Second Android phone announced

17th February 2009

The second mobile phone to be powered by Google's Android operating system is to be launched by Vodafone this spring, it has been announced.

Vodafone said at the Mobile World Congress that the HTC Magic smartphone will be made available to users in the UK, Spain, Germany and France.

The touch-screen phone comes with an Android-optimised Webkit browser and has been designed in the style of a tablet, although it omits the pullout keyboard featured in the first Android phone, the G1 on T-Mobile.

It has a 3.2-inch QVGA display and a trackball and navigational buttons. Users will be able to take advantage of a number of email options, including Google Mail, POP3 and IMAP.

Other Google apps such as Google Talk, Search and Maps, as well as YouTube, will be accessible via the HTC Magic.

"Vodafone is opening up the mobile web for consumers across Europe and giving more third-party developers a platform on which they can build the next wave of killer applications," said Andy Rubin, senior director of mobile platforms at Google.

Support for paid apps on the Android platform was announced earlier this month.

 

Category: Mobile Web Applications

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