I remember when Android was the cool hip new thing. Well, it still is, but the Behold II marks the end of when Android phones are unique. Every feature on this phone has already been done the same or better by someone else.

Let’s start with the body. The phone is a bit heavier than my HTC Hero, but for some reason it feels cheaper. It’s just a hair taller and about the same width and thickness. You have 6 dedicated function buttons on the front, along with a 8-way directional selector. The left side has a volume rocker, and the right holds two buttons. One for the camera and one attached to the screen lock. The top holds the microUSB port and headphone jack. An expandable microSD slot is behind the battery door, and there is no physical keyboard.

The interface was nothing to get excited about. You get three customizable home screens and a Google search bar. But the tab to access your apps is that arrow on the left side of the screen. It takes some deft maneuvering not the hit that when you’re trying to go the left screen. Perhaps the most unique feature on this device is the Cube. I’ll just let that sink in for a moment. The Cube is, as you might have guessed, a cube with a different multimedia function on each face. With a flick of a finger you can spin the cube and select the function you wish to activate. You can’t customize it however, so you’re stuck with YouTube, the Amazon MP3 store, Facebook, your photo folder,  your audio player, and the video player. About the funnest thing you can do is swing the phone, and since the Cube is tied to the accelerometer, it’ll spin. Good for maybe two minutes of chuckles.

So at the end of it all, its just another Android phone under T-mobile’s belt. It hit stores last week if you want to go grab one, but why when you can get the Droid for cheaper? The Behold II is $229.99 with a two-year contract.

When the Motorola Droid launched this month everyone was amazed that a company so down on its luck was able to put together a well-designed phone running a powerful, “brand new” OS. The whole package – hardware, software, and marketing – seemed flawless. In fact, phones running Android 1.5 now look hopelessly outdated and with 2.0’s gesture, CDMA, and search support you’d wonder why handset manufacturers like HTC, LG, Kyocera, and Samsung are using 1.5 at all.

The reasons have more to do with Google than any decision on the carriers’ part. In fact, according to a source close to the handset business, Google’s Android team directly assisted Motorola and Verizon in building the Droid’s software from the ground up and is currently assisting another, unknown, handset maker in Korea to create a finely-tuned hardware and software combination. Most important, however, is that this is sort of assistance most manufacturers do not receive and, in the end, they are dinged for running an “older” version of Android.

These two bits of information – that Google assists certain companies in making specialized hardware and software and that Google is now helping another manufacturer to the detriment of others – sounds like sour grapes. However, the original vision for Android (as it was understood by lay users like myself) was an open, free OS available to multiple manufacturers and carriers. This preferential treatment is an anathema to that thought. This is akin to Linus Torvalds building a special version of Linux just for a commercial partner and refusing to release it until that partner has milked its value.

While it is clear that some manufacturers like HTC are keeping a stiff upper lip and running their special special UIs over 1.5, reviewers consistently ding manufacturers for running 1.5 while the Droid is given a pass.

And 2.0 matters. We asked Ross Rubin from the NPD Group about his thoughts on 2.0 and got back a half a book:

Android 2.0 brings refinement and more integration to the operating system, Examples include support for Microsoft Exchange and Facebook, which are the digital contact centers of many people’s professional and social lives. It also brings a revamped and much faster browser, albeit one that Google isn’t yet deriving from Chrome. The other big application improvement is Google Navigation, which it has introduced as a free service on top of Maps. Many carriers, including Verizon, charge for such functionality in other devices. Google is aggressively driving a major update while Microsoft is between major revisions of Windows Mobile.

We asked him why he thought Motorola got 2.0 early. He wrote:

As to why it debuted on a Motorola device, there could be several reasons. Verizon’s subscriber strength and more direct competition with AT&T and the iPhone may have led it to push for Android 2.0 to be more competitive. Or it could be simple product development timetables. Moving forward, HTC will want to put its Sense user experience on top of Android 2.0, which requires development time. Google wants a healthy Android ecosystem and a competitive Motorola contributes to that.

While this desire is absolutely understandable on Google’s part, there is a method to this madness. Google releases major updates on one handset and one handset alone. These updates are then pushed out to other android partners. Case in point:

• 1.0 went to the HTC G1

• 1.5 went to the HTC Hero
• 2.0 went to Motorola

In short, they offer exclusivity to a certain partner in exchange to unfettered access to the design process which, in Motorola’s case, was gravely needed.

Why is there no outcry? Handset manufacturers are deathly afraid of Google. They worry that they will be cut out of the upgrade process and lose access to Google’s Android team.

What needs to be done? In the interest of fairness, all updates should roll out to the general ecosystem before heading to any one carrier. Sadly, this hippie attitude is no good for Google’s business and by creating flagship devices featuring their latest and greatest they ensure forward momentum for the platform. Fairness, it seems, stops at the grade school sandbox.

Again, you can take this as a complaint or a call to action. Android is an excellent platform but Google’s tendency towards “flagship” phones is detrimental to the general ecosystem, especially once the OS falls in along with RIM and Apple as a preeminent smartphone platform.

Short Version: After a handful of rapid-fire firmware updates, the Android-infused Archos 5 Internet Tablet has turned out to be quite a compelling device. The snappy web browser, marathon battery life, and nearly endless list of features and functions make Archos’ latest couch companion a worthwhile option if you’re shopping for portables. If you’re drawn to the Archos 5 Internet Tablet purely based on the fact that it’s running Android, though, you’ll likely come away disappointed as there’s no access to the popular Android Market.

Features:

• Screen: 4.8-inch 800×480 touchscreen
• Storage: 32GB flash memory
• Connectivity: 802.11b/g/n wireless, Bluetooth, GPS
• Codec Support: MP4, WMV, MPEG-2, H.264, MP3, FLAC, OGG, AAC, WMA
• Promised Battery Life: 22 hours audio, 7 hours video
• Expansion: microSD
• Other: Android OS, web browser, downloadable apps, FM receiver, optional DVR
• Dimensions: 5.63” x 3.1” x 0.4” and 6.4 ounces
• MSRP of $379.99

Pros:

• Jack-of-all-trades device handles audio, video, web surfing, radio, e-mail, GPS, media streaming, digital video recording, games, photos, and more
• Impressive battery life — especially for audio and video playback
• High-resolution screen works well for web sites and videos

Cons:

• The $380 starting price is compounded by having to pay to unlock extras like MPEG-2/WMVHD video playback, GPS subscription, and DVR functionality
• Built-in Archos-branded app store is severely limited, and there’s no access to the more popular Android Market

Review:

I’ve been playing with the Archos 5 Internet Tablet for about a month now. I have the 32GB flash version, which is a gorgeous slab of electronics sized small enough to fit in a roomy pocket but large enough to keep next to your favorite armchair in lieu of a full size laptop.

While the aesthetic appeal of previous Archos devices has traditionally been the subject of great debate, most would agree that this new one looks pretty nice inside and out.

To say that the first couple weeks I spent with the device were worrisome would be putting it lightly. The UI was slow and clunky, the battery drained even when the tablet was in standby mode, and the web browser crashed out to the main screen during periods of moderate use.

Then came a firmware update. Then another. And another. And suddenly everything worked.

I’m now happy to report that the tablet is much more stable, the battery life has greatly improved, and surfing the web and navigating the interface is sufficiently slick. I’m using firmware version 1.2.15 (Android 1.5) at the time of this review.

The Archos 5 Internet Tablet does many things and, as with most portable media players, the big question is whether or not it can do each one of those things well.

Basic Audio and Video Playback

For audio and video playback, the device handles everything with ease. Videos look great on the crisp 4.8-inch screen and the 800×480 resolution renders downscaled HD videos and standard-definition videos phenomenally. Archos has really nailed down the core functionality of its portable media players. Music and videos come first, everything else comes second.

I was skeptical of Archos’ claim of 7-hour battery life for video playback, so I set a playlist up to repeat indefinitely at 25% brightness and 25% volume just to see how close we’d get to that number. To my surprise, the tablet hit 6 hours and 15 minutes before petering out. That’s not too bad at all, especially considering I left the Wi-Fi connected the entire time.

Audio playback is handled via a simple interface that displays album artwork. I found the built-in speaker to be too tinny to listen to anything other than spoken-word podcasts – playing actual music sounds much better through a pair of decent headphones. Battery life for music playback is pegged at 22 hours and, again, those claims held up pretty well. I managed about 20 hours and 30 minutes with volume at 25% and Wi-Fi turned on.

And finally, just for good measure, here’s where I complain about Archos charging people $40 to unlock 720p WMV and MP4 playback. That functionality should always be included at no extra charge but Archos has been charging people for it for a long time now, so I give up.

Web Browsing

The built-in web browser is quick and responsive, thanks in large part to the 800MHz ARM Cortex A8 CPU that powers the tablet. The 800×480 screen renders full versions of web sites relatively faithfully, although the browser will default to the mobile version of most sites if there’s one available.

Trying to use the Archos 5 Internet Tablet for web videos is, unfortunately, too hit-or-miss right now if one of your big goals is to watch YouTube videos all day. YouTube apparently tweaked their API recently, which caused videos handed off from the browser to Archos’ built-in video player to just freeze the tablet, requiring a reboot.

There’s a standalone Dailymotion player included, and I’m currently having trouble getting those videos to work as well. There’s loose talk of a Flash 10 update coming to the device sometime but until then, browser-based Flash video is still pretty rough around the edges.

Not to say that YouTube videos never worked on the device – they used to, at least. They even played back in HD (see this post on ArchosFans.com for proof).

So if you’re planning on using the web browser for basic, straightforward stuff then you’ll like it just fine. It’s quick, the keyboard works great, and pages render nicely on the 4.8-inch LCD.

Battery life is pretty solid as well. Under heavy testing (a website auto-refreshing every minute and a different site simultaneously scrolling through RSS feeds like a news ticker), the tablet managed to stay alive for five hours.

Software

And now for the Archos 5 Internet Tablet’s Achilles heel: software. Part of the allure of an Android device is access to the thousands of great free and for-pay applications found in the Android Market. Unfortunately, though, the Archos 5 Internet Tablet’s 800×480 screen resolution and lack of dedicated Home and Back hardware buttons place it outside the list of compatible devices for the current version of Android (1.5) that it’s running.

That’s not to say that you’re completely out of luck. Archos has built its own app store into the device, called AppsLib. It’s a pretty clunky, slow-loading (sometimes freezing), repository with a mere handful of available applications (listed here) – a far cry from what’s available in the Android Market. There’s no Google Maps here, no Qik, no SportsTap, none of that stuff.

That’s not entirely Archos’ fault and it’s possible that a future update might load Android 2.0 onto the device someday (which includes compatibility for 800×480 screens) but as of now, your options for new apps are very limited and the interface that’s used to deliver them is frustrating at best.

What you’re left with is a mish-mash of pre-installed applications that range from quasi-useful to downright unrecognizable. Archos is a French company, so some of the stuff (like Dailymotion and Deezer for instance) will be of little to no interest to U.S. consumers.

Here’s a list of what you get:

• GPS (called NDrive): Actually works pretty well. Free 7-day trial and then $39 one-time unlock fee thereafter. There’s 3D navigation, turn-by-turn directions, quick satellite lock – turns the Archos 5 Internet Tablet into a serviceable GPS system for the car.
• Quickpedia: Wikipedia front-end. Also includes location-based searches via GPS
• Dailymotion: YouTube-like video portal from France
• Browser, E-mail, Contacts
• Craigsphone: Craigslist front-end
• Twidroid: Twitter
• AppsLib: Archos’ app store
• High Paying Jobs: Guess!
• Deezer: French streaming music site
• eBuddy: Universal instant messaging client
• DVB-T: Digital TV front-end that requires Archos’ “TV Snap-On” accessory (I don’t think it’s even available in the U.S., though)
• DroidIn-Lite: LinkedIn front-end
• ThinkFree Mobile: Microsoft Office file viewer
• Moov: Application launcher
• Yellowbook: Phonebook
• Video: File playback, network streaming, and schedule TV recordings (with one of the required $80 or $140 DVR accessories)
• Music: File playback, network streaming, FM radio
• Photo: View local image files or grab them over a network
• Games: 8 Flash games available, 13 “Playin TV” games available – additional 4-packs can be purchased from Archos for $10 apiece.
• Media Club: Web TV (streaming weather/public TV stations, video podcast directory), Web Radio (streaming radio stations, podcast directory), Music (links to Jamendo web service), Archos Store (premium Media Club services)

Conclusion

Are you interested in an attractive, lightweight portable media player with great battery life that you can use mainly to consume audio and video files that have been directly downloaded or streamed across a local network? If so, you’ll like the Archos 5 Internet Tablet. You’ll get what you’re looking for along with the added bonus of a great web browser, pretty good GPS navigator, and a handful of somewhat useful software.

If, however, you’re interested in an Android device with a large, high-resolution screen that you can use to watch YouTube videos, download cool applications, and surf complex websites in an attempt to replace your laptop or netbook, you’ll likely be disappointed. As with most jack-of-all-trades devices, it’s common to be a master-of-none. I’d say that Archos has sufficiently mastered the multimedia end of the portable spectrum, but there’s still plenty of work left to be done when it comes to the company’s Android initiative.

This is Archos’ first stab at an Android device, and early adopters will likely be willing to put up with various shortcomings along the way. And, again, those looking for video and music features first and foremost won’t have too much to complain about here. But Android fans looking for a killer tablet for Android’s sake would be better off waiting to see what’s next.

Achos 5 Internet Tablet [Archos.com]

Now to be fair, the Alex only has a frame rate of 3 FPS. But when you compare it to other readers, that have a rate of (generally) 0 FPS, you’re talking a significant improvement. This will allow the Alex to show simple animation, and other types of moving data. The Alex also sports dual screens, a 6 inch reader screen and a smaller touch capable screen mounted below. Maximum PC has a complete write up (and teardown) of the Alex, and they go into a little more depth about what the Marvell chipset is capable of.

Perhaps someday you’ll buy an Android device to use primarily for gaming. It could happen! Pictured above is the ODROID, a gaming-focused portable running Android and packing a powerful 833MHz Cortex A8 CPU.

Other specs include 512MB of RAM, 3.5-inch capacitive touchscreen, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, HDMI out, and the ability to act as a USB host. There’s no cellular chipset on board.

Apparently the first run of developer units have already sold out at around $320. A second batch is expected to follow in late November, with a consumer version planned for December. Aside from using the ODROID to play games, you can do all the non-phone Android stuff and watch HD movies at 720P thanks to the speedy processor.

While being able to play games from the Android Market’s list of currently-available titles, I’d personally have this thing running one of the NES, Genesis, or SNES emulators before I even got the plastic film removed from the screen. The actual D-pad and X/Y/A/B buttons would make for some seriously wonderful retro gaming.

ODROID [HardKernel.com via SlashGear]

It looks like Dell’s rumored slightly-larger-than-an-iPod-touch Android MID that we heard about back in late June has finally seen the light of day.

Apparently called the Dell Streak (I hope that’s not the final product name), it’s a 5-inch mobile internet device similar to the recently-released Archos 5 Internet Tablet with the added functionality of 3G wireless data connectivity.

The actual hardware is labeled as an “engineering sample” with a US-based model number, so it could still be a while until we actually see the finished product here. That being said, early specs include a 5-inch touchscreen with 800×480 resolution, Android 2.0 (Donut), Wi-Fi/Bluetooth/3G (it has a SIM card slot), 5-megapixel camera with LED flash, microSD expansion slot, and a 1300mAh-capacity battery.

Here’s a hands-on video from Tinhte.com:

And a few photos:

[Tinhte.com via SlashGear]

This Frankenstein handheld is half 9.7″ 1200 x 825 e-reader, half 10.1″ 1024 x 600 netbook. It runs Android, has a touchscreen display, WiFi networking, 3GB of usable memory, a six hour battery life, etc etc. Unlike the Amazon Kindle, cellular networking is not supported internally, but it can be accessed with the help of an external modem.

The enTourage eDGe™ is the world’s first dualbook, combining the functions of an e-reader, netbook, notepad, and audio/video recorder and player in one. It’s a comprehensive device that lets you read e-books, surf the Internet, take digital notes, send emails and instant messages, watch movies and listen to music anywhere, at any time. This is nothing you’ve ever seen before! Get books wirelessly, move files onto your enTourage eDGe™ using an SD card or a USB flash drive. And with a netbook built in, you can forget the limitations of other e-readers, the enTourage eDGe™ does it all!

This thing ships February 2010, but you can pre-order now! It’s $490 USD for the midnight blue model, shown above. An extra $40 will fetch the sporty Ruby Red, Glacier White, or Ice Blue colors.

enTourage eDGe™ Specifications

• Dimensions: 8.25″ x 10.75″ by 1.0″ (closed)
• Weight: 2.5 lbs.
• Internal Memory: 4 GB (3 GB for user) up to 3000 books
• E-reader File Formats: ePub, PDF
• LCD Touchscreen Display Size: 1024 x 600 (10.1″)
• E-paper Display Size: 9.7″ e-Ink®(1200 x 825), 16 shades of gray
• E-paper Input: Wacom® Penabled®
• Operating System: Linux with Google® Android®
• Connectivity: 3G, WiFi 802.11 b/g, Bluetooth capability
• Battery Life: Up to 6 hours
• Battery Type: Lithium-ion polymer
• Mobile Modem (optional): EVDO or HSDPA
• External Memory: SD card slot, 2 USB ports
• Audio and Microphone Jack: 3.5 mm each. Includes internal microphone and speakers.
• Audio playback: MP3
• Video playback: MP4, 3GP
• Input: Stylus input on e-paper and touchscreen. Virtual keyboard. Bluetooth keyboard (optional)

Biggs found the phone to be far superior than the G1 in nearly every aspect, but how about against the Verizon-bound Motorola Droid? That’s what I want to know and would advise folks looking to jump on the Android bandwagon to wait until we found that out.

Oh, netbooks. Doug loves ‘em, but I’m still not convinced of their vitalness. Is it neat to see a tiny little computer zip around the Internet? Sure, yeah. Can I go about my business without ever having owned one? So far, so good! I bring this up because yesterday I was able to goof around—in truth, that’s probably the most accurate phrase to describe it, no matter how silly it sounds—with Acer’s newest netbook, the Aspire One AOD250 ($350, available now, rumored for the past 700 years). It’s a netbook; it doesn’t look too different from netbooks you’ve already seen, but for one difference: see that little switch right there? That’s where you tell the netbook to boot into Android or Windows XP.

That’s right: this netbook is able to dual-boot, and pretty easily, too. (Though I’m sure it’s just a matter of putting a couple of ISOs on a flash drive to configure any netbook to dual-boot, but I somehow doubt Joe Sixpack has any interest in doing such a thing.) It’s not hard to figure out why Acer would do this: netbooks, for better or worse, are where consumers’ money is going these days, and despite the fact that margins there are still pretty tight—really, how much profit can you expect when you’re selling these things for $300?—Acer has to follow the crowd. Can’t let other companies hog all the fun, right?

So throw XP and Android on it. That way, you’ve got an operating system that was designed from the ground-up to be gentle on devices with very little horsepower, and another operating system where people can “surf the Internet,” that is, fire up Internet Explorer and buy movie tickets from that one Web site. You know, because no other browser, let alone operating system, can work in the Internet. (Is is just me, or do you still know people who, despite the fact that computers have been pretty accessible since the mid-1990s, are still like, “What’s a URL? Oh, you mean the words I type to read my Hotmail?”)

In having both XP and Android on the netbook, Acer can say, “Hey there, person who’s money we’d like! Did you know that with our notebook you can use an OS that excels on netbooks, and have your Windows, too? And all you have to do is press this button, et voilà!”

Presumably Acer has a marketing team that’s a little more clever than that.

How does the AOD250 feel? Frankly, like every other netbook out there. That may be fine if you have small hands, or are comfortable with working in small spaces, but if you’re a Big Guy, it’s not exactly ideal to smash your wrists together trying to poke out an e-mail or tweet. Another weird point: we’re pretty used to seeing Android on touchscreen devices, and interacting with it as such. This Acer netbook, though, doesn’t have a touchscreen. Now, I’m cool with that—the Zune HD is my very first touchscreen device, and I’m still getting used to it, several weeks after having given the nice man at Wal-Mart my money—but I can almost hear some of you yelling “Lame!!!” Calm down, sirs, it really isn’t a big deal.

Specs? Again, I feel like I’m beating a dead horse here, but you read about one netbook… It’s got a 10.1-inch screen, 160GB hard drive (not a flash drive, just to clear that up), 1GB of memory, built-in 802.11b/g and Bluetooth, three USB ports, and a multi-touch touchpad. An Intel Atom N80 powers the whole thing. That should be enough to run Windows XP, right? I mean, XP is an 8-year-old OS at this point!

So, netbookers, I ask you this: yea or nay? I feel as thought I’ve completely skipped out on the netbook fun, and don’t really have as personal reaction to this as I normally like.