HTC has clarified its Android 4.4 KitKat upgrade plans for the flagship HTC One and Droid DNA. Those with a One in North America will get the update — along with Sense 5.5 — by the end of January; while those with a Droid DNA will receive the software “by the end of Q1” 2014.

Verizon has just begun rolling out Android 4.4 KitKat for the Motorola Moto X. Verizon! KitKat! Moto X!

I can’t quite believe it, either.

Back in September, HTC announced the Desire 601 as a variant to its former flagship Android-powered smartphone, the HTC Desire, which made its debut back in March, 2010, and now Virgin Mobile have officially launched the mid-range handset in the U.S.

We’ve already seen some fuzzy snaps of the HTC M8, the upcoming success to the flagship HTC One, and now we have some specifications, too. A reliable source claims the device will offer a slightly larger 5-inch display with the same 1080p resolution, a Snapdragon 800 processor, and Android 4.4 KitKat right out of the box.

One of the great things about Android is that you don’t have to spend a small fortune to gain access to its ecosystem.

Chinese manufacturers like Huawei and ZTE — and even the likes of Samsung, HTC, and Motorola — all offer super affordable Android-powered smartphones that even budget-conscious consumers and those in the developing world can gain access to. And some of them aren’t bad, either.

Take the new Moto G, for example: It starts at just $179 off contract, and for that you get an HD display, a quad-core processor, a 5-megapixel camera, and access to Google’s latest Android operating system.

Thanks to devices like this, smartphones are about to go mainstream in the developing world, according to a new piece in the latest edition of Wired from our own editor-in-chief Leander Kahney.