Forget typing out searches or searching by voice. Devices running Android 2.0 can now use Google Gesture Search to find contacts, music, and more. All you have to do is "draw" letters on the screen.

This generation of Android phones is faster, more powerful and generally awesome-er than anything before. But for whatever reason, they don't have one thing other smartphones take for granted: multitouch. Here's how to fix that, and so much more.

No major companies are quite ready to bring a proper Android tablet to market, but they're edging closer. When they do, they could do worse than turn out something like this 7-inch, Tegra 2 design from Compal.

That weirdly-shaped Sholes Tablet we saw a while ago has an official Chinese press page up. There's also details on the XT800, the much less lumpy handset of the two.

Our dreams of an HTC-shaped Android 2.0 device launching before Christmas now lie in tatters, with Digitimes reporting that the oft-leaked, much-hyped Passion has been delayed by several months to an early 2010 on-sale date.

That 5-inch Dell mini-tablet we saw in a leaked video last month looked like it had U.S. spec 3G, and now a Chinese-language Commercial Times report suggests the touchscreen device will be part of a new series headed to AT&T.

I'm psyched to see Android moving into tablets. Some of the first will be from Innovative Converged Devices (ICD), who say their Tegra-powered 7-, 11-, and 15-inch tablets will arrive through "tier one" carriers in the first half of 2010.

You've had it. Maybe with AT&T. Maybe with Apple's crushing, dictatorial grip strangling the App Store. Whatever the reason, you're going to Android: Land of freedom, carriers not named AT&T, and the great Google. Here's what you need to know.

This week we met Motorola's Droid, the first handset with Android 2.0. To an outsider, it just looks like another Google smartphone, but 2.0 is more than that: it's proof that Android is finally going to take over the world.

It's this simple: If you don't buy an iPhone, buy a Droid.

A year ago, Android was an unfinished OS for nerds, bursting with potential. With Android 2.0, it's evolved into something sleeker, more refined and focused—but still something not quite human.

Think of this week's round of announcements as Android's débutante ball. She's gone from a lovable ragamuffin to a mature OS that's ready for the spotlight. With Android 2.0, Motorola Droid and Google Maps Navigation, she stole our hearts.

Android 2.0 only came out last week, but the open-source community has already ported it the T-Mobile G1 / HTC Dream, the first Android phone. Check it out:

The Droid, and Android 2.0 as a whole, isn't going to kill the iPhone. That's ridiculous. Teamed with the iPhone, though, it just straight up murdered Palm—the same way that Microsoft brought Apple to its knees decades ago.

Hopes may be dashed on that rumored Android equivalent of the HD2. HTC's CEO, Peter Chou, tells Forbes that "technically, we could make the HD2 an Android phone, but I have to take care of Windows Mobile." Qué?

As we said in our hands on, the Droid deserves its positive attention. So what about that AT&T and GSM-compatible version? Still no word on availability, but here's proof it exists. Update: Video pulled, but we've got a screen grab:

According to HTC's Twitter feed, the no-longer-tragically-flawed HTC Hero is getting a sprucing up with an update to Android 2.0. Will the OS actually shine through this time, or is HTC's Sense UI gonna continue running the show? [Twitter]

The best thing about the Motorola Droid might just be Android 2.0. It got official yesterday, and Google showed off some highlights, but here's a visual guide if you wanna get a little closer. (You should, it's pretty great.)