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Getting your hopes up ain’t a wise thing to do when it comes to HTC Dream or Magic from Rogers Wireless. Both these gadgets won’t be receiving an official OS update past Android 1.5, according to HTC’s website (Rogers Wireless has confirmed this as well). Android 1.6 upgrades for Rogers HTC Dream or Magic haven’t been planned as it was made only for “Google”- branded devices such as the G1. It isn’t available for the above two HTC-branded handsets that run Android 1.5, being considered a stable and reliable platform delivering an outstanding user experience. Bragging about the device, calling it an open-sourced “Revolution” and then turning down the customers is just plain sad. Did we mention that rival carriers offering Google supported devices have managed to tweak it up with some software upgrades?

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Well the mystery has been somewhat solved. Why won’t the Google-branded HTC Android phones be getting the Sense UI? Brain capacity issues; the Google branded handsets like the G1 have potato chips for internal memory. The farthest OS update the G1 could accommodate was the Cupcake, now that that’s over, G1 is about as shinny as it’s ever going to be. Oddly enough, Android smartphones straight from HTC, the ones not bearing Google branding, have plenty of internal memory to squeeze in updates. Sadder news may be that the Google branded HTC Dream will never go beyond Android 1.5. of course this is a guess, but it seems sadly likely.

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Google is not ditching Android for the new Chrome OS. Nope, Google has made it clear that Android is targeting a totally different purpose and the Chrome OS is not its substitute. So what are Google’s future plans for Android? Apparently they’re very sweet. Android will be getting further updates that will make it more social network friendly. There will also be more application payment methods in addition to Google Checkout. In fact the June 10th media event by Google and T-mobile suggested that there may be an application payment method that will let you pay for the applications on your monthly bill; T-Mobile will allow payment to be directed to the user’s monthly bill, just like ringtones, wallpapers and themes. And the sweet part comes in with the updates being named Donut, Éclair and Flan. We should have guessed this was coming when the Cupcake came. The bottom line remains, we can live with pretty much anything Google wants to call these updates, as long as the updates keep coming.

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Good things come to those who wait…or not. Because all T-Mobile users have been clinging lovingly to their G1s in hope for the May release of the Cupcake upgrade but it seems that T-Mo is not done with all the teasing. The OTA update to Android 1.5 has been delayed till June. Hankie anyone?

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Well, well, well, it seems like the G1 v2 aka Bog Foot that you saw here a few days ago as headed for T-Mobile is not manufactured by HTC. Motorola is the actual manufacturer, and this one is a pretty safe bet folks. While everyone assumed that T-Mobile had tweaked the G1 and launched version 2 of it, turns out T-Mobile is getting Motorola’s first Android phone. Sweet. Taking a close look at the QWERTY keyboard would also add sumo wrestler weight to this theory, it screams Motorola with the font and style. So there you have it folks, Motorola’s first Android handset.

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Samsung’s Android-powered beauty, the I7500 has just had some hands on treatment over at Singapore. The folks over at Tech65 gave the I7500 seven minutes of fame on camera. The handset has bezel and brushed metal buttons that Samsung has put on most of its touchscreen handsets since the Omnia. Beyond that, the I7500 is anything but last seasoned, it has fast and responsive performance that would bring a tear to your eye. Apart from the accelerometer that seems overly sensitive, the Android 1.5 OS works like a charm. This is one handset that will certainly give HTC’s Magic a run for its money when it comes out next month on O2 Germany. Enjoy the video.

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Motorola is rumored to have a new smartphone up its sleeve that is either called or codenamed “IRONMAN”. (chuckle, chuckle). So good ole’ Moto is going into the movie business, or may be trying a cross promotional after being inspired by Nokia. In any case the handset is rumored to come out sometime in Q3, 2009. As for specs, nothing crystal clear yet, but it’s touted to have an awesome CPU and everything but the kitchen sink. Looking at the image above, it’s a safe bet that the front will be touch sensitive, since there aren’t any buttons. The QWWERTY looks neat. Yes, this is one people will wait for.

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When of the better looking handsets headed for Verizon from Motorola is the Calgary. According to leaked info, the Calgary will be Motorola’s first Android handset. the slim handset with a slider full QWERTY will have a social networking focus. As compared to the G1 and the Magic, this one is definitely a looker. Moto just may hit the ball out of the park this time. Not sure about the release date though.

Another handset that Motorola is rumored to be working on is the Rolex. Little is known about the handset so far apart from the fact that the Rolex is made almost entirely of hardened glass and it will sport the same display as the Aura. So far, so awesome. We’re not sure if the Rolex is destined for mass production or just a pricey little short run spark of design, let’s wait and see.

Also, the Motorola Inferno and Flash have both been canned from production. The Inferno was really not shaping into much design-wise and while the Flash was a decent handset, Motorola is better off focusing efforts on handsets that have more potential.

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A new report has it that Samsung’s first Android smartphone will not be the S8000 we’ve all been drooling over, instead, it will be the I7500 which is due for release this June. The specs are pretty good, especially considering that we have only the G1 and G2 to compare it to, and just the G1 in North America. Specs are;

1.      Android 1.5 OS

2.      Quad-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE, dual-band UMTS/HSPA

3.      528 MHz Qualcomm MSM7200A CPU

4.      3.2-inch HVGA capacitive OLED touchscreen display

5.      5 megapixel camera with LED flash

6.      Wi-Fi

7.      Bluetooth

8.      GPS

9.      8GB internal flash memory

10.  microSD slot

11.  3.5 mm stereo jack

12.  Metal case, 11.9 mm thick

The image you see is mock up, of course, but if it’s accurate, then paired with the 3.2 inch display, the I7500 will be a pretty big handset. As long as the goods are all there, we don’t really mind. According to the same source, O2 Germany will be releasing the I7500 in June for about €300 ($397 US). Can Sammy boy really pull it off in June though….wondering.

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According to T-Mobile Germany’s website, the carrier will release an official  update for the ‘Cupcake’ in May. The update will bring G1 users an on-screen keyboard, video recording/playback and A2DP support. This is the very same update that G1 users have all been waiting for. But the website didn’t mention if the update would be available for the U.S. crowd too. Of course it does stand to reason that if it’s coming to Germany, the U.S. installment can’t be far behind.

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