HTC waves wand, pulls second Android phone out of hat
It's a kind of Magic
MWC HTC has shown off its second Android-based smartphone. The Magic will be offered over here by Vodafone on an exclusive basis.
HTC's Magic: coming soon to Vodafone
Unlike the T-Mobile G1 - which HTC sells under its own brand as the Dream - the Magic hasn't got a slide-out Qwerty keyboard, just a 3.2in, 320 x 480 touchscreen. It also has the standard Android trackball.
It's based on a 528MHz Qualcomm MSM7201a processor and incorporates 192MB of memory.
Not just a touchscreen - a trackball too
It'll connect to 900MHz and 2100MHz HSDPA 3G networks - up to 7.2Mb/s download and 2Mb/s upload - and to all four GSM/GPRS/Edge bands too. It has 802.11b/g Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 2.0+EDR. There's an integrated GPS pick-up as well, along with a 3.2Mp autofocus camera.
Vodafone said it'll offer the Magic for free "on various price plans", but wouldn't say any more right now, not even when the Magic will go on sale. ®
Review
T-Mobile G1 Android phone
Next page: HTC Vodafone Magic Picture Gallery
COMMENTS
Actual held it?
I've just had a hands on with one of these and it actual feels very solid. I agree the looks aren't all that but I was impressed with how it felt in hand compared to my expectations, I thought it would be a piece of plastic crap.
It's very nippy, easy to use and except the lack of hard keyboard I was quite frankly blown away. Fingers crossed we get some nicer HTC devices like the Touch / Diamond revamp's with Android on and I think they'll have my contract renewal.
@Danny "WM6.1 may be clunky but at least it works, I would have loved to keep my G1 but it was simply not very useful."
Err . . . what. This is the exact opposite to WM, its smooth and sleek. Not to mention it does this out of the box without having to have TouchFlo or similar to bolt on anything that resembles a modern UI. WM 7 now there's something that might tip the tables . . .
Vodafone.de
Featured on their main website - link only goes to brief blurb about the "Die ganze Google-Welt in Ihrer Hand!" and a sign up form to be emailed when you, too, can get the entire Google World in your hand from Vodafone.
crap!
and people complain about the design of windows mobile phones??!!
this is the second android phone that ive seen... and frankly, its the second android phone that I wouldnt have, even if it was free!!! it looks like a cheap and nasty WM phone from a few years back!!!
the fanboyism is probably stronger with android than apple!!!
is there something im missing here??!! fugly design, meideocre components devote worship?? does this phone come with complimentary blow jobs or something??!!
paris - well... atleast you know what your getting there!!!
No keyboard!
Best thing about G1 when you actually need to do something - fitting a proper 5500mAh battery means a new back anyway, so the width saving from lack of keys is irrelevant.
@Tom Richardson
It will run the Cupcake branch firmware, so yes it will have an on screen keyboard.
