First problem: Imeem ran the Snocap music storefront system used by thousands of independent artists (many on MySpace). You’ve probably seen a Snocap widget in place on a MySpace page, it was a music player that allowed bands to sell/play/share their own music. Snocap would handle the sales and process payments to any artist owed more than $20. When MySpace bought Imeem, they only bought certain parts, and the outstanding payments to the artists weren’t part of the deal. MySpace purchased Imeem for under $1mil and sources close to the deal say there isn’t likely to be money left for artists (some waiting for payments for more than a year).

Second, all CLIQs shipped with Imeem pre-installed (with no way to remove it). Justin was the first to notice and mention to me that the apps (including others, such as Shazam and Telenav) weren’t able to be uninstalled. When you go into Settings and try to manually remove the application there is no uninstall button to be found. When you try to access Imeem, you get a failed login and nothing else (see a full gallery below). Every CLIQ now has a brick of an app sitting on it, irremovable. I’d assume Motorola will fix this with a future update, but that’s the whole point of giving the user the point to remove their own apps in the first place.

Let’s not get it twisted, the two problems have nothing to do with one another (Motorola had nothing at all to do with the Imeem sale) but there are a lot of losers in the deal. The one common is MySpace, which is where I’ll place most of the blame. I haven’t followed MySpace news or updates for a few years now, so please correct me if I missed any of the finer points, but to me it sounds like hasty planning and short foresight have again inconvenienced thousands of users.

As it stands now, all past parts of the Imeem site just point to a landing page for MySpace Music. MySpace Music has stated its working to merge all the user profiles and playlists over to MySpace and should be sending out emails when the details are ready. That just leaves one issue: who really wants to use MySpace nowadays?

Radio Shack (aka The Shack) has really been pushing their cell phone business with TV spots and is planning a big sale on Black Friday. They will have the Motorola Cliq for $79.99 with a 2 year contract agreement. We are not really huge fans of the Cliq (full review coming this week), but it is still a pretty sweet deal for all the teenyboppers out there.

For a full list of cell phone deals on Black Friday, keep an eye on BlackFriday.info.

What the Cliq should have been sold for.

Thank you John Carli for the tip.

Millions of T-Mobile customers are left wondering, “What about us?!” Well, you can stop your worries because we contacted T-Mobile USA and got the following response.

T-Mobile is coordinating with Google to deliver Android 2.0. We will let you know when we have more details to share.

I’m glad to hear that Android 2.0 is coming, but surely T-Mobile can’t be happy with the special treatment Verizon is getting. I tried to find out if Verizon has an exclusive time period for the release of Android 2.0, but T-Mobile would not comment on that.

What about the Cliq?

We also asked about the Motorola Cliq which has begun shipping online and will be available in stores November 3, 2009. The Cliq features a custom version of Android dubbed Motoblur, which is based on Android 1.5. T-Mobile’s other two Android phones have already been updated to Android 1.6, so we were curious about their upgrade strategy for the Cliq.

The CLIQ ships with Android 1.5 software. We have no announcements at this time regarding new Android software updates. For more information about future updates to CLIQ and MOTOBLUR, it would be best to contact Motorola PR

I have yet to get an official response from Motorola PR, but I did some digging of my own. According to an inside source from Motorola, it appears Motoblur will be receiving an update based on Android 2.0 (and skip Android 1.6).

What about the G1?

There is still no clear cut answer regarding Android 2.0 on the G1. I have explained the limited internal storage issue of the G1 and we still don’t know if it will receive the update. It is entirely possible that Google will find a way to make it work. They just have a lot of obstacles in their way.

I’ve been monitoring the Twitter accounts for several Android engineers and check out what Jean-Baptiste Queru had to say about Android 2.0 fitting on the G1 and ADP1 (technically same hardware, aka HTC Dream).

I'll let you guys guess what this means.

Conclusion

Android 2.0 will be coming to T-Mobile phones, but the time frame could vary greatly depending on which device you own.

• myTouch 3G: Google experience phone. No space limitations. Should receive the update as soon as Google makes it available to T-Mobile.
• G1: Google experience phone. Space Limitations. Very complex issue.
• Cliq: Custom Motorola version of Android. Waiting on Motorola to update Motoblur to Android 2.0
• Behold II: No official information yet. I would not be surprised if it shipped with Android 1.5 based on what we have seen with other Samsung phones.

I had recently begun to believe that the carrier was responsible for when updates were released. However, based on recent information it looks like Google holds the key for their Google experience phones. This means that if Android 2.0 is significantly delayed on the G1 and myTouch 3G, you should blame Google and not T-Mobile. When it comes to custom versions of Android like Motorola’s Motoblur or HTC’s Sense UI, the handset maker is responsible for the updates.

Hopefully we will not have to wait much longer. Android 2.0 is finished, but Google controls which phones get it first. Right now, their top priority is to make sure the Verizon Droid is a huge success. Early adopters of Android and the G1 will have to sit tight and keep their fingers crossed.

We contacted T-Mobile USA and they responded with the following:

1. How much is the Cliq for current customers who do not meet the upgrade eligibility requirements?

The CLIQ will be available for $199.99 with a two year service agreement. Additional pricing levels vary based on the customer’s tenure, but these pricing levels are less expensive than purchasing a new phone without a two year contract. In the case of the CLIQ, the no-contract price is $449.99.

2. Will pre-sale Cliqs begin shipping on October 19, 2009?

T-Mobile customers who purchase a CLIQ during the pre-sale period will receive their device within days of when the order is received. Orders will be processed right away and depending on when the device is purchased, customers could receive their CLIQ just days after Oct. 19.

I really wanted to purchase this phone, but I am not eligible for the special $199 price. I’m a little shocked by the no-contract price of $450, but it is encouraging to hear that T-Mobile has “additional pricing levels…based on the customer’s tenure”. With Android 2.0 phones scheduled to hit later this year, I might hold off on my purchase. I want to wait and see which phones get announced at next week’s CTIA show.

I thought the presentation went well, but it did lack the intensity we have seen with Apple product launches. Watch the replay of the keynote below and let us know your thoughts.

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