The carrier told that not even substitutes for HTC Android devices suggested by Apple included Android smartphones made by other manufacturers. Apple only designated operating systems that were alternatives to Android, such as Microsoft Windows, BlackBerry OS and, of course, iOS for iPhone.

T-Mobile added that HTC, among other Android producers, had a unique relationship. The carrier launched the first Android-based phone with the G1 of HTC in October 2008. it has also been the host of other Google phones like the Nexus One or the Nexus S. one of the most important devices T-Mobile prepares for the holidays in the absence of an iPhone will be the Amaze 4G.

T-Mobile suggested instead that it wanted a transition of four to six months to escape the dependency on any supposed infringing hardware. Its argument was mainly recasting the amicus brief in the Apple-Samsung lawsuit, excepting its argument related to preservation of holiday sales.

When it comes to Google, it has been significantly more aggressive and intended to obtain a denial of the same ban no matter what the terms would be. Adopting an ideological tone, Google sees Android as a necessary force and provides room and choice for alternate application stores like the Amazon Appstore and developers as well. It portrayed Apple as over-controlling its platform. It also suggested that Apple, being the largest maker of individual US smartphones, would only worsen competition and could create a monopoly if HTC was forced to leave the market.

In the absence of HTC there would be serious implications on the market, such as increase of prices, diminishment of services, a decrease of the consumers’ access to the technology and reduced innovation, said Google. As the US military was using Android-based devices, a reduced presence of Android may hurt public safety. Other effects refer to ceasing networks development in the absence of partnerships between phone producers and carriers, while innovation itself would suffer.

It is doubtful that the arguments may have any impact. Neither argument questions the validity of the claims for patent violation. However, they maintain the idea that market requirements outlined the disadvantages of an eventual duplication of Apple’s technology. Excepting the suggested transition of T-Mobile, neither had a path getting HTC out of the believed infringement and deny the stress for a ban.

ITC might accept some parts of HTC’s appeal, but Apple could still get some of its claims upheld and would end up the same way as if it won the war upright. It is possible to see HTC pushed into a certain settlement with the hardware taken off the market while waiting for its own counterattacks to pass through the ITC and courts as well, where they might not be successful.

According to early benchmarks, these results were not expected, as the Xoom was slower in Quadrant than in 3.0.1, possible due to a lack of optimization.

Earlier mentioned USB support is currently known to work with the mouse, similarly to the trackpad working on the Eee Pad Transformer. Mice that have scroll wheels should be able to use them. It is also possible to resize widgets in more cases than only in Gmail, for example the bookmark widget.

What is still disappointing is the Movies application, which amounts to a management application kicking users to Android Market as soon as they want to rent and either download or stream. Support for microSD card still is not in place, although three months have passed since the Xoom is in stores.

Other Android tablets are expected to get the 3.1 version within a couple of weeks.

Recent shortages of parts supply may have caused the delay, as they also affected other tablets, such as the iPad 2, Motorola’s Xoom or Eee Pad Transformer for example. Another possible reason could be the intention of Toshiba to equip its new tablet with the next generation of the NVIDIA Tegra processor. In this case it should wait for the release of the processor.

The hardware for the new, unnamed Toshiba tablet will be very similar to what other Android 3.0-based tablets have. It includes a 1GHz NVIDIA Tegra 2 processor, a 1,280×800 capacitive display and two cameras, a five-megapixel one on the rear side and a 0.2-megapixel one on the front of the device. Wi-Fi, USB, HDMI and a card slot for SD memory complete the features of the new tablet.

As IDC observed, the figures were in contrast to constant increasing interest of developers related to Android over 2010, but were consistent with increasing developer frustration with the platform, as 63 percent of them claimed that device fragmentation would be an important platform risk. They suggested that different devices were stuck on several versions of the Android operating system. Other 30 percent mentioned weak Android tablet interest, while 28 percent referred to multiple application stores.

Android-based tablet interest is currently narrowly focused. Although 71 percent of developers declare to be very interested Android as an operating system for tablets, only 52 percent said to be very interested in leading Android tablets today like the Samsung Galaxy Tab. Only 44 percent manifested their interest in the Motorola Xoom while 31 percent preferred the upcoming HTC Flyer. Smaller players like Acer, Archos and others only generated minimal interest.

Microsoft came in third place in the survey, with developer interest evaluated at 29 percent. The company has bet much of its effort on Windows Phone 7. Meanwhile, Research in Motion had only 27 percent, focused on its BlackBerry and PlayBook platforms.

Windows Phone 7 helped Microsoft to remain at a flat ten percent, while webOS fell again reaching three percent and Nokia’s Symbian preserved its two percent.

As Nielsen said, the migration from BlackBerry to Android was even clearer when considering those customers who have bought a phone during the past half year. Half of them have bought an Android device, while only 15 percent have bought a BlackBerry. Apple’s share was 25 percent and suggests a loyal base. Android attracted users who would normally have chosen a minority platform, as Windows Phone 7 or Windows Mobile devices have been bought by only seven percent, while two percent preferred webOS and one percent chose Symbian.

Nielsen also claimed that an eventual threat to the iPhone would be normally possible on long term, but it could also arrive earlier. Android has passed iOS for the first time as a platform of choice for customers intending to buy a handset in the next year, with 31 percent to 30. Other platforms had poorer results, since interest in the BlackBerry fell to eleven percent and Windows Phone only to six percent, while webOS had no more than one percent.

Results are however expected to change dramatically in coming months, as Apple faces a growth of demand thanks to its new iPhone launch, expected to happen in September. Research in Motion, partly hurt by its aging phone lineup, could perhaps see a minor revitalization coming with the expected unveil of the BlackBerry Bold Touch and several other new phones coming in the next weeks.

Lenovo has said it would deliver multiple tablet models in the near future and one of them is supposed to be unveiled this year, in September. It is not certain whether the seven-inch tablet is the expected model.

The Chinese PC maker had one of the slowest reactions to the iPad. It produces its own tablet and had warned about the risks by arguing that tablets were necessary to stay relevant and prevent from being pushed aside because of Apple.

The move will finally limit the functionality of the app. The channel is supposed to kick out the My Apps section on the home page of the Market and determine users to bring it up by using a contextual menu. Objections already exist, some users qualifying it as “presumptive” and saying that they would prefer to check their own applications instead of visiting a branded channel.

One of them called the initiative “a little arrogant” and said that it would be better to get it as an extra function included in the menu or even placed on the screen instead of replacing a defined feature. He added that customers should have been asked what they wanted.

The new feature should already be live but it depends on individual carriers, although Sony claimed most people would get it soon.

This step is considered a premiere for an Android-based phone maker and is supposed to represent an eventual splintering of the platform. It does not require separate downloads, but creates an isolated area of the store and therefore could encourage other phone makers to provide general-purpose applications intentionally limited to their own handsets. The implementation of Sony Ericsson’s channel increases the time necessary to check for application updates and this way impedes functionality.

It is known that windows Phone 7 also has its own store included in another store, but this does not affect the interface when bringing in the custom store.

The design of the S1 should be familiar to iPad users since it reminds them the iPad in a case prepared for “typing mode”. Sony suggests that the design is meant to enhance stability and improve grip while changing the “torque” and concentrating the weight at the top of the device, which can be used in either a vertical or horizontal position, the same way people usually hold a folded-over magazine or even an iPad placed in a folio-style case. Another feature of the S1 is infrared technology which allows it to be utilized in controlling various AV devices, such as the Bravia line of Sony itself. DLNA technology allows users to simply “throw” content they are listening or watching to on the tablet to wireless speakers or HDTV.

The second unveiled tablet is the Sony S2, which has a fascinating dual-screen clamshell-like design. It sports two 5.5-inch screens with high resolution at 1,024×480 pixels. A Tegra 2 is also present like in the S1, but there is only a rear facing camera incorporated unlike the two cameras of the Sony S1. Thanks to its two screens, the device can be used in different ways, as the screens allow a flexible, simultaneous usage. For instance, when using the e-mail application, the bottom screen shows the keyboard, while the upper screen displays the message. Like its stablemate, the device is also PlayStation Certified and can support both 3G and 4G networks.

The destination of the two models is mainly entertainment consumption, but since all the abilities provided by Android 3.0 are present, web browsing or e-mail are also included, as well as the added feature permitting access to the premium cloud-based networks of Sony, which provide various content, such as the Reader store for e-books, the PlayStation Suite allowing users to purchase and play any first-generation PlayStation game, or the Qriosity network for video and music services.

Kunimasa Suzuki, the head of personal computers at Sony, declared that both new tablets would be available this fall globally, but they could probably appear sooner in the United States. As he said, the company’s goal is to be in second place in the tablet industry which is currently led by iPad and is evaluated at $49 billion by 2015.

Xoom’s shipment figures have never been discussed publicly by Motorola, which might quantify them only with the occasion of its next quarterly results.

Although concrete data is not at hand, these figures are still reflecting a certain lukewarm adoption while supported by Google’s Android numbers, with the 3.0 version at 0.2 percent, much under the 2.5 percent users of a Nexus One or Nexus S with Android 2.3.

Low adoption of the Xoom is partly related to its limited launch. The release on the 24th of February was limited to the 3G edition for Verizon, with the minimum asking price put at $800. Wi-Fi models only appeared in late March, while international releases are just beginning and are represented by launches for Canada. Other countries will follow soon. Compared to the Xoom, Apple shipped its iPad 2 to 25 countries only two weeks after the US launch. Price starts at $500 in the case of the Wi-Fi version, while the 3G model is priced at $630.

Official details are almost inexistent but, during a fiscal results call, Dell said the tablet would ship with Android 3.0 and would not use the same mixture of Android 2.2 and the custom Stage user interface as on its Streak 7. As Google has decided to withhold the source for Android 3.0, Dell would only have little room to code a replacement and therefore, for the first time in the history of the company, it could run a stock Android interface.

As the Tegra 2 chip is used in the Streak 7, it is possible to see the same processor in the 10-inch tablet too. In this case, the performance would be similar to all Android 3.0 tablets in the first wave.

This launch is symbolic for the company as this is the first time Dell will attempt to take on Apple’s iPad in a corresponding form factor. Both the original 5-inch Streak 7 and the Streak 7 counted on price to attract customers, in competition with the 9.5-inch iPad. Sales numbers were never available from Dell, but it is supposed to sell tablets only in modest amounts, due to lack of marketing and moderate early reviews.