For those of you keeping score in the “How many Android phones will HTC launch this year?” game, the answer is “at least three,” according to HTC CEO Peter Chou.

HTC’s most BlackBerry-like device yet, the Maple (see previous coverage here) may poke its head out of wherever cell phones normally keep their heads at the CTIA conference in a couple weeks, according to DigiTimes.

As it stands right now, HTC will not be able to import its mobile handsets into Germany once a court’s ruling goes into effect. The company lost a patent case against IP-com last week, but plans on appealing the decision. The patent in question related to the HTC’s 3G radio technology which apparently did infringe on the original patent.

Tech companies are getting sued for patent infringement regularly, but this recent case of patent litigation might mean serious trouble for HTC, at least in Germany. Munich-based IPCom, which is not your usual insignificant patent troll, says the Taiwanese company is infringing its patents (IPCom doesn’t have a website).

Not diggin’ the vanilla look of the HTC Magic that was shown during the announcement? Looking for something a bit more stealth? Something you might like has been lurking around the floor at CeBIT this week.

Just a few weeks back, a massive packet of unannounced HTC handsets spilled out across the internet. Each one would have required far too much work and talent to be fake. When the HTC Magic jumped straight off this list and into our hands, any inklings of doubt were blown away. So, the images were real – but they lacked specs. This morning, specs (or at least details) for around half of the devices leaked out.

Last time HTC used Twitter to confirm something, it was to let everyone know that the HTC Touch HD wouldn’t be coming stateside. This time, they bring good news!

Could this be an early sign the HTC and T-Mobile will buddy up once again for the G2? Maybe. The T-Mobile logo does sport the one-less dot design that’s unique to the United States market, but that alone isn’t exactly solid proof. So far the only word about the HTC Magic is that it’s a Vodafone exclusive handset, which doesn’t sit well with American mobile users. However, why wouldn’t HTC bring it Stateside?

It wasn’t quite final hardware (the face buttons are slightly different – a bit larger and round in places) and we weren’t allowed to touch the thing, but we just got back from spending a bit of time with the second-ever Android phone to make its way into a carrier’s line up. The HTC Magic, essentially a polished up and physical keyboard-less G1, totes a 3.2 megapixel camera, 3.2″ HVGA (480×320) capacitive touchscreen, on-screen keyboard, and all of the Google-powered services we’ve come to know and love with Android. Read on for our impressions.

We were just starting to worry that Mobile World Congress 2009 would go without pass by without an Android press announcement, but Vodafone and HTC have swooped in to save they day. They just announced the HTC Magic, a full touchscreen Android device which bears quite the resemblance to the HTC G1 – except with a bit more polish, and without a keyboard. It’s also a perfect match with the shot that leaked out yesterday.
Update: Full specs have been added after the jump.

If we are to believe this Vodafone ad (and who are we to doubt the Internet), the European carrier will be the exclusive provider of HTC’s next Android phone, the Magic. The phone does somewhat resemble early spy shots so we could be looking at the real deal, folks.

As much as we wanted HTC to announce the G2 at MWC, we knew it would be too much to ask. But if you’re into Windows Mobile (6.1) or, more importantly, TouchFlo 3D then you’re in luck. It looks like HTC took a page from Palm’s playbook on these updated Touch devices, but more on that later.

Lipstick on a pig? Still a pig. A bit of makeup and some chin surgery n the G1? It’s.. significantly more attractive.

Though they’re not saying when, Telefónica has announced that they’ll be carrying the G1 – albeit under the name it was originally known by before T-Mobile went and rechristened it: the Dream. In addition to the name change throwback, it’s also getting a bit of polish around its infamously ugly chin.

Looks like it’s time to double-down on some of last month’s full 2009 HTC lineup rumors. According to PPCGeeks forum ‘regular’ jlechner’s family friend (yea, it is a bit of a stretch), Sprint is expected to launch a CDMA variation of the HTC Rhodium in the 3rd quarter of 2009.

We hadn’t heard anybody complaining that the HTC Touch Cruise (released at the beginning of 2008) had grown stale – but then again, we hadn’t heard anybody saying much of anything about it lately. Regardless, HTC has taken last years design and given it a polish job, shaving down the dimensions (102 x53.5 x14.5mm, down from 110mmx58mmx15.5mm) and about 21% off of its weight (103g, down from 130g). The whole body has been smoothed out, ditching harsh edges for curves closer to that of the Touch HD and Touch 3G.

Isn’t funny how everytime you get your hands a super-duper secret phone or random gadget, the one camera nearby is your crappy camera phone? Funny. Anywho, supposedly what you see above, and after the link, is HTC’s next Android-powered phone dubbed the G2. According to Giz, it’s a touchscreen phone that lacks a physical keyboard and will likely find its way into T-Mobile’s stable. Real or fake? Your call. Check out the phone’s backside after the jump.

Some five-employee company you’ve never heard of is bullying the US International Trade Commission in order to ban the importation of certain devices from the likes of RIM and Nokia. Why, you ask? Because this company thinks these foreigners have violated one or more of its patents. Just who is this knave? Find out, after a few words from our sponsor.

The HTC Fuze is on sale for a namby-pamby $149.99 with two-year contract. That’s a good deal for a device that had previously cost twice as much.

Got an e-mail from Expansys this morning announcing that it’s dropped the price on the HTC Shift X9500 in the UK to £499.99, almost half of what it’d previously been selling at.