Vodafone will be the first UK network to release the Nexus S in the after it launched with The Carphone Warehouse at the end of last year.

Available in a exclusive white model, the Google Nexus S is the first Android handset to arrive running Android 2.3 Gingerbread and features a 4-inch Super AMOLED touchscreen display, NFC contactless technology and is crammed full of next-generation smartphone technology and Android functionality.

The Google Nexus S White is expected to be priced around £30 per month as part of a 2-year contract deal, with The Carphone Warehouse scheduled to release the handset within the next few months.

It looks like the folks over at MobileBroadband.net have been busy working their way through the Android Market with their list of the best 50 free Android games.

I must admit I don't pay all that much attention to gaming with Android (I'm more of an app guy), but I was really impressed with the recent release of Angry Birds which made me realise just how far the Android platform has progressed since it's early G1 days.

You can read the article here:

I expect that a lot of Android users will be familiar with most of the titles listed, but I also found a few interesting ones that I'm gonna check out later in the week.

What are your favourite Android games?

Android Facebook users will now be able to use their handset's GPS signal to check-in at their current location with Facebook.

The new app update will also enable Android users to receive the new Places Deals service announced earlier today at Facebook's mobile event.

"Traditionally the Android app has always been a little bit behind," said Mark Zuckerberg. "We didn't have a full team working on it, but now we're back on track."

The Facebook app update will be a welcome boost for many Android users who've long bemoaned how poor the Facebook portal is when compared to the iPhone version.

The new Android Facebook app will be available to download from the Android Market shortly.

The new Liquid Metal Android phone will feature the latest Android 2.2 Froyo software along with Acer's Breeze UI, which offers users an array of widgets and features - even from the lock screen.

In terms of hardware the Liquid Metal fits right in with the best Android handsets currently on the market, with a 3.6-inch capacitive LCD screen, a 5.0 mega-pixel camera with auto-focus and an LED flash, and 720p HD recording capability.

Despite Acer promising 'lightning fast navigation', the Liquid Metal processor is only a Qualcomm 7230 800 MHz offering, so it'll be interesting to see just how that holds up with hands-on testing.

The 3G signal has been boosted to HSDPA 14.4Mbps and Wi-Fi to include 802.11n (where the connections allow, this means browsing up to five times faster than other devices, according to Acer).

Priced at £299, the Acer Liquid Metal will be offered in two variants: brown, with a UK release date of mid November, and silver, which is set to land in December.

Although Lawee did admit that he harboured doubts about the purchase initially, the subsequent investment in Android was well worth it, which in itself speaks volumes given the many acquisitions the company have made over the years.

Lawee mentioned that he didn't have the same faith in the Android platform as Andy Rubin when Google acquired it back in 2005. He added: "I saw this guy in my building for two years, walking his dog, and I was like, I hope this guy does something".

The Android operating system was purchased for an estimated $50 million, and since Google's acquisition the OS has grown considerably and now stands as a genuine competitor to Apple's iOS.

Available exclusively from T-Mobile, the Pulse also marks the first Android handset available on a Pay As You Go basis.

Manufactured by Huawei, the T-Mobile Pulse features a 3.5-inch touchscreen display (screen resolution of 480x320) built-in accelerometer, 3.2-megapixel camera, 2GB microSD card, support for 3G, integrated A-GPS, WiFi and much more.

The handset includes all the Google services you'd expect from an Android handset including Google Maps, Gmail, Google search plus one month's Telenav Satnav turn-by-turn service and even exchange for Microsoft Exchange.

The T-Mobile Pulse is available on both monthly contracts and a Pay As You Go (PAYG) basis priced at £176 on PAYG or from as little as £20 per month on a 2-year contract basis.

[via t-mobile.co.uk/shop]

The DEXT Android phone will be offered free to new customers as part of a 2-year Orange contract priced at £35 per month.The £35 tariff will include 900 minutes, unlimited texts, data allowance and Orange maps.

Known in the US as the Motorola CLIQ, the UK DEXT features a slide-out QWERTY keyboard similar to the T-Mobile G1, a 3.1-inch touchscreen display, 3.5mm headphone jack, GPS support and expandable memory up to 32GB with a microSD card.

The Motorola DEXT is also the first handset to run Motorola's new MotoBlur user interface that offers increased social networking options and features.

“Motoblur, which will be available on multiple Motorola Android-powered devices in our upcoming portfolio, helps us to create phones that are instinctive, social and connected.

“Today’s mobile phone needs to be more than just ‘smart’. It needs to be social. The Dext is such a phone, offering the ability to funnel your entire social life into a single stream.” - Ralf Gerbershagen, vice president and general manager of Motorola Western Europe.

[via shop.orange.co.uk]

The Samsung Galaxy Lite i5700 features a 3.0-inch WQVGA touchscreen display, 3.2 mega-pixel camera (the i7500 has a 5 mega-pixel camera), and 1GB of memory (again, the i7500 includes 8GB of internal storage).

According to the Lite's specs, the handset will also include Samsung's custom user interface, the Touchwiz. HTC and Motorola have both developed custom UI's for the Android platform with their MOTOBLUR and Sense software on the Motorola DEXT and HTC Hero respectively.

Here's the full Samsung Galaxy Lite technical specs:

• 3.0″ WQVGA TFT Touchscreen
• 3.2 megapixel camera
• Android OS 1.5
• Chrome Lite browser
• Google Apps and Android Market
• Bluetooth 2.0
• USB 2.0
• WiFi
• 3G - HSDPA
• Edge - GPRS
• Touchwiz
• Accelerometer
• 3.5mm audio jack
• MP3 player, MPEG4

The Samsung Galaxy Lite will be available  in both black and orange and white and green models. A launch date for the device is not yet known, although the handset is expected to launch before the end of the year.

With a planned release date of October, the HTC Tattoo will mark Vodafone's second Android handset following on from their launch of the HTC Magic phone earlier in the year.

The HTC Tattoo will be marketed as the first 'mass market' Android phone and will include 2.8-inch touchscreen display, with a 3.2 mega-pixel camera, HSDPA, Bluetooth 2.0 + EDR, Wi-Fi and microSD card slot.

The HTC Tattoo will also be one of the first Android phones to be powered by the upcoming Android 1.6 Donut update.

[via shop.vodafone.co.uk]

The Motorola DEXT will be Orange UK's second Android handset (following on from their launch of the HTC Hero), and will be the first Motorola handset to feature their new MOTOBLUR user interface.

Powered by Android, MOTOBLUR will allow users to synch contacts, posts, feeds, messages, e-mails, and photos from social networking sites such as Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, Gmail and Yahoo.

A QWERTY slider, Motorola DEXT is packed full of features including: * Touch screen capabilities * 5 megapixel camera with autofocus and connected to Facebook, Picassa, Photobucket or MySpace for easy uploading * Video speed of 24 frames per second for easy capture & upload to share with friends, as well as playback capability for favorite YouTube videos * A full HTML browser, 3G speed and Wi-Fi * A 3.5 mm headset jack for your own headphones and easily connect to your music, create your own playlist or discover new music by seeing what your friends are listening to on LastFM * Packed with Google Mobile Services: Maps, Talk, Mail, Voice Search, Integrated GPS for turn by turn directions and a rich HMTL browser * Access to thousands of apps through Android marketplace * A removable 2GB Micro SD card * Supports up to 32GB MicroSD for all of your photos, music and more

The Motorola DEXT will be available free to new Orange customers as part of a 2 year £34.26 per month contract.

The Orange package will include 900 any network call minutes, unlimited texts, Orange Maps as well as inclusive anytime internet browsing so users can make the most from their mobile experience.

[via newsroom.orange.co.uk]