As you may (or may not) know, the HTC Aria will be going on sale through the AT&T network in a few days and will be offered for $130 after a mail-in rebate. This phone is an all-around solid Android device, but AT&T has, once again, limited a user in a somewhat crippling manner. What am I speaking of? Just like they did with the Motorola Backflip, AT&T is restricting users from using applications that are not offered through the Android Market. To some people, this may not be a big deal whatsoever. Unfortunately, for the small percentage of tech-enthusiasts who enjoy beta testing applications or surfing Google to find the newest mod installed through a program, you are unable to access the switch which will allow you to install any applications that are download-able outside of the conventional Android Market. For instance, Swype is a third party application which allows users to quickly input text by gesturing over a virtual qwerty keyboard which keys are included in the word they want to use. For many months now, Swype has been offered as a download via your android web browser, but is not offered on the Android Market. It is quite annoying that Swype, on top of thousands of other programs offered in this manner, will not be available because of AT&T's limitations. From what we know, AT&T is currently the only carrier in the US who block users from downloading non-market applications on Android devices. It is a fact that Sprint, Verizon, and T-Mobile all allow their users to download non-Android-Market applications and use them at their own free will. AT&T has no explanation as to why they restrict their Android users, so the answer could stretch as far as a contract or obligation to Apple in order to restrict the users who choose to use Android instead of Apple. I'm not accusing AT&T of this, but I also cannot think of a better excuse. Feel free to share your thoughts. [informationweek]