Lawsuits from Apple?  No problem! Google is looking at a dynamite couple of months with some high profile Android releases on the horizon.  

Leading the way is the HTC Incredible.  DailyTech spoke with sources at Verizon, who confirmed that the HTC Incredible was supposed to begin to arrive at Verizon Wireless stores in two weeks.  That would make sense as Verizon just announced that it was beginning a test deployment of Android 2.1 to the Motorola Droid smart phones, the same OS that would presumably be powering the Incredible.  

Android 2.1 brings improved pinch-to-zoom in the browser, better voice-to-text support, animated wallpapers, and tweaks to Google Maps.  Droid launched with Android 2.0 last November and in December received a minor bump to Android 2.0.1 via an over-the-air update.

The Verizon-carried HTC Incredible could steal the show, though, perhaps being the slickest Android handset to date.  According to reports, the phone will have a 1 GHz Qualcomm QSD 8250 Snapdragon ARM CPU and 512 MB of DRAM, just like the Nexus One.  Unlike the Nexus One, however, the CPU will be underclocked to 768 MHz (watch out for an Apple patent on that one).  While that may sound like a bad thing, it should be more than enough speed to run most apps, while helping to providing longer talk time than the Nexus One.

The phone also has a better camera than the Nexus One -- an 8-megapixel camera with a noticeably larger lens.  The camera makes it just slightly thicker than the Nexus One, measuring in at 117.5 x 58.5 x 11.9 mm.  It is rumored to come packed with a 6 GB of flash (much more than the 512 MB on the Nexus One), a microSD expansion slot, and an FM tuner.  The battery is a pretty run-of-the-mill 1300 mAh.

Big Red's decision to carry the new HTC Incredible could indicate that it's considering waiting on the Nexus One for the time being (though other reports indicate that it might not be long before it jumps on board as well).  Sprint, on the other hand is racing to deploy the Nexus One on its powerful 3G network.

The Nexus One handset is the result of a close collaboration from Google and HTC, which goes beyond Google's standard Android involvement.  The handset is currently available on T-Mobile and AT&T, direct from Google.

Sprint aired that it would soon be announcing official release dates and pricing.  Fared Adib, Sprint vice president of product development states, "Nexus One is a powerful device that belongs on a powerful network. This is another step in our continued partnership of innovation with Google.  Sprint customers already have the option of two amazing Android devices with Samsung Moment(TM) and HTC Hero(TM). It is a natural fit for us to add Nexus One to the list of choices available for Sprint customers who want the best value in wireless with the best in Android." 

He adds, "While a pricing plan has not yet been determined for Nexus One, we are confident that it will be consistent with Sprint's commitment to deliver more value than our competitors and keep pricing simple.  Right now, our Sprint Everything Data 450 plan with Any Mobile, Anytime^(SM) gives customers unlimited calling with any mobile phone in America, unlimited text and unlimited Web for just $69.99 per month - the same price AT&T and Verizon charge for just unlimited talk. Our Everything Data plans include unlimited GPS Navigation at no extra charge and annual phone upgrades with Sprint Premier."

It looks like the major U.S. networks besides AT&T have largely given up on the Apple iPhone and are aggressively moving ahead on the deployment of new Android headsets.  The next iPhone, set to air this summer, could see a substantial challenge from the Nexus One on Sprint, AT&T, and T-Mobile; and the HTC Incredible on Verizon.