HTC Magic Google phone coming next month

Vodafone's HTC Magic Google phone will be available from April.

Vodafone's HTC Magic, the second Google Android-powered phone, will be available from next month.

The main contender to the throne currently occupied by T-Mobile's G1, the first Android-based handset, the HTC Magic was announced just last month at Mobile World Congress (MWC).

Confirmation that the handset will be available from April has been posted in the coming soon' section of Vodafone's website, although a question mark still hangs over the exact date it will be making an official appearance on the market.

"Everything you love about the internet, exactly how you want it. The HTC Magic will keep you entertained and up to date wherever you are," stated Vodafone, who boasts network exclusivity for the phone in the UK, France, Germany and Spain.

"Sleek, stylish and exclusive to Vodafone, the Magic is powered by cutting edge technology. So web essentials like Google Maps and Google Search work brilliantly. You can create shortcuts to your favourite sites and download fun games, news feeds and widgets. Then decide where everything goes - so you can get to it all easily."

In addition to acting as a gateway to the applications available in the Android Market, the HTC Magic also boasts a pretty bumper features set. The specs on the touch screen handset include a 3.2in, 320x480 LCD screen, HSDPA (7.2Mbps up and 2Mbps down), GPRS, GPS, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, a G-Sensor, Digital Compass, microSD storage, support for key Google applications and a 3.2 megapixel camera.

"Following our joining of the Open Handset Alliance, we have worked very closely with HTC to bring this cool new phone to the market," said Patrick Chomet, global director of Vodafone's terminals arm, at MWC.

"Our customers want to access a wide range of the most attractive mobile devices to help them make the most of their time - the HTC Magic helps meet that need."

We were lucky enough to get our hands on the device at MWC. Check out IT PRO's first look of the new HTC Magic here.

Maggie Holland

Maggie has been a journalist since 1999, starting her career as an editorial assistant on then-weekly magazine Computing, before working her way up to senior reporter level. In 2006, just weeks before ITPro was launched, Maggie joined Dennis Publishing as a reporter. Having worked her way up to editor of ITPro, she was appointed group editor of CloudPro and ITPro in April 2012. She became the editorial director and took responsibility for ChannelPro, in 2016.

Her areas of particular interest, aside from cloud, include management and C-level issues, the business value of technology, green and environmental issues and careers to name but a few.