The HTC Status, one of two so-called “Facebook phones” from HTC, arrives at AT&T in the U.S. this Sunday. The Status, a relatively low-powered phone with a 2.3-inch landscape touchscreen, includes extra software for Facebook users, and a dedicated hardware button for status updates.

When viewing content on the HTC Status that you can share via Facebook – a web site, a photo, or a video, for example – the Facebook Share button lights up, and a press posts the item to your Facebook page.  You can also use the button to manually post a status update. 

The AT&T-direct price for the HTC Status is $49 with a two-year contract, and the phone is already up for pre-order.  But we’re fairly certain that a day or two after launch, you’ll be able to snag the Status for a bit less from third-party wireless retailers, though at $49, it’s already a pretty affordable handset.

Oh, and the Status is an Android-powered smartphone, running the latest version of the mobile OS, v2.3.3.

If you’ve still got an original 2009 Droid in your pocket ‘cause you love its form factor and haven’t had a real reason to upgrade, now’s the time; or, well… it’ll be time in a week or so.  Verizon Wireless just took the wraps off the Motorola Droid 3, the second successor to the one that started it all.

The Droid 3 has a dual-core 1GHz TI ARM Cortex-A9 CPU, 16GB of onboard storage plus a microSDHC card slot for up to 32GB of additional storage, 1GB of RAM, a slide-out QWERTY keyboard, a 4-inch 960×540 touchscreen with 227ppi, 3G EV-DO, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and GPS.  The Droid 3 also runs Android 2.3, aka Gingerbread.

When it goes on sale July 14th (or shortly thereafter) the Droid 3 will sell for $199 with a two-year contract.  But if you’re a new customer, you’ll need to select a new limited data plan as Big Red is no longer offering unlimited data.  New plans start at $30/month for 2GB of data (which used to get you all-you-could-eat wireless data on a smartphone); non-smartphone users also have the option of $10/month for 75MB under Verizon’s new data plan structure.

With both AT&T and T-Mobile offering Windows Phone 7 handsets since late 2010, and Sprint following suit earlier this year, Verizon Wireless has been the only carrier without a single Microsoft-powered smartphone in their lineup since the OS launched. 

But that changed in late May when Verizon added the HTC Trophy, the carrier’s first Windows Phone.

The Trophy doesn’t do much to separate itself from other Windows Phones currently available in the U.S., but it does bring a third smartphone OS option to Verizon customers. So if you’re with Verizon Wireless, and are looking to upgrade to a new smartphone – or to a smartphone for the first time -  should you consider the HTC Trophy over Verizon’s Android and iPhone offerings? 

Probably not.

Product Brief

The HTC Trophy (aka HTC Spark) is a slab, screen-centric smartphone without a hardware keyboard.  Aside from its screen size – 3.8-inches – the Trophy has pretty much the same hardware as its sibling first-gen Windows Phones: 1GHz Snapdragon processor, 576MB of RAM, 480×800 screen resolution, 5MP primary camera, 802.11n Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and GPS.  The Trophy does have more onboard storage than most other Windows Phones, with an internal 16GB of flash memory (like the Sprint Arrive). And that’ll have to do, because like most phones with Microsoft’s mobile OS, the Trophy doesn’t have a microSD card slot.

The phone itself is sleek and stylish with nice curves and a black and silver exterior.  The sides and rear of the device are rubberized plastic, and the Trophy feels really great in your hand.  The weight, just under 5-ounces, is also nice and similar to other smartphones. Exterior controls include a volume rocker, dedicated camera button, a power button and the three ubiquitous Windows Phone controls below the screen.

The Windows Phone 7 OS

Because the Trophy is similar to many mid-range Android smartphones in build and specs, the majority of this review will focus on the OS, which is still unfamiliar to most. 

Windows Phone 7 is a substantial departure from previous and competing smartphone operating systems.  The north star of the OS is information at a glance rather than the in-and-out of apps approach used by the iOS on the iPhone and, to a lesser degree, Android. For many users, I think, the utility of such a setup is high, but as-is the operating system feels unfinished, offering more promise than anything else.

You do get most of the standard smartphone fare with the OS, though. There’s a web browser, email support, messaging, a contacts manager, a calendar, a maps and navigation app, a music and video player, a photo viewer, and an app store called the Marketplace.  There’s also OneNote, Word, Excel and PowerPoint, and an XBox-branded games hub for games and communication via XBox live.

The built-in email client supports Microsoft’s own Hotmail as well as other email services using POP3, IMAP or Exchange ActiveSync (push).  The calendar which can sync with multiple services (Gmail, Windows Live, Exchange), but you can’t sync with Outlook on a PC without Exchange support, nor can it sync with multiple calendars from the same source, e.g. Google.  Contacts can be synced with supported services like Windows Live and Google, though duplicate contact data is duplicated on the device. 

The web browser, Internet Explorer, is a light-year beyond the version found on older Windows Mobile phones, but well behind iOS and Android.  The browser frequently displayed web pages with errors, and won’t set any speed records.  Updating the browser is a primary focus of Mango, a major update to the Windows Phone 7 OS due out later this year.

The Trophy ships with the latest version of the OS which now includes limited copy and paste support.

Note: if you’d like to read in depth about the Windows Phone 7 OS and its many features, check out Paul Thurrott’s detailed review; while Paul is much more of a fan of WP7 than I, he does an unmatched job breaking down what the OS does and how it does it.

The UI: Metro

The main functions of the OS are broken down into two interfaces: Hubs and Applications. Hubs appear on the main home screen as tiles that allow quick access to data, contacts and applications, and also aggregate data from difference sources.  The Photos hub, for example, shows not only photos on the phone itself, but also from linked online services. There are several hubs included by default – People, Hotmail, Music + Videos, Office – but you can create new or additional hubs for frequently-used apps and contacts.  Some third-party apps also support hubs in one way or another, offering not only a hub-based link to the app on the main screen, but also displayed data from the app or service at a glance.

The Applications screen, which appears to the right of the Hubs screen, shows you a simple list of installed apps for quick launching. 

The hubs are great, by far the best feature of the Windows Phone OS.  And the general UI -high-contrast, clean and often two-dimensional – is visually satisfying; even basic system sounds like key clicks are sort of fun.  Metro does an excellent job of taking the smartphone UI up a notch, and it will be interesting to see how it changes and improves in the coming years.

Media

The Music + Videos hub is Zune inspired, like the rest of the OS.  Music is presented in a very nice way with moving backgrounds, album art and a range of viewing and listening options.  In fact, I’d argue that Windows Phone offers the music best experience on any smartphone, including the iPhone.  And Microsoft makes getting media content onto the phone fairly simple with the Zune software on the PC and a special Mac sync utility that moves unprotected music and video from iTunes to the device.  You can also purchase music on the device.

The Marketplace & Apps

The HTC Trophy and other Windows Phones can be augmented with additional software, or apps, just like any other smartphone.  Apps for Windows Phone 7 come via The Marketplace, an on-device app and music store.  Sadly, I feel the Marketplace is one of the major disappointments of the Trophy and all of its WP7 siblings.

The Marketplace presentation and interface is a complete mess. Search results are a maddening mixture of apps, songs, artists and albums.  Why Microsoft decided to combine searches for music and software is beyond me, but it doesn’t work – at all.  Finding new apps is a headache, and sorting through search results and lists of apps while browsing is frustrating to say the least. 

As I feel the ability to add apps to a smartphone is its most important utility beyond voice and text communication, this is a major blow to the Trophy and other WP7 handsets.

Performance

The HTC Trophy has a 1GHz processor, which handles the OS very well.  Menus are very fast, programs launch quickly, and there’s virtually no lag associated with any activity.

Battery life is descent, with about 5 hours of talk time and 11 days of standby.  I easily got through the day on a full charge during each day of my testing with a usage mix of voice calls, web browsing, general app use, email and messaging. 

Call quality is a pretty awful on the Trophy, which for me is a considerable setback.  I heard echoes of myself on more than one occasion, and the sound from the caller on the other end of the “line” was consistently hollow or distant.  I didn’t get any complaints regarding how I sounded, but the experience on my end was enough to disappoint.  The Trophy isn’t for frequent talkers.

So, is Windows Phone for You?

Which Verizon customers should consider the Trophy?  If you rely heavily on online Windows Live services for email, calendar, contacts and social networking, you’ll find Windows Phone 7’s out-of-the-box integration with Windows Live refreshing, but likely not enough to eclipse Android or iPhone.  Also, if you’re an XBox devotee, the operating system’s ability to link with your XBox LIVE account may interest you.  If neither of these descriptions prompted you to raise your hand, stick with Android or iPhone for now.  If you are one of these users, there’s something here for you, but there’s a lot missing, too.

Conclusion

In many ways, I feel Windows Phone could be a serious competitor to both Android and the iPhone.  But I stress that it could be.  At this point, great UI and media experience aside, I cannot recommend it over its Apple and Google-powered alternatives. Like the first iPhone and early Android phones, there are just too many deal-breaking missing or mangled features.  And the app store is – yeah, I’m going to repeat myself – a hot mess.

Microsoft has included some impressive ingredients with Windows Phone 7, but it needs more time to cook. 

Hopefully, they won’t wait too long for their fledgling mobile OS to rise, or it’ll certainly fall flat.

M. Nichols, Products Editor

If you’re the owner of a Sprint-branded 7-inch Galaxy Tab, it appears you could be in for an Android update next week.  SprintFeed is reporting that an update to Android 2.3, a.k.a. Gingerbread, will be released for the tablet starting Tuesday, July 5, 2011. 

Okay, so it’s not exactly Honeycomb, but it is a welcomed update to a later version of the Android OS. And hopefully (if true) updates for the other U.S. carriers’ Galaxy Tab models won’t be far behind. 

If you don’t get an on-screen notice regarding the update by Wednesday, you can check for it manually by tapping Menu > Settings > About My Galaxy Tab > System Updates > Update Android. 

This information has not been verified by Sprint or Samsung, so take it for what it’s worth.

Image courtesy of AndroidPolice.com

You walk into a local mom and pop computer store and see a line of inexpensive, custom-built PCs running Windows 7. You’re in the market for a desktop, so you spend a few hundred dollars, take it home and fire it up.  Sure, the case isn’t emblazoned with a recognizable logo, and the keyboard and mouse don’t share the same color scheme, but home-brewed or not, a PC is, by and large, a PC: 

It can run all Windows 7 software; its internal components can be updated with new drivers from their respective manufacturers; you can plug in any Windows-compatible peripheral and begin using it immediately; any old monitor you have lying around will, as they say, plug and play.

In short, an off-brand PC behaves like any other PC on the market.  It’s just not a Dell, a Sony VAIO or an HP.

But in the brave new world of Android tablets, this is all too often not the case.  Windows is Windows. Android, on the other hand, is not necessarily Android, at least not the Android you’ve seen or used on mainstream devices.  On that $200 no-name Android tablet you bought on eBay, Android may be little more than a sandbox OS akin to what you’d find on a cable company DVR.   And that’s probably not what you had in mind when you bought it.

Case in point: yesterday I received an email from a reader who had recently purchased a NextBook Android tablet.  Now, NextBook is one of the better-known Android tablet brands outside first-tier makers like Motorola, Samsung and LG, but the tablet is not at all what the reader expected. 

The main reason: no Android Market. 

If you’ve ever used an Android-powered smartphone, a Motorola XOOM or a Samsung Galaxy Tab, you’re familiar with the Market.  It provides a way to augment the functionality of the device by providing a way to install additional software (or apps), arguably the most important feature of any smart-device.  If you have an Android phone, you’ve almost certainly added games, productivity tools and/or utilities via the Market to increase the number of tasks your phone can perform. 

Some lesser-known Android tablets, though, don’t include the Android Market because of app compatibility issues – both with the tablet’s software and the hardware.

Android is an open OS, meaning once a company gets its hands on the operating system, they’re free to change it in just about any way they wish.  That level of freedom provided to device makers is a double-edge sword, though, because while it allows more flexibility in how the OS operates, and also makes it possible to create Android-powered devices that vary greatly from the Android-standard.  This can result in issues with hardware and software.

On the NextBook website, in the FAQ section, you’ll find dodgy declarations like “[n]ot all applications can run in [SIC] the device due to the system and hardware incompatibility,” and “[a]pps in APK format can be downloaded to the unit. But not all apps can run properly…”  A real world translation might be more like: of the hundreds of thousands of Android apps available in the Market and elsewhere, you can run a few hundred, and mostly only those we support.

Then there are more deceptive statements.  One FAQ is: Can you download skype [to the NextBook]?  The answer: Yes, you can download if the app is available in the SLIDE ME app library.  (FYI, Skype is not available in the SLIDE ME app library, a third-party application source with apps supported by NextBook devices.)  This is akin to posing the question Can a pig fly?  and getting the response Yes, if it has the ability.

To be fair, the NextBook web site does state: “The Nextbook has NO Android Market Place…”  However, this admonition is not included on the product description pages, but is buried in the FAQ section; and this would seem to be a somewhat important bit of information to pass along to prospective buyers. 

I’m not picking on NextBook; there are more lesser-known Android devices that have the same app-problems.  The Camangi WebStation is another example of an Android tablet without the standard Market.  And there are others.

The point is this: if you want an Android tablet, I suggest you stick with a well-known, established company for now.  Motorola, LG, Samsung – these devices are manufactured and implemented in such a way that they conform to Android standards, at least to the degree that they come with the Android Market.  That $150 tablet may seem like a bargain, but if you want to use it the way most tablet users do, you may find yourself frustrated, out of cash, and without a desirable third-party app in sight.

M. Nichols, Products Editor

This morning T-Mobile announced the MyTouch 4G Slide, a new Android 2.3 smartphone the carrier claims has the “most advanced camera of any smartphone.”  And given the specifications and  features, that claim may hold up.

The MyTouch 4G Slide (HTC Doubleshot) has an 8MP primary camera with a wide-aperture lens and dual LED flash.  Features of the camera include High Dynamic Range (HDR) like the iPhone 4, zero shutter lag for quick photos, improved low-light performance with a backside illuminated sensor (also like the iPhone 4), burst mode for taking multiple photos in quick succession, and SweepShot, which allows you to take panoramic photos by sweeping the phone in one smooth motion.  The phone can also capture 1080p video.

Aside from the camera-centric features, the newest MyTouch also looks to be a pretty impressive phone.  It’s powered by a dual-core 1.2GHz Snapdragon MSM8260 processor, has 768MB of RAM, a 3.7-inch SLCD touchscreen, support for T-Mobile’s HSPA+ “4G” data network, and the usual range of wireless technologies (Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, GPS).

We think the iPhone 4 has the best camera available on a smartphone today, but with the MyTouch 4G Slide lifting its two best features – HDR and a backside illuminated CCD – while adding additional performance modes and an extra 3MP of image capture, T-Mobile’s claim may just be justified.

The MyTouch 4G Slide will be available in July for $199 with a two-year contract. 

Not that long ago, using a smartphone with a prepaid phone service required jumping through a number of expensive and confusing hoops, but today that is changing.  Today, half way through 2011, there are several smartphones available from prepaid services, which makes it easier for some users to upgrade to smartphone devices and more affordable, too.

There are currently a handful of Android-powered prepaid phones like the LG Thrive (shown left), LG Optiumus and Samsung Intercept.  None of these handsets is particular cutting edge, but you can get each for less than $200 without being married to contract requirements and can save some serious cash over monthly contract plans.

The Android 2.2 LG Thrive from AT&T, for example, has an MSRP of $179 but is available for $149, and will work with AT&T’s upcoming $50 unlimited talk and text prepaid plan (begins June 26th).  You will have to select a data plan, though, which range in price from $5 to $25.  But $55 (with the lowest data package) is a pretty unbeatable monthly price for a smartphone user.

Other prepaid Android phones include the LG Optimus and Samsung Intercept, both from Virgin Mobile (Sprint).  The Optimus ships with Android 2.2, and an update to 2.2 is now available for the Intercept if you get a unit with 2.1 installed.  Unlimited talk, text and web is $60/month from Virgin.

When we think of Android software, we most often picture those applications that run on the devices themselves; but there are also useful titles that run on PCs and Macs which help you get more out of an Android phone or tablet.

We’ve put together a list of our favorite applications of this type – including syncing tools, video encoders, and media management software – to help you find your way.  And we’ll continue to add to the list over time.  Have a suggestion we missed?  Let us know in the comments section.

Read: Android Device Utilities & Software Tools for Windows & Mac OS

Our latest Android Help Center article is all about message notifications.  Like ringtones, you can change the notification sound your Android phone makes when you have an incoming message.

But you can also use MP3 audio files as custom notification sounds, and in the article, we show you how to do that, too.

READ: How to Change Android Smartphone Message Notification Sounds

So, it seems Verizon Wireless will join AT&T next month in killing off unlimited data plans for smartphones.  According to  tech sites AllThingsD and Droid Life, starting in early July (possibly as soon as July 7) Verizon will shift to tiered data plans for devices starting at $30 for 2GB of wireless data.

2GB of 3G/4G smartphone data is more than enough for most Android, iPhone and Windows Phone users, but this shift is yet another nail in the coffin of all-you-can-eat wireless carrier data.  If true, this move would leave T-Mobile and Sprint as the only two service providers in the U.S. offering unlimited smartphone data; and if T-Mobile is absorbed by AT&T it’s not difficult to imagine Sprint being the last man standing – and they may go wobbly fast.

Existing Verizon customers appear to be safe; as long as they continue service without changing plans, it looks like they can keep their $30/month unlimited smartphone data plan.  So if you want to move to Verizon – or upgrade to a smartphone as an existing Verizon customer – and want to lock-in unlimited data, you’d better move fast.

Image courtesy of MobileCrunch