Mobile Short Takes: HTC Reveals 2nd G-Phone, Yahoo Repackaging Mobile Apps
In September, the HTC Dream, the first phone built around Google’s Android O.S. was introduced to the market with all the fanfare of a new smartphone aiming for a share of the iPhone’s spotlight. Tuesday, like pictures of a celebrity newborn, the G-Phone’s sibling was revealed.
HTC, together with Vodaphone, showed their Magic. The new phone will offer a 3.2” touch screen, a higher capacity battery and a 3.2 mega pixel camera to European customers waiting on an Android based phone. Unlike the Dream, the Magic will not feature a slide out keyboard to compliment its touch screen. (A side by side feature comparison of the two HTC Android phones is available below).
Vodaphone, which joined the Open Handset Alliance in December, will sell the HTC Magic exclusively in the UK, Spain and Germany beginning this spring. Vodaphone will also have non-exclusive carrier rights for Italy. Depending on the market, the phone is expected to be available in black or white.
Andy Rubin, Senior Director of Mobile Platforms at Google called the HTC Magic “an important step” for the Android platform.
Neither Rubin nor representatives from HTC commented on whether the phone will reach U.S. shores, or if it does, which carrier will provide it. It’s a wait and see game. (Speculation on the carrier question is, in particular, rampant because of the competitive smartphone marketplace’s mix of existing carrier partnerships: AT&T exclusively selling the iPhone, T-Mobile carrying the first G-Phone, and the Palm Pre being tied up with Sprint.)
In other mobile news coming out of the GSMA Mobile World Congress in Barcelona…. Yahoo announced a plan to repackage several of its mobile applications into a single offering to be available as a beta in the second quarter (late March).
The new Yahoo Mobile experience will feature a “highly personalized mobile starting point to the Internet” the company says.
The application will support devices including the iPhone, Windows Mobile products, Blackberries and those phone running Web-Kit based browsers (Android).
(Side by Side Comparison of the HTC Dream and Magic Feature Sets is Below Related Articles)
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