If the Palm Pre isn’t to your taste, and you prefer your smartphones with a little more Android flavor, then MWC’s other standout device has to be the HTC Magic. Announced exclusively on Vofadone in Europe, the second official smartphone to run Google’s open-source Android platform drops the hardware keyboard and bulky casing of the T-Mobile G1 and replaces it with a slick on-screen QWERTY and contoured white body.
Demo video of the HTC Magic Android smartphone after the cut
It’s only hours since the HTC Magic’s announcement, but we’re sure there are plenty of people asking the obvious question: iPhone 3G or HTC Magic? The T-Mobile G1 managed to circumnavigate too much comparison thanks to its hardware keyboard, still a sore spot among some Apple-fanciers, but the candybar totally-touchscreen HTC Magic will have no such escape.
Full comparison – plus Vodafone HTC Magic demo video and live photos after the cut
Vodafone and HTC have announced the next Android-based smartphone, the HTC Magic. The Magic – which will be on sale exclusively through Vodafone in Europe for an unspecified period – has a 3.2-inch capacitive touchscreen running at HVGA 320 x 480 resolution, an on-screen keyboard of HTC’s own design, and dualband 3G HSPA together with WiFi b/g.
Yet more firmware leaks for the BlackBerry Storm, and it’s looking like the only way to get a really stable, usable smartphone is to update it unofficially. Version 4.7.0.90 will play nicely with both the Verizon Storm 9500 and the Vodafone Storm 9530, and reportedly brings with it increased stability, faster screen transitions and a new, full keyboard in portrait view.
Things are traditionally quiet in the tech world the week following CES, but we’ve seen our fair share of intrigue over the past seven days. Biggest news, in terms of share impact at least, is Steve Jobs’ surprise leave-of-absence due to “health concerns”, which has managed to overshadow both the teased redsn0w iPod touch 2G Jailbreak and rumors that the upcoming Mac mini refresh will use NVIDIA’s Ion chipset.
In cellphones, it looks like the Helio Ocean 2 is almost ready to ship, but it could be too little, too late now that the Palm Pre is catching all the headlines. Latest Pre rumor is that Vodafone UK will be picking it up as an exclusive; for all the details on Palm’s new smartphone, check out this round-up post and then head over to Pre Community.
Palm is in negotiations with Vodafone UK regarding sales of the GSM Palm Pre, according to the latest rumors coming out of the carrier. While officially Vodafone UK will not comment on the possibility of them being Palm’s UK launch partner, as Sprint is in the US, a member of the carrier’s customer service team has confirmed that Vodafone is “in early negotiation with Palm” regarding the Pre, although “nothing is solid”. Also unclear is whether Palm is planning a single, exclusive launch carrier in the UK, or whether the smartphone will be generally available across multiple networks.
The Open Handset Alliance (OHA) has announced fourteen new members, including ASUS, Sony Ericsson and Garmin, together with carrier Vodafone. While the specific intent of the new members is unknown, they will all either “deploy compatible Android devices, contribute significant code to the Android Open Source Project, or support the ecosystem through products and services that will accelerate the availability of Android-based devices.”
Vodafone Germany have released an update for European users of the BlackBerry Storm 9500, four days after Verizon Wireless pushed out a similar update for the 9530 in the US. Taking the GSM version of the Storm to firmware v4.7.0.78, it apparently addresses accelerometer lag and touchscreen accuracy.
T3 got their hands on photos of an unboxing of the Vodafone BlackBerry Storm today. They added a nice little note stating that the actual Storm that Vadafone ships will most likely come in a little different packaging. There was an Internal PR event at RIMs headquarters on October 17th, ironically the date on the device matches the date of the event suggesting that the pictures originated at the event.
After the first pricing for the BlackBerry Storm on Vodafone was released this morning, and later shown to be for the expensive Irish market, details on the UK costs of the RIM touchscreen device have now been announced. In keeping with the competitive UK market, the handset will be available on November 11th from free on select price plans, with 12, 18 and 24 month contracts are available. The cheapest monthly tariff is £15 ($24) on an 18-month contract with no included minutes but unlimited SMS; the Storm is priced at £300 ($486). The cheapest monthly contract with a free Storm is £35 (24-months, 600 inclusive minutes & unlimited SMS, mobile internet and email).
Full UK BlackBerry Storm Vodafone price plan details after the cut
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