Also announced back in February during the Mobile World Congress, the Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 mini is the sister model of the Xperia X10 mini but features a 4 row slide-out QWERTY keyboard. It supports quadband GSM/GPRS/EDGE and the European version features dualband UMTS/HSDPA/HSUPA at 900/2100 MHz while the North American version supports triband UMTS/HSDPA/HSUPA at 850/1900/2100 MHz. Furthermore it features Bluetooth 2.0, WiFi b/g, aGPS an FM radio, a digital compass and an accelerometer. However, like all the recent Sony Ericsson Android smartphones, the X10 mini pro is also not running the latest Android version but Android 1.6 only (an upgrade to Android 2.1 is expected to be released soon).

HTC has just sent out an official information, that the Android 2.2 (Froyo) update for HTC Desire will start rolling out across Europe this weekend. As well as including the complete set of Android 2.2 features, the update will contain a few special additions of HTC's latest iteration of HTC Sense. The update will provide 720p video capture, HTC's App Share widget, as well as the enhanced HTC Caller ID and an improved multi-language keyboard. Also, through the update, HTC Sync will allow HTC Desire users to sync their music with iTunes. HTC Desire users will be notified that the OTA (over-the-air update) is available to download when their phone automatically checks for software updates.

Announced back in February during the Mobile World Congress, since this month the Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 mini is available commercially across the world. Not running the latest Android version but Android 1.6 only (nevertheless an upgrade to Android 2.1 is expected to be released soon), the Xperia X10 mini is one of the smallest Android smartphones available today. It supports quadband GSM/GPRS/EDGE and the European version features dualband UMTS/HSDPA/HSUPA at 900/2100 MHz while the North American version supports triband UMTS/HSDPA/HSUPA at 850/1900/2100 MHz. Furthermore it features Bluetooth 2.0, WiFi b/g, aGPS an FM radio, a digital compass and an accelerometer.

Google has just released an updated Google Maps Mobile client for Android which focuses on an even easier way to find places around you current location: a dedicated Places icon that lets you quickly look up nearby places and pick a place to go using updated Place Pages. On Android-powered phones with Google Maps 4.4, you'll find the new Places icon in the app launcher with the rest of your apps. At the moment it features restaurants, coffee, bars, hotels, attractions, ATMs and gas stations as predefined categories. However it even allows to add own categories as well as directly searching for any other type of local business around you.

In a recent interview with Forbs.com's Velocity blog, Drew Bamford, head of HTC's user experience design team, said that the manufacturer will bring its HTC Sense UI to its first Windows Phone 7 smartphone. Furthermore, without going into details, Bamford said, that Google may focus more on improving the user interface in general Android 3.0 but he doesn't think Google will precludes manufacturer customization. Back in February, when Microsoft announced Windows Phone 7, Microsoft said that it will take-over the UI guidelines for Windows Phone 7, keeping the control of the GUI. The same move is rumored for the yet unannounced Android 3.0, that Google plans to keep the GUI control.