An internal T-Mobile memo from 12/29,

Google, with support from T-Mobile, is scheduled to launch a new Android device in early January. The Google Android phone will be sold solely by Google via the Web.

That pretty much says it. Now, how about a confirmation on the $199 price rumor?

Short Version: T-Mobile’s 4th Android device has a lot going for it. 5.0 megapixel camera, all the smartphone basics, WiFi, 3G, GPS, and a 3.5 mm headphone jack. But it feels kinda cheap, runs Android 1.5, and for $229.99? No thank you.

Ack! Talk about bad timing. T-Mobile is just barely off the grill for their guilt-by-association connection with the Great Danger/Sidekick outage of 2009, and now they’re right back in the network-outage spotlight.

T-Mobile jumps feet first into the no-contract, unlimited everything arena with its new “Even More Plus” plans, ranging from $30 per month for 500 voice minutes to $80 per month for unlimited voice minutes, text messages, and internet access. Family plans are also available for between $50 and $140 per month.

T-Mobile is continuing its Android parade with the CLIQ. The MOTOBLUR-running, physical keyboard-sporting phone is now available to current T-Mobile customers for $199. New subscribers will need to wait until November 2nd to get their hands on it.

Turns out our source had it right: Microsoft engineers who worked on the Danger/Sidekick meltdown have been able to recover “most if not all” of the data that was lost during last weekend’s catastrophic server failure.

In a statement, Roz Ho, Corporate VP of Premium Mobile Experiences addresses the unfortunate T-Mobile Sidekick customers and apologizes for the massive fail:

Slightly better news for anyone who lost data during the recent Microsoft/T-Mobile Sidekick outage. While it initially appeared that user data may have been lost forever, T-Mobile issued a statement late yesterday saying, “Recent efforts indicate the prospects of recovering some lost content may now be possible.”

T-Mobile wants to help spread more holiday cheer this year. Thus, the the number 4 US mobile carrier announced that it will be offering “the broadest selection of Android-powered phones among national wireless carriers in the United States” to help make the 2009 holiday season the most droidish ever!

T-Mobile is set to begin offering corporate customers the ability to use BlackBerry devices to make calls over office Wi-Fi connections without using up cell plan minutes. Calls initiated via office Wi-Fi would automatically switch over to T-Mobile’s network when the caller left the office, too.

T-Mobile’s original Android phone, the G1, is now selling for $130 (with a two-year contract) direct from T-Mobile’s web site. That’s a $20 price reduction, although savvy bargain shoppers know that you can find the G1 from plenty of reputable places for around $100.

Rumor has it that T-Mobile UK and Orange UK will merge, creating a 28.4 million customer uber-carrier. The next largest carrier will be Telefonica’s O2, the former heavyweight.

The deal will be signed by November and the merged company will share networks and CRM services in the UK. This does not directly effect T-Mobile’s German parent company except in that it will lose its subsidiary in the UK.

T-Mobile UK this morning announced the Pulse, the first pay-as-you-go Android 1.5 smartphone and the third coming from the network operator.

Available for £180 starting October exclusively on T-Mobile, it boasts a 3.5″ HVGA touchscreen display, the biggest yet on an Android handset, a 3.2-megapixel camera and a TeleNav-powered GPS (more specs below).

The new device comes courtesy of Huawei, which had been rumored to be working with T-Mobile since displaying a device at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona earlier this year.

More details about the device:

The phone runs on a Qualcomm’s MSM7200A chipset and weighs 130g. It features a trackball and a 3.5″ HVGA touchscreen display with auto-rotation.

The T-Mobile Pulse also features a 3.2 mega pixel, auto-focus camera (no flash) that allows photos to be uploaded straight to the Internet, a 2GB internal memory and a micro SD card slot for storing media. The handset also offers access to corporate e-mail through the Road sync client, and boasts enhanced social networking and community features.

J.D Power and Associates just issued Volume 2 of their Wireless Customer Care report, which runs from January to June of 2009.

It’s a big three-way tie this time around, with T-Mobile, Alltel, and Verizon all taking a victory lap. AT&T follows behind with an “About Average” (3/5) rating, while Sprint stumbles with a paltry 2/5.

We’ve heard real good things about the HTC Touch Pro 2. The 3.6-inch WVGA screen is good, the slide-out keyboard is apparently awesome and HTC once again shipped a great skin for Winmo 6.1. It’s just too bad that at $349, it’s the most expensive handset available at T-Mobile just like we feared.

Look – we love the Touch Pro 2, if only because the slide-out QWERTY keyboard is one of the most comfortable and usable keyboards we’ve ever used. We loved it even more once HTC started sneaking 3.5mm jacks into it. But hot damn, T-Mobile wants a lot of money for this thing.

John already gave you his “quick look” on the 8520, but a second look never hurt. Take into account the fact that my main phone is the BlackBerry Curve 8900 and you can see why I’m anxious to give you my thoughts on the latest Curve to hit the streets.

It’s a budget BlackBerry that skimps on aesthetics, but manages to offer a lot of “must have” features that BlackBerry users have become accustomed to from other devices. Compared to the 8900, the 8520 is sans GPS and the 3.2-megapixel AF camera that’s on the 8900 is now a 2-megapixel variant on the baby Curve. Here are a few sample images taken side-by-side with the 8900. Video quality is somewhat similar, but the 8900 does a better job with color than the 8520. Check out the screengrab after the sample photos.

It seems the sudden rush of myTouch 3Gs arriving earlier than expected has forced T-Mobile and certain developers to release their applications into the Android Market prematurely. Not that anyone with a G1, myTouch 3G or Hero are complaining. Geodelic released their Sherpa app yesterday and today we see T-Mobile’s AppPack go live.