At the last CTIA show, a popular refrain among the crowd was "Where's Android?" Though only a couple of Android-related announcements were made at the show, the operating system was in full force, and "Where's Android" is no longer a question being asked. Most significantly, Samsung announced their first Android phone for the U.S. market, after selling the Samsung i7500 Galaxy in Europe, but another Android phone also waits in the wings. Similarly, Motorola was at the Fall CTIA 2009 show with their Motorola CLIQ Android phone, while onlookers were waiting for the other show to drop knowing that Motorola has something else up their sleeve. If anything, there is a lot of promise in the Android world at the moment, both in terms of what we've seen and also in terms of what we know to expect.
Samsung Moment relies on solid hardware, not software tweaks
 Samsung and Sprint announced their newest smartphone, and surprise, surprise, it's an Android device. Unlike the HTC Hero on Sprint, the Samsung Moment will have a touchscreen up front and a QWERTY keyboard that slides out from the side of the phone. Unlike the heavily customized Hero, the Samsung Moment will use a stock version of Google's Android OS. But that doesn't mean the device doesn't have any compelling features. In fact, the Samsung Moment will be the first Android device on the U.S. market with an AMOLED screen. The device will also use a faster 800MHz processor, a clock speed bump of about 50% over the competition.
We got to spend some time with the Samsung Moment, and we were impressed with the hardware. The AMOLED screen is fantastic and colorful. Samsung is wise to come out in front of this technology, it will surely become more popular as more people see the difference. Since the Samsung Moment was using the stock Google interface, it was difficult to see the advantages of a faster processor, but we never encountered any hiccups or lag in our hands-on look at the device.
The keyboard on the Samsung Moment was very nice. Keys were a bit stiff, but felt solid and discrete in our time typing on the phone. We weren't thrilled with the optical trackpad, but that's probably because we're used to the trackball on other Android phones. The optical trackpad doesn't control a mouse icon, it instead moves the selection cursor. It felt sensitive as we used it, and we could easily get the hang of it.
Samsung Behold II, the shy Android phone
 It's fairly clear why Samsung wouldn't let us turn on the Samsung Behold II, and would only show empty shells with no batteries. While the Samsung Moment has some impressive hardware specs for an Android device, and also that slide-out keyboard, the Samsung Behold II, with it's TouchWiz interface and 3D cube menu running on top of the Google Android system, would quickly become the real story, stealing thunder from Sprint and their beefier Android lineup.
So, there isn't much to say about the Samsung Behold II, except that it will be an Android TouchWiz phone, and it will also feature the impressive photo capabilities that made the original Behold interesting. The Behold II will get a 5-megapixel camera with auto focus and a flash. The phone will use T-Mobile's 3G network, and will also come with Wi-Fi for wireless Web browsing on your home network. Like the Samsung Moment, the Samsung Behold II will also use an AMOLED screen.
Samsung has already announced that the Behold II will come to T-Mobile in time for the holiday season, thus helping T-Mobile retain its lead on the Android race. Pricing and specific availability haven't been announced, but we'd be disappointed if this phone started at more than $200, and less so if it started at under $180. After all, the Samsung Moment will be available from Sprint on November 1 for $180, after a mail-in rebate and instant savings.
Motorola Cliq and Sprint Hero, plus a phone to be named later
 Though both the Motorola Cliq and the Sprint Hero have already been announced, both were showing in full force at the Fall CTIA 2009 show, which makes sense since the Hero hits the market this weekend, and the Motorola Cliq hasn't officially gone on sale yet. At the moment, it seems like T-Mobile and Sprint have decided to jump headfirst into the Android pool, but we don't suspect that exclusivity will last for long. Motorola has already been clear that they will launch a second Android phone for this holiday season, and popular wisdom pegs that device will be a Verizon Wireless phone. Plus, we expect some version of the HTC Hero will make its way to The Network before the shopping period ends.
T-Mobile isn't even letting their old kit linger too long. The carrier announced a new version of the T-Mobile myTouch 3G in a faux-guitar shell with Fender branding. But the good news on that new device was the inclusion of a 3.5mm headphone jack, removing one of our complaints. The week's headlines may belong to Windows Mobile, but with more new products just around the corner, the shopping season could be dominated by the flood of Android smartphones that will hit the market.
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