There have been lots of rumors about the highly anticipated Android-powered, HTC Dream phone. Now it’s official. T-Mobile confirmed today that it plans to launch an Android mobile phone made by HTC. They are hoping to make it a direct threat to Apple’s popular iPhone.

A spokesman for Deutsche Telekom, T-Mobile’s parent company gave no details on the launch date, but according to the New York Times, the phone will hit stores in the United States before Christmas. Maybe even as early as October. Apparently the device will have a touch screen and will slide out to reveal a full five-row keyboard.

Sometimes the coolest gadgets in Sci-Fi are not gadgets at all. But robots. Here’s a look at some of the most memorable robots from sci-fi in no particular order. It’s not a complete list. Think of it more as a walk down memory lane. Because geeks love Sci-Fi and Sci-Fi has a long history of loving robots.

Kokoro Dreams has a new Android. You might notice that this one has a disturbing resemblance to Harry Potter. It’s name is Phorone. The lifesized android stands at 175 cms tall and is from an anime show that aired on the Nippon network, where her character is a secretary who plays the role of a protagonist.

The idea is that she could potentially replace your secretary. She is apparently powered by pressurized air and is capable of delivering human like expressions and can even talk. There are no plans of putting up the Phorone for rent. Check out a video below.

Take a look at these images of an Alienware mobile phone that would be built on the Android platform. it possesses has the familiar look of the Alienware computers with a glowing grill when calls come in and a a slide-up display to reveal a touch-sensitive keypad and a joystick for mobile gaming right in the middle. We can’t disagree that this phone might be the most popular design with hardcore gamers and Star Trek fans, but probably not the biggest hit on the market. Of course we’re eager to see any phone running Android and this one is no exception, but these look to be just designs for now.

In case you’re keeping track of that latest open source development platform for mobile devices called Android , the team just released an updated version based on all the great feedback they’ve received from the early releases of the platform. This latest release got the snappy name of m5-rc14, which I guess seems fitting for a platform named Android.

This version has a UI that is still a work in progress but received a significant update. Also new is the addition of layout animations, new media codecs to support 6 new audio file formats, an improvements to the Eclipse plugin and classes for geo-coding that will let you go both ways, (address to coordinate and coordinate to address for you pervs).

With the Transcend StoreJet OTG and it’s OLED display, you can manage what you’ve got on it, and even interface with computer peripherals with…no computer. Transfer data to and from flash drives, digital cameras or MP3 players without having to boot up the PC. Just hook it up to StoreJet and you’re good to go. The device is just 1.8 inches thick, so it’s ultra portable.

This is a real time-saver. It will save energy too, by not having to boot up everytime you need to move data. Basically, it bridges the gap between your PC and your mobile devices. I wouldn’t be at all surprised to see more products like it. It holds 30 GB and will cost you $200.

Google has recently made an announcement that they will be making their way into your mobile devices and while your out driving around, starting next month you may start seeing Google Maps at your local gas station.

The internet search giant is expected to make an announcement tomorrow that they will be working with Gilbarco Veeder-Root, a gas pump maker based in Greensboro, N.C., to provide pumps at gas stations that have an internet connection and have interactive maps from Google on them. The maps will allow motorists using the pumps to scroll through a list of local landmarks and print out directions to them, all the while holding up the guy behind them a little longer while they fiddle with the new feature.

This morning Google had a phone open phone conference and made the much anticipated announcement that they along with 33 other companies are starting the Open Handset Alliance. The first and main project of the newly formed alliance is called Android, an open development platform for mobile handsets. The ultimate goal for Google with this is to overall make a better, more usable phone with more features where consumers will benefit, and of course to show advertisements on it where Google will also benefit.

Eric Schmidt was present on the call leading things off, with a number of other captains of industry including Paul Jacobs of Qualcomm, Peter Chou from HTC and Ed Zander from Motorola. The members of the Open Handset Alliance include some big names like Google, HTC, LG, Motorola, Samsung, Sprint, T-Mobile, eBay, Intel, NVIDIA and many others. Some notable big names we’re not seeing on the member list are Microsoft, Apple, AT&T and Verizon.

Google has plans to announce the highly rumored “Google Phone” today which is likely going to be an open platform, Linux-based operation system that runs on mobile phones and is catered to Google applications rather than being an actual specific handset. The latest list of speculated partners for providing the phone include Sprint, Motorola, Samsung and NTT DoCoMo although these are just rumored partners as everyone involved with the deal has kept very quiet about it at Google’s request. Verizon and AT&T have both had talks with Google but reportedly are still leery of the Google-centric plans.

The new Google Phone system is expected to be Linux based with the open source Java development platform laid on top with tools that Google would “give away” to developers to allow them to openly create applications to run on the G-Phone’s platform. The phone has is also being rumored to provide internet access at speeds as fast as you might find on your home computer, but all navigation would be through Google, of course.