The iPhone is ranked as the top smartphone in the United States, and with sales on the upward trend worldwide, one would think that there’s no stopping Apple’s magical handset. As it turns out, the iPhone has a “crutch” that’s key to its success: carrier subsidies.

It’s common practice for U.S. carriers to subsidize a phone to make it more affordable for the average consumer. The trick is that customers get locked into a two-year contract. While Apple profits and carriers take an initial hit off the subsidized model in countries like the U.S. and U.K., less expensive Android devices are dominating markets where consumers pay full price for their new phones.

Today at CES, AT&T just kept announcing device after device, from its seemingly bottomless treasure trove of Android booty. Instead of spamming you with post after post of AT&T Android devices, I’ll just put them all in this post here. We’ll take a look at the Samsung Galaxy Note, Exhilirate, and Galaxy S II Skyrocket HD. We’ll show you Sony’s first LTE device the Xperia Ion, and a couple of Pantech devices. They’re all running Android, and they’re all on AT&T, so stay tuned after the break for what each device has to offer.

We’ve seen plenty regarding the DROID 4, but one thing that has eluded us, an official release by Verizon. Today Verizon and Motorola changed all that by officially announcing the DROID 4 in all of its RAZR looking glory. The 4G LTE QWERTY slider is set to hit Verizon in the next couple of weeks and will be packing the following:

If you didn’t pick up a new device during all the holiday commotion, no need to fret. T-Mobile is holding a “New Year, New Phone” sale this weekend only, and will be discounting the down payment needed to pick up a new device. The promotion starts January 6th and runs through the 8th, with many in-store 4G phones, tablets, and hotspots getting the discount treatment. You’ll have to visit your local T-Mobile store for a complete list of discounted devices, but here’s a peek at a few of the Android devices needing a down payment of $49.99 or less: