Fresh on the heels of this morning's rumor of an imminent Motorola Tao launch, we have information on just when that launch will be. Android and Me received a document from their tip line that describes a new smartphone set to launch on December 1. This new phone has the exact same specs as the Tao, is made by Motorola, and packs the Android OS.

I think it's safe to assume that the Motorola XXX mentioned in the letter is the Tao. Either that, or there's another Moto smartphone with a 3.7" display, high-speed processor, sliding QWERTY keyboard, 5 megapixel camera, 16 GB of on-board memory, plus room for a 32 GB SD card. The Motorola Tao will be the first Android 2.0 device that packs enough power to show off what that means. This is a smartphone to be excited about.

T-Mobile is shipping the Cliq out on October 19, but the Tao is being held back to launch right as the holiday shopping season swings into high gear. There will be several other new Android smartphones out at the same time. That could help Motorola by bringing Android more publicity, but it could also hurt them if the Tao gets lost in the crowd of new mobiles. Somehow though, I don't think that is going to happen.