopped on the Android train. Kyocera Wireless is the latest to announce that they have begun developing a new product platform incorporating Android. Kyocera is working with device optimization software specialist Wind River.

“Our goal is to make Kyocera the leader in Android integration among CDMA device manufacturers in the markets we serve,” said Dave Carey, vice president and general manager of the Consumer Products Group at Kyocera in a statement.

It appears every day Microsoft has more and more to worry about coming from Google. Android will, without a doubt be hitting hard in the mobile market as a competitor to Windows Mobile. A lot of phone manufacturers that one turned to Windows Mobile for their smartphones now have more of an option. What methods other than the future application market will Microsoft implement in order to maintain their lead over Android in the mobile market?

Photo courtesy of Android Community member heyitsnan.

[Via Wired]